Chapter 6 - Preparing for Marathon Weekend Regardless

 What Does it Take to Get to the Dopey Challenge?

Getting to Walt Disney World for a RunDisney event is a long road.  One cannot decide to participate in a RunDisney event a month or two before the event.  Registration takes place 9 months out and events sell out within hours.  The Dopey Challenge sells out in minutes.  Then you need a place to stay, preferably at a Disney Resort to take advantage of RunDisney transportation.  And then you need to get there.  If you live in the Midwest US, that means air transportation.  The logistics of getting yourself to the event is as challenging as training for the event.  You must commit and make travel plans long before you start training for the event.  Which means long before you know if you are physically capable. 


The photo above of Mickey and the gang is a link to the runDisney travel planning site.  It will give you an idea of all the considerations, or distractions, one faces when participating in a runDisney event.

Wanting to stay at a Disney Vacation Club (DVC) resort, I had to take care of the lodging in early February 2023. That was a bit tricky and stressful for several reasons, some self-imposed.  I had a lot of anxiety committing to an expensive Disney Resort not knowing if I was going to overcome my hip issues.  But now I am going to be in Walt Disney World for Marathon Weekend 2024.  I just hope I have Dopey purpose for being there.

Experimenting with Video on the Run

I have this vision, perhaps delusion, that in January 2024 I am going to capture my triumphant completion of the Dopey Challenge on video.  So many other runners post their runs on YouTube, how hard could it be?

To that end, part of my Dopey preparation is to experiment with capturing video on the run and producing interesting video clips.  Over the last year I’ve been capturing video on the run with a GoPro Hero. 8, sometimes on a gimbal, sometimes with just a hand stick.

Here’s a video I captured during our October Disney Visit.  I was moving so slowly that I had to speed up the video to make it somewhat interesting.  Otherwise, the viewer would have fallen asleep.


Red Rocks and the Grand Canyon

Northern Arizona is amazing.  I had never been to Arizona except for a flight connection in Phoenix.  I had always imagined miles and miles of flat dessert and cactus.   But the drive from Phoenix to Sedona was like traversing the United States from West to East.  First, we passed through dessert like surroundings, then up a sparsely covered mountain, then plains for a while, then back down the mountain, and then back up into the Red Rock valleys of the Sedona area.  One day we ventured to Grand Canyon National Park and passed through forest and more mountains.  At times I thought I was in Maine or Northern Wisconsin.  The Arizona landscape is much more diverse than I thought.

Our days in Sedona were full of long, slow hikes through the red rock areas, climbing up to vistas and standing in awe of the landscape in front of us. Here are some videos I put together to capture our adventures:



We covered a lot of ground on foot during our week in Sedona.  At times my hip felt achy, but it did not inhibit activity.  I let my PT exercise regimen fall by the way side, The hiking replaced running.  I felt refreshed and ready to get back to my exercise routine when we returned home.

Time to Make a Dopey Commitment


The day after returning from Sedona, I received the message I had been waiting for.  Give Kids the World was ready to start registering participants for the RunDisney 2024 Marathon Weekend.  Time to make a commitment to Give Kids the World and the families it serves.  It’s also time to assure myself that I can do this, that I can overcome my hip injury and train my body to complete 48.6 miles over 4 days.

Shortly thereafter, I was signed up with my fund-raising page ready to go.  The excitement of having Dopey become real,  knowing that I was now part of a team, made my hip feel stronger.  I’m ready to run now!  Let the training begin.

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