By David MacDonald I f you’re the self-conscious type at the gym – the kind of gym rat who only works out during the wee hours of the morning – because you make a funny face when you run on the treadmill, for instance, have I got an event to tell you about. Since 1994, Disney Parks and Resorts Worldwide have hosted races and marathons, many of them Disney-themed. This year, the theme was Star Wars and the separate 2017 Light and Dark Side half-marathons took place at Disney- land in Anaheim this January. The two different races had only one real distinction: the costumes the runners were permitted to wear. But like in most Star Wars-themed community activities, the rules left room for dispute. (Darth Vader does after all return to the Light Side in his final moments, so a runner could technically dress like the reformed Anakin Skywalker and run in the Light Side race so long as they didn’t break race rules and wear a facemask, helmet, and cape as all three wardrobe items – along with toy blasters and lightsa- bers – was banned for obvious reasons.)
While some runners come to the starting line in full Com- ic-Con regalia, others find running- friendly solutions to their need to express their Star Wars allegiances. A cleverly-de- signed ball cap, for instance, can look surprisingly like Boba Fett’s helmet mask when a runner has their head down. For over four miles, the course for both half-marathons took runners through Disneyland’s various landmarks, including Cars Land and Sleeping Beauty’s Castle, before leaving the park and continuing into The Heart of Orange County.
RunDisney sees 260,000 runners enter its events every year.
And that number is steadily increasing. In 2016, RunDisney extended its circuit to include Disneyland Paris.
According to Forbes, Disney runs the marathon business with its usual tact. All races are held either before or after the park’s normal hours of operation so that the flow of tra- ditional guests is not interrupted. And like all Disney attrac- tions, the race series is designed with everybody in mind. RunDisney currently operates events for kids, 5Ks, 10Ks, as well as post-race parties.
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JUNE 2017 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
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