Sunday morning was pretty much a repeat of Saturday: wake up at 330, get dressed, grab bag, walk to bus stop. The only real difference was the lack of traffic heading to the race, meaning we got to Epcot in fifteen minutes instead of an hour. Since it was 40 degrees out at the time, I found myself wishing I'd be spending the next half an hour on a warm bus instead of in a cold parking lot. I had no trouble finding Eva, Maddy, and the rest of the Dailymile/Twitter runners outside the bag check tent. While the rest headed off to the corrals at 430, Eva and I remembered our lesson from Saturday and waited until 5 before beginning our trek to the start. As expected, there were no crowds to be found at the porta-pottys or along the way, and we arrived at the start area with plenty of time to spare. I wished her a good race and wandered off to find my corral. I was tempted to jump into corral D with the 4:30 pace group since that's about the pace I planned on running, but I kept on walking up to corral B. The idea of standing around for any extra time just wasn't that appealing; I was ready to run!
In fact, I was too ready to run. I ditched my pants once the first wave started and pulled off my top just before we started. That turned out to be a mistake. The first mile or so takes the runners past some low-lying areas, and once the masses in the corral spread out, there's not much to block the chilly breeze blowing through there. I wasn't freezing, but I sure would have been a lot more comfortable wearing my cheap top for a while longer.
Unlike last year where there were two courses at the start, this year there was only one. Unfortunately, instead of using the left-hand course that I loved last year because it takes you around almost all of World Showcase in the dark and quiet of the morning, they used the right-hand one. That course runs underneath Spaceship Earth, around past Mexico, and then back out to the start area. It's not a horrible course, but it's not nearly as interesting and fun as the other one.
Around mile 2, I started talking to two women running with outfits similar to mine on Saturday, minus the wig. One had Texas A&M written on the back of her leg, and the other had UT. (Funny side note: when written, A&M's logo reads ATM, which totally confused several people later on. "Why do you have ATM written on your leg? Do you work for a bank?" one guy went so far as to ask her.) Delaney (A&M) and Kristen (UT) are best friends from growing up, are seniors in college, and were running their first Disney marathon together. I hate running alone over long distances and was quite thankful when they said they didn't mind me running and chatting with them for a while.
As we left Epcot and turned towards Magic Kingdom, Delaney's IT band was acting up. It wasn't so painful that she wanted to stop, but we did make sure to keep an easy pace so it didn't cause her any more discomfort. We stopped a few times along the way to take some pictures of Disney landmarks, and before we knew it, we'd covered 10 miles and were running down Main Street. The crowds were loud and cheering and screaming for everyone they ran by. Lots of shout-outs to the "tutu girls" were heard, demonstrating once again that the best way to get extra support from the crowd is to wear a pink tutu.
The lines were too long to stand in to get pictures with the princesses on one side of the castle or in front of the castle on the other side, so we just kept on cruising. Suddenly, just as we left the castle and headed for the rest of the park, a cast member jumped out, grabbed us, and pushed us off to the side for a picture. We didn't know they were taking pictures from there, but at that point, we figured we were already there and went ahead with it. It's not the best picture of the castle, but it's better than not having one at all.
We couldn't resist the Toy Story picture either.
After that, we left Magic Kingdom for the four mile journey over to Animal Kingdom. I really enjoy this part of the course, even if a lot of other people don't. There are woods along the side of the road at the beginning, a golf course for a few miles after that, and quite a few characters and other entertainers to amuse you along the way. They even put up signs with cute little sayings and ironic questions on them during the stretch where the characters can't get to. Kristen started reading the signs aloud to see if Delaney and I knew the answers to the questions. One asked, "why doesn't glue stick to the inside of the bottle?" As we thought about that for a second, this guy running by shouted out "because glue is activated by air." We wondered how he knew that, and he told us he saw the same sign last year and looked up the answer when he got home.
Somewhere between mile 14 and 15, Delaney and Kristen slowed down some. I'm not sure if her leg was hurting again or they just wanted to run slower, but they dropped back a little. I was feeling good with my 10 min/mile pace and kept on trucking. I figured I'd see them at the finish. Not too long after that, I had to make a quick pit stop, so they passed me back, giving me people to look for and keep me focused during the rest of the race.
As I started settling back in to my pace, I overheard the guy from the signs talking to one of the TNT coaches. He was struggling to get into a groove and not really doing too well in keeping his head in the race. I offered to run with him for as long as it was working for both of us, and his mood instantly improved. Over the course of the next few miles, I learned his name is Tim, he works in the theater industry in New York, and has run several races with TNT. I've had some pretty bad experiences with TNT coaches before, so I was pleasantly surprised with what I experienced running with Tim. All of the coaches that came up alongside us, whether they were from his group or a different one, were all very considerate of everyone else on the course. None of them cut another runner off to get to their runner, pushed anyone out of the way at a water stop, or said anything less than positive about anyone on the course. Tim's coaches from his group were terrific. They got cups of water for him, ran with him for a half mile or a mile at a time, and gave him a pep talk and mental boost the whole time. They were also surprisingly complimentary of me helping to pace him along like I was doing. I think they realized it was doing good things for Tim, and with getting him across the finish line in good shape being their primary goal, they didn't want to mess that up.
Unfortunately, Tim and I didn't make it to the finish together. He ended up having to stop at the bathroom outside France in the World Showcase, so I was on my own for the last mile. I felt great at that point and decided to pick up the pace and finish strong. I took the straightest, fastest line I could the entire rest of the race. I even got smart and went to the left-hand side of the finishing chute away from all the people trying to shake hands with Goofy at the end. That strategy worked like a charm. Not only did I have clear running room all the way in, I was visible enough that I got to hear my name called out by the announcer as I crossed the line. Now that's pretty cool in a race with 20,000 people in it.
I stuck around for a while after I finished trying to find Delaney & Kristen and Tim. I didn't have any luck, so once I was done with my post-race snack (mint chocolate mini Clif bars, yum!), I hopped on the bus to head back to the hotel. On the bus, I ran into the running skirt guys from Saturday wearing a different set of them today. They answered the question that everyone wants to know: yes, running skirts really are as comfortable as people say they are.
After an ice bath and a shower, Heather and I drove over to Downtown Disney for some real post-race refreshment. I really think they should start marketing this as the perfect post-race recovery drink. It's much tastier than chocolate milk. We spent the first part of the afternoon at Ragland Road and then moved up the hill to Paradiso, where we moved from stout and cider to tequila. Our bartender did an excellent job of suggesting new anjeo and reposado ones for us, one of which was Partida. Quite tasty, and went very well with our enchiladas and cilantro rice. Once we finished up there, we walked back to Raglan Road to have a few drinks with Eva & Steve before heading back to our room and crashing for the night.
My only real disappointment with this year's marathon was not being able to ride the Expedition Everest roller coaster in Animal Kingdom. We run right past it at mile 17, but unfortunately for me, it doesn't open until 9am. I was 20 minutes too early. Lesson learned for next year: move back a few corrals and start later.
And here's something cool that Disney just sent me. They've got a page set up for each runner with your time, pictures, and race certificate. That's pretty cool. Here's the link to mine. It would've been nice had I been in the middle of the picture instead of that other guy, but my one from the half turned out really well.
Unlike last year where there were two courses at the start, this year there was only one. Unfortunately, instead of using the left-hand course that I loved last year because it takes you around almost all of World Showcase in the dark and quiet of the morning, they used the right-hand one. That course runs underneath Spaceship Earth, around past Mexico, and then back out to the start area. It's not a horrible course, but it's not nearly as interesting and fun as the other one.
Around mile 2, I started talking to two women running with outfits similar to mine on Saturday, minus the wig. One had Texas A&M written on the back of her leg, and the other had UT. (Funny side note: when written, A&M's logo reads ATM, which totally confused several people later on. "Why do you have ATM written on your leg? Do you work for a bank?" one guy went so far as to ask her.) Delaney (A&M) and Kristen (UT) are best friends from growing up, are seniors in college, and were running their first Disney marathon together. I hate running alone over long distances and was quite thankful when they said they didn't mind me running and chatting with them for a while.
As we left Epcot and turned towards Magic Kingdom, Delaney's IT band was acting up. It wasn't so painful that she wanted to stop, but we did make sure to keep an easy pace so it didn't cause her any more discomfort. We stopped a few times along the way to take some pictures of Disney landmarks, and before we knew it, we'd covered 10 miles and were running down Main Street. The crowds were loud and cheering and screaming for everyone they ran by. Lots of shout-outs to the "tutu girls" were heard, demonstrating once again that the best way to get extra support from the crowd is to wear a pink tutu.
The lines were too long to stand in to get pictures with the princesses on one side of the castle or in front of the castle on the other side, so we just kept on cruising. Suddenly, just as we left the castle and headed for the rest of the park, a cast member jumped out, grabbed us, and pushed us off to the side for a picture. We didn't know they were taking pictures from there, but at that point, we figured we were already there and went ahead with it. It's not the best picture of the castle, but it's better than not having one at all.
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| Delaney, Kristen, me |
Somewhere between mile 14 and 15, Delaney and Kristen slowed down some. I'm not sure if her leg was hurting again or they just wanted to run slower, but they dropped back a little. I was feeling good with my 10 min/mile pace and kept on trucking. I figured I'd see them at the finish. Not too long after that, I had to make a quick pit stop, so they passed me back, giving me people to look for and keep me focused during the rest of the race.
As I started settling back in to my pace, I overheard the guy from the signs talking to one of the TNT coaches. He was struggling to get into a groove and not really doing too well in keeping his head in the race. I offered to run with him for as long as it was working for both of us, and his mood instantly improved. Over the course of the next few miles, I learned his name is Tim, he works in the theater industry in New York, and has run several races with TNT. I've had some pretty bad experiences with TNT coaches before, so I was pleasantly surprised with what I experienced running with Tim. All of the coaches that came up alongside us, whether they were from his group or a different one, were all very considerate of everyone else on the course. None of them cut another runner off to get to their runner, pushed anyone out of the way at a water stop, or said anything less than positive about anyone on the course. Tim's coaches from his group were terrific. They got cups of water for him, ran with him for a half mile or a mile at a time, and gave him a pep talk and mental boost the whole time. They were also surprisingly complimentary of me helping to pace him along like I was doing. I think they realized it was doing good things for Tim, and with getting him across the finish line in good shape being their primary goal, they didn't want to mess that up.
Unfortunately, Tim and I didn't make it to the finish together. He ended up having to stop at the bathroom outside France in the World Showcase, so I was on my own for the last mile. I felt great at that point and decided to pick up the pace and finish strong. I took the straightest, fastest line I could the entire rest of the race. I even got smart and went to the left-hand side of the finishing chute away from all the people trying to shake hands with Goofy at the end. That strategy worked like a charm. Not only did I have clear running room all the way in, I was visible enough that I got to hear my name called out by the announcer as I crossed the line. Now that's pretty cool in a race with 20,000 people in it.
I stuck around for a while after I finished trying to find Delaney & Kristen and Tim. I didn't have any luck, so once I was done with my post-race snack (mint chocolate mini Clif bars, yum!), I hopped on the bus to head back to the hotel. On the bus, I ran into the running skirt guys from Saturday wearing a different set of them today. They answered the question that everyone wants to know: yes, running skirts really are as comfortable as people say they are.
After an ice bath and a shower, Heather and I drove over to Downtown Disney for some real post-race refreshment. I really think they should start marketing this as the perfect post-race recovery drink. It's much tastier than chocolate milk. We spent the first part of the afternoon at Ragland Road and then moved up the hill to Paradiso, where we moved from stout and cider to tequila. Our bartender did an excellent job of suggesting new anjeo and reposado ones for us, one of which was Partida. Quite tasty, and went very well with our enchiladas and cilantro rice. Once we finished up there, we walked back to Raglan Road to have a few drinks with Eva & Steve before heading back to our room and crashing for the night.My only real disappointment with this year's marathon was not being able to ride the Expedition Everest roller coaster in Animal Kingdom. We run right past it at mile 17, but unfortunately for me, it doesn't open until 9am. I was 20 minutes too early. Lesson learned for next year: move back a few corrals and start later.
And here's something cool that Disney just sent me. They've got a page set up for each runner with your time, pictures, and race certificate. That's pretty cool. Here's the link to mine. It would've been nice had I been in the middle of the picture instead of that other guy, but my one from the half turned out really well.
1 comment:
Guinness is my recovery drink of choice as well. :) Congrats on Goofy! And very cool that you stuck around with Tim and the girls as much as possible. It's always fun to have someone to talk to during the race.
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