2018 Walt Disney World Marathon By The Numbers
The 2018 Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend presented by Cigna from January 3-7 at Walt Disney World in Florida marks the 25th anniversary of the Walt Disney World Marathon. The four-day Dopey Challenge celebrates its 5th anniversary.
The racing extravaganza is the largest running festival in the U.S., according to RunningUSA, with five main events: Walt Disney World Marathon, Walt Disney World Half Marathon, Walt Disney World 10K, Walt Disney World 5K and runDisney Kids Races. That includes runners doubling, tripling, or quadrupling their fun with the Dopey Challenge, Goofy’s Race and a Half Challenge, and Castaway Cay Challenge for runners taking a Disney cruise after the race weekend.
It all adds up to one big event. Nearly 69,000 finishers completed races in 2016. So take a look at Mickey Mouse’s favorite race weekend by the numbers. All stats provided by runDisney prior to the start of the races.
2018 Walt Disney World Marathon By The Numbers
Participation
808,000—runners have participated in Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend events since 1994
363,000—runners have tackled the Walt Disney World Marathon alone
187,000—runners participate in runDisney races each year
100,000—runners and spectators expected at the 2018 Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend
97,000—registrations for the 2018 Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend, with many runners completing multiple races
26,000—runners registered for the Walt Disney World Half Marathon
25,500—2018 Walt Disney World Marathon registrations
15,000—runners registered for the Walt Disney World 5K
14,700—registations for the Walt Disney World 10K
9,000—Goofy’s Race and a Half Challenge registrants, who complete both the half-marathon and marathon
4,000—kids registered for the runDisney Kids Races
7,800—Dopey Challenge registrants, who complete all of the 5K, 10K, half-marathon and marathon. *Ed. Note: This is an estimate. runDisney provided 2,800 as a number, but based on the number of Dopey finishers and the 2017 registration number, 7,800 is likely more accurate. Thanks to readers for catching the mistake!
600+—runners have completed every 48.6-mile Dopey Challenge since 2014
88—countries represented
76—”Perfect” runners, who have finished every Walt Disney World Marathon since 1994, are registered in 2018. 45 of them are from Florida. Read the rest of this entry →