My road racing “career” began in 1981, when I took part in a five-mile footrace in central New Jersey. I huffed and puffed my way through the hilly course at what seemed like a snail’s pace. I was exhausted when I crossed the finish line, but from that day forward, I was hooked on running.

Over the years, I’ve completed the New York City Marathon [1982], the Marine Corps Marathon [2004], two half-marathons and a boatload of five-milers and 10-kilometer races.

And then there are all the runDisney events I’ve taken part in, be they in Florida, California or in the Bahamas.

I ran the Walt Disney World half-marathon in 2003 and then again in 2004. I completed the WDW Marathon and the Disneyland half-marathon in 2006, and in 2008, I accepted and conquered the Goofy Challenge (a half-marathon on Saturday, Jan. 12, and a full marathon on Sunday, Jan. 13).

I’ve even taken part in several runDisney five-kilometer runs on Castaway Cay, Disney Cruise Line’s private island.

While major events like the New York and Marine Corps marathons have their undeniable draws, there is something special, something enticing about participating in a runDisney event.

Call it the “pixie dust” effect. Where else can you pose with Disney characters or hop on a park attraction all while running in a road race?

A few years ago, I got to experience first-hand what makes a runDisney event so special. I was among a group of about a dozen journalists who had the opportunity to go for a fun run of about a mile and a half.

It started from the confines of the gazebo near Disney’s Boardwalk Resort. We jogged through the back entrance of EPCOT, to the American Adventure pavilion, and then back again. The run started in the dark at 6:30 in the morning.

I ran stride-for-stride with Faron Kelley, an experienced marathoner who was director of marketing and communications for Disney Sports at the time and is currently Vice President, ESPN Wide World of Sports, runDisney and Disney’s Water Parks.

“We want to call attention to everything runDisney has to offer,” he told me, including “some of the most coveted medals in all of road racing.

“And, in just a few minutes, you’ll be able to experience something that all runDisney participants do – namely, running through a completely empty Disney theme park.”

At the time, more than 165,000 runners took part in Disney road races annually. That number has increased significantly over the years.

“runDisney is committed to helping everyone adopt a healthy and active lifestyle,” Kelley added.

That commitment was on full display this past Jan. 8-12 during the 2025 Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend.

I was on hand to experience the full extent of runDisney’s incredibly complex, amazingly efficient operation.

I was there to watch our daughter, Tracy Silvera, take part in Disney’s ultimate test of endurance, the Dopey Challenge. To the uninitiated, the Dopey Challenge is … well, dopier than the Goofy Challenge.

It started with a five-kilometer run on Thursday, a 10-kilometer race on Friday, a half-marathon on Saturday and a full marathon on Sunday. That adds up to 48.6 miles over four days (the Goofy Challenge, by comparison, is “only” 39.3 miles over two days).

The first three races, which start and end in the EPCOT parking lot, begin at 5 in the morning. The marathon gun goes off from the same spot at 4:30, which means runners get up at around 3 a.m. for each race. Depending on the race, competitors get to run through EPCOT, the Magic Kingdom, Disney’s Animal Kingdom and Disney’s Hollywood Studios (the marathon course goes through all four parks).

Our Marathon Weekend adventure began on Tuesday, Jan. 7, when Tracy, her son Jacob and I flew down from New Jersey. Tracy’s husband Cavrel and their daughter Abigail joined us on Thursday night.

We attended the Runners’ Expo on Wednesday so Tracy could get her race bibs and commemorative race shirts. When you participate in the Dopey Challenge, you get a total of SIX shirts – one for each of the four races, and one for the Goofy and one for the Dopey challenges.

And when you finish, you get SIX of those “coveted medals” Faron Kelley referred to. Those medals are truly works of art.

The expo is held at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex, which has grown exponentially since I last visited it in 2008. Indeed, in 2008, I was in and out of the venue in less than a half hour.

This time around, we spent several hours at the expo, in large part because the lines were so long. In fact, the queues for both the race bibs and commemorative shirts started outside two separate venues and took about 45 minutes each. We also spent about an hour on a switchback line to pose for photos with Goofy, Mickey and Minnie.

One of the great features of the Walt Disney World distance races is when you stay at a Disney on-property hotel – we were at Disney’s Old Key West Resort – Disney provides bus transportation to and from the Runners’ Expo, as well as to the start of each race in the wee hours of the morning and then back to your on-property hotel when you’re finished.

The other nice feature, as Kelley alluded to, is running through the Disney theme parks. Many runners will stop to pose for photos with the wide assortment of Disney characters during their runs, while others will take a break from running to ride an attraction (Expedition Everest was a popular stop for runners in Disney’s Animal Kingdom during the marathon).

Tracy was an accomplished track runner in high school and college. She accompanied me during several of my marathons and even followed in my footsteps, albeit decades later, in conquering the Empire State Building Run-Up and the New York City Marathon. Her husband also starred in track in high school and college, while their daughter Abigail is already making her mark on the track as a high school freshman. And Jacob is their biggest fan.

So, when Tracy announced that she was signing up for the 2025 Dopey Challenge, I knew she had the knowledge, experience and determination to succeed. She also understood that slow and steady was the way to approach this event.

For months, she trained on the steep hills in and around her neighborhood, as well as on her home treadmill. By Christmas, she deemed herself ready for the challenge ahead.

Tracy breezed through the first two races. She reported that she had more trouble weaving her way through the masses of other runners than anything else. I suspected that she might start to feel a little sore or tired by the time she completed the half-marathon, but she said she “felt great” after clocking a strong 2:15:47 time.

Sunday’s marathon was by far the biggest challenge for her … as well as her support team. It also was when I began to realize what my wife Janet had gone through following me during many of my running adventures.

Our plan was to catch a glimpse of Tracy somewhere in Animal Kingdom, then head over to EPCOT for the finish.

Fortunately, it was an early admission day at Animal Kingdom for Disney resort guests. We boarded an Animal Kingdom bus at Old Key West and arrived at the park when it opened at 7:30. We made our way to Harambe in the Africa section of the park, where there was a small area coned off to separate runners from spectators. It was near the 17-mile mark, meaning the competitors had less than 10 miles to go.

It was a chilly morning, with the sun just starting to peak through the leaves on the Tree of Life.

As we waited to catch a glimpse of Tracy, dozens upon dozens of marathoners passed by, some walking, most running, all appreciative that we were there, cheering for them. A few even went out of their way to exchange high-fives with us.

There were athletes of all shapes, sizes and sartorial choices … runners dressed as Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, more than a few princesses, a Sheriff Woody and even a guy wearing a Jason Kelce Philadelphia Eagles football jersey.

It was during this time that I began yearning to be out there with them. I missed the camaraderie shared among runners, the thrill of hearing people cheering for you along the course, and the adrenaline rush and sense of accomplishment you get when crossing the finish line.

But knee replacement surgery in February of 2024 had me sidelined. For the first time, I was on the outside looking in … and loving every minute of it. I couldn’t have been more proud of my daughter.

Indeed, this was Tracy’s day. And after waiting about 20 minutes, there she was, looking strong, with a big smile on her face when she saw us. She stopped, hugged her two kids, kissed her husband and gave me a high-five with her gloved right hand. “You got this,” I said to her, as she rejoined the race and headed out of Harambe to the Asia section of the park.

After seeing her (and after the other three took a turn on Expedition Everest) we hustled out of Animal Kingdom, caught a bus to Animal Kingdom Lodge, and then boarded another bus to EPCOT and the finish line.

While on the bus, I reflected on what a logistical challenge it is for the folks at runDisney to produce these races. From the Runners’ Expo to the bus transportation … to the placement of water stations and portable toilets along the courses … to medical personnel standing at the ready … to the finish-line setup of spectator bleachers, reunion areas and medal distribution stations.

The folks at runDisney pulled it off, with nary a hitch.

As for Tracy, she looked none the worse for wear as she crossed the marathon finish line in four hours, 52 minutes and 21 seconds (which included stopping for at least eight photos with characters), with her right arm raised and another smile on her face as she awaited a reunion with her proud family.

Chuck Schmidt is an award-winning journalist and retired Disney cast member who has covered all things Disney since 1984 in both print and on-line. He has authored or co-authored seven books on Disney, including his On the Disney Beat and Disney’s Dream Weavers for Theme Park Press. He has written a regular blog for AllEars.Net, called Still Goofy About Disney, since 2015.