Pluto or Goofy Coming to Virtual Running Shorts ’17?

Recently over at the runDisney Events section, which showcases the dates for next year of runDisney events all over the world, a new entry was added for the 2017 Virtual Running Shorts series. A link to the page can be found here.

New in 2016, the Virtual Running Shorts series was a trio of 5K runs that individuals could sign up for and complete from wherever they lived. After the series ended, those who signed up for the runs received the medals: one of each of the 5K runs and a completer medal if you ran the whole series.

The 2016 Virtual Shorts Series Medals: Yellow Shoes 5K, Red Shorts 5K, White Gloves 5K, and Completer.

While the practice of “virtual” races is not new (I have been doing them for quite a few years now), this was runDisney’s first venture into the format, so it was not known how well it did or if it would be continued. Seeing this new page come up for the 2017 series is great. Even better? There is a hint at who might be next year’s “mascot”, similar to Mickey being the one for the inaugural event.

“Watch for full details—including this year’s dog-gone delightful Disney honoree—beginning Spring 2017.”

Could we see Pluto or Goofy take the honors in 2017? Both are highly visible in January at the WDW Marathon Weekend, with Pluto representing the Family Fun Run 5K and Goofy having his Race and a Half Challenge (running both the 1/2 Marathon and Marathon the same weekend). Either one will be awesome additions to my runDisney medal collection, which is slowly growing.