Brazillian Runner Dos Santos Wins 30th Annual 2023 Walt Disney World Marathon

Brazillian Runner Dos Santos Wins 30th Annual 2023 Walt Disney World Marathon

Friends became fierce rivals Sunday as Brazil’s Daniel dos Santos held off training partner and fellow countryman Vanilson Neves to win the 30^th annual Walt Disney World Marathon presented by State Farm.

On a clear yet cool morning, dos Santos ran with the leaders early in the 26.2-mile race through all four Disney theme parks, then made his move in the final two miles to narrowly edge Neves at the finish line. dos Santos posted a winning time of 2:26:51, just 33 seconds ahead of Neves, who won the race last year. Josh Baden of Lawrence, Kansas was third at 2:32:02.

Related – Dates for 2023-2024 runDisney Race Season Have Been Revealed

The dos Santos victory continued Brazil’s domination of this race. His win marked the 16^th time in the last 18 years, including the last two, that a Brazilian has won this race, the final event during the race weekend that also included a 5K, a 10K, a half marathon and a health and fitness expo.

“There was months of training and I had to give up many things to dedicate to training,’’ dos Santos said, “so I could be in good physical condition to compete.’’

In the women’s division, Katherine Cargiulo of Salem, New Hampshire finished first with a time of 3:00:13 followed by Jamie Weglarz of Fort Myers, Florida (3:04:44) and Carolina Ferrao of Sao Paulo, Brazil (3:08:16). Cargiulo’s win was extra impressive given that she broke her back during a triathlon seven months ago and running became part of her recovery.

“Just to be running in a race is a dream come true,’’ she said. “This place is magical.’’

Brian Siemann of Savoy, Illinois won the wheelchair division (1:56:42) to go with his wheelchair wins in the 5K, 10K and half marathon. And Heather Sealover of Bossier City, Louisiana was the first women wheelchair finisher (2:39:18).

Related – runDisney Half Marathon Weekend Returns to the Disneyland Resort in 2024

To mark the 30^th running of the Disney Marathon, the race weekend was awash in nostalgia, including retro merchandise, medals, entertainment and classic Disney characters that all paid homage to three decades of endurance racing at Walt Disney World Resort. The first race took place on Jan. 16, 1994 and involved 6,000 runners. By comparison, Sunday’s race featured more than 13,000 runners – a testament to the growth and popularity of the. Walt Disney World Marathon.

Among the field were 59 runners who have now competed in all 30 Disney Marathons, thus maintaining their “perfect’’ status. They were undoubtedly on hand for many of the race’s most memorable moments, such as when Brazilian runners won 13 straight Disney Marathons from 2005-2017 and last year when Brittany Charboneau of Denver, Colorado won the women’s division of all four Disney Marathon Weekend races (5K, 10K, half marathon and full marathon) to become the first person in the event’s history to pull off that sweep.

As the pages continue to turn in this race’s history books, more magical moments await. Runners can start registering for next year’s Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend on April 11. In the meantime, the runDisney race season continues next month with the 15^th annual Princess Half Marathon Weekend presented by Corkcicle, Feb. 23-26, followed by the runDisney Springtime Surprise Weekend, April 13-16.

Let our friends at Destinations to Travel help you book your next Disney Vacation. They are the preferred Travel Agency of Chip and Company and Disney Addicts, and who we use ourselves.

Get started below for your FREE No Obligation Quote.

Book With our friends at Destinations to Travel

Who is your Travel Agent?(Required)

Let us pick for youEric HilesStacy ReedAbbey JohnsonAlisa SullivanAlli WillisAmanda FolsomAmanda VannAmber BrillhartAmber FisherAmy SieburnAndrea SmithAngela AndersonAngie BaycuraAnna PetrilliAnnabelle DuboseApril StefanskiAshley RamseyBeth ParsonsBetsy SantoroBrandie McQueenBrian BuckleyBridget HatchBryan SchwartzCandice SneedCarrie ButlerCarson DockumCasey BoltCharleen HortonChelsea RoyChelsea WuebkerChris BoyerChristie GrubeChristina FratturaChristina SmithCourtney WhiteCraig YoderDan MercedDanielle NorcrossDarby MouritsenDavid ForrestDeborah AlvaradoEmilee BiegelEmily MorrisFaith HakesGail HatchGreg MatzkerHelen HummerHolly CurryJackie CavistonJaclyn PepitoneJamie SwansonJeanine JordanJeff CallahanJenni MaierJennifer BrownJennifer StephensonJennifer StoessnerJessica HatfieldJessica HuffJessica WunderJoe GuertinJon CarpentierJoseph SliwaJulie McCombJustin BrownKat AttridgeKathryn EberhartKathy AndersonKatie HarrellKatie PrevotKayla CookKelsey SullensKim HelmsKimberly HutchinsonKristi GallagherKyle RamsdenLauren DewlenLeanne MonterLinda DurhamLindsay AckermannLindsey VromanLissette BritoLori HardyMallory MorrisonMandi QuinnMaranda PerkinsMarisa AlvaradoMegan TeismannMeghan BlairMelissa ReedMichele KlineMike BeyerMissy McCormickMisty DickersonNancy CasteelNicole ThorntonPatrick O'ConnorPaul SulPeyton Ward-KubikRaylene CooganRegan OstranderRobbie BulusRobert ThomasSara SolbergSarah McCandlishShanna BrowningShelley BennettShelly MetzStacy CristStacy KrzyminskiStacy SmithStephanie DraganoStephanie FerencStephanie WalshSusannah McCordTara SlusserTerri MillerTiffany DobraskiTiffany DrenkhahnTina FarmerTonya LesiukTracy DaneTroy DuncanVeronica RenteriaVicki FesslerWendy CarllWendy HauserWendy KellehanWendy Shelley

Name(Required)

First Last

Email(Required)

Phone(Required)

Destination(Required)

Walt Disney WorldDisneyland ResortDisney Cruise LineAulani, A Disney Resort and SpaAulani, A Disney Resort and SpaUniversal FloridaUniversal HollywoodRoyal Caribbean, Carnival, Norwegian or other Cruise LineI don't know yet

# of Adults(Required)

# of Children(Required)

Check-in-Date(Required)

MM slash DD slash YYYY

Check-out-Date(Required)

MM slash DD slash YYYY

Comments, Questions or Special Requests

Name

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Δ

For the BEST in Disney, Universal, Dollywood, and SeaWorld Theme Park News, Entertainment, Merchandise & More follow us on, Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube. Don't forget to check out the Chip and Company Radio Network too!