Half Marathon and Kid's Races Cancelled for Saturday Jan 7

WALT DISNEY WORLD MARATHON WEEKEND

In an abundance of caution, the Walt Disney World Resort has cancelled all running events on Saturday, Jan. 7, 2017 due to weather conditions. This includes the Walt Disney World Half Marathon and the Disney Kids Races. In addition, the runDisney Health & Fitness Expo will delay opening until 11 a.m. While we share our Guests’ obvious disappointment, the safety of our Guests and Cast is most important. Weather tracking has indicated there is an elevated risk of lightning in the area of the racecourse. In addition, there are sections of the course that do not provide immediate access to shelter. Both of these factors have influenced this difficult decision.

All registered half marathon runners will receive their half marathon medal and may choose from one of the following options:

• A full refund for their race registration in the form of a Disney gift card.
• Two One-Day Park Hopper tickets.
• Defer registration to another runDisney half marathon race in the U.S. within the next 24 months, subject to availability.
• We can offer limited availability to run the full marathon on Sunday, Jan. 8, 2017 during the regularly scheduled race.

All registered runDisney Kids Race runners will receive their Kids Race medal and a full race registration in the form of a Disney gift card.

Details on the fulfillment of the above options will be communicated by 10 p.m. this evening.

How often does this happen? When was the last time a race was cancelled? I'm sure there are a lot of disappointed people, but I would hate for anyone to be hurt running the race in horrible weather.

I'm not sure I've ever heard of it being canceled before. I did see this news this morning. It indicated there was a high risk of lightening and that portions of the race course had no access to immediate shelter which played into the decision made.

Is this an unusual storm for this time of year? I can't recall hearing of one cancelled before.

I was wondering if they've ever cancelled also. And from the craziness at WWOS this morning, I'd guess not. We're so pleased with RunDisney's organization last night, but the WWOS was not prepared today to handle everything.

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Originally Posted by dlpmikki

Is this an unusual storm for this time of year? I can't recall hearing of one cancelled before.

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I was at POFQ Friday night - Saturday morning and despite being a medicated sleeper I was awakened by a terrific clap of thunder at either 1230 or 130 (I'm not sure which) and that first clap was followed by a second clap just as great. I literally jumped up onto my feet before the thunder stopped rolling from the first strike and was running to the window to look for a twister when the second clap hit. These were two angry strikes of lightening and wasn't something I have ever experienced at WDW.

I don't know how typical the storm may have been for locals, but the lighting was so intense it sounded like you could hear a tree exploding from the strikes.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Goofy4TheWorld

I was at POFQ Friday night - Saturday morning and despite being a medicated sleeper I was awakened by a terrific clap of thunder at either 1230 or 130 (I'm not sure which) and that first clap was followed by a second clap just as great. I literally jumped up onto my feet before the thunder stopped rolling from the first strike and was running to the window to look for a twister when the second clap hit. These were two angry strikes of lightening and wasn't something I have ever experienced at WDW.

I don't know how typical the storm may have been for locals, but the lighting was so intense it sounded like you could hear a tree exploding from the strikes.

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Yikes!

As tough as it was, they made the right call. There were a few lines of storms with lightning that went through, including one right around 7 AM. You just can't have 20,000 people out on the roadways with no access to shelter in a situation like that, plus all the volunteers and setup people who work literally through the night before the race.

I was signed up for the Goofy. We didn't go to the expo on Saturday, and they handed out the half medals when I completed the full marathon on Sunday.

This time of year it's pretty rare to get thunderstorms since it's the dry season here in Florida but it's always a possibility. Just a few years ago the Wine and Dine half marathon was delayed due to lightning, but I think that one was run out at Wide World of Sports. I'm not aware of any other Disney races being cancelled or delayed due to lightning. For this race, runDisney has a very tight window in which to get the race off because they need to have World Drive into the Magic Kingdom reopened for regular guests. That and all of the volunteers out on the course are the reasons they couldn't just delay the start for an hour or two.