Marathon/Family Trip - Days 3 & 4 (Jan 9-10)

**disneygoofball** · 02-13-2014, 06:58 PM

January 9
Cast: Me and DH (Justin)
This was the one race we were able to “sleep in” for. The race started at 6:30, but there was an Intercot meet at 5:30, so I set two alarms and a wake-up call for 4:00. I was a little paranoid about oversleeping! Olaf woke us up on time, though, so I grabbed some breakfast, and we were out the door by 4:45. The bus lines weren’t long at all, and we eventually found our fellow Intercotees by the information tent. Unfortunately, we didn’t find them for very long. After hanging out and chatting for a bit, we walked over to the start corrals, but I made a pit stop along the way and lost the group. Even though I didn’t get to hang out for very long, everyone was really nice and seemed to be having a good time. We had planned to go to some of the other meets, but it just didn’t work out since we didn’t have park tickets on meet days, and I was going to bed super early every day. Next time we’ll be sure to catch up with everyone!

The 5K was a ton of fun! I told DH that races are the motivation that I need to get out the door and run throughout the year, but honestly, it’s the Disney races that make it all worthwhile. Running through Epcot in the dark is definitely a fun experience, and I had my phone on me so that I could take some pictures and videos. Dopey was out on the course in Epcot, but the line for pictures with him was at least 45 minutes long. I didn’t want to wait, so I figured I’d find him on another day and just kept running. Justin didn’t run any of the races, but he was there cheering me on, and we got our picture taken with Chip and Dale in the finish line area. After the pictures, we boarded the bus back to Pop where I showered and changed, and then we headed to DTD for lunch at Planet Hollywood. The food was alright - we both got burgers, but it wasn't spectacular. We decided to check out Disney Quest using the vouchers we got with our hotel package reservation. We didn’t have park tickets for the race days since I didn’t want to do a ton of walking in the parks, and my family was coming in after the races, so we decided to save the money and do DTD and some resort hopping during race weekend.

Disney Quest was a disappointment. If we had to spend money to get in, I would have been upset. It just seemed really rundown and outdated to me. After an hour or two, we were done there and decided to call it a day. We slowly made our way back to Pop and grabbed dinner again at the CH. I laid out my race clothes for the next day and set a wake-up call for 3:30. It was much easier to fall asleep that night than the previous one since the pre-race jitters had kind of worked themselves out.

January 10
Since the 10K started at 5:30, we were out the door at 4:15. By this time, we had worked out what our pre-race ritual. I grabbed some coffee in the resort mug, but was a little bit out of it. When I opened the sugar packet to pour it into the coffee, I found myself dumping the sugar in the trash! Can you tell I’m not normally a morning person? After finally getting my act together, DH and I jumped on the shuttle (Justin rode the bus with me every morning and ran around the course snapping pictures wherever he could. He was my own personal cheering section!).

Everyday I would leave the resort mug and all my extra gear with him at the corral entrance area. He was a great sport about it!

My game plan for the 10K was to run it nice and easy and take pictures and video along the way – after all, Disney races are supposed to be enjoyed, right? It wasn’t too cold that morning, so I just wore a garbage bag (with a hole for my head) to keep warm before the race. I also carried my camera along with me so I could get some good quality photo and video. It sprinkled a little bit, but for the most part, the weather was great, just a little humid. On the course I got my picture taken with Sarge – the Green Army man from Toy Story, and Genie. There were only 10,000 runners for both the 5K and 10K, and we were told that 7,000 of those spots went to Dopey runners. That explained why I didn’t see hardly any plain 10K bibs in the starting corrals or on the course, and I can understand why a lot of people who wanted to run the inaugural 10K were upset. DH and I found Pluto in the finish area and got our picture taken with him, and then it was back on the bus to Pop.

After getting cleaned up, we headed back to DTD to have lunch at Bongos with a friend of ours from the Orlando area. This was the first time I’d ever eaten at Bongos, and it was pretty good. I’m not a huge fan of Cuban food, but I had a very nice chicken dish, and DH ordered the empenadas (and then finished my meal off for me). After our friend left, we did a little shopping and then stopped in Ghiradelli’s. There used to be a sundae called the Fog Horn that was my absolute favorite. It stopped showing up on their menus years ago, but you could always order it if you knew to ask for it. The Ghiradelli’s in San Diego no longer has the raspberry syrup for it, but I was hoping that the Disney World one would still carry it, but I was out of luck. The manager was very nice and explained that the raspberry sauce used to ferment very quickly after opening the container, so within a few days, they’d have to throw it out. Because of that, they decided it wasn’t worth the money and discontinued selling it. So sad!! I got the same sundae, just with strawberries instead, and it was pretty tasty. I figured as long as I’m running off all the calories, I might as well enjoy some of the benefits!

We wandered around DTD a little more after that and went to catch the boat to POR since DH had never done that before. Justin stopped off at the Lava Lounge to see if they would be showing the Charger game on Sunday (they were) while I chatted with a young couple in line who were at WDW for their first ever marathon. We chatted about the races, and I tried to give them basic info about the staging areas and what I had heard about the corral setup for the marathon. They seemed to be enjoying their trip, but were nervous about the race. The boat captain was excellent and gave all sorts of information about the waterways and boat storage and operations at Disney. He answered a bunch of questions as well and was really friendly.

After a quick walk through at POR (we would be moving there after the races), we caught a bus to MK and then to Coronado Springs for dinner. Justin had been interested in staying there, and since we ended up not doing that, we figured we could at least see what it was like. I’m glad we didn’t stay there since it reminded me too much of home (in San Diego), and I like things to be totally different when I’m on vacation. The food court was set up differently than any I’d seen. We got a ticket when we entered the food court and then it was stamped when we ordered food (I got chicken nuggets and Justin ordered a burger), but we didn’t pay until after we had finished eating and were leaving. Don’t know if they’re trying out a new system there, or if that’s just how it has always been done. I didn’t have strong feelings either way, it was just different.

After dinner, it was back to Pop and off to bed early. Half marathon is up next!

**Melanie** · 02-13-2014, 07:08 PM

I hope you found Dopey on the full day. That's when hubby found him. and line was so short compared to this day. I couldn't believe everyone waiting in line, but I guess when you aren't being 'timed', it was okay.

Great seeing you again after many years. Wow, it had been a long time since Baltimore.

I did notice you suddenly weren't there when we hit the corral.

**faline** · 02-13-2014, 07:12 PM

Glad you are really enjoying the races!!

**MississippiDisneyFreak** · 02-15-2014, 09:04 AM

Thanks for the reports

**disneygoofball** · 02-15-2014, 12:43 PM

Originally Posted by Melanie

I hope you found Dopey on the full day. That's when hubby found him. and line was so short compared to this day. I couldn't believe everyone waiting in line, but I guess when you aren't being 'timed', it was okay.

Great seeing you again after many years. Wow, it had been a long time since Baltimore.

I did notice you suddenly weren't there when we hit the corral.

I did find him on marathon day, but made the ridiculous decision to not stop (there was only 1 person in line). I blame the poor judgment on the fact that Dopey was at mile 24 or so, and I was a little delirious at that point.

It was really great to see you again, and I look forward to hanging out with all my fellow Intercotees at the next meet!