#dopeychallenge

[tyler-talks-disney]

RunDisney's Infamous Challenge

Back when I was in highschool, I was a part of my school's cross country team. Funny enough, the running was my favorite part of being on the team, since it was an excuse for me to not only relieve the stresses of my day in a healthy way, but also find time to hang around with some of my closest friends. It wasn't just a sport for me, it was a lifestyle, and from what it seems, almost everyone I had made connections with in the running community feels the same way.

In recent years, I have become a little bit out of touch with running, for a variety of reasons, but it doesn't stop me from looking back to those days fondly, and inspire me to pick it back up again. Thinking back to my days in highschool, I can remember when my interests in running and Disney had converged when I found out about this little thing called RunDisney.

Among the variety of amazingly creative races, that allowed runners and athletes of all sorts to actually run through the parks as part of the race course, there was always one that stuck out to me as the ULTIMATE challenge for me as a runner. That is the Dopey Challenge.

To anyone outside of the running community, and probably even some people within it, this challenge would seem like an insanely uninteresting and crazy, but to me as a probably a little Cross-Country-crazy highschooler, it seemed like a dream! Those who participate in this challenge do it over the annual Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend, and must complete a series of increasingly longer races each day.

On day one, it starts simply enough, running a 5K. The next day, things take a turn, and the runner must complete a 10K. The next day goes a step up from there, and runs a half-marathon. For the final challenge, and the most intimidating of them all, the runner attempts a marathon. This is a crazy feat to accomplish for anyone, even with the proper training, but I just found the idea of it so fun to try!

While I may not run as much as I used to, running is something I would like to implement back into my life, and maybe one day give one of these races a shot.

[teamrundisney]

Like a grand and miraculous spaceship, our planet has sailed through the universe of time and is now 5️⃣ days away from our Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend! #TeamrunDisney #runDisney • #GoofyChallenge #DopeyChallenge #WDW10K #WDW5K #WDWHalf #WDWMarathon #DisneyRunning #DisneyRunners #DisneyParks #Epcot #SpaceshipEarth (at EPCOT) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cmy2ez7O1hS/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[learningasirun]

#Repost @kat.runs.disney with @use.repost ・・・ WDW 10K is finished. Half way through the Dopey Challenge. I love the 10K distance. I sparkles my way around Epcot, got some great character photos and got a fabulous Chip n Dale medal!! Tomorrow is the half and it’s supposed to be colder tomorrow at the start than today! Wish me luck! #rundisney #runner #instarun #instarunner #disneyrunner #inspiringrunco #teamsparkle #sparklesquad #disneyrunners #runhappy #runningisfun #10K #dopeychallenge #dopeytraining #marathontraining #keepittight #crownedcrew #rungoodr #brooksrunning #disneyphotopass #teamsparklewdwchallenge #90s #wdw10k #teamsparklewdwchallenge https://www.instagram.com/p/Cnt28HmuL4n/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[touchmyverde-blog]

#wdwmarathon #dopeychallenge #5kcomplete #onedownthreetogo (at EPCOT) https://www.instagram.com/p/CnCN98vOxz3SdOjYWwN1LEvaXYPGZxOjh2Weow0/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[youngcrew09]

[125daystotrain]

Training for another marathon.  Maybe.

I’ve let my friend convince me to train for the Disney World Dopey Challenge in January 2021 (you run the 5K, 10K, half-marathon, and full marathon over 4 days, in that order).  TBD whether I actually sign up - a lot of it will depend on, y’know, the whole pandemic thing.  That said, I worked it out and I have exactly enough time to go from zero to Dopey if I start this past Monday, April 6.  So I did.  And I’m planning to document here, similar to what I did for my very first marathon.  

Monday’s run: C2 5k Week 1 (5 min warmup walk, 60sec run/90sec walk, 5 minute cooldown walk).  2.28 miles, 34:42 minutes.  I used a podcast, which if I can figure out where I found it I’ll link to.  Unfortunately, I had it on an ipod shuffle and I accidentally hit the “next” button instead of the volume button halfway through, so I had to try to get back to where I was, which is impossible.  So I did an extra 5 minutes.  Oops.

Came home and: 1 x 5 single leg squats, each leg Hip flexor exercises (no band, 20 reps total, straight leg raises, side leg raises, clamshells) stretching foam rolling

See under the cut if you feel like reading a vague history of the last few years/what I’m thinking!

This time around I’m definitely older, my body is feeling that “older”, and I haven’t really run regularly since about 2017.  That’s for a few reasons, one being that after running the Boston Marathon in 2016 my right knee was messed up.  Never really did figure out what was wrong, despite an MRI, so I guess we’ll see how that goes.  I also moved in summer 2017, to an on-campus night job of sorts, and along with that comes no kitchen and eating in the dining hall, plus occasional evening responsibilities.  The dining hall, particularly the dinner hours, really messed with my gym/running since I much prefer going right after work and I have to be careful about what/how much I eat before running because it upsets my stomach/gives me heartburn.  So combining dinner ending at 7:15, me not leaving work at exactly 5pm (some days not until 7 due to some stuff that happened in 2018), and not having a kitchen in which to prepare my own meals (plus, if I’m getting free dinner I didn’t really want to have to buy my own anyway...), you get me not really doing any workouts.  I’ve tried, on-and-off, to go in the morning before work, at like 6am, with some friends, and it sort-of works.  But I’m really not that much of a getting-up-early person.  Given the option, I sleep until the last possible minute and I mostly always have.  So going in the mornings was not motivating to me, even though I had friends to go with.

Cue the COVID-19 pandemic.  All of the students are gone, meals are brown bags that I pick up and then take home to my suite to eat on my own.  I still have a job and responsibilities to my students, but it’s all electronic/remote, I don’t have to be anywhere at a particular time anymore.  So my friend convinced me (tho lbr, she didn’t have to try too hard), the at the end of March, and I spent last week plotting out the schedule, trying to find some decent running plans and then counting backward to see if I could fit it all in.  Miraculously, I could.  Then I figured I should get new sneakers, and the brand that I like (Brooks) was having a sale on last-year’s model, so I counted the mileage, knowing one should change sneakers every 300-400 miles when running, and bought 3 pairs, which will just about get me to Dopey.  So I had my plan, my sneakers were arriving a few days before I was supposed to start, and now my dinners are brown-bag affairs that I can pop in the fridge and eat when I’m done.

So, Monday rolls around.  I planned to get up at 7 and run then.  That...didn’t happen.  And I felt really bad about myself all day, and kept promising that I would go at 11, at 2, at 4 and still didn’t.  But then 7:30pm rolled around and I decided eff it, I was going to go then instead.  I was hoping that there would be fewer people out running on the river, and, to be honest, I’ve gained quite a bit of weight and my clothes are tighter than I’d like and it’s darker at 7:30pm then it is in the morning or the afternoon.  So I did it, and it went well.  Except for the part where I accidentally hit the “next” button and had to try to figure out how to get back to the middle of a “song” on an ipod shuffle.  So I ended up doing an extra 5 minutes of running, which isn’t that big a deal, particularly since I had a looooong break in the middle while I tried to get back to the right spot in the podcast.  I didn’t succeed, but I fudged it enough.  I’d rather run a bit more than too little.

As much as I hate starting from scratch with running, I’ve done it several times and I felt pretty good.  A bit achy, but that’s fairly normal for me, plus it was my first day working out since....probably January at best.  More likely November or December.

Anyway.  I’m going to put today’s run in a separate post, so that’ll come later.

[avadagr8]

I just thought I would remind everyone 😉 (mainly myself) of the insanely awesome accomplishment I achieved two weeks ago! The Dopey Challenge ain’t no joke! I’m so glad I did it, that I challenged myself, and that I can check it off the list. 😂 #rundisney #disney #minnie #waltdisneymarathonweekend #magickingdom #hollywoodstudios #dopeychallenge #dopeychallenge2022 #mickeyears https://www.instagram.com/p/CZFu5cer4Ra/?utm_medium=tumblr

[mduartec]

Dona flor e seus dois Runners... (Quem entender vai entregar a idade). . #dopeychallenge #Nike #Disney #RunDisney #VaporFly #vaporfly4percent (at Espn Wide World of Sports Orlando Florida) https://www.instagram.com/p/BnEfXvyhhhQ/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1cvu4tlwh5uf8

[elfjet]

I’m going to Disney World..WHIIII!!! Gonna be running the Dopey Challenge 😁 plus going to the parks and enjoying myself #rundisney #rundisney2019 #dopeychallenge #livetorun #running

[generationintrovert]

Packing for Dopey

[blookitty]

Out here at 4am representing the Hackearney Hivemind and Travis stans. Shout-out to @howdydarling and @theloversabovethelaw

[teamrundisney]

Details on how to complete the 2024 Coast to Coast Challenge! #TeamrunDisney #TrDRunningClub #runDisney • #DisneylandHalf #DumboDoubleDare #CoastToCoastChallenge #WDWHalf #WDWMarathon #GoofyChallenge #DopeyChallenge #WineDineHalf #TwoCourseChallenge #PrincessHalf #FairyTaleChallenge #SpringtimeSurpriseChallenge #SpringtimeSurprise10Miler https://www.instagram.com/p/Cn2NY_euDCn/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[learningasirun]

#Repost @roadrunnergirl with @use.repost ・・・ It’s #FinishLineFriday !!! The 10K race from the Dopey Challenge running with my flock of Kevins was an absolute blast!!! 💛🧡💙💜❤️ #MarathonWeekend2023 #DopeyChallenge #DopeyChallenge2023 #wdw #runningthroughthecastle #WDW10K #roadrunnergirl #rundisney https://www.instagram.com/p/CnpQSv8rWTc/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[touchmyverde-blog]

Day 1 of the #wdwmarathon #dopeychallenge (at EPCOT) https://www.instagram.com/p/CnB1m16OptdsSA0hmXAXQYE6vO8ZqZSYoqQXAg0/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[ravenruns]

Unofficially 1:18 on the 10k! Two down, 39.3 miles to go.

[joyful-miles]

Is it too late the #rockthedots 🤔 NEVER! ❤️ The #JoyfulMiles crew having some #joyfuljumpshot fun, #Epcot style! #runDisney #wdwmarathon #dopeychallenge #wdwmarathon25 #disney #cignaruntogether (at Epcot - Walt Disney World)