One + February 2011 - (Page 73)

OS , AS I PH OT RL D (3 ) DI SN EY WO OF WA LT CO UR TE SY matter who you are on race day—a runner or a worker—you’re wide awake when the starting gun ﬁres. As is customary at large races, there are multiple groups at the starting line corralled and ready to be let go—faster racers ﬁrst working progressively back through the population. On both days, each group’s starting time was celebrated with a ﬁreworks show. Maready and team are right at the starting line for each group’s departure closely documenting the start times and making sure everyone is spaced properly and leaving on time. Both races travel park roads as well as the “streets” of the different Disney parks, so timing is everything. “We have to make sure everyone is off the course and the roads are reopened before guests start arriving to the park. It’s a very detailed process.” THE BLACKBERRY NEVER LEAVES HER HAND—constantly monitoring communications between 14 team members, making sure that every detail has been taken care of and sending out e-mails of her own to notify the team when each group has crossed the start line. All the while, she is methodically following her 38-page schedule of events to the letter making sure all of the more than 700 workers and volunteers are in an affective position and furiously jotting down notes to herself to help improve next year’s weekend. “This is my ﬁfth race weekend as event manager, and it has gotten bigger and bigger each year. It’s amazing how it has grown and what the popularity has done for Disney. People come from all around the world to experience this weekend and participate in these races.” The race weekend is the largest of its kind in the world with more than 54,000 participants this year—including a kids 5K, the half and full marathons and the Goofy event that challenges runners to complete both adult races in the same weekend. The marathons had, respectively, more than 20,000 and 30,000 runners cross the start line. When that many runners start a race on a cold morning, two things are almost certain: The ﬁrst few miles are going to be extremely crowded, and you’re going to be left with a lot of discarded clothing. Sure enough, it was at a widening in the course between mile three and mile four that the pack ﬁnally started to spread out during the Half. And as we left the starting line in the pickup truck, we passed literally thousands of shirts, sweatshirts, blankets, hats and gloves being picked up and bagged by volunteers—discarded by runners wanting to stay warm but not wanting to run hot. I had stepped over similar articles the day before and had wagered with my running partner how many pounds it all added up to. “Who knows how much we’ll end up with this year, but last year we had 26,000 pounds of clothes that we picked up at the starting line,” Maready told me in the truck. “Whatever we pick up is bagged, taken to costume where it is laundered and then it’s all taken to local homeless shelters.” A great example of corporate social responsibility I thought, as I chuckled knowing that I had won the previous day’s wager. WE REACHED THE FINISH LINE AT AROUND 6:45 A.M. It wasn’t even two hours after the starting gun, but the lead runners would be coming down the home stretch soon. This year’s winner was a surprise—a new face had upset the perennial champion of the event with a time of 2:21:15. For perspective: I ﬁnished the Half the day before with a time of 2:30:47—a respectable time for most intermediate runners—yet the marathon winner ran twice as far in nine and a half minutes less time. After the lead runners come in, we head to the awards pavilion for a brief ceremony—something that had long been completed the day before by the time I crossed the ﬁnish line. Once the awards were presented, we walked back to the VIP tent to watch the ﬁnal racers come through. I wanted to watch for my friends who had raced with me the day before and were completing the Goofy Challenge. As we walked back, Maready was stopped by a Disney cast member and team leader, Ed Beery. “I’ve heard lots of great comments from runners about what a great time they had. That’s what you want, right?” he asked. Maready smiled: “That’s what it’s all about.” This race weekend was over, but planning for the 2012 event had already begun six months ago and Maready’s team would also be leading the planning of the Disney Princess Half Marathon weekend at the end of February and again at the Disney Wine and Dine in October. “Everything my team and I plan is always about giving the participants and their supporters a unique experience. It’s Disney, after all. You won’t get an experience like this anywhere else. Focusing on each guest, on their needs, their accomplishments, their story—that’s why we do this.” DAVID BASLER is editor in chief of One+. mpiweb.org 73 http://www.mpiweb.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of One + February 2011

One + February 2011
Contents
Energy of Many
Impressions
The Productivity Cloud
Overheard
Agenda
MPIWeb Connect
Thoughts+Leaders
Events for Life
Gateway to the Future
Top Spots
It Was Not Interesting
Irrelevant
The Wrong Words
Up to Snuff
That’s Enough Facebook
Super Foods to the Rescue
Shoring Resources
Jack and Smoke
Accidentally on Purpose
Staying on Top of Tech
The Joy of Work
Plan to Run
Productivity on the Go
Angel of the Favelas
Your Community
Making a Difference
Until We Meet Again
MPI’s 2011 Meeting Guide to Canada
Contents
Banff Centre
Ottawa Tourism
Tourisme Montréal
The Buzz
InterContinental Canada
Caesars Windsor
Vintage Hotels
The Great Green North
Whistler, British Columbia
Meetings and Conventions Calgary
Scotiabank Convention Centre

One + February 2011