Marathon snafu article now up

[Lani]

If in case you don't visit our front page regularly, my marathon snafu article is now up.

[lisap]

Great article, Lani. I don't run marathons (or anywhere, really ) so I can't understand totally the emotions about being shut out, but after reading it I felt so badly for those folks. It just ain't right.

[Mooshu]

Thanks for the great article Lani, I would have never known! I can't believe something like that would happen at a Disney function.

I hope everyone that it happened to at least receives an apology. I could only imagine training for the 1/2 marathon only to be denied finishing because of lack of communication on Disney's behalf. Talk about an emotional roller coaster!!!

[marktips]

My problem with the article is - did they not make it to the gate before the cut off?

WDW has very strict operational policies for safety. No one gets through backstage gates during park operation without a photo ID, not even folks wearing runner's numbers. Park operation began at 9am and they had intended for that to be the close of the window.

So, atleast understand that them closing the gate wasn't some strange act - it was a safety/security issue, hence the police being there and not CMs.

A thought: The Train was stationed at Frontierland station for the runner's to see. Park opened at 9am, with the scheduled morning show which involves the train coming into Mainstreet station. During that time, the train needs to get from A to B, and the only place in the park to go under the train is through the tunnels or under Mainstreet's station.

Not everything is so cut and dry as "they wanted to open the park and were mean" but rather they had scheduled park opening and a deadline and once the park began operation it was no longer safe to enter through that entrance - not for the guests in the park from a security standpoint, nor for the runners because of backstage operations.

[stan4d_steph]

Sounds like a poorly handled situation on the part of WDW Marathon staff. Bad communication and poor treatment will adversely affect this event. I would definitely think twice if I expected myself to be near the back.

Thanks for the article Lani.

[Mox]

So, atleast understand that them closing the gate wasn't some strange act - it was a safety/security issue, hence the police being there and not CMs.

The closing of the gate was not the surprise--it was going to happen at some point. The surprise was with when they closed the gate and how poorly the situation was handled afterward, especially since it was inconsistent with how it had been handled in the past.

BTW, park CMs closed the gate - the OC Sheriff arrived a little later.

Not everything is so cut and dry as "they wanted to open the park and were mean" but rather they had scheduled park opening and a deadline and once the park began operation it was no longer safe to enter through that entrance - not for the guests in the park from a security standpoint, nor for the runners because of backstage operations.

No one said that was the sole reason for the cutoff, but I believe that it was a contributing factor along with poor planning with regard to the number of participants and poor communication, both on behalf of the race officials to the participants as to when and where they could expect to be swept and between race officials and park management as to how the MK cutoff was to be handled.

Thanks, Lani, for a great article.

[Sheila]

The closing of the gate was not the surprise--it was going to happen at some point. The surprise was with when they closed the gate and how poorly the situation was handled afterward, especially since it was inconsistent with how it had been handled in the past.

Just to add, Mox was one of the folks caught up in the sweep at the MK and experienced it first-hand.

Sheila