An issue with third-party company Track Shack led many runners at the Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend 2025 to lose their race times. Runners with disabilities also experienced accommodation issues during the race weekend.
runDisney Bib Tracking Issues
Track Shack times runners and allows real-time runner tracking thanks to chips in the race bibs, which are handed out at the start of the weekend. While the 5K on Thursday morning seemed to go off without a hitch, runDisney discovered an issue with the rest of the weekend’s bibs that evening.
Many 10K racers received the above email letting them know they “may have received a race bib with a timing tag that is inactive.”
Because Disney didn’t discover the issue until after the runDisney Expo had closed for the day, they were “unable to replace the timing tags” before the Friday morning 10K. Disney encouraged guests to use other methods to track their time. However, the issue did mean friends and family couldn’t track a runner’s progress.
Participants for the Goofy Challenge (running both the Half Marathon and Marathon) received an email stating their bibs were also affected. Runners who picked up their bibs after Thursday, January 9 at 4 p.m. had working bibs. Those with bibs from before that time could return to the runDisney Expo and replace them. This meant finding time to return to the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex and wait in line before the Half Marathon on Saturday morning.
Disney did note, “If your official race time or real-time tracking is not critical to you, you’re all set and there is no need to replace your tag.”
Dopey Challenge participants (those running in every race of the weekend) also had inactive bibs. Unlike other 10K runners, Dopey runners were able to pick up replacement bibs on Friday morning at the race site.
Though not stated in the emails, guests participating in the Coast-to-Coast Challenge (running at both Walt Disney World and Disneyland Resort this year) needed to get new bibs, too.
After the 10K on Friday morning, runners participating in the Half or Marathon could still pick up replacement bibs at any time at the runDisney Expo. Many runners were also told they needed new bibs for the Half Marathon.
The issues resulted in many racers who couldn’t make it to the Expo losing their times for the races.
Accommodation Issues
There were also reports of issues with accommodations for runners with disabilities. An anonymous runner said that they were not accommodated for three out of the four races. The runner had communicated their needs to runDisney in September and Track Shack in December, and both companies promised they would be accommodated. The runner later learned that their accommodations had been denied. In communications with runDisney and Track Shack, the companies each blamed the other and told the runner nothing could be done.
At the Expo, the runner was bounced back and forth between the Athletes With Disabilities desk and the Runner Relations desk, forced to stand and walk more than they expected. The same issue arose when the bib problems were discovered and runners had to return to the Expo.
The runner was ultimately not accommodated and they filed ADA complaints. They also noted that this year’s race courses included slanted ramps that were not conducive to their mobility needs.
Disney has faced significant criticism in the past year over their updated Disability Access Service.
The next runDisney event at Walt Disney World is the Disney Princess Half Marathon Weekend in February. The Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend begins on January 30.
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