Saturday: 1/12/13 - Event Date
Expo was packed 65,000 runners, so it was expected. Spent most of the afternoon there on
Friday.
I only got about 3 hours of sleep that night and had to meet
the girls at 3:15 a.m. to get to Disney by 4.
I don’t think any of us slept well at all. I woke up with sore throat and congestion but
just sucked it up.
It was a long slow walk to the corrals. I think I got into mine at 5:30 a.m. My group (D) started at 5:55.
Most of the course was out on the roads, not really within
the theme park. If I recall correctly, it was around
5.5 or 6 that we went through the Magic Kingdom and got to go through the
castle. The spectators and their
cheering was the most exciting. I saw a
few characters but the lines were so long to take photos and I just wanted to finish. A lot of the runners were pushy and elbowed
me a few times. I mean it was super
crowded and I stopped following my watch because A: I couldn’t hear it. B: It was so crowded that when the runners
had no choice but to walk I had to walk.
And C: My watch just stopped
working. It would get crazy during the water stops and I
saw people running in the opposite direction to go back to find friends or take
pictures. People were tripping over each
other and their costumes and trying to cut across in every direction. At that point around mile 7 or 8 I just
decided. Time to get this over
with. I was never a huge Disney fan;
maybe because I grew up in Orlando? I
just wanted that Gold Donald medal and to say I completed a Disney race. Had I ran with a group of friends maybe I
would’ve enjoyed it more. But there was
nothing I hadn’t seen before and very seldom were we in the parks. Several times along the course it smelled
very foul. I know now I’m being picky
but the smell was very gross. Maybe
horse poop or the portable bathrooms.
Seeing that Epcot ball and going around through mile 11 to
the turn made my day. I knew I was
almost done! I tried picking up the pace because I had no idea where I was at,
but who cares? It was Disney. No one
should try to PR at Disney. I saw Becky
towards the finish cheering on! I was happy to wave hi to her and tell her she’s
the first spectator I saw of the many people I knew were there. I finished strong; felt good. The volunteers were so great and
encouraging. I took my picture and was
really surprised at my finishing time.
Just a minute, almost 2 off my PR time.
I literally felt like I walked more than I needed to and stopped to deal
with people crossing over me or let someone speedy through. Below are my split times:
5K 37:37 12:06 pace
10K 1:16:35 12:19 pace
15K 1:56:00 12:27 pace
15K 1:56:00 12:27 pace
Finish 2:41:55 12:21 pace
Overall, I enjoyed Disney but I know It may be a first and
last for me. I think the start time is
just not for me. I’m normally a morning
person when I sleep 7 hours and get up no earlier than 6 a.m. But getting up at 2 a.m. just threw me off
maybe and I needed a serious attitude adjustment. I was glad to see familiar faces before and
after the race and snap some pictures. I
don’t entirely regret not getting any pictures on the course because I only
really missed the castle and some of Epcot and I am prepared to steal someone
else’s picture of it. I really know that
now, I appreciate and like small local races and I would still prefer a Rock n
Roll race over any for a bigger event.
They are so well organized and I’ve never had a bad experience at one
and I love music. I think it’s also
because RnR was my first half and I’ve only done 3 of their races but had so
much fun. Not a huge Disney fan and this
race didn’t make me one. Much props to
the Track Shack and their awesome organization of this event.
And yes, my favorite Disney character if I had to pick one is Pooh.
