I ran my first marathon of 2009 at Disney World in Florida. My Dad came out with me, and so did 17 other members of Runner's Edge of the Rockies. It's always great running with a bunch of friends! I was also able to spend some time marathon weekend with my godfather, Paul, and his wife, Donna.
My Dad and I flew out Friday afternoon and met up with Paul and Donna, who took us to dinner at Raglan's, and Irish pub in Downtown Disney. The food was great, the atmosphere authentic (all the wood had been exported from various pubs in Ireland), the band and Irish step-dancer were very entertaining, and the waitress very cute.
On Saturday I met up with my friend Keri and her sister Kelly, and we headed into Epcot to watch the half marathon finishers. We saw several RER folks, including Dan, Jim, and Gert, all of whom were running the Goofy Challenge--doing the half marathon on Saturday and the full on Sunday. As a mere mortal myself, I trained to run "only" the full marathon (and where else but Disney World can you use the words "only" and "marathon" in the same sentence?). After watching the half marathon finishers for a while, I made my way to Disney's Hollywood Studios, where I again met up with Keri and Kelly, and my Dad and Paul and Donna. That night I met up with Dan, Jill, Gert, Kelly, Angela, and Ann from Runner's Edge for a prerace dinner at the Portobello Yacht Club in Downtown Disney. After an interminably long wait we had a decent meal; then it was time to go back to my hotel for sleep.
I was up at 3:00 the next morning for the marathon (scheduled to start at 5:50 AM!). At about 4:45 I met up with the rest of my teammates for some group photos. Then we headed for the start. The night (early morning) was clear, with a full moon. It was chilly but not cold; but I was glad to have sweatpants and a long sleeved shirt to keep me warm before I started running (another tip from Dan and Jill, who have the Disney World marathon experience down to a science). I moved closer to the start, walking and talking with my friend Jim about our race strategy. When we got as far up as we could go, Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Goofy stepped onto the stage to start the marathon.
With a burst of fireworks we were off! Jim and I held back to a nice easy pace for the warmup miles. Meanwhile, across the highway median, we could see runners on the Blue starting course zipping by at a much faster pace. Because of the crazy high number of entrants (18,000 this year!), the marathon has two starting courses, Blue and Red. The two courses merged a few miles down the road, in Epcot.
Jim and I made good time through our first few miles, relaxing and enjoying the pace. I was looking forward to having someone to run with for the whole race, which I haven't had for a marathon before. Unfortunately, at the mile 4 aid station we got separated. I turned to get a cup of Powerade, and when I looked back, Jim had completely disappeared into the sea of runners. I was on my own. Ah, well. At least I had my iPod--or so I thought. At mile 7, the iPod--which had been fully charged before I left Denver--suddenly died! Now I was going to have to rely on my brain to keep me distracted! Okay, distractions...hmm... It was like randomly walking up to a comedian in the street and demanding, "Do something funny!" I had nothing. Fortunately, it wasn't too big a deal--yet. I was coming up on the Magic Kingdom, where I knew I'd see plenty to keep me busy. In fact, the trick would be to not get too excited and pick up my pace! As I came through along the east side of the park and into Tomorrowland, I was delighted to see park employees and Disney characters lining the streets, waving and cheering. And then, as we turned on to Main Street, the huge crowd of spectators did a lot to lift my spirits--especially seeing my family!
As I went around and then through Cinderella's Castle and out of the park, the crowd remained pretty considerable. Past the halfway point I was still doing quite well. As I came closer to Animal Kingdom, however, I started to hurt. The sun came out and the heat picked up. As I wound my way through that park, with many fewer spectators, I really started to miss my iPod. Then the muscle spasms started. Well, to make a long story short, that was the beginning of the end for me, and the last 8 miles took an extremely long time. The spectators in and around the parks, and the volunteers along the lonelier stretches helped. Seeing my Dad in Hollywood studios helped for sure, but I had long since resigned myself from a PR-setting race and just wanted to finish strong. I did that, at least, and posted a final time of 4:57:48.
That night, Dan and Jill very kindly invited my Dad, Paul and Donna, and myself to join them and Jill's parents for dinner. We swapped stories about our races and spent a lovely evening together. My Dad and I spent four more days at Disney World: Monday we were at Epcot Center and the World Showcase (Dad's favorite), Tuesday at Animal Kingdom (which, before Sunday, I had never seen before), Wednesday at Magic Kingdom (my favorite), and Thursday at Hollywood Studios. I really enjoyed the Expedition Everest ride at Animal Kingdom, but the coolest part of that day was the African Safari--a jeep ride through a jungle and savannah, complete with lions, elephants, hippos, ostriches, and a pack of rhinos that came within 5 feet of our vehicle (eat your heart out, Jungle Cruise!). I hit all of my favorite rides and had my picture taken with Mickey, who even signed my marathon finisher's medal!
It wasn't my best race, but it's definitely a high point in terms of overall marathon experiences. Not to mention--a week in Disney World!! And I've come away with some good lessons I will apply to the next one.
Official Time: 4:57:48
Total races: 1
YTD Race miles: 26.2
YTD Total miles: 41.3
Photos with Mickey Mouse: 8
