Disneyland Halloween Half Marathon Weekend

March 16, 2025

Disclaimer: This is a very overdue blog post. I had started this last September when I came back from my trip and then things came up like planning my best friend’s shower and a whole bunch of life events and I forgot to finish this up. But better late than never, right?

I haven’t ran any races since the NYC Marathon in fall of 2023. The only ones I signed up for 2024 was the Disneyland Halloween Half because duh, Halloween! Being my favorite holiday and the Nightmare Before Christmas (my favorite Halloween movie) being part of the theming, how could I not? Plus it was an opportunity to go back to California, Disneyland and attend another Oogie Boogie Bash! I attended one 3 years ago (you can read about it on this old blog post) and I absolutely loved it. Plus Disneyland really does do Halloween parties better and let’s be real, I just wanted to go back and see Ernesto de la Cruz again because damn, he is so dreamy. So of course, I signed myself up for this.

This race weekend was my first Disneyland race weekend but also the first Halloween themed one ever for Disney. It was similar in structure to all the other half marathon weekends; consisting of a sunrise yoga, a 5k, a 10k and a half so 4 days in total of events. There were some similarities and differences, as well as pros and cons. And of course, I signed up for all 4 events. Oh yeah, there were also kid races, which obviously is the only event I did not participate in because obviously not a kid, lol. Well, physically, that is.

SUNRISE YOGA

I signed up for the sunrise yoga because I always love doing this before the start of a race weekend, even if it is an overpriced early morning event. I still love it. There’s something so calming and special about it right before the race weekend ramps up. And this time I got to experience it at Sleeping Beauty’s castle. Their check-in process for some reason felt a little inefficient with their one line system, because despite lining up at 3am (when it opened), it took much longer to finally get our wristbands and actually get in to the park. By the time I was able to get in, unfortunately the front spots near the castle were all taken up so we ended up with spots on Main street instead. It was still a nice view, but it would have been nice to get a castle view. Yoga began on time at 5am and lasted for about an hour. I liked that at this one, they had a few instructors placed at several points throughout the event, instead of one instructor leading the entire group and you had to depend on looking around the crowd to see if you had the pose down correctly like at Disney World. After yoga ends, there’s always a mad rush to the front of the castle for the stereotypical castle picture, and of course, I am JUST LIKE ALL THE OTHER GIRLS, lol. We grabbed some quick photos around the Mickey pumpkin too and then went back to our room to relax for a little bit since the park doesn’t officially open till 8am anyway.

That same day was also the first day of the fitness expo and bib pick up. We grabbed breakfast in the park, did some rides and photos and then headed over to the expo around noon to grab my bibs before retiring to the room for a nice afternoon nap since LA was in the middle of a heatwave that week (of course, great timing, a heat wave during a race weekend🙃). The temps peaked at 106°F so I figured it was safest to rest in our rooms during that time instead. We came back out for dinner later that evening when it was much cooler and there was more shade so it was much more bearable. I did some more rides before calling it a somewhat early night because I had to be up the next 3 mornings at 3am for all the races.

Luckily, despite the heat wave, the races start at 5am when the temps are much more bearable in the 70s. There was one con though, for some reason, the humidity was at an all time high, despite California usually being desert weather, and ironically this humidity went away during the day but then you had to fight the rising temps so there was just no winning.

The 5K

This ended up being my favorite course to run this weekend! And that’s not because the distance was short, lol. This was the first time I ever started a race INSIDE the park. Disney World has all their races starting in the Epcot parking lot for logistical reasons since their number of runners is so high, I imagine. At first I wonder how they were going to pack us all in there but it worked out. Security went smoothly and I was in the parks, with even a moment to spare for a photo at the Mickey pumpkin before getting into my corral fairly quickly. I assume the number of 5k participants are much less than a Disney World race to be able to get us all in Main Street for the start. The start line was at the hub, and went through a lot of the parks - you even got to run through the castle, no streets, and minimal backstage areas but even those were very fun to run through and see. And then we got to finish inside the park as well, and at the other park so you got to run through both! And my absolute favorite part happened right near the end, when I saw Luca and Alberto as a character stop with a short and very manageable line that moved quickly so I allowed myself to stop for a cute quick photo. I usually don’t stop for these photos because the lines can get insanely long and I don’t like to stop for too long and risk my legs locking up and also losing time. But the 5ks aren’t timed and I was already near the end. I got lucky because the photo came out super cute too. Oh yeah, that’s another great difference between Disneyland and Disney World races. All your race photos were included complimentary for this race weekend, whereas in Disney World you have to purchase Memory Maker, which is usually an additional $200 cost. So you KNOW I hammed it up and took advantage of every photopass I could spot and passed on the course.

The 10K

The 10K was also an amazing route! The first mile was running through the streets and by the second mile we were in the parks up til mile 5. Honestly, just the first and last mile was outside the parks and I’m not mad about it. I love that they had the mayor and his car stationed along the route too. This route didn’t seem grueling at all since so much of it is spent running through the parks. I really love this aspect of Disneyland races versus Disney World 10ks which can feel long because a lot of it is on the road after leaving Epcot before getting to Hollywood and then trying to get back to Epcot. The 10k starts and finishes in the same spot, outside of the park and ends just in time for the parks to open up. After the 10k, I took a nap and relaxed for the rest of the day. I got up around late afternoon to do a quick group shoot with Crowned Athletics before getting early dinner at Goofy’s Kitchen and settling in for the night. I laid out my outfit and packed everything else up that night since we had a flight to catch right after the half.

The Half Marathon

The half started and finished in the same place as the 10k. Luckily the hotel I chose was litterally a block away so it was very easy to get to and getting through security was easy peasy. Even getting into my corral was straightforward and quick, as opposed to Disney World where the start corrals are nearly a mile away from where the buses drop you off in the parking lot. Because of this ease of access to the corrals and starting areas, I didn’t have to rush or worry about transportation logistics like how you have to worry about getting on an early bus to get to Epcot on time. The hotel I chose in proximity to the start line and to the parks, was also very affordable, albeit being a no frills hotel.

This was the first runDisney race event in which I was in the last corral to start. I was a little worried but in the end, it wasn’t too bad. I made sure I was at the front of the corral, I trusted my training and ran as much as I could, but still slowed down and took a more conservative approach due to the heatwave. I ran through the parks continuously to give myself as much of a buffer from the balloon ladies and slowed down for a few walk breaks for the last few miles through the streets. After mile 5, everything was basically through the neighborhoods and streets which wasn’t as exciting but there were still a decent amount of cheer spots along the route. We got to run though Angel stadium, which was cool, although it would’ve been cool if they allowed spectators in to fill the stadium to cheer us on. The heat made it very hard to keep going as the sun crept up higher on the horizon on us but I remembered Jeff Galloway’s advice on keeping one foot right in front of the other and kept trudging on til the finish line was in sight. I was so happy to finally be at the end and dump water all over myself. Luckily they had plenty of cooling towels at the ready for everyone.

I grabbed my medals, made my way over the front gates of the parks to take quick medal photos as fast as I could before heading back to my hotel to shower and beeline it to the airport. I wish I had more time to stay an extra day and spend it in the parks for finisher photos but alas, PTO time is scarce and flights are expensive. If it wasn’t an issue, you know I would’ve stayed longer like I usually do post race.

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Would I do this again? I would definitely love to come back and run Disneyland again, especially for Halloween. Unfortunately a trip to the West Coast requires more time and days off from work, and the flight itself is also cumbersome since heading home takes an entire day. For right now, I’m taking a break from running like I said in my last post, but when I’m ready to come back, I definitely would love to do Disneyland again.

I know I also said I’m retired from full marathons and it’s true, I am, but I also played with the idea of maybe going after another Dopey for my 40th birthday if I’m feeling ambitious. Who knows. I have the United Half on the horizon for 2027 if I can remember to do the qualifiers next year when they open up. I definitely do miss races as I watch all my friends crush it this year and I can’t wait to get back to them when I have more time and money.

runDisney Halloween 2024

February 28, 2024

I know I said I was taking a break from races for 2024 (side note: I still haven’t ran since the NYC marathon in November and this break actually feels really good so it definitely was a much needed break! I am looking forward to getting back to it soon rather than dreading it so this was definitely necessary to reverse my burnout) but it seems like runDisney heard me and knew that I’m a sucker for Halloween shit and said hold my beer. They came out with their first ever Halloween theme races, and for Disneyland for 2024. I never got to run Disneyland races since they stopped offering them when I discovered the runDisney life in 2019, due to Disneyland and the city of Anaheim clashing heads since the races are on city property, while the Disney World races are on Disney’s official property so they can close down their own streets for us to race and not have to rely on permission from the city since well, they technically own the place. I guess they finally came to an agreement to bring them back this year and of course, your girl had to sign up. A new destination/parks to run, as well as being Halloween? YES PLEASE. Plus I fell in love with Oogie Boogie Bash the last time I attended, because let’s face it, Ernesto de la Cruz is so swoon-worthy as character you can meet. They really do him justice and I could watch him all day.

Luckily, last week I was able to snag yoga and the challenge registration. I was not able to get the 5k unfortunately. It sold out before it was my turn in the queue but fingers crossed, they will open up more spots later on if people drop out, so I can run and get all the medals for this race weekend.

I’m excited because I’ll be heading back to California as well as earning new medals in a new route. I’ll also finally get to see my friends Nicole and Matt again. I miss them so much all the time and I’m so thankful they offered to host me for this event to help me save on hotel costs for this trip. I’m also excited to stay with them because they’re always a fun time. And I’m excited to hopefully get to shoot with Marvin again. He always gets such dreamy photos for me in ao dai and my mom is getting a bunch made for me for the new year.

Now…to brainstorm and pick race costumes as well as park bounds…I’m thinking of doing the Mayor of Halloweentown definitely for one of the races. And maybe Oogie for another. But what to do for the 3rd race? And yoga outfit? Hmmmm. Hopefully I’ll be able to snag an Oogie Boogie Bash ticket too for one of the days I’m there so I’ll need a costume for then too.

Drop your ideas below if you have any for me!

My First World Major - The NYC Marathon 2023

November 9, 2023

I am officially a NYC Marathoner!

This Sunday, November 5th, 2023, I completed my first world major marathon, the TSC NYC Marathon. There is so much to say, where do I start?

Since the beginning, I really did not want to do this but got roped into it by a friend and once it was started, the stubborn part of me that hates not completing things once started said we were too far gone with the qualifiers and then pushed on through 6 months of training. And despite how hard it was, I repeated to myself at every training how close I was to the finish line that there’s no turning back now. I had already put in the work, I had to see it through. And then at the end, when I finally crossed that finish line, my entire being burst into tears, overwhelmed with emotion. Why? Why was I like this?

The TSC NYC Marathon is no joke. You can’t just sign up for it and train like you do with the runDisney races. The 6 World Majors (NYC, Chicago, Boston, Berlin, London and Tokyo) are special. Each race is unique with how to enter, some being exclusively difficult to attain, like the Boston Marathon. For NYC, I entered through their 9+1 qualifiers, meaning I had to sign up and run 9 of their NYRR qualifying races and volunteer for 1 event. It sounds easy but it’s still a lot of time and work, especially if you’re not a NYC local. I spent a lot of early mornings racing into the city to get to races on time, running them, and then racing back home in time for work because a lot of races were always on my days on instead of my days off work. It’s a lot when you’re trying to juggle real life at the same time. You have to do all this in one calendar year to qualify for an entry into the next year’s marathon. And then after I gained entry this year, I had to train for 6 months for the race, all through the hot and brutally humid summer months. So this was nearly 2 years worth of work that went into the execution of this one day. And all that work, is no small feat. Maybe that’s why it feels like so much when you cross the finish line. It is A LOT. A lot goes into completing this one task.

And it doesn’t involve just you. It takes a village. I can not sit here and say that I completed this alone. My friends and family played a big part in helping to get me to the finish line. From supporting me and being patient with me through the 6 month roller coaster of training (including scheduling and rescheduling events and being flexible with me so I could train), to helping host me for the weekend, to making signs and cheering me on all along the course and helping provide the final motivational cheer at the finish line and taking photos for me all along the course. To listening to all my grievances and rants and just having to listen over and over for the past year about this damn race, lol. From all the messages, texts, comments, heart reactions, everything. You don’t know how much of a world of difference every little thing that was done for me from my loved ones, makes. Those ‘little’ things, were truly big things for me. Marathon training isn’t just about the runner; all the friends and families supporting their runners, you all deserve this medal too for all you do putting up with us.

The Expo

I left Saturday morning, the day before the race to pick up my bib at the expo. The entire week leading up to the final day though, I was riddled with anxiety. I couldn’t eat breakfast that morning and then later that day, I could barely finish 2 slices of pizza. I had to force myself to eat because I knew I needed the fuel for the next day but my anxiety had been destroying my regular appetite. I knew that night was going to have insomnia issues as well. I guess because this is a “new” race course and system I had never done before, and didn’t know what to expect, I was entirely on edge as opposed to the excitement I have for runDisney races at this point, in which I have an easier time falling asleep, but still lacking in sleep because I want to do everything, lol. Pick your poison.

The expo was held at the Jacob Javits center. Of course, I’m familiar with Javits from the past 10 years attending so many different conventions there. Bib pickup was very easy and quick to get through. It was the first thing to do getting through the entrance to the expo. From there, I had to visit transportation to add on my Staten Island ferry option since I forgot to do it online before the cutoff. Luckily, it was very easy to sort out and the volunteers were great at helping me with everything. I picked up my race shirt afterward and then checked out official race merch but didn’t find anything I like so I moved onto the vendor booths. There were a lot of cute promotional booths giving away freebies like Gatorade, gels and sweatbands. They had a lot of tables and walls where you could draw and leave messages and signs for the race the next day. I found my name on the wall they had printed of every runner signed up for this which was pretty cool to see. It was inspiring to see people from all walks of life and all over the globe come here to take on this goal. It made me feel a little less alone in my anxiety.

Race Morning

Sunday was also daylight savings which meant an extra hour of sleep, or rather for me, an extra hour of anxiety. I did get some sleep though, thankfully, albeit waking up several times in the middle of the night thinking it was time to go. I got ready and left early to make the train in time to get on an earlier ferry than I was assigned, but ultimately I got to the race start later due to bus delays once we got off the ferry at Staten Island. It took a while to shuttle everyone. When I finally got to the village, it was about 9:30 so it was around 2 and a half hours travel time. Maybe it was good I left earlier. I would have had more anxiety if I was even more delayed leaving later on. Once I got there, I had 2 hours till my wave would start but I found a spot to sit, stretch and warm up, and eat a bagel. Again, I wasn’t hungry but I forced the bagel down knowing I would need the fuel for later. I had to pee by the time my corral opened though, which sucked but at least it was before the race and not during. The downsides to this not being a runDisney race, is that all the bathrooms on the course would only be port-a-potties. At Disney, we have the luxury of actual restrooms once you’re inside the parks. Luckily, I had a travel pack of wipes in my running belt for this reason, because I was deathly afraid of having to use a port-a-potty. I know, first world problems. But if you’re a runner, you know those things are doubly gross.

I’m glad I was able to pee before the race started because it would’ve taken up a lot of time, trying to take off and then repin my bib, and adjust everything back in place comfortably to continue on with the run, all the while, trying to not touch any part of the port-a-potty as minimally as possible, lol. It’s obviously inevitable but you want to minimize the grossness or it’s going to be in your head the whole run.

I got into my corral and then the nerves cranked up even more. The starting gun went off, the music was blaring and I had to take slow, controlled breaths to get through it and calm myself down as we made our way across the first part of the course, the Verrazano bridge.

The Race Course

There’s a lot to say about the course.

First off, it prides itself on being a course that goes through all 5 boroughs but only the real ones know it’s not really. If you look at the map, it ‘starts’ in Staten Island but this is really a scam. Not that we really want to be in Staten Island that long anyway but the only part that you’re in Staten Island for, officially on the race map, is the bridge. This is a joke. More of your getting to the starting point is the Staten Island part but the actual course itself is the short distance on the bridge before you go over the water into Brooklyn. Then you’re in Brooklyn for basically the length of a half marathon before diverting into Queens for 2 miles and then finally getting dumped into Manhattan for 3.5 miles and then to the Bronx for literally ONE mile. Then you get spit back into Manhattan for the final stretch of 5.2 miles going downtown through Central Park. You don’t really get to the iconic views of NYC so much as the neighborhoods so for those who have never ran it and come in thinking it’s a great way to “see” NYC, I’m sorry to say, you may be in for a disappointment.

BUT! That’s not to say the course itself isn’t still great. Going into the race, I read someone describing this course as NYC’s biggest block party and honestly, it is the perfect way to describe it. I love Disney, but compared to NYC, New Yorkers really SHOW UP. The entire course, save for the bridges and some short stretches of a few blocks or so, the entire course is lined with people cheering you on and no one is more supportive than a New York stranger on this day. They make the most creative, wild, out of pocket signs! And they pass out SO MUCH food. I saw so many passing out cut up banana pieces, boxes of fruits snacks, bags of pretzels, gels, candy, soda cans, beer, literally anything you need as a runner, they were there for you. I even saw in the neighborhood of Greenpoint, a man on the side with his bbq grill set up, making hot dogs for any runner that wanted one passing by. It was SO MUCH FUN to run this course and see everything and everyone screaming at the top of their lungs, screaming your name too if you had it displayed on your shirt, telling you that YOU CAN DO THIS and truly rooting you through it, wishing the best for you. It really helps push you to the end.

I am fortunate enough to have my friends there that day for me supporting me, stationed at the beginning of the course at 4.5 miles and at the end right before the finish line. Danny and Kayla gave me the push I needed to get through the first 13 miles in Brooklyn. I was really worried because it felt so grueling looking at the map but they truly helped me get through it. Seeing their faces smiling back at me and rooting me on was really heartwarming.

I was doing okay for the most part, running as much as I could and slowing down to grab Gatorade and water to stay hydrated. I slowed down to a walk on the bridge into Manhattan because that part was brutal but when I got into Manhattan I was able to run for a bit up until mile 19. That was where I start to feel the wall hit. You can even see it on the map below where I hit the wall. I had a good half marathon for the first 13 miles but then started to decline in the middle. The red line shows pretty much where mile 19 was and it went downhill fast for me. I alternated between running and walking but ultimately at mile 20, my legs gave in and said no more. No matter how much I tried to pick it up and run again, it just wouldn’t happen. So I forced myself through the pain, dragging my feet to at least walk, telling myself to at least just put one foot in front of the other. At that point it feels like you have two lead feet, dragging cinderblocks down the road. But I had come this far and I wasn’t about to give up now. One girl cheering on the side saw me and dumped her bag of pretzels into my hands. I took them and ate them slowly making my way to the next water station and remembered I had Tylenol in my belt. I took the Tylenol but I think by that point it may have been too late because I didn’t really feel any better from it, but hopefully it helped slow down the damage that was internally happening. I started bargaining and compromising with myself, like I was going through stages of grief. The NYC Marathon app had predicted I could finish by 5:30 best case scenario, if I had been able to keep the pace I was going at mile 19, but it was already going downhill. I would have been more than happy if my finish time was 6 hours. But at this point, I just wanted to be able to finish. I was so close! I cried thinking about giving up because I had come so far, I was almost back into Manhattan, I couldn’t possibly stop now. But the pain was a lot. So I told myself, “Okay. So you have to walk. At least walk the rest of this to mile 26. Conserve whatever strength you have left for the last 0.2 so you can at least RUN the last part and finish strong across the finish line for a good pic.” I did NOT want to walk across the finish line. So that’s what I did. I kept walking, thrusting my arms to the side to help propel me forward for some speed. I made it into Manhattan and kept going. At mile 24, I noticed that’s when a lot of people started to go down. I saw a girl in front of me with her legs all taped up but I noticed what looked like blood coming through the tape. I saw clusters of people on the ground on the side of the path in Central Park. I heard a volunteer’s radio go off and say “I have one person unconscious.” I saw one girl with two friends on each side, trying their hardest to keep her up and going, as her feet dragged, like a ragdoll. It was brutal. People were dropping like flies. I thought to myself, as bad as it was for me, I wasn’t their level of bad yet so let’s keep going. I smiled through the pain for all the cameras (because vanity, lol) and made it to mile 26. My friends texted me they were somewhere very shortly after, close to the finish line and I looked out for them as I made my way to the end. And the moment I saw them, was exactly what I needed to propel to the finish! I instantly perked up, and tried to pick up the pace and run again. I smiled through my tears, running past them and got to the finish line! One of the announcers saw me and complimented me on my outfit as I dashed past her, making me feel super cute enough to victoriously cross over.

And that’s when it happened. I instantly burst into tears, in disbelief that I finished. I was disappointed it took me so long with my final time being 6:30:18 but at the same time, I was really emotional that I didn’t give up and pushed through the pain. And boy was I in pain. I hobbled over to receive my medal and another finisher was kind enough to take a few photos for me. I stupidly thought I could cross my legs and point my toes to pose, only to discover my foot cramp up immediately. More tears, lol. I waited for it to subside and then grabbed my recovery bag and poncho and slowly hobbled out of the park to the family reunion area to find my friends. I cried the whole way there as all the thoughts came rushing through my head post race.

Recovery

In the end, despite taking forever and change to finish, I am proud that I finished this. I worked really hard and I need to work at being kinder to myself and give myself more credit. I know I’m not fast, I made my peace with that but I am still disappointed that it took me longer due to hitting the wall. I struggle with this even in training. My main goal though, due to Dopey PTSD, was to finish this with the most minimal amount of injury. Considering the battlefield I saw on the course towards the end, I am very happy to report I did not need to go to the medic tent. For the first 2 days post race, my legs were definitely sore and I had to hold onto the walls to get to the bathroom in the morning but I was doing okay so far healing and recovering. I was able to go for a 2 mile walk around the neighborhood on the second day and my appetite was slowly coming back after being gone last week due to all my anxiety. I’ve been allowing myself to eat whatever I crave in this recovery phase.

I did hit a snag yesterday though. Tuesday night, I went to bed with slight stomach upset but thought nothing of it. Wednesday morning I woke up fine, but when I tried to go get groceries, I found my abdominal area cramping like I've never felt before. I almost had to pull over from the pain but I was able to make it home okay. I laid down and tried to wait it out before getting ready for work but it kept going for the next few hours. When I tried to get up to get ready for work, I felt dizzy. I laid down again and realized it was so bad I had to call out of work. I took a hot shower when the pain subsided for a bit and was able to get it under control with the heat from the hot water. After I got out of the shower I thought I was in the clear. But within 30 minutes the pain came back, and worse than ever. I finally gave in and asked my husband to drive me to the ER. It's funny because when I called out, work was giving me a hard time, requesting I have a doctor's note for my sick call, because it was the day after my “vacation”/PTO being used. I understand policy but I still think it was ridiculous they were running with this because I rarely call out, let alone call out sick, nor have a track record like others do at my job for crying wolf. Anyways, here I was, showing up at work after all. Just not in the capacity they wanted. I was there for a few hours and they gave me fluids and medication to help lessen the cramping. The pain never went away but it felt a little duller thankfully after a liter of IV fluids. They couldn't figure out a clear diagnosis of what it was because my labs came back normal with the exception of elevated CPK which is expected post marathon, and some minor labs slightly elevated. All they could say was that there wasn't something too major going on, so they chalked it up to post marathon stress on the body due to severe dehydration since I hadn't really upped my water intake since Sunday nor was I really intaking any electrolytes since. I picked up a heating pad on the way home and it helped me sleep through the night last night although intermittently. My advice to you is to take post marathon recovery seriously. EAT even if you don't feel hungry and hydrate hydrate hydrate with both water and electrolytes. Don't go back to normal routine just yet. Up those calories and get those carbs in. I was going to go back to the gym later this week but I guess not now lol. I promise I'll be good and go back next week but take an extra week off from running.😅

I don’t think I want to run any more full marathons though. I think I am finally retiring from full marathons. The half is my favorite/farthest distance I’m willing to run because it’s still challenging without making me feel like I hate myself. My fastest half marathon time is 2:30 and I’m more than happy with that. My full marathon times are embarassingly humbling. And at the same time, I am proud to say that I completed this. One of my 40 before turning 40 goals was to run one full marathon and now, after just turning 35, I can actually say I completely 2 full marathons. That’s crazy. It really goes to show, you are more than capable of doing hard things if you have the discipline and put in the hard work. It doesn’t matter if it takes you longer than someone else. Remember to run your own race and be proud of what YOU can do.

Final thoughts

Although regardless of how I feel about the full and how hard the NYC one was, I do have to say, I’m glad I did it. I finally did one world major and can say I’m a marathoner, especially to those who don’t believe runDisney races are real. Although honestly, if we’re being real, of course they’re real, because Dopey is EXTREMELY hard and I still can’t believe I did that. I don’t have another world major to compare it to, but I can attest to the people who have done more than just NYC that they’re right. NYC is an incredible city to run. There’s really nothing else like it when it comes to the crowds. Disney has nothing on NYC’s crowd and energy. So if you’re interested in running a world major, while I do not recommend anyone run a marathon because honestly it sucks lol, I do recommend the NYC marathon if you had to pick one. Like they say, it will MOVE you. New York forever remains unmatched. This city is deserving of all the praise it gets.