runDisney has just announced that the start time and race course has been altered for the half marathon planned for January 6th at Walt Disney World.

Severe thunderstorms are predicted to reach the Walt Disney World area shortly after 8 a.m. on Saturday, and last most of the morning.

At 6:30PM tonight, runDisney posted an urgent announcement that the start time for the race has been backed up to 4:45AM, from the original start time of 5AM. In addition, the length of the race has been shortened, and will no longer be a standard half marathon course of 13.1 miles.

runDisney said it hopes to have everyone off the course by 8AM, to avoid expected lightning in the area.

Here’s a look at the updated, shortened race course map.

The National Weather Service predicts that lightning activity near Disney World has the potential to be at a Level 3 between 7AM and 6PM on Saturday. Level 3 Lightning Activity is defined as 6 to 10 cloud-to-ground lightning strikes in a 5-minute period, during scattered thunderstorms.

A strong cold front will reach the Orlando area by Saturday morning, bringing a threat of damaging winds and hail, according to meteorologists at WKMG-TV.

runDisney has announced that runners who are registered for one of the multi-race challenges that include the Walt Disney World Half Marathon, such as the Dopey Challenge, Goofy’s Race-and-a-Half Challenge, and the runDisney Coast to Coast Race Challenge will remain eligible for their medals, as long as they complete tomorrow’s shortened course on pace.

Keep following DFB for the latest Disney World news.

 

The post BREAKING: Disney World Half-Marathon Course, Start Time CHANGED for Tomorrow first appeared on the disney food blog.