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A collection of race reports from the Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend 2009 races and encounters |
The weekend started Friday morning as we picked up sister in law #2 at the airport from the Red Eye, even though her bags went to Chicago. We headed to Spoodles to get a bite to eat. JP and I stopped in the lobby bathroom at Boardwalk and as we gathered the girls from the lounge we ran into Dave as he picked up his morning coffee. After breakfast we headed to the Expo. The Milk House felt empty but it on the bright side it only took about 2 minutes to pick up my Numbers. Having the expo in the other building was nice but it still felt crowded. I took a conference call for work as the girls got a massage and JP started his nap. We listened to the Chi Running lecture while the nap continued and then it was off to AK for Kali. JP did not quite trust that Innocent Looking Belgian Tourist so he stayed on fry land with his aunt. I did manage to stay relatively dry thanks to being in Alvaro's boat. It was nice to meet Harriet for the first time as the group chatted. We hung out at the park with the group until the other two got back from picking up the delayed bag. It was down to the Laux's and us as dinnertime neared. We had a few minutes to drop in at Pop to say "Hi" before heading to the Wave for dinner. (It was pretty good but there are better dining options on property.) Then it was time to head home for bed. The plan for the half was to walk it with the Girls so I jumped into the wave 2 corral with them and ran into Mo and Colleen. We chatted as we waited for the start. Once we hit the start the girls broke into a jog/walk mix. It was a beautiful moon as we turned onto World Dr and crossing the MK parking entrance was a nice change. I took a quick BR break at TTC and ran into Maak who was surprised to see me. I caught back up to the girls and we soon ran to Robert and Linda in front of the Contemporary. As we entered the MK if just seemed crowded to me. It probably had to do with pace as we got passed by quite a few people including Maak and the guy with the walker (doing the Goofy). As we got to mile 9.5 I told the girls I was going to jog ahead to Alvaro and get some drinks ready. As I stood at mile ten waiting for the girls with NO DRINKS to be found we somehow made it to EPCOT where we did see the Lawrence's cheering and got word of Dave's PR. Tracy managed to get a MIckey Ice Cream for Leah to cross the finish line with and we hit the line in 3:28. We then headed to the Diaper Dash for JP and he did great in his heat chasing the girl next to him for a second in his heat. The rest of the day was just us relaxing. It was marathon morning and I did not know what to expect since I did very little racing and 400 fewer training miles than a normal year. Somehow I let Tom and Bart talk me into starting with them and despite what Tom says it was his idea to run 8:00 per mile. They were actually quite good company and really kept me moving and my mind off the task at hand. We had a good time and even got a few pic's but at MK it started to feel a little tougher. Bart kept me on track and even increased the pace a little as we headed to AK. I just tried to hang on as long a I could and Bart kept me going right up to the backdoor of the Studios where i got a hamstring cramp. After stretching and a little walking I got back to running and caught back up to Bart just before the Boardwalk. We jogged up and Dave told Bart that Kris was just ahead. I am not a soda drinker but that Coke really hit the spot. We did some running and walking until I got some more cramps. Bart was kind enough to wait as I had a horrible cramp right by the choir. I managed to get moving again and Bart lead me to the finish in a new PR for me of 3:50. The easy day before helped me but not nearly as much as Tom and epically Bart. We were all pretty beat so we headed home and didn't do anything the rest of the day. We had recovered enough to make it to EPCOT for a little stroll around the world showcase Monday afternoon. It was a nice relaxing day and the cool temps helped keep us all comfortable and composed the whole day. Going the opposite direction felt a little funny and my vote is to return to the clockwise direction. We will also need a ruling if we need a Yuengling at the new booth between Canada and Mexico in the future.fireworks were great as always but it was sad to see another year end. Congrats to everyone that participated this past weekend. It was great as always to visit with everyone even it it was brief. Hopefully in the future I can find more to hit some different encounters. Thanks to Kris for the Lithos, to Kris, Dave and Alvaro for the on course drinks (yea, Alvaro you owe all of us one) and to Tom and big thanks to Bart for all the help marathon day. Scott |
I’m finally getting around to writing a race report. The half marathon went really well for me. I walked to the start with Bart, where we lined up half way between the 1:40 and 1:45 pace groups. I followed Bart for the first three miles until we caught the 1:40 pace group. I was attempting to better my PR of 1:43:48 so I backed off the pace a bit even though I was feeling pretty comfortable. I didn’t want to run the first miles too fast so I would crash later on. I averaged 7:36 for the first 5 miles, 7:48 for the second 5 miles. Mile 10 was my slowest of the race (7:52) as I was searching for a certain “aid” station. Miles 11 and 12 were tough as we crossed 3 overpasses, but still ran them in 7:49 and 7:47. I was able kicked it in at a 7:32 pace to finish in 1:41:43 a PR by just over 2 minutes. We had a great time while at Disney. Most of the encounters have already been covered. This was the first year that I made it to the Kali River ride and thanks to Alvaro’s skillful driving we remained relatively dry. The poor guys who decided to ride with us didn’t make out to well as they got soaked twice! This was also the first year that I attended the entire WDWDW. I did have an adventure on Friday. Our niece met us at the Animal Kingdom where we she rode Everest for the first time. She liked it so much we got a fastpass to come back later and ride it again. This didn’t workout too well as we got suck midway through the ride. This occurred right at the end of the backwards section for those who have experienced it. We sat there for several minutes until the lights came on and some cast members came up to meet us. We then got to walk down 17 flights of stairs through the center of the “mountain”, so we got to see the “insides” which was pretty cool. Thanks to Colleen for setting up the Character Breakfast. With Mickey, Donald, and Goofy I thought it was the perfect one for marathon weekend. We’re sticking with the half again next year, I’m mailing in our entries today. Dave |
WDW Goofy report (finallY) I'll try not to make this endlessly long. Feel free to just delete.................. The trip down was "eventful", so was the trip back home (more on the trip home later). Argh. After a 5 am departure (right on time!!!) from northern MI, we ran into bad visibility in Ohio (snow), a closed I-75 (due to an accident, icy icy roads) which caused us a 30 mile icy detour, then freezing rain that turned into constant heavy downpour of rain all the way to TN. We had planned to make it to Chattanooga the first night out, but due to the detour and the conditions we bailed and found a nice Holiday Inn in Clinton TN, just north of Knoxville (7:30 PM). 2nd day out, the roads were good, the rain was gone, but we now had to add several hours to our second day. Saw lots of flooding in TN and GA. We stopped the second night in Ocala, FL, since our reservations at WDW didn't start until the next day (and we were tired?). Good thing we had an extra day we built in there! Had a nice dinner at Ruby Tuesdays that night. We arrived at PoP on Thursday. It was the easiest and quickest check-in ever! Found our room quickly, unloaded and unpacked, and had some lunch at the food court (not impressed). Then we headed out to WWoS for packet pickup/registration. No line at registration, but I was surprised to see the packet pickup and expo in another building. No problem, just surprised. Walked the expo, bought a hat. Then it was time to head out to meet Kris and company at Trails Inn for dinner. We chose not to try to drive there, but took a bus to EPCOT, monorail to MK, then boat to Wilderness Campground. It took an hour, with good connections at each stop. Dinner was great (I'd recommend this place anytime - especially the ribs -- and the cookies, LOL!) and it was fun to renew friendships here, and meet new faces to go with names. Afterwards, Kris insisted she drive us back to PoP. LOL, it was a lot quicker trip back to PoP! Thanks for arranging that Kris, and for the ride "home". That was fun. Friday was a scheduled "recover from driving" day. No park today --- learned that lesson the hard way a couple of years ago! We slept late, lounged around a bit, then headed to Down Town Disney for lunch. After we got there, I remembered that I hadn't picked up my pins, nor had I verified my chip, at registration. Argh. So we left, made our way back to WWoS, and got that done. Then it was time to be off to help set up tables for the Deads Encounter at the PoP food court. Eileen and Ellen were already there and had things well under control, despite having to change the intended meeting location. Once again, it was nice to renew acquaintances, and put some more new faces to names. I was impressed with the turnout. Curt had developed a nasty head cold and was feeling lousy. (I'm trying to keep my distance!!!) Arranged with Kris, Jeanette, and Daria (who's not Dead, but is PR) to meet at 3:45 am tomorrow to go to the half start together. I'm THRILLED to have someone to go to the start with, and maybe run with a little. I'm going to be doing a lot of walking. All I want to do is finish. There'll be no PR here, but I hope not a DNF. Saturday am, 2:30 am. Shrieking alarm. This is early. But I knew about this! I crawled into my running togs, tied my shoes, collected myself, and headed out to the food court to meet the girls. Bought a bagel to nibble on, and some Tums that I was pretty sure I would need. We waited a short time for a bus. When we were boarded, my heart skipped a beat. This is real again all of a sudden. It seemed like they dropped us off a long way from the runner's area, but we walked there, straight to the D tent, where we plopped on the pavement and chatted, and waited, and tried to stay warm. I was glad I remembered that big black garbage bag! A quick visit to the portapot, and another long walk to the start (haha) line. Is it further than last year???? I was in the last corral, which had a 15 minute delay from the actual start. Speedy Kris made her way WAY UP FRONT, while Daria, Jeanette, and I patiently waited for the "ceremonies" to begin. Oops........getting pretty long.............I'll go to Part 2............................... which will follow shortly. Louise OK...........part 2 We're at the "start".........well, a half a mile from it??? With me, are my new friends Daria and Jeanette. We each agree to do our own "thing", quick hugs, and we are finally off. It's crowded back here. Very crowded. It takes me 7 minutes to get to the start mat sensors. I didn't look at the clock, I knew it was going to cause me endless confusion to figure out just where I was timewise. I had my dinosaur Timex Speed Distance transponder on, and I always depend on it for pace and time. I set it for "average pace" because one of the buttons has been sticky lately, and I'm not going to deal with the frustration of trying to record splits this time. About 2.5 miles into the run, my treasured transponder apparently had a battery failure.....dang! I checked those batteries!!! .......which took me until mile 6 or so to discover. Argh. So, now I'm just putting one foot in front of the other not really knowing just where I am pace wise. The chrono still is working, so I can (if my brain will work) still generally calculate that I am "ok". Maybe I need to look into this Garmin thing.......... Daria had a stomach upset right at the start and left us, and I'm wondering if she's ok. I went ahead of Jeanette, and I'm wondering how she is doing too. In fact, I'm worrying about her! I looked for Curt at mile 4, but he hadn't made it. At mile 6 or so, son Brian arrived (from Jacksonville) to cheer (and wait) with his dad, called my cell to see where I was. I was just coming into MK. I saw them about mile 8, by the Poly, and that was encouraging. Eileen and Ellen passed me here too. It was good to see friendly faces that I knew! The next 5 miles were walked in. I had hot spots on the balls of my feet (both) that I knew were developing blisters. I ignore them at this point. At mile 12 - 12.5 (coming into EPCOT) Daria caught up!!! What a welcome face. We were both deep into BMZ. We both said we'd never do this again (we both lie). We both just want to be done today. Saw Curt and Brian at this point too. Soon, we were done. I tried to jog the shute, but both calves screamed "NO". Daria took off on a sprint. So I walked. I finished. I was spent. That's what I get for lack of training...........and some other health issues that I couldn't control. But I'm stubborn. I finished. 3:27:55. It's ok. But there will be no Goofy tomorrow. I passed on the finish photo. I figured I didn't need a reminder of how bad I felt. Turns out the ASI photos this time are some of my best (I think). They are here: http://www.asiorders.com/go.asp?47827139 Now, of course, I wish I had a medal photo. Oh well. I found my family (DH and DS), and planned to leave EPCOT with them, but BTs car was at MK and I was not going to ride the monorail right now (that's another story from another year.................ick). So they led me to my bus line, and I rode the bus back to PoP. The line was long, but got LONGER. I saw Wendy WAY back...........and gave her "cuts". Maybe the people behind me didn't appreciate it, but it was nice to have a friendly face to ride home with. Thanks Wendy! Saturday afternoon, I spent partly in the pool. Had a little nap. Had lunch, sent BT on his way back to Jacksonville. I was glad he came. It was a time sacrifice and expense of $ and time on his part, and I was thankful to see him come and support his old mom. I decided no Goofy for me this time (again). The health issues and resulting lack of training that I dealt with since June took their toll. I was glad to have finished under the wire. The half is still nothing to "sniff" at. It's an accomplishment. 13.1 miles! A huge accomplishment. I'm ok with it. But I still want another crack at Goofy......... if I can just get this health issue dealt with. On Sunday, we met friends who had just moved to Orlando in November and spent the day/evening with them. I missed the bragathon because of it. Monday's breakfast was fun. Thank you Colleen for arranging it. After the marathon and the half, this has definitely become a week-end highlight. I hope we can continue to do this. I know we're getting to be a big group there! Sheesh..........go to part 3! Part 3.........if you're still with me. We headed for home on Tuesday, knowing there were cold temps and some storming ahead of us. But we're FROM snowland, so we should be ok, right? And besides, we have a day of what should be ok driving before we get into that.......and maybe it'll "clear" before then. We thought. First night, we stopped in northern GA.........don't remember where just now. Next morning, I mentioned to Curt that the "tire noise" we had seemed to be louder. It was. It wasn't tire noise, he informed me. It was a wheel bearing. So. What's the worse case scenario? The wheel could fall off. Great. going down I75 at 80 mph (shhhh) and a wheel falls off?????? NO! We stopped for gas, and when we left there was a GM dealership directly across the street. It seemed like devine providence, so we stopped. 90 minutes later, and $500 to Mr. Goodwrench, we were back on the road (as a former Mr. Goodwrench himself, it pained him severely to have to pay full price for this................!!!). But we were grateful they could take us right in, and felt (of course) much safer for the rest of the trip. We ran into bad weather again in Ohio. What is it about Ohio? We once had to spend the night in a school gym in Ohio, because they closed I75 (Botkins OH) due to a snowstorm. We tried to stop for the night in Troy (just north of Dayton) this time, but all the hotels were full! A nice reservationist at the Fairfield called ahead for us to the next exit and reserved a room for us at the Comfort Inn. But it was another 10 miles or so up the freeway. The next morning, the area was under a "snow emergency".........below 0 temps and more snow and ice. Everything was delayed 2 hours or cancelled (including Wright Patterson AFB). But, we left, and the roads were good all the way to about 80 miles from home. Then we ran into a wall of snow.........0 visibility and heavy accumulation. But, we made it safely, and we were glad to be safely home when we got here. Since then, I've been sick. I caught Curt's headcold while at WDW, and it developed into more. I was at the drs yesterday. He changed my bp med (it wasn't working, and I developed the cough that sometimes comes with that particular med..........wouldn't you just know it would be me!!!). He added another inhaler (thats 2 now), and a Z-pak just to be sure. My lungs are clear, but I have a cough to kill. Nasty. Curt says I sound like I'm drowning. Obviously, no running since I got home. I did tunnel my way to the hot tub the other day tho................I'm not kidding............it's LIKE a tunnel! So it's rest and chicken soup..................... I want to thank everyone on this list for the encouragement and support I have received from you. A greater group doesn't exist. I'm inspired and awed by some of you! It was great to see all of you again, and to share this awesome experience. My goal now is to get healthy..............and hopefully be there again next year. It's addictive. It's a good addiction, isn't it? Thanks again, Everyone....................Louise |
Colleen and I are back in town after our very brief vacation to WDW for the 12th year in a row to run the races. As always, the best part of the trip is getting together with all of our friends from around the globe who we only get to see once or twice a year. (The second best part would have been a cold, frosty beverage at mile 10 in the half marathon, but that's another story altogether :-) Here's a brief account of our weekend and races. We left Cincinnati on Thursday to wind and snow and found nothing but sunshine and good weather in Orlando, weather that would stay the entire trip. On going to the expo we imediately ran into Sean and Kathy and soon also found Bart and Isabelle, Jeff, Wendy and Mike in the crowd of marathon shoppers. Later it was dinner at Ragland Road in DTD with the Druckenmillers and Lawrences. Then Friday, after a brief stop at the Studio's so Mo could try out the Toy Story attraction for the first time, it was off to Animal Kingdom for Capt'n Bart's River Ride. We had a good group for the ride which included a Disney friend from marathons past in Harriet (and her friend Daniel) whom I hadn't seen for a good number of years. Harriet apparently didn't get the word that Capt'n Bart was taking bribes for the dry seats as she sat right next to him and I'll leave it up to you to decide who got soaked on the ride and who stayed dry! Scott was also there with young son J.P. and we and the D's spend much of the afternoon walking the park, riding rides and picture taking. Soon though it was time to head over to Pop Century for the Disney Deads version of the APD dinner that we've been having for years. A really good group showed up for the dinner, with too many names to mention, but it was nice meeting some of those new to the group for the first time who came to the event. As with all the group encounters, we've got a really great group picture (and also a few of me with a 350 lb gorilla on my back who shall remain nameless, right Mark :-) Soon though it was time to try and get some sleep for the first of the 3am wakeup calls. Saturday was half marathon day and this was to be my real race of the weekend. Figuring I couldn't run a fast marathon the day after a half no matter how easy I ran the first race, my plan was to run as hard as possible on Saturday and deal with the consequences of that decision on Sunday. The morning started with a meet up at the "D" family reunion tent as is tradition. There I met Crystal for the first time who decided the best way to run her first marathon was to start by running a half the day before. And she did! Off to the corrals where I took advantage of being in "A" and moved as close to the starting line as possible, a move that would pay off with it taking only 20 seconds to cross the line at the gun and a first mile where I quickly cleared the race start congestion. My plan was to try and run splits between 7 and 7:15 per mile for the entire race and that worked out pretty close to target. The biggest recollection from my race (which started at 5:50) was that it was very dark almost the entire way. Parts of the course, especially those through MK and the miles just outside of it, were so dark you almost couldn't see the runner in front of you. The highlight of the race was mile 10, where a certain Panamanean had set up shop and was hawking his golden liquid wares to all who ran by. As I neared 10 I had a Gu in hand, ready for a little something to wash it down with, but I'm guessing my eyes didn't adjust to the early morning sunlight just starting to appear as I somehow ran right past our roving bartender and never saw him at all :-) Lost just hair of time of the overpasses from miles 11 to 12 which cost me a sub 1:35 finish but I was still happy with a finish time of 1:36:24 which gave me a place of 222 out of 12,434 in the race. Just seconds behind me finishing was Bart and we soon found his wife Isabelle who, for some strange reason, was happy to give both of us a hug and a kiss as we stood there completely soaked in sweat and about as gross as we could be! Colleen and I then spent the day Saturday walking MGM and Epcot which was good for my sore legs and followed it up with a very nice pasta dinner at the Turf Club in Saratoga Springs. Sunday was marathon day and we got to do it all over again. I was feeling reasonably sore from Saturday's efforts and was really thinking I would be in for a long day in the marathon. Again the day started in the "D" tent where we met up with Bart and Scott among others. As usual Scott kept telling us what a slow marathoner he is and the three of us decided to start the race together. I was thinking a nice, easy 9 minute pace but Scott had other plans and off we went, covering the miles at about an 8 - 8:15 pace. We really had a great time running together, swapping stories that can't be told here and generally laughing at each other. Soon we saw Colleen and Mo at the MK ticket center and stopped for a quick picture and then into MK where Isabelle was on Main St and we got one more shot. At that point I told the boys that it was my job to get lots of marathon pictures for a scrapbook we're going to make of the trip and so I'd be making lots of stops here in MK. They ran on as I jumped from character to character getting funny pictures to document the run - something I rarely do while running Disney. Most of the race from that point was uneventful. My training held up pretty well and I managed to run in the 8:15 - 8:30 range while running, giving back time often for a picture stop (or one little green house encounter). This worked until about mile 23 when my legs were pretty well cooked and I think it was time to pay for the effort on Saturday. No walking though as I knew there would be an angel of mercy at Boardwalk and sure enough I soon saw Dave and Eileen Lawrence who directed me to Kris with her cooler of blue cups (actually I was so exhausted I've got no idea what color they were) and a cold Diet Coke! That was just what I needed as I figured I had to run about an 8 minute pace from there to the finish in order to squeek under 4 hours, which for some reason seemed important at the time. And under 4 it was finishing in 3:59:23, runner 2011 of 14940. Not a particularly good time for me but I guess a pretty decent effort given what was done the morning before. Later Sunday we all went to MK to walk off the race (and get my favorite post race veggie burgers at Cosmic Rays :-) and then over to Wilderness Lodge for the Bragathon. That was once again another good gathering as we got to swap war stories, laugh and take more pictures. Us, Mike and Bart and Isabelle were then headed back to MK and Sean and Kathy were nice enough to shuttle the group over in Sean's van so we didn't have to wait on Disney transportation. We then spent as much of the evening as possible before I ran out of gas and called it a night (which somehow Mo and Mike both stuck around to get the most out of the late night park hours). Yesterday morning and it's one more early morning wake up call as the gang has 7am character breakfast reservations at Chef Mickey thanks to the organizing efforts of my wife Colleen. They did a really nice job with us considering the size of the party (about 25 or so) which was finished off with a great group shot where Mickey joined in the middle of the picture and led us in a bad rendition of the Mickey Mouse song. This year we weren't able to spend the day at Epcot for WDWDW as we're a little short on vacation time so too soon it was off to the airport and back to the chillier climates of the midwest. But not long after we got back home I check and registration for 2010 is now open and Colleen has decided to give the Goofy Challenge a try and I'm up for Goofy #5 so we'll be back once again next year! See you all then!!! Tom Laux Cincinnati, OH |
It had all the makings to be a good time. From one perspective, it really was. It was great to meet up with everyone for our annual "retreat". Some new faces came to some of the encounters so we are now able to put a face with some names. Thanks for coming! I arrived Thurs and had a 2 hour adventure in getting from MCO to the resort with MME. I always rent a car at the airport but this time wanted to ride the bus. Why? I have no idea. The line to get to the COUNTER at MME was 50 min long and then the wait for the bus was another 45 min. UNBELIEVABLE. The flip side was that the resort had my room ready. Cool. My friend Derek drove me to Alamo and I picked up my car and headed to the expo. Picked up my packet and that of Yvonne and then called Wendy to coordinate room key pick up. Had dinner with Sean , Kathy, Harriet, Daniel, Louise , Curt and Wendy at Trail's End in the campground. The temps were PERFECT for this New England person on half marathon morning. 49 degrees. Shorts and for me, a long sleeve shirt. I was a little chilly at the start but had brought a mylar blanket from Hartford and a throwaway shirt and I was good to go. Met up with Louise in the food court at 3:45am after she convinced me that was a good time. ;-) We waited maybe 5 minutes for a bus and we were off to EPCOT. Hung with the Deads for a while at the D tent (shared part of my bagel with Tom so that MUST have made a difference for him in getting a good time! LOL) and then made my way to the baggage check and off to the start line. I don't know about anyone else but I didn't know where to go! I mean once I got near the corrals..there were like 3 lanes. Anyway, went up to the COrral and waited on the start. I didn't wait long as the lame entertainment started and it reminded me that in years' past the entertainment was much better. We were off and I crossed the line in under 2 min I think. I didn't feel much in the way of crowds initially just further on down. I guess I have a difficult time determining what "my pace" is because I thought I was pushing it somewhat but turned out to be doing 11min/mile. That was OK , only I didn't stay there. It just got worse and most of my miles were between 12:30- 13:00. I hadn't trained at that pace but that was what it was. Overall, I had not a sciatica issue, not a bunion issue, not a weather issue. I just was tired I guess . LOL I hadn't done too much walking the days before so I won't use that excuse. I just never was able to get any speed and never had comfortable breathing. Usually my favorite part was running in the MK with all the music playing, but there was only "techno" music playing. Not a single DISNEY TUNE. What was up with that? Didn't stop for any pictures so can't use that as an excuse either. I usually also carry on conversations with people around me, but no one seemed to be in a talkative mood. :( I was lonely in a crowd. lol I focused on the finish line as I wondered where the Panamanian was at mile 10. ;-) The little part that we ran in EPCOT was also disappointing and there was no music there either! The gospel choir is always a PLUS and they were what I needed. I long since had given up on looking at my watch and thusly finished in 2:46. Ugh.. for me, it was a disappointment but the medal was great. Headed directly back to the bus and back to Pop. I could tell I didn't run hard and I think my heart wasn't in it, because I was never sore. Walked all day around the property that included lunch at THE WAVE (it was OK..._). Funny story as we did see Charles and Maggie Cohn at the campground in front of Pioneer Hall Sat afternoon. Charles was napping on the bench with Maggie keeping guard. :) I congratulated him on his Donald and I was thrilled to see he had finished. I'll save my "Disney Dead Water Stop" story for another email when I have some time. I think I have to get back to work. lol Welcome back to all! Kris, where it is minus many degrees with the wind chill factor! |
So "on our way home" yesterday, big brother Ken and I stopped in the Wide World of Sports parking lot and registered for Goofy 2010 and the Family Fun 5K. This year my goals are quite different from my previous years. In the past, I've always wanted to be thinner and faster and have gone about reaching those goals entirely the wrong way -- crash diets and too much mileage too soon -- so much so that this year that I experienced my first really debilitating sports injury -- and yes, my Achilles is hurting today and I'm not even moving (grrrr!) -- so this year my goal is to heal, and to improve slowly. I'm not trying for remarkable improvements this year, just steady, consistent training. My ultimate goal: to be able to walk at a pace next year that enables me to get that coveted photo with the gospel choir. No "break 6 hours" goal, no "lose xxx pounds" -- just get healed and stay out there daily. (Boring, I know.) Being hurt and worrying about it half the year just wasn't all that much fun. What WAS fun, though, was seeing everyone again. I was looking at our group photo from the breakfast and thinking about how many years I've known some of you, how good you've been to me -- a virtual stranger and unremarkable athlete. What an awesome group of people you are, how you have inspired me and made me not only a "marathoner" but a better person -- one not only more willing to take risks and push myself, but also more accepting of my capabilities and the outcome of any race (good or bad). You've been wonderful coaches and great friends -- and you're an awful lot of fun to hang around with! See you next year (if not at the Princess Half -- where, by the way, I plan to wear a pirate costume -- I don't think I could pull off the princess thing <LOL>). Wendy |
i loved it. every single step. every single mile. it was awesome. i loved the characters. i loved me dressed as minnie mouse and getting lots of cheers "go minnie". i ran an hour off my time but i don't even care. i did not train and i was planning to walk the whole thing and shop. david and i walked all of epcot saturday and i have to say "soaring was my favorite but i enjoyed eating something from every country. dropped in to bed after watching the fireworks while shoveling ice cream in my mouth around 10pm. loved the yacht club. the race runs right through it and david got to relax as i struggled to get there and then shag it on home to the finish. i got that big obnoxious medal and looped it around my neck to wear home. i also loaded another strap full of pins from every activity or just pins i thought were the bomb diggity. shopping was awesome. i am minnie and mickey'd and princessed out. i can not wait to view the pix. i highly recommend the yacht club to any future mickey marathoner. we took concierge level and they could not have been any more accomodating. I AM SO DOING THIS AGAIN NEXT YEAR. my run was great. i saw a few marathon maniacs and i am proud to report my qualifyer stood strongest. 7 marathons in 7 weeks. it was so refreshing to hear a mania yell back "i'm dana i'm still a baby maniac." aw. how was everyone else's mickey marathon? also, next year i want to get in on that breakfast in the tent. i didn't know they offered that so david and i had to content ourselves with room service at 2:45 am. we also ate again at the staging area. just a bacon egg and cheese coissant but it was warm and welcome. RUN THIS MARATHON. organization is a solid 10. sutah |
Great to see everyone again last week.? Another great trip for the races. Did the 5k on Friday with the family.? Usually every year I say I am going to take it easy and then start running and am sore on Saturday, so this year I wanted to keep easy 15 minute per mile pace which is my normal everyday walking around pace.? Stayed with Ellen and managed to do just that.? Made the Kali trip where I got a great picture of Harriet and Daniel getting soaked sitting right next to Captain Bart, then over to Pop for the Friday encounter. Saturday I felt pretty good in the morning waking up, even though it was too early for me.? Saw the group at the D tent and went to the start.? Again, I wanted to just take it easy today and walk 15 minute miles to stay rested for Sunday.? Made a stop at the TTC for the restroom and saw Scott there.? Coming out of the bathroom, I saw Tuohey's nephew Garry who was doing his first race over 5k distance, so I walked with him.? We ended up doing the rest of the race together as he was glad to have someone to pace him at 15 minute pace, and it was fun to have someone to talk to for a change for me. Crossed the line in about 3:19 my watch time due to a longer time for my bathroom stop, and the disappointment of not seeing a certain Panamanian around mile 10 to offer refreshments.? However, I could feel blisters starting to form which is something I never have a problem with.? Wore the wrong socks so just hoped for the best. Sunday got up early again and made the way to the D tent.? I was feeling good again but I could tell I would have to deal with blisters at some point today, just hoping they wouldn't be too bad.? The plan was to walk most of the first half and then run/walk the 2nd half of the race.? Went out pretty good averaging about a 14 minute per mile pace through the half.? At this point, the blisters had popped up on both feet.? So much for running, now I was just wanted to finish and slowed to about 15 minute mile pace.? Somewhere in mile 22 they popped, but at that point I knew I had almost reached the Studios and had made it.? The last few miles I took easy and stopped for my parents and the Deads rest stop at Boardwalk, and then walked it easily home in 6:27.? I was hoping for better but was happy with the finish with the shape my feet were in. Then the fun started, with going to the parks, WDWDW IV, Kim and I did the Segway tour around EPCOT on Tuesday which was great, and a really fun dinner on Tuesday night at Japan with the family, Bart and Isabelle, and the Lawrence's.? Too soon it was time to leave the 70s and 80s of Florida and was back to 18 degrees in Philly.? YUK! But great to see everyone again.? Looks like I will be heading back in March to run course support with Tom and Scott for the Princess 1/2. |
Well, I knew I'd get to it eventually but I didn't expect it to take so long! I had a fantastic time at the Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend and met some absolutely amazing people (the Deads of course!). My report is broken into 2 parts since it is pretty long (no hurt feelings if you don't read it - I tried not to leave anything out!). Pre-Race: We arrived at WDW on Friday 01/09/09 and went straight from the airport to the expo. Being that Delta lost our luggage I was in a bit of a panic and wish that I could have enjoyed the expo more. There were so many vendors! I love the new set-up of using the two separate buildings. Packet pick-up went smoothly (no wait!) and I bought some new stuff. I love my "I did it!" 26.2 mi shirt but I am still bummed out that they ran out of the "I can't believe I did it" 39.3 shirts. I was told that not enough people bought Goofy merchandise in 2008 so they opted not to order a lot in 2009. After the expo I headed over to Pop Century and met up with Kris who was so wonderful as to give out lithographs (thanks again Kris!)! We did a quick Olive Garden dinner and headed off to the PO French Quarter. Half Marathon: WOW - 6 am ET is really early to someone from Arizona! I didn't sleep much the night before because of the late arrival of our luggage and overall nerves but once I got to the bus drop-off I was wide awake. I headed over to the "D" tent and met lots of Deads - Mo, Colleen, Tom, and many many more! I'm sorry that I left out so many names but I met so many people and everyone was wonderful! The race start was phenomenal! I loved the fireworks and seeing the characters sending all of us off! I was surprised that there weren't more characters on the course as I had heard a lot of great things from previous years. I ended up stopping for a few pictures so I did not PR in this race. Overall I did 2:33 which I was happy with. For some reason my legs were really sore though. I don't know if it was the running on the highways or that I had tapered too much due to a sprained ankle a couple of weeks before the race. I got a 10 minute massage, drank a Powerade, and heading back to the hotel to relax. I ended up going to DHS for dinner and caught a few rides. I think the walking helped my legs a bit because they weren't as sore at the beginning of the full marathon as I thought they would be based on my post-half soreness. Full Marathon: I think the title "Goofy" is really fitting in my case. I had never run a full marathon before and my longest training run was 16 miles. Maybe I should have called myself Crazy? The Deads group was fantastic for support and encouragement along my training and going onto disneyrunning.com gave me the push that I needed to convince myself that I could actually do this. So marathon morning I wake up not as sore as I expected but still exhausted. I had signed up for the Race Retreat because of the post-race food (I always forget to eat post-race) and after taking what I believe was the 2nd to last bus I headed in for some breakfast. The Race Retreat was nice but really expensive. I did like the spread of food and the character photos. Also, they had a special t-shirt design section. It allowed you to personalize a shirt with your race information and it would be printed and shipped out in 2 to 3 weeks. I still haven't received it so lets hope it gets to the right place! The marathon start was really crowded and I got there with a couple of minutes to spare. I ended up right in front of Robert and a bunch of other Disney Running members. I don't think that the start was as great as the half. It seemed like there was a speaker shortage and the race start was changed because of it. The marathon course was really nice. Yes, there are overpasses but they aren't that bad. The race is so flat! There were lots of characters although from looking at other runners pictures I missed some of the really good ones. I originally planned to run a 5 hour marathon but around mile 9 my legs started cramping. It could be from the previous day or from the people who would run right in front of me and then yell walk and come to a stop. At one point I actually ran into someone because I couldn't stop fast enough. Why cut someone off to take a walk break? I always get on the side of the road or on the grass and make sure there is no-one behind me. I ended up walking for quite a bit of the rest of the race but since it was my first marathon I was fine with it. My final time was 6:25:47 but I still had a great time. I passed by the Deads at the Boardwalk but at that point I had so much adrenaline going through my system from being so close to the finish that I kept on power walking. Next time I'm definitely stopping for a beer and a "hello"! The post-race set-up was really nice. I thought the volunteers did a great job of welcoming runners back and went as far as to put the medals around each runners neck while congratulating them! After the race I went to the Race Retreat where I had a lot of food! This is the first race that I've been able to have more than a banana or bagel within an hour or so of the race ending. The faster line for massages that they claimed the Race Retreat would have was not accurate. After half an hour of waiting in line I decided to just leave without my massage. Oh, and someone stole my towel! They gave away flip-flops and towels as a special treat and someone who was at my food table took off with mine. Weekend Pros *Getting to meet the Deads! *Really great courses (minus the smelly recycling section of the full) *Fantastic volunteers! I cannot say enough about them! You guys were awesome! *Fully stocked water/gel stations *Cool character picture opportunities! *Lots of nice people to talk to! I ran into Jeff Oh by Magic Kingdom and got to say 'hello' as well as many other nice runners. *Crowd support! It's phenomenal! I heard so many people yell "Go Goofy!" or "Go Crystal!" even late in the race. *Transportation for spectators - I saw my boyfriend 5 times during the race! He said that Magic Kingdom didn't even require a ticket to get in to cheer. *Deads Character Breakfast - super fun!!! I had a great time! Weekend Cons *Lack of Goofy merchandise at the Expo *Marathon med stations being out of BioFreeze toward Animal Kingdom (the station volunteers were wonderful though!) *Knowing I'm not able to come back until 2011! Overall, a great weekend with many fabulous people! I look forward to doing this again in 2011! Hopefully this race report wasn't too long but with a 70 minute prep period with no students and no grading I had a lot of time to type! Crystal |