Two Inspiring Stories Headline 2018 Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon Weekend

Filed in: Disney Wine and Dine Half Marathon Weekend, ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, runDisney

 The 9th annual Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon Weekend presented by MISFIT gets underway on Friday at Walt Disney World Resort.  Nearly 35,000 runners are expected to participate this year, including 148 “perfect” Wine & Dine runners (runners who have participated in every Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon).

Following are two of this year’s Wine & Dine storylines:

STORYLINES:

Debbie Rogers (Westchester, NY) is running the Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon with one healthy lung after she says running at Walt Disney World Resort earlier this year saved her life. Rogers ran the 26.2-mile Walt Disney World Marathon in January and injured her foot. Miraculously, it was only through the treatment of her foot that doctors discovered she had lung cancer, which led to the removal of half of her right lung in May. After months of recovery and training, she is coming back to the place – Walt Disney World Resort – that she says saved her life.

Rebecca Gutknecht (Tampa, FL) is running the Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon in celebration of her recovery from anorexia six years ago. While battling the eating disorder, she lost a dangerous amount of weight and grew increasingly less active. After months of therapy, she decided to start running and used that as a motivator to eat regular food again. She soon was strong enough to run half marathons. Today, she is a teacher and a cross country coach, and is running her first runDisney race.

 WHEN:

Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon Weekend
Wine & Dine 5K • Animal Kingdom

Friday, 5:30 a.m. start

Wine & Dine 10K • Magic Kingdom

Saturday, 5:30 a.m. start

Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon • Magic Kingdom

Sunday, 5:30 a.m. start

WHERE:

The Wine & Dine 5K will start and finish at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. The Wine & Dine 10K will start at Magic Kingdom and finish at Epcot. The Wine & Dine Half Marathon will start at Magic Kingdom and finish at Epcot. The runDisney Health & Fitness Expo is located at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World Resort.

Media interested in covering weekend events must contact Aubrey Gravante a day in advance to arrange for credentials.

Media must arrive at Animal Kingdom by 5 a.m. for live coverage of the 5K race on Friday, and must arrive at Magic Kingdom by 4:30 a.m. for live coverage of the 10K race on Saturday.  Media covering the 10K must choose either the start line or the finish line. Media interested in covering the half marathon on Sunday must arrive at Magic Kingdom by 5 a.m.

Media Contacts: 

Aubrey Gravante, Disney Sports Public Relations, Aubrey.L.Gravante@disney.com

(313) 720-1109 (cell)

Darrell Fry, Disney Sports Public Relations, Darrell.Fry@disney.com

(407) 409-1612 (cell)