If you are traveling from out of town or are a local that wants to be near the starting line on race day you'll want to make your reservations for the Disney Marathon weekend early. You will need to choose between staying on property at a Disney Resort or staying off property in the Lake Buena Vista area.

If you are vacationing with the family before and after the race, you'll probably want to stay on property since it makes getting to and from all the parks easy since they run transportation like clockwork to shuttle you from one cash register to the next. I don't know if they run buses early on race morning from the resorts to the Epcot parking lot so you'll want to check when booking a room.

If you are looking to spend a little less or if the relative ease of transportation on property isn't much of a concern, you can find some great deals in the Lake Buena Vista area as well as some very nice resorts like the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress. Look for hotels on Hotel Plaza Blvd., 535 (Apopka Vineland), or Palm Parkway. There are also hotels on Highway 192 west of I-4 that are near the south entrance to Disney that would only be about 15-20 minutes away.

I'd suggest calling the hotel you plan on staying at before booking to see if they make any special arrangements for transportation for the marathon or have any special deals for marathon participants. If you find a hotel that does either of these, please let me know so I can update this post to note it.

To save you some clicking, here's the number of registrants each race is allowing and other race information:

Disney Marathon - 16,000. Traditionally reaches its registration capacity by August 1.
Event Information - Registration

Disney Half Marathon - Capacity Not Listed.
Event Information - Registration

Goofy's Race and a Half Challenge - 3,000. At 35% capacity as of 3/30/06
Event Information - Registration

I saw this on Nancy Toby's blog today:

If you're considering doing Goofy in 2007, and you aren't signed up yet, better register NOW!

Disney's Wide World of Sports Announces Registration Cap For 2007 Goofy's Race and a Half Challenge LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (March 29)

According to the article, they are already at 35% capacity. They are accepting 3,000 Goofy entries which is about 700 more than the total number they had last year--the first year they split up the race days.

I'm with Nancy when she questions why they are capping this when they don't really have to do much extra work, if any. Since this is Disney, the answer is likely artificial scarcity. As she notes, the more unique runners they have, the more likely they are to have more family/friends visiting the parks, hotels, restaurants, etc.

UPDATED: Lori sent along some photos from the race and I've included a couple here.

Lori did the Disney Marathon this year and she was kind enough to let me email her some questions about the race and her training and share the answers here. This was her first marathon. Here's Lori's Disney Marathon experience:

How long before the race did you start training?
6 months -- way too long. I was very burned out. You only need 4 months if you stick to it.

Did you train with a group? If so, do you think you would have trained as well if you hadn't?
Yes, with the Track Shack Group.

No, my group was awesome! We had similar goals and trained very well together. Our entire group all finished within 10 minutes of each other. I think I would have been more slack about training if it wasn't for the group. It makes the time pass faster when you have folks to talk to.

It also helps to have the outside motivation. I think the key is finding a group that has similar goals as you and that is FUN! We planned happy hours, etc. I will also tell you training runs can suck -- especially when you have 20 mile runs. You need people around you.

Lori's Track Shack Group Before the Race

What was a typical training week like leading up to the race?
They vary. I trained using Galloway 5 and 1's. One week each month on a Saturday would be the long run. Tuesday was a faster-paced track workout and Thursdays were 3-5 miles on hills. The hardest point for me was hitting 16 miles. Once I got over the 16-mile hurdle, it seemed to come very easy. I struggled with 3 16-17 miles runs.

What was your longest run?
20 miles

What was your taper like?
Hardly anything. I ran 8 miles a week out, 2 miles 5 days out and then 3 miles 3 days out. That was it. I thought the week before was more about preparing yourself mentally, eating right and getting good sleep.

Any tips for first-timers running this race? (where to park/stay, when to get there, etc.)
I would stay at home b/c you are guaranteed good sleep in your own bed. I also asked my doctor for Lunesta to help me sleep the 3 nights before the race -- I feel this really helped me with anxiety and solid rest, which I knew was imperative for my body :-)

How was the course? Anything out of the ordinary to look out for?
It was fun in the parks, but most of the run is behind the parks. I thought the entire thing was fun and felt very strong the entire time. My training really paid off. The last 2 miles felt like 10 miles. I wore clothes that I stripped off and left on the side of the road b/c it was so cold.

There wasn't anything out of the ordinary, but it is so much more fun than any training run you will ever have! I got to mile 15 and it felt like 5 miles because so much was going on all the time. There are a ton of people to talk to and laugh with all along the way.

Parking is NOT difficult. We were there in about 30 minutes from College Park [ed. note: about normal time]. We had given ourselves an hour to be safe and had to sit in the car for a half hour.

There were water and powerade stops every mile -- which I didn't expect. This really helped me. In training runs we had water every 2-3 miles and I would drink so much b/c I was thirsty, then I would get an upset tummy. Having a little something each mile, helped my body digest and keep up.

Make sure to train so you know what works, don't wear any new clothes, socks, shoes or try new foods. Know what you wear will work for you
when you get out there. Same thing with foods, gu, water and powerade.

Thanks, Lori for sharing your race and tips with us. I think there's some great info. in there that I'm going to expand on in the next few weeks.

Lori's Track Shack Group After the Race

The good news, is that Sunday's forecast is a bit warmer than it was a few days ago. The bad news is that for those of you doing the half on Saturday, it will be a bit colder:

Some tips for the cold weather for those of us not used to it:

• Trash bags are good to keep the wind off you while waiting for the start and the first bit of the race until you warm up. Be sure to use unscented bags!
• You lose about 25% of your body heat through your head so cover it up.
• Warm hands make you happy! You can get cheap gloves and discard them if/when you warm up.
• Dress in layers that you can remove and discard as you warm up.
• You'll feel about 20 degrees warmer once you get going than you do at the start so layer accordingly.
• Warm up by stretching and running. This will reduce injury and also keep you feeling warm.
• Cool down gradually. Don't be tempted by the cold to feel like you don't need it. Your body will thank you.
• Stay hydrated. You may not feel as thirsty but you will still sweat and lose fluids.
• If you have bronchial problems, use a scarf, handkerchief, or balklava to cover your mouth and nose.
• Don't forget the sunscreen. You are going to be outside for a few hours and can still get a sunburn. Combine that with cold air windburn and your face will not be happy with you.
• Although I haven't tried this, I've seen it suggested that men may want to wear an extra (or at least one) pair of underwear. Gotta keep the twigs and berries warm!
• For men, NipGuards are a must. Don't want to see bloody nipples in your finish photo. These are much easier to use and more reliable than using adhesive bandages. Be sure to shave around the nipple first so they will stick and you don't end up ripping hair out when you remove them.