Look, this is a race for Disney lovers. If you're not into Disney, you'll still get a good experience but another race might suit you better. For me? I adore it. RunDisney is not messing around. It makes for a really lovely, intense race experience. I ran my first Disney marathon in 2012, my second in 2017 and my third in 2019. This past year I did the Dopey challenge, which is aptly named. It was a profoundly stupid and brilliant choice to participate. Disney does a great job with the experience, start to finish. Disney was my first marathon and it was an adjustment going to other races that are less polished. START: It's an egregiously early morning (I always disregard the "racers must be on buses by xtime" and mosey on over far later on "spectator buses." But it's still so early and the corals take forever, though again they're managed well and keep you moving. They do have character experiences and music and it's not boring. RACE: the course itself is relatively simple. Flat with a few "hills" from exit ramps. Disney really piles on the magic, with great music and characters out between the parks. Running parks themselves are just the greatest ever. it makes my heart so joyful just thinking about it. It's also nice to have actual restrooms and not just portapotties. Disney also has photographers everywhere, and they wear lime green. We made sure to point them out to each other and were ridiculous about smiling and laughing and looking like we were having an absurdly good time. Our photos are truly amazing. And pretending to be joyous actually made us joyous. The photos are part of photopass (which is like $175 but includes every photo taken of you and anyone in your party in the parks) so actually getting race photos was fun. AND you get some rare character photos--I also like these photo opps better than regular ones because runners are all business and don't need a 5 minute character interaction. Plus the pictures were really good. We always buy it in a group so to make it more cost effective. And they're uploaded the same day so you can relive while recovering. The balloon ladies are really helpful for the anxious pack of the pack runners--if we can't see them, we're doing fine. FINISH: Disney has the finish down to a science. I like that they give you a snack box instead of 10 separate things. I also love that it's gluten free. OVERALL: Truly, I love this race. RunDisney's motto is every mile is magic, and I have to say they deliver.

This is a really small local race. It was charming. The volunteers at packet pick up were so excited to be there and meet us runners. The water stops had themes. It's about as beautiful as the heartland can get with farms on farms on farms. My friend and I counted barn quilts, and let me just say they were prevalent. On our race day, it was ungodly hot and sunny. Because it's farmland for days, there was almost no sun. At one point, I was dying and walking and everything was terrible. Then, in the middle of nowhere a cooler sat on the side of the road. We couldn't see runners ahead of us, so we decided it was for the race. Inside was just lots and lots of ice. We grabbed enormous chunks and put it in our hats, sports bras and rubbed it on our skin. I think the miracle cooler saved me from heat stroke. There were some really thoughtful details like that throughout the course. It's my worst time (by a lot) but I am so proud of this finish.

I dig the swag at this race. I wear my Go Far backpack to this day, and I love spotting them on other runners. It's a really good backpack. This race is in the spring though, so you need to be prepared for cold. I stupidly didn't and Target was cleaned out of all wintery supplies. It was so cold, though it warmed up a bit during the race. I do like that the start is inside a warm building so you don't freeze in the corals. It's sort of an odd place to finish, but it's worth it if starting there is the tradeoff. The actual race itself takes you all around Fargo and I thought that was really fun. There was a lot to keep my mind occupied with during the race as the course brings you through a bunch of different places.

This is a really beautiful race. The weather can be a bit sporadic but it's stunning with the fall leaves, lakes and rivers along the route. The crowd support really is unusual in that people will have marathon parties. There's pretty much support from start to finish. The run up summit--yes, it's a long hill but it's generally pretty sloping. It wasn't as bad as I expected. The parking is a bit difficult at the finish, but drop off and pick up was great at the start and finish.