Industry Sports Services road races | Areas served US, France | |
Formerly called Disney Endurance Series Type Division of a whole owned subsidiary of a public conglomerate Headquarters | ||
runDisney (formerly Disney Endurance Series and The Endurance Series at Walt Disney World Resort), is the road race division of Disney Sports Enterprises, a unit of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, a segment and subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. The division is designed to get runners to plan a "runcation", a vacation planned to coincide with the race they signed up for.
Contents
runDisney consists of 26 individual races with 163,000 runners.
History
In 1994, Disney held the Walt Disney World Marathon, its first road race while adding addition races later. There were only 5,588 runners at this inaugural race of what became the Disney Endurance Series.
Disneyland Marathon and 5K were run in 1995 three weeks after the LA Marathon on March 26, 1995. The marathon included Anaheim Stadium and a loop around The Pond of Anaheim, while its 5K stuck to Disneyland taking in six of seven of the theme lands.
By 1998, Williams was named Vice President of Disney Sports Attractions, overseeing a newly created sports & recreation division including its races. In 1998, the first Donald Half Marathon is run at the same day as the WDW Marathon. The first 10K Disney Classic race on October 3, 1999 kicked off Disney World's 15-month Millennium Celebration.
On March 30, 2003, Sports Attractions held the first Disney Inline Marathon at the request of the International Inline Skating Association. By 2005, a half marathon was added to this weekend.
In 2004, Florida Half-Ironman Triathlon and Family Festival was started by Ironman North America and Disney Sports Attraction and was schedule only for two years. The festival was held May 22 to 23 which include the Florida Half-Ironman, a Kids Race, and an expo.
Disney's 10K Classic was renamed the Race for the Taste 10K in 2005 and moved to October 9 to coincide with the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival, which then ran from September 30 to November 13. The Race for the Cure 5K was schedule for October 8 with proceeds benefiting the Susan G. Komen Breast Foundation while the Disney's Cross Country Classic was schedule on the seventh.
In 2006, the Goofy race challenge was inaugurated as the half and marathon were scheduled for separated days for the first time at the World Weekend. 3,000 runners applied for the challenge. By that year, a Fun Run 5K and Kids’ Races were added on Saturday, while a Health and Fitness Expo was held Thursday to Friday at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex.
From May 5 to 7, 2006, the inaugural Disney Minnie Marathon Weekend was held but no race was a marathon. The first Wine & Dine Half-Marathon was run in 2010.
The 2014 World Marathon Weekend added the Walt Disney World 10K plus the Dopey Challenge for completing all four weekend races. An additional race, Castaway Cay Challenge, was added to the weekend series in 2015 with the 5K race taking place on Disney Cruise Line's Castaway Cay.
Race for the Taste
The Race for the Taste, formerly Disney Classic, was a 10K route that started at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex, then went through Disney-MGM Studios' new attraction, Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show, then went along Disney's Yacht and Beach Club Resorts, and finished at the World Showcase in Epcot, where the Food and Wine Festival is taking place. A ceremonial toast kicked off the race while music and entertainment lined the route. Runners were required to maintain a 15 minute mile.
Athletes enjoyed a ceremonial toast to start the race. During the run, participants were entertained by festive music and entertainment. A "Go the Distance" Expo was held October 7–8 which in 2005 had a special wine debut, Miles of Magic, a California Syrah wine.