In Which Jenn REALLY Misses Night Races

Osborne Lights

And don’t even get me STARTED on the Osborne Lights.

I find it nuts that the Wine & Dine Two Course Challenge is still not sold out. But I have some theories as to why…

A couple years ago, when the Wine & Dine Half Marathon became a regular morning race like all the others, we lost the last runDisney nighttime race. There are two main camps on this subject: the relieved and the enraged.

The relieved are pleased to run in the morning like they are used to, to not worry about properly fueling and hydrating over the course of an entire day, to have a full day in the parks after and not stay up until the wee hours of the morning for some after party.

The enraged miss the uniqueness of the night race, and shutting down Epcot at 4am, and leaning into their night owl tendencies.

If I had to choose, I’d fall into the latter group. But while I agree with its arguments, I don’t think too many people consider my primary reason. Namely, that it eliminates my huge, panic-attack-inducing runDisney fear: that I will sleep through the race.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: I FREAK OUT about waking up for runDisney races. The odds of me waking up naturally around 3am are slim to none, and if I’m not roused by an alarm I’m probably not rousing at all. I have worked myself into a tizzy over this before and I probably will again, over and over and over until I can’t run anymore and/or I’m dead.

But at what sweet, lovely races was waking up never an issue? Why, the night races, of course! Bus call was a mere 8pm, so as long as I didn’t just completely forget why I was at WDW in the first place or what day it was, making the bus on time was never an area of concern for me. An entire, oozing barrel full of anxiety was gone, just like that.

And so I beg of you, runDisney: please bring back at least one night race. If you can’t restore Wine & Dine, how about a triumphant return of the Tower of Terror 10 Miler? Or a new race entirely? My mental health depends on it!

Do you prefer night races or are you totally cool with the early mornings? Do I need to chill? If so, how?

Don’t forget, you can follow FRoA on Twitter @fairestrunofall and on Instagram @fairestrunofall. If you have any questions or thoughts, leave a comment or email fairestrunofall@gmail.comSee ya real soon!

2 Comments

  1. I've run Wine and Dine as both the night and the daytime races. I think that the night race had a different vibe and a more "adult crowd." I liked both, and definitely miss running through the Osbourne Lights, but I think I fall in the morning camp as it was impossible to properly prepare fuel and energy-wise for a night race at Walt Disney World. Plus, the weather has been better. I'm a survivor of both Splash and Dash and the Half a Half.

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