LATROBE, PA – Saint Vincent College assistant professor Dawn Turkovich, C’95, and her family have visited Disney Word more times than she can count. “We love it,” she said. “We started going when my kids were 2 and 5; they're 19 and 22 now. We go pretty much every year, some years [making] multiple trips.”
Every Disney World tourist knows that traversing the Magic Kingdom means putting a lot of miles on your sneakers. Yet, even Turkovich was flabbergasted by the distance she covered during her most recent trip.
This past January, Turkovich and her children took part in the annual Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend. They ran in the Dopey Challenge, which consists of four races—a 5k, a 10k, a half marathon and a full marathon—over four consecutive days.
That’s a foot-aching total of 48.6 miles completed in less than 96 hours. Disney’s website calls it “the ultimate fairy tale feat.” Turkovich offered a more succinct description.
“Craziness,” she said, smiling.
Turkovich is an assistant professor of education and faculty advisor for the Bearcat Buddies Club. Her kids also have Saint Vincent ties: Joseph is a freshman studying cybersecurity and Lauren, C’24, graduated with degrees in graphic design, studio arts and business. The siblings grew up playing sports—Lauren was on the volleyball and golf teams at Saint Vincent, Joseph played lacrosse in high school—and both are third degree black belts in Taekwondo.
Unlike the kids, Turkovich does not consider herself an athlete. Last year, Joseph and Lauren signed up for the Dopey Challenge and, after a lot of cajoling, convinced their mom to enter the 10k. “I’ve never had any interest in being a runner,” Turkovich said. “But they wanted to do it. I figured, if I was going to go down [to Disney World] with them, I might as well run.”
As she lined up for the start of the race, Turkovich harbored doubts. Was she really going to run a 10k with no experience and only a few months of training?
“I was kind of iffy, but it turned out to be a blast,” Turkovich said. “At the end [of the 10k], I felt so good and I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh, I could keep going.’”
Online registration for Disney’s Marathon Weekend opens in March and the slots usually fill up within an hour or so. Shortly before sign-ups began for the 2025 event, Tukovich’s kids urged her to run again—this time doing the Dopey Challenge.
“They convinced me by saying we would run in memory of my dad and raise money for the V Foundation for Cancer Research,” Turkovich said.
Turkovich’s father, Paul Detruf, died a few days after Lauren and Joseph ran the 2024 Dopey Challenge. By running in the 2025 event, they raised $1,300 for the V Foundation. “It was a charity he always supported, so it was a natural fit for us to do it in his name,” Turkovich said.
Signing up for the 2025 Dopey Challenge took only a few clicks of a mouse. Training for her first full marathon was more time-consuming and exhausting. It also was monotonous, which is exactly what Turkovich wanted.
“I wanted to be bored on my training runs,” Turkovich said with a laugh. “If I had to do a 20-mile [training] run, I’d run 20 times around my neighborhood. I knew that once I got to Disney on the actual race path, there would be more exciting things to look at and I wouldn't be bored and it would be easier for me.”
The courses wind through the theme parks and feature live entertainment and appearances by Disney characters. Many of the runners wear Disney themed costumes. “That was a little beyond my comfort zone. I need comfy clothes,” Turkovich said, noting she and her kids wore matching t-shirts during their races.
The goal of the Dopey Challenge is more about embracing the joy of the event than setting a personal best or finishing among the top echelon of runners.
“You see people of all ages and ability levels,” Turkovich said. “The Disney community is so supportive and inclusive, which is one of the nicest takeaways. If [a runner] sees somebody struggling, they’ll say, ‘Come on, you can make it. You can run with me.’”
On the days they ran the 5k, 10k and half marathon, Turkovich and her kids toured the theme parks in the evenings. After the full marathon, however, they needed a break.
“We went back to the resort and slept for about 13 hours,” Turkovich said.
Turkovich went into the Dopey Challenge thinking it was a one-shot deal, a box to check on her personal Disney bucket list. But after finishing all four grueling races no worse for wear, she might consider making an encore.
“I never thought of myself as a runner,” Turkovich said, “but apparently I am.”
Lauren (left), Dawn (center) and Joseph Turkovich display their Dopey Challenge medals at the Magic Kingdom
