A Fitness Challenge With a Twist - the 2025 Walt Disney World® Marathon Dopey Challenge
Runner, Disney-fluencer & #TeamFirefly athlete Robert Alcantara is taking on a different kind of challenge in 2025: the Dopey Challenge. Beginning January 9th, 2025 - Rob will complete all four of the Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend races (covering a total distance of 48.6 miles).
Here is our pre-race Q&A with Rob about his training, his love of Disney & his recovery with Firefly.
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1. How many times have you done this challenge?
I’ve done the Dopey challenge twice now with my third time being in January. My first time doing it was the 10 year anniversary of the challenge and they were celebrating people that had completed the “Perfect Dopey”, completing the challenge every time. It was then that I set a goal to complete the challenge 10 times.
2. What got you into running Disney events in the first place?
I’ve been going to Disney since I was little. I ran my first marathon in 2019 after only training for 30 days (and never having ran more than 2 miles). A few years later I learned about the Dopey challenge and it seemed the perfect combination of running, Disney, and craziness.
3. Is this something you look forward to every New Year and why?
Marathon weekend at Disney World is like a third holiday after Christmas and New Years. Since it always falls the weekend of the first full week of January, my schedule every year is Christmas festivities, then New Years festivities, then Marathon weekend festivities. It’s a great way to start the year and it’s spent with friends and family. Running at Disney World and hanging out with loved ones, who wouldn’t look forward to that!
4. Who introduced you to Firefly Recovery?
I initially was introduced to Firefly Recovery devices because I was looking for something that could help me recover on the go. After the 5k, 10k, and half marathon, I typically just go back to my hotel room and do my recovery routine but after the marathon, everyone goes to the Disney park to get pictures with their medals, get some celebratory drinks and food, and ride some rides.
The first year I completed the challenge, I still went back to my room after the marathon to use my compression boots and recover, however I felt some FOMO with all my friends already at the Epcot (and I was stuck in my room attached to wires)! I had to make a choice, recover and feel better the next day or go right to Epcot to have fun and feel worse the next day. Firefly gives me the best of both worlds so I don’t have to choose (wireless recovery).
5. Did Firefly help you while training for the last event / this upcoming event? If yes, how?
In my training program, there are a few “Dopey simulations” where Friday-Sunday the runs are somewhere around 5 miles, 10 miles and 20 miles. The idea is that you get a feel for what the Dopey will be like and learning to run on tired legs. Firefly has helped with these simulations so it’s not as tough on my legs.