The Glass Slipper Challenge is one of the most coveted events in the runDisney calendar: a 10K on Saturday morning and a half marathon on Sunday morning, both through Walt Disney World. Finish both and you earn the Glass Slipper Challenge medal — one of the most distinctive finisher medals in distance running.
Training for it is different from training for a single race. Here's what you need to know.
Why back-to-back training is the key
Racing on tired legs is a fundamentally different experience from racing fresh. The 10K on Saturday feels manageable — it's the half marathon on Sunday, after a 10K, a short night, and an early Sunday morning transport scramble, that catches underprepared runners out.
The Glass Slipper Challenge plan addresses this with deliberate back-to-back weekend training: a longer run on Saturday and a shorter but meaningful run on Sunday. By the time you arrive at race weekend, your legs will have experienced this exact pattern multiple times. The Sunday fatigue won't be a surprise.
How the plan differs from the standard half marathon plan
The Glass Slipper Challenge plan runs 19 weeks and includes 64 sessions — 7 more than the standalone half marathon plan. The additional sessions are not filler. They reflect:
- ✓Slightly higher midweek session volume to build the base needed for a double-race weekend
- ✓A longer back-to-back training block that starts earlier in the programme
- ✓A race-week taper that protects Sunday's race performance while keeping you sharp for Saturday
Run-walk-run is non-negotiable here
If there's ever a race that proves the value of run-walk-run training, it's the Glass Slipper Challenge. Continuous runners who push the Saturday 10K often pay for it in the second half of the Sunday half marathon — the effort compounds across the weekend. Run-walk-run runners who respected their intervals on Saturday arrive at Sunday's start line in significantly better condition.
The plan gives you each session's type and target distance. Your job is to apply the run-walk method consistently — especially on Saturday. Even when the 10K feels easy and you're tempted to push, keeping to your walk breaks is the single most important tactical decision of the weekend.
What the race weekend actually looks like
Both races have early morning starts — often 5:00–5:30am. You'll be up before 3am on both days. Getting used to this in training pays off more than most people expect. In the final four weeks of the plan, practice running your long Saturday session after an early start. It's an uncomfortable adjustment to make on race weekend when you haven't rehearsed it.
Is it achievable for non-elite runners?
Yes. The runDisney time limit is 16 minutes per mile (roughly 10 minutes per kilometre). The Glass Slipper Challenge is genuinely open to all pace groups — thousands of runners complete it every year, including many who had never run a half marathon before signing up.
The formula is simple: follow the 19-week plan, do not skip the back-to-back sessions, and respect the run-walk intervals on both race days. The plan does the heavy lifting — your job is to show up for each session.
Where to start
Glass Slipper Run has the full 19-week Glass Slipper Challenge plan built in, free to use, in your browser with no download required. Create a free account, enter your race weekend date, and your back-to-back training schedule is built around your specific timeline.