This race is always an insane mud fest, but this year was even better (or worse, depending on your point of view) than usual!

What is normally dry was muddy.
What's normally muddy was underwater.
What used to be a stream crossing was now a river crossing!

Most people were about a minute/mile slower than usual this year. But we all loved it!!!

Looking at the course map prior to the race, I wasn't expecting too much from this race. The first couple miles were on highways, with nothing to look at. But I was very pleasantly surprised. The first couple miles were on the main Disney roads, but that helped spread out the crowds before entering Epcot. So it turned out to be a very good thing, and the run through Epcot was very enjoyable.

I stay at a Disney resort, but drove to the race. The traffic wasn't too bad and parking was super easy. However, I arrived fairly early (4:15am), and I would recommend that to others.

The start was fairly organized, but you do need to pay attention to the volunteers because it looks overwhelming. The finish line is the same for all the Disney races, which is great!

All runners were given Fitful boxes for the post race snack. These were nice since they have a nice variety and they're easy to carry around.

I love all the Disney Marathon weekend races, but I think the half-Marathon is my least favorite of the four.

It's still a great race, but it tends to be very crowded. The organizers re-did the corral system this year, which made a HUGE difference. But it is still congested for much of the race. There are also much less opportunities to get pictures taken with characters, but that's not an issue for me.

If you're a Disney junkie like I am -- do this race!

I love this race. In fact, 2014 was my 6th straight Disney Marathon, and it gets better every year. It's the perfect opportunity to see parts of Disney that you don't usually get a chance to see.

This was, by far, my best Disney Marathon. Even though it was part of the Dopey Challenge I ran really well. The weather somewhat cooperated, but a couple degrees cooler would have been nice. They changed up the corrals this year, which was a huge improvement. It also seems that they added a lot of porta potties along the route. I never had to wait in a line for one.

The on course volunteers are spectacular, and the aid stations are frequent and very well stocked. And there are plenty of photo opportunities along the way if that what you're looking for.

The course itself is about as flat as a marathon can be. There are one or two slight hills, but if they weren't in a marathon you wouldn't even notice them.

This race starts in Acadia National Park and winds its way along the ocean for 26.2 gorgeous miles!

A difficult course, but well worth the effort.
The entire city comes out and helps with this race. Our waitress from dinner the night before the race was a course marshal. The bus boy was handing out medals at the finish. And the check out person at the grocery store was working at a water stop. And they ALL remembered me!!!

I got to the starting line about an hour before the race and parked on the street less than 100 yards from the actual starting line. I then used an indoor rest room, since all the businesses open early to support the runners!

Make a vacation out of this race!