Originally Posted By JiminyCEsq A participant on a Disney running board got the following message from the run administrators in response to their email question - Thanks for your email. The Disneyland Half Marathon course will not be going inside the stadium this year. The Angels have a day game on Sunday, August 31. The timing of our race and the game does not allow us to run the bases again. We have been lucky enough in past years to have the Angels playing a night game or an away game. The portion of the course on Angels Stadium property will take you through the "Big A" and near the "Hats and Bats". See you at the start line! Whereas, the official web site still states, as it has the past 2 years, that the run will go through the stadium. I feel a need to rant a bit. To me, this is just another in the seemingly uncaring way the run is being managed. The first year, it was scheduled a little later in September, when it was (and usually is) a lot cooler than Labor Day weekend. The second year, they moved it up - why? I can only guess - to increase hotel occupancy and dollars generated. People collapsed on the route, and they even threatened to make it a non timed event, after thousands of runners trained and worked to acheive their best results. But, hey, does the health of runners matter when you get a waiver? It's our choice to do it, correct, but it would be interesting to see the results of the runner survey and how many (like myself) expressed a desire to see the event moved to October. We will never see that. Also, after the Year 1 race, they did not announce the Year 2 date as they needed to know the Angel stadium schedule first; I do not know if that was the case with year 3, but they sure announced the date a lot earlier than they did for Year 2, and again Year 3 is a sellout, so their business strategy of continuing on Labor Day weekend didnt hurt registration. And, of course, they limit local runners to encourage more hotel rooms get booked! So, here we are with the program online at last - no advance mailing this year, how exciting for us and cost saving for Disney! And guess what - the date for Year 4 is Labor Day again! And there is no way that the Angel schedule is known for 2009 at this point - so, clearly, the philosophy is not to wait to ensure we can run through the stadium (as still described on the official site), but just get those 3 day weekend bookings, and if we can, great, if not, who cares, right? Well, I care. I care about the fact that management takes me, my money, and my efforts for granted because they know there is a line behind me and they will sell out no matter what, so this runner is through with the DL HM. This third run will be my last. I have been a supporter and detractor of the Mouse in many areas on many occasions, but I have also been a run coordinator for a major half marathon that is now more than 20 years old, and the way participants are treated for this, the scheduling, the (potentially deliberate?) obfuscation of the route change, and other cost cutting measures that have been trickling in since year one, it just isnt fun anymore, and not worth the money to me. Clearly it is and will continue to be to many others - while I will enjoy the experience of exploring new routes and new cooler weekends at less cost. See you as we run "through" the stadium without actually going inside!
Originally Posted By Elderp Too bad about the stadium thing. It was definately a highlight to see myself on the jumbotron last year. I wish they would move it forward a bit. The heat was brutal. The main reason however I didnt train for it this year however was because it was held on a Sunday.
Originally Posted By Mrs ElderP As someone who had attended both race one and race two, let me say that these are HUGE events. (We ran the 5K in year one and just elderp ran, the half, in year two) Each race has thousands of racers, most of whom get a hotel room. Even we, who are considered locals by the race commitee, got a room because we didn't want to get up at 3am to be at Disneyland by o'dark thirty. It looks like, from their discription that you will technically be running through the stadium, just not on the field. I agree, that's not what you signed up for. I also really wish they would move the race back to late September or so. That first year they got lots of runners didn't they?? What a crock!
Originally Posted By Sport Goofy I believe the reason why the DL 1/2 was moved to Labor Day was to avoid some conflicts with other more prominent races that take place in the Fall. Being a relatively young race event, DL can't compete with other races for running talent unless is separates itself a bit from the crowd. By having the race earlier, they have a chance of attracting runners that don't mind using the 1/2 to practice for bigger races later in the season.
Originally Posted By 73baloo The map of this years race shows it around the stadium not in it. I noticed that months ago.
Originally Posted By monorailblue Hooray for Elderp for not running on Sunday. Same reason I'm not running this year. As to competing for talent--Disneyland could fill the slots just as easily even if the top 250 entrants didn't run because there was a bigger race scheduled about the same time. The purpose of the event cannot possibly to get those cream of the crop racers--it surely must be to get the other 13750 of us.
Originally Posted By Sport Goofy << The purpose of the event cannot possibly to get those cream of the crop racers--it surely must be to get the other 13750 of us. >> There is always some value to having competitive athletes participate in these events. They generate some amount of publicity and excitement. Sponsors of running gear/equipment also don't want to shell out promotional dollars to chase after a crowd that is only running a race because it is in Disneyland -- those aren't the kind of people who pay big bucks over their lifetime for fancy running shoes, jerseys, nutritional supplements, mp3 players, etc.
Originally Posted By monorailblue Sorry if it seemed I suggested there was "no value" to all the rest of us. I'm just stating the obvious: 13750 other people (each shelling out $100 to enter = $1,375,000) would still be willing to enter even if the 250 "top" runners (that virtually no one on earth has heard of or cares a lick about) weren't a part of it.
Originally Posted By iDisney72 It is too bad about the stadium... running through it during the first race was a huge highlight! However, I think that running through the parks is a much more unique experience that I would have happily chosen over running through the stadium, so maybe try to focus on what other fun perks you get by running the race, rather than what you don't get. Might make it more enjoyable
