disneygoofball
02-15-2014, 02:26 PM
Cast: Me and DH; joined later by my brother, SIL, and three nieces (4, 7, 10)
Our wake-up call came at 2:45, and then we got another one at 2:50 – the second one was an actual person on the phone, not just the Olaf recording. I’m guessing that maybe the cast members were making double sure that no one overslept and missed their big race. Or maybe it was just us, I don’t know. Anyway, we were out the door by 3:20 and grabbed the standard coffee and bagel, with an added power bar today, before jumping on the bus to Epcot. It was much cooler than previous days, so I was thankful I had my warm-up pants and sweatshirt especially for the long wait in the corral. Someone had given me the idea to purchase some throw away clothes from Goodwill before the trip (since I didn’t have any that I was getting ready to donate). All the clothes left behind in the start area would be collected and donated to Goodwill, so it was a great way to stay warm and then donate it right back to Goodwill. The start corral entertainment was pretty much the same as the day before, but I got to chatting with two other ladies who were also doing the Dopey. Apparently, one poor Dopey Challenge participant was so tired that he fell asleep sitting on the ground in his corral (I didn’t see him), and they had to wake him up when the corral started moving towards the start line.
I was nervous about completing the marathon since this was my first one ever, and I’d already run the other three races, but everything went great. My body was actually feeling pretty good that morning, and I had decided to run it nice and easy with my goal being simply to finish. We hit MK first, and it was still relatively dark, so we got to see the castle all lit up. I almost starting crying right there on Main Street – the whole experience was so surreal. People were lined up about 6 deep all along Main Street just cheering for the runners, and the atmosphere was incredible. :party2: There was no stopping for characters today! We ran through TL, Fantasyland, through the castle, back around to Frontierland, and then out a back exit. The course then went past the GF and on to the Speedway. There was a car club on the track, and all the members were sitting by their cars in lawn chairs and cheering the runners on. After the Speedway, it was off to AK, and there were cast members with animals (I think from Rafiki’s Planet Watch area) lined up all along the road leading into the park. One of the goats even had a runner’s bib! :silly: We wound our way through Asia towards the front of the park and then on towards ESPN. There were some kids teams practicing at ESPN, so we got some great high fives from them as we ran through, and then it was off to HS. I started stopping at med tents to get biofreeze for my knees at about mile 11, and it worked wonders. We hit HS somewhere around mile 22.5 or so and there were CMs handing out Monsters Inc gummy snacks and chocolate. HS is one of my favorite parks, so I loved running through it. There were even some people sewing in the costume section of the Backlot Tour area. I’m glad we got to run through that tunnel because the ride was closed the whole time we were there and it turned out to be my only chance to see that area. After winding our way past Star Tours :yoda: and then the hat, we headed out of the park and along the waterway towards Epcot. A lot of people were holding up signs and cheering all along the path, so it was a lot of fun. By this point, I realized that a) I was going to make it, b) my time wasn’t going to be horrible, and c) I hadn’t hit the wall. All three of those things greatly encouraged me and I truly enjoyed the last mile or so of the race. Well, maybe I enjoy remembering it more than I enjoyed actually running it, but still, it was pretty cool. So Dopey hadn’t been out on the 10K or the half marathon course, but he was waiting at the entrance to Epcot, and there was only one person waiting in line for him, so…I ran right past him! :huh: I have no idea what I was thinking. I wish I could go back and stop and get my picture, but by that point, I just wanted to finish, so I ran by. We ran counterclockwise around the WS, then past the fountain and SE. The park was open by this point, so there were various people cheering and others just looking annoyed, but I honestly didn’t care. A large gospel choir greeted us as we ran out the cast member entrance and rounded the corner towards the finish line. Crossing that line was such a huge personal milestone for me, and I just about lost it. I was so happy to have been a part of such an amazing weekend, and the physical exertion just kind of wiped me out, but I was ecstatic! I stopped by the med tent and got ice for my knees, then collected my medals and headed out to try to find Justin. He had been chasing me all over the course, so by that time his phone was dead, but he used the courtesy cell phones and called me. The finish area seriously looked like a scene from Walking Dead. Everyone was shuffling around slowly, and there were definitely people groaning. I didn’t dare sit down because I was afraid I wouldn’t get back up!
Justin eventually found me, and we made our way over to the bus. Walking up those stairs was quite a feat at that point, but I got up it and then took the first available seat. It had to be a funny sight watching all us runners hobble on and off the buses. :old: I headed straight for our room when we got back to Pop so I could ice everything, and Justin grabbed food and brought it back to the room for lunch. He got the burger and fries that I had requested, and then he grabbed a Mickey ice cream treat for me as a bonus reward for finishing. I probably remained immobile for a couple hours, but Justin headed off to DTD after a bit so he could catch the Chargers game. I eventually got cleaned up and headed to DTD with my medals for the after party. It was so hard to walk, but thankfully there were plenty of other people who looked like I felt!
My brother, SIL, and nieces flew in that afternoon and we had arranged to meet up at DTD for supper. They arrived a little late, but we connected at T Rex. The girls were so excited to be there. The four-year-old had been talking about going to “Disney Channel” (that’s what she kept calling it) for at least six months! I thought T Rex was cute – it was very similar to RC, but still had enough differences to be interesting. My brother’s family headed back to POR after dinner, and I hobbled slowly to the Lava Lounge to collect Justin, stopping for a Ghiradelli’s hot chocolate on the way. The Chargers lost, so DH was a little sad, but he had met a nice family from San Diego that he got to cheer with, so that was a positive thing. We hopped a bus back to Pop and went to bed. I had thought about doing some packing in preparation for our move to POR the next day, but I was just too tired! It could wait until tomorrow. :sleepin:
Our wake-up call came at 2:45, and then we got another one at 2:50 – the second one was an actual person on the phone, not just the Olaf recording. I’m guessing that maybe the cast members were making double sure that no one overslept and missed their big race. Or maybe it was just us, I don’t know. Anyway, we were out the door by 3:20 and grabbed the standard coffee and bagel, with an added power bar today, before jumping on the bus to Epcot. It was much cooler than previous days, so I was thankful I had my warm-up pants and sweatshirt especially for the long wait in the corral. Someone had given me the idea to purchase some throw away clothes from Goodwill before the trip (since I didn’t have any that I was getting ready to donate). All the clothes left behind in the start area would be collected and donated to Goodwill, so it was a great way to stay warm and then donate it right back to Goodwill. The start corral entertainment was pretty much the same as the day before, but I got to chatting with two other ladies who were also doing the Dopey. Apparently, one poor Dopey Challenge participant was so tired that he fell asleep sitting on the ground in his corral (I didn’t see him), and they had to wake him up when the corral started moving towards the start line.
I was nervous about completing the marathon since this was my first one ever, and I’d already run the other three races, but everything went great. My body was actually feeling pretty good that morning, and I had decided to run it nice and easy with my goal being simply to finish. We hit MK first, and it was still relatively dark, so we got to see the castle all lit up. I almost starting crying right there on Main Street – the whole experience was so surreal. People were lined up about 6 deep all along Main Street just cheering for the runners, and the atmosphere was incredible. :party2: There was no stopping for characters today! We ran through TL, Fantasyland, through the castle, back around to Frontierland, and then out a back exit. The course then went past the GF and on to the Speedway. There was a car club on the track, and all the members were sitting by their cars in lawn chairs and cheering the runners on. After the Speedway, it was off to AK, and there were cast members with animals (I think from Rafiki’s Planet Watch area) lined up all along the road leading into the park. One of the goats even had a runner’s bib! :silly: We wound our way through Asia towards the front of the park and then on towards ESPN. There were some kids teams practicing at ESPN, so we got some great high fives from them as we ran through, and then it was off to HS. I started stopping at med tents to get biofreeze for my knees at about mile 11, and it worked wonders. We hit HS somewhere around mile 22.5 or so and there were CMs handing out Monsters Inc gummy snacks and chocolate. HS is one of my favorite parks, so I loved running through it. There were even some people sewing in the costume section of the Backlot Tour area. I’m glad we got to run through that tunnel because the ride was closed the whole time we were there and it turned out to be my only chance to see that area. After winding our way past Star Tours :yoda: and then the hat, we headed out of the park and along the waterway towards Epcot. A lot of people were holding up signs and cheering all along the path, so it was a lot of fun. By this point, I realized that a) I was going to make it, b) my time wasn’t going to be horrible, and c) I hadn’t hit the wall. All three of those things greatly encouraged me and I truly enjoyed the last mile or so of the race. Well, maybe I enjoy remembering it more than I enjoyed actually running it, but still, it was pretty cool. So Dopey hadn’t been out on the 10K or the half marathon course, but he was waiting at the entrance to Epcot, and there was only one person waiting in line for him, so…I ran right past him! :huh: I have no idea what I was thinking. I wish I could go back and stop and get my picture, but by that point, I just wanted to finish, so I ran by. We ran counterclockwise around the WS, then past the fountain and SE. The park was open by this point, so there were various people cheering and others just looking annoyed, but I honestly didn’t care. A large gospel choir greeted us as we ran out the cast member entrance and rounded the corner towards the finish line. Crossing that line was such a huge personal milestone for me, and I just about lost it. I was so happy to have been a part of such an amazing weekend, and the physical exertion just kind of wiped me out, but I was ecstatic! I stopped by the med tent and got ice for my knees, then collected my medals and headed out to try to find Justin. He had been chasing me all over the course, so by that time his phone was dead, but he used the courtesy cell phones and called me. The finish area seriously looked like a scene from Walking Dead. Everyone was shuffling around slowly, and there were definitely people groaning. I didn’t dare sit down because I was afraid I wouldn’t get back up!
Justin eventually found me, and we made our way over to the bus. Walking up those stairs was quite a feat at that point, but I got up it and then took the first available seat. It had to be a funny sight watching all us runners hobble on and off the buses. :old: I headed straight for our room when we got back to Pop so I could ice everything, and Justin grabbed food and brought it back to the room for lunch. He got the burger and fries that I had requested, and then he grabbed a Mickey ice cream treat for me as a bonus reward for finishing. I probably remained immobile for a couple hours, but Justin headed off to DTD after a bit so he could catch the Chargers game. I eventually got cleaned up and headed to DTD with my medals for the after party. It was so hard to walk, but thankfully there were plenty of other people who looked like I felt!
My brother, SIL, and nieces flew in that afternoon and we had arranged to meet up at DTD for supper. They arrived a little late, but we connected at T Rex. The girls were so excited to be there. The four-year-old had been talking about going to “Disney Channel” (that’s what she kept calling it) for at least six months! I thought T Rex was cute – it was very similar to RC, but still had enough differences to be interesting. My brother’s family headed back to POR after dinner, and I hobbled slowly to the Lava Lounge to collect Justin, stopping for a Ghiradelli’s hot chocolate on the way. The Chargers lost, so DH was a little sad, but he had met a nice family from San Diego that he got to cheer with, so that was a positive thing. We hopped a bus back to Pop and went to bed. I had thought about doing some packing in preparation for our move to POR the next day, but I was just too tired! It could wait until tomorrow. :sleepin: