I got up after a very short night's sleep and got ready. We left Dwight's by 3:15am. We arrived in the parking lot at Epcot by 4am. We sat in the car and stayed warm for a bit. We headed over to baggage check around 4:45, used the porta potties, then made our way to the corrals. This is the first race I've ever run where they have someone checking your bib at the corral to make sure you are not jumping ahead of where you are supposed to be.
Another big difference I noticed is that usually you can't hear what the people in the front are saying at races. Disney has great sound systems and giant TVs so that everyone (even those at the back of the last corral) can see and hear what is going on! At 5:30, the fireworks went off and the Elites and corral A took off. Another round of fireworks for corral B, and we were off!
There were 25,000 people running this race, so it was pretty tight. You couldn't get much room to run and you had to do a lot of passing on the grass. It opened up once we got past mile 2 or so. The race is amazing because Disney has something to keep you entertained every 1/2 mile. Photo opportunities, characters, marching bands, cheerleaders, gospel singers...you name it, they have it!
One of my favorite parts was the army men from Toy Story who yell at you as you are running up "a hill". I use the term hill quite loosely. Gentle upgrade would be more descriptive....the course is really flat. I also really loved running down Main Street USA in Magic Kingdom and of course running through Cinderella's castle which was beautifully lit.
I finished in 2:15:51 which was not a PR...but, I wasn't trying for one. I just wanted to enjoy the race and have fun. We spent Sunday in Epcot and Monday in Hollywood Studios. It was an AWESOME long weekend.
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| Me and Dwight...Dwight completed the Goofy Challenge (Half on Saturday, Full on Sunday) |
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