Dopey Challenge Redux: The WDW Marathon

Hello and welcome to my Dopey Challenge 2025 trip report! Today I’m recapping the crown jewel of the Dopey experience: The WDW Marathon. Read all the entries in this report here. Onward!

You know what I love? I’ll tell you what I love: the WDW Marathon. It is my One Race to Rule Them All. I haven’t skipped a single one since my first. You couldn’t pay me to miss it.

That being said, I approached this specific WDW Marathon with some trepidation. Not only was it the final 26.2 of the 48.6 Dopey Challenge, I was nervous about the ghosts of injuries past resurfacing. My WDW Half the day before had been, shall we say, undistinguished – not painful but lacking in elan. I felt confident I would be able to finish the marathon and collect my Dopey medal. I did not feel confident the miles wouldn’t turn, at some point, into a protracted slog.

As it turns out, I needn’t have worried; Disney magic was in full effect and I had a FABULOUS race. Let’s roll the tape!

BEFORE THE WDW MARATHON

Step one: wake up on time. Check! This WDW Marathon was already off to a great start.

My Mayor of Halloween Town costume was all laid out and waiting for me. I donned it with speed, gathered up my fellow Dopey applicant and all around stellar human being Erika, and off we went on the next race bus.

After a brief respite during the half, we were back to chillier temperatures – upper 30s and low 40s to begin, climbing all the way to the low 50s and sunny. While not my usual preferred weather, I had to admit it would be great for running, if not ideal for waiting around in the corrals. Luckily I had the thematically appropriate spiderweb blanket I had nabbed from the 5K to keep me warm. Before the race I would release it back to the wilds of the corrals to be donated as was predestined.

Erika and I snapped our traditional pre-race Spaceship Earth selfie, and then I did something that is, for me, nontraditional: I checked a gear bag. I had a feeling I would want a sweatshirt at the finish.

We took a quick bathroom break and wished each other luck, and then Erika headed to her corral while I shimmied into B. Shoutout to the guy next to me during the start who was dressed as Arthur Dent; now that’s thinking outside the box.

Alas, the Dapper Dans did not perform the national anthem, so this was a pedestrian sendoff. We did the usual chatter-and-song routine, and then we were off!

THE WDW MARATHON

And found myself immediately shocked; I felt better than I had during the half the previous morning. Truly running is an enigmatic business. When tallying your wins and losses, never discount kismet. I’m convinced it’s a performance category all its own.

In light of this, I did something I might not have normally: I let my body set its own happy pace. I certainly wasn’t about to push myself, but neither did I pull myself back as I sometimes have in other distance races. Maybe I wouldn’t feel as good the whole race, but I was going to enjoy it while it lasted.

This being a new course, we spent only two miles on the road before finding ourselves in Epcot. That’s been happening for the last couple years, but how we did it hasn’t: we headed straight to World Showcase and ran the whole loop. I would’ve enjoyed this more if I didn’t know it came at the expense of a World Showcase-less ending. That was always a highlight for me.

We bid a temporary farewell to Epcot just after mile three, and off we went on the highways. Here I made my first character stop, for while the line was a bit long I couldn’t remember having personally seen Hercules and Megara out before. I listened to the entirety of “Zero to Hero” in advance of my turn, but the accidental Wazowski’ing of Megara made it all worth it. “Fun!” she said. (Thanks for adjusting accordingly, Meg.)

Ooh, also: earlier, I witnessed a near tragedy when someone leaving a character stop almost colliding with a runner on the course. Thankfully, after an impressive series of somersaults, the guy popped up claiming to be fine. Keep your head on a swivel out there, kids.

Much of the ensuing course was identical to the previous day’s WDW Half, and we traipsed our way to the Grand Floridian… where I was greeted with none other than a Jack Skellington character stop! This line was also a bit long, but how could I not?

Indeed, as I passed one of the stop’s Cast Members I heard her hiss an approving “YESSSS!” Possibly because I never saw another runner costumed as a TNBC character? Not saying they weren’t there, but it clearly didn’t comprise a large percentage of the participants. My time to shine!

I’ve always found it odd the way Disney’s Jack is half a face character with the ability to speak; in this particular case, I’m so glad. “The Mayor! Of course!” he said in a quite passable Danny Elfman/Chris Sarandon impression. “I bet your head is spinning!” So I swirled my little sign for him, and he told me I had the most horrible costume he’d seen so far.

Okay, so, already best race ever, right? And only like eight miles in!

Back I hopped onto the road, and following another drive-by encounter with the Electrical Water Pageant, I was shortly rewarded with entry to the Magic Kingdom. After the always-magnificent sojourn up Main Street with its line of cheering spectators, it was time to get some shots.

First I deputized a nearby Cast Member to take my photo in the Adventureland holiday frame, after which I met the family Madrigal (I THINK but it might’ve been after the below):

Then I got my required Cinderella Castle pic:

And Stitch’s girlfriend(?) Angel alongside another alien experiment I am told is called Sparky:

Which leads me to the question: so Disney can trot out “Sparky” but won’t throw us a Dreamfinder bone??? My DMs are open, Bob. Get back to me.

Alas, after a glorious mile and change, it was time to exit the Magic Kingdom. The sight of the Contemporary kept us briefly entertained before we left it, too, behind, and set out on more road miles.

At mile twelve I was teased with the sight of Mulan AND SHANG(!!!) at a character stop… on the wrong side of an out and back. I spent a half mile or so wondering when I would reach them, which killed time about as well as anything else. Shang took one look at my Mayor sign and said “Oh, you brought your guardian!” Close enough, bae, close enough.

I bopped along for another mile or two before encountering a Themed Mile, which is always fun. This one was all about Star Wars, which is not 100% my thing, but it has grown on me since Batuu.

The first character I came across was Chewbacca; he had a bit of a line so I decided to skip. Maybe if I see, say, Darth Vader or something, I thought to myself. And then hey, whaddya know!

Next up was Captain Phasma. I had to stop for her because of that time Pat and I had lunch at The Brown Derby Lounge and accidentally watched her March of the First Order show like 87 times.

Last, as far as I remember, were Vi (whoever, frankly, that is) and Rey. I might’ve stopped for Rey, but she was wearing a cloak; by the time I recognized her I was already past the line. I like Rey, but I don’t double-back like her, you know?

Now we were coming up on Disney’s Animal Kingdom, and my next character stop was the apropos Dug and Russell from Up:

The Cast Member stationed here was very excited to host The Mayor. “It’s not every day we see an elected official!” she exclaimed, to which I replied “I can’t make decisions by myself!” and our bond was forged. She asked if I had seen any The Nightmare Before Christmas characters on the course, and I told her about my encounter with Jack. “I’m holding out hope for more!” I said. Stay tuned…

Oh, I experienced another rare treat during this race – I had spectators! Becky and Kate came out to meet me at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, which, at mile sixteen, I was approaching. Historically the backend of DAK has been marked by animal buddies and on occasion Festival of the Lion King performers, but it was sadly bare as I made my way toward the park.

No matter, as I was shortly in DAK and surrounded by all the beauty and glory of WDW’s prettiest park. We barreled past Harambe Market and headed toward Serka Zong. I stopped for a quick pic with Everest (where I 100% failed to stand on the green dot) and then, right by the Thirsty River bar, there were Kate and Becky!

I took a minute or two to stretch and chat with them. It was a great way to both have something to look forward to and break up the experience. Ten out of ten; would have spectators again.

So that was a pleasant respite, but I was only at mile seventeen; still much to do! I set off down the path again, rounding on Dinoland USA and then traipsing out of the park. There I discovered Jane from Tarzan with absolutely no queue at all:

Not a lot of Phil Collins fans in the race, I guess.

From there I don’t have much photographic record, which leads me to believe that it was mostly just the roads again. Jane’s lineless state was the first of many. I had reach the portion of the race where the crowd thins out to the point where you can basically hop in and out of character stops at will.

Thus I stopped for Bolt and Lotso and was on my merry way before I knew it:

I was steadily eating away at the WDW Marathon’s remainder and feeling pretty solid, all things considered. I wasn’t fast, but I wasn’t deteriorating either. Now and again someone would text me and I would stop and walk to read their message, which served as a sort of ad hoc run-walk system. I did start to feel my left hip flexor a bit, but I downed the ibuprofen I’d packed and it never became a problem. Basically I was having a relaxed and pleasant time. I never even used my sad face outside of the occasional photographic novelty!

Indeed, I got all the way to mile twenty-one before it occurred to me that I might as well put some music on. I fired up my Shokz and my playlist in turn. Flogging Molly’s “Seven Deadly Sins” was queued and waiting for me, and as the percussion surged I was stunned by how my pace quickened to meet it. I rocked my way all around the dreaded Blizzard Beach parking lot without even really noticing it, which is saying something.

Blizzard Beach threw us up back onto the roads, and I stole some more lineless photos with Frozone (no offense to the Parrs but he’s way, dare I say, COOLER), Scrooge McDuck, and even the bears from Brother Bear. Have I seen this movie? No! I hear it’s bad! But a lineless photo op is a lineless photo op, you know? Law of the runDisney land, that is.

This momentous string of events lead me to Disney’s Hollywood Studios, for, like, the twelve seconds we’re in it or whatever. There must be a way Disney could route the WDW Marathon course so that we manage more than a drive by’s worth of time there, but whatever. I stopped for a quick glamor shot with the Tower of Terror, because I’m a Rod Serling groupie:

That’s about all you get as far as Studios time is concerned. I was slipping out of the park and rocking past the Skyliner in the blink of an eye.

Regulars know what that means: it’s time to take the path to the Boardwalk! As required, I charged down the path between the Studios and Epcot. Then I took the left onto the Boardwalk proper and guess who was waiting by Atlantic Dance Hall??? OOGIE BOOGIE HIMSELF!

Oogie, lacking in vocal capabilities, did not express joy at the sight of me as Jack did, but he did put his all into our photos. Since there was once again no line, they even let me take an extra picture so I could embody all facets of The Mayor’s personality:

It was the perfect way to start my jaunt down the Boardwalk! I caught Donald and Daisy somewhere in there too:

We crossed the bridge to the International Gateway, where as it turned out Kate was waiting for me again. Now that’s dedication! I stopped only ever so briefly this time, as I had scarcely more than two miles of WDW Marathon to go and I was Doing The Thing.

Those last two miles would’ve been way better had they unfolded around World Showcase Lagoon. As it stands, it was still nice to enter Epcot again. Here I proved to the photographers that I am very photogenic, and also I stopped to say hello to Spaceship Earth:

And then Olaf was the last character stop of the race, and I figured, hey, why not?

Round the bend, past the gospel choir, and BAM! At the finish line. The WDW Marathon of 2025 was done. And four minutes faster than October’s Marine Corps Marathon, no less!

AND THEN I WAS DOPEY

Dopey x2, baby! I collected and subsequently juggled my snacks and medals, intending to throw them all in my gear bag once I collected it. A random volunteer intercepted me first and helped me bundle everything up in an extra bag. See? I’m right about the bag thing!

Hot tip for gear check: even if you don’t think you’ll need it, throw an item of clothing in the bag. That way you can say “My bag has X color” and it speeds up the process. Plus the workers seem to appreciate the clue.

I found Kate, and then after a bit Becky found us (she had stayed in DAK to cheer for Erika). After abstaining all trip, I was finally able to grab the race weekend’s limited edition beer, which was a sour – I assume special for me?

We hung out and people-watched and chatted until the woman of the hour appeared: Erika completed her WDW Marathon and therefore her first Dopey Challenge! (Maybe if we’re nice to her she’ll write her own race recap?) Naturally this required photographic proof, and we all piled into a photo with Genie.

Here ends the tale of my 2025 WDW Marathon. It was glorious. I got so lucky – never hit a wall, my injuries never made things ugly, and I finished feeling… better than I ever have after a marathon, somehow. It’s a Dopey miracle. I stopped for a record number of photos and PR’d in fun. Every year is better than the last. I can’t wait for 2026. WDW Marathon forever!

The trip report’s not over yet, though. This calls for a celebratory dinner, don’t you think? ‘Til then!

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