Across the Line in Record Time!!!!

Well, did it. I finished the Disney Half Marathon on January 10, 2009. Looking back on it, it came and went very quickly – before I knew it, I was at the finish line! But, everyone deserves to hear the full story, so here we go…

Due to the early morning start, we had to get up at 2:45am, which is no small task for me! Once showered and in our race clothes, me, Tammy and Megan began piling on the warm clothes that were going to get us through the long wait before the race began – it was only about 45 degrees that morning. I donned a pair of thick fleece pants, a sweatshirt, a winter hat and even a pair of gloves. It certainly didn’t look like I was on my way to the starting line of a race in Florida! We trudged down to the bus stop that had been set up at the Pop Century at 3:30am and then we were on our way to the start!

As expected, everything at Disney is a show, so even at 4am there was a band playing – they definitely seemed to be more awake than we were! The three of us wandered around a little bit, did our best to keep warm, and made several trips to the porta-potties.

Before we knew it, it was time to head over towards the start corrals. We took the long walk from the “Family Reunion Area” and arrived at the start corrals at around 5:15. There was more pre-race entertainment and the time continued to pass very quickly. Wave 1 – the wheel chair division and then the elite runners – started at 5:45. It was quite emotional, fireworks and all. Wave 2, where we were at started at 6am to even more fireworks. Megan was one corral ahead of us, so it was just me and Tam from there on out – we crossed the start line at 6:02am.

The first few miles took us over the highway system on Disney property, and past several cheer stations and even marching bands! The monorail system was already running and the passing trains each blew their horns as they passed the runners. Finally, right around mile 5, we reached the vehicle entrance to the Magic Kingdom. What a feeling! We knew the park was close, so we managed to speed up a little, even passing several people along the way. Then we came out onto Main Street USA in the Magic Kingdom – what a feeling! It was still quite early, but the parks were opened for spectators. They lined the course and cheered for everyone! In true Disney fashion, there were characters galore and plenty of photo opportunities along the way. We breezed through the rest of the Magic Kingdom and were back out on the streets at mile 7. This was by far the most boring part of the course – no characters, no spectators, no marching bands, nothing. Just us, a line of orange cones, and a handful of posters on the roadside. Things started getting really hard for me at this point – I was tired, my feet hurt, and I was quickly losing motivation. Thankfully, Tammy stuck with me and gave me little pep talks to keep me moving. Then I got my second wind – Tammy did too!

We reached mile 10 and knew it was going to be a breeze from there! After a few more exit/on ramps on the Disney highways, we could see Spaceship Earth at Epcot looming on the horizon! We sailed into Epcot and realized we could finish way ahead of our target time, which helped us soar through the rest of the course. We rounded the final corner, heard the cheering crowd – even spotted Ryan, Mom, Ron and Jeanine - and jogged across the finish line in 3hours, 12 minutes and 25 seconds. We smoked our goal of 3:30:00! Looking back on it, I don’t know why I was ever even worried about the dreaded sweeper – we averaged 14:41 minute miles the whole race, which is not bad at all for a power-walker! Once we collected our Donald Duck finishers medal and our mylar blanket, it was time for fun!
We spent the rest of the day visiting Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. The next morning Ryan, Mom, Ron and Jeanine ran the Marathon. After that we spent the afternoon “drinking around the world” at Epcot center. Fun was had by all! Although I was quite proud of my finishers medal for the Half Marathon, I felt a bit inadequate when looking at everyone with the Marathon medals, not to mention the Goofy Challenge medals! So, I’ve given myself the task of training for the Full Marathon in 2010. I’m already signed up! So, here’s to a successful year of training!