It's been nearly three weeks since I completed the Walt Disney World Goofy's Race and a Half Challenge and I still can't believe I did it! The whole weekend was so fun...both races, the time in the parks with my husband...all of it!
Saturday morning I got up bright and early at 2:52 AM EST for the half marathon. I popped right up out of bed and actually felt rested. The buses ran from the resorts to the start area from 3-4 AM and I wanted to make sure I was there in plenty of time.
Once I got to the start area, I stood around for quite awhile, stretching, drinking water, taking advantage of the port-a-potties, and waiting for my friend Shannon to arrive. Once she got there we were able to make our way to the start line. We were Corral G (of Corrals A-H) so were the second to last group to start. There were fireworks with the start of each corral and lots of entertainment along the way.
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| Shannon and I in the start area |
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| The start line! |
It was so exciting to finally start, after all that time waiting! Every few miles there were characters out so you could take pictures with them. We stretched and chatted as we waited in line and then got back to running. When we listed our predicted finish time at registration, we had accounted for time spent taking pictures with characters. I think that was a mistake because then we were running with people who were going much slower than we were...but it was OK since I knew we had the full marathon to run the next day.
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| Pirates of the Caribbean!** |
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| At the entrance to Magic Kingdom |
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| Main Street USA |
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| Almost halfway! |
Unfortunately, John didn't quite know where the finish line was so he just met me at the very end. Then, we walked back through Epcot, cheering on those runners that were still running, to our hotel where I took a quick shower and then we spent the rest of the day at Magic Kingdom! That night we had signed up for the Pasta in the Park Party at Epcot. It was a fun experience but we both decided we wouldn't have to do that again. Actually, John said afterwards, "Well, next time we can skip that." I hadn't even thought of there being a next time yet...but now I definitely want to do it again!
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| We found Chip 'n' Dale after the race! |
I was so tired that night that we didn't stay for Illuminations but watched the fireworks from our hotel instead. The next morning, I again woke up at 2:52 AM. I was a little more tired but had still slept well. I was also pretty nervous. I made it to the bus on time once again. I chatted with some older women who were running too. They were pretty impressed that I was running my first full marathon as part of the Goofy Challenge.
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| Walking through the Mickey ears before the start of the full marathon |
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| Shannon and I before the start |
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| Pretty awesome fireworks display for each wave.* |
Around 6:15 we were off and running. We skipped the characters that we had taken pictures with the first day but took the time to take a few more pictures with characters at the beginning of the race. We also took advantage of as many "real" bathrooms as we could find!
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| The Nightmare Before Christmas |
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| Ariel |
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| Belle |
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| Lilo (Stitch went on break right before we got to the front of the line.) |
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| A little owl at Animal Kingdom |
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| A gator at Animal Kingdom |
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| 26.1 miles down, 13.1 to go for us Goofy runners! |
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| The Mile 20 Surprise! |
I still can't believe how fun the full marathon was. I never got bored. There was a pretty long stretch through the Wide World of Sports which other runners were complaining about a little bit but I thought it was OK. There were TONS of spectators cheering us on all along the course, especially toward the end of the race. Unfortunately, Shannon's foot was giving her problems throughout the whole day. She also sprained her ankle at one point and finally had to walk more around Mile 21. By that point, it hurt me more to walk than to run so we separated. Once I was on my own, I appreciated the spectators even more!
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| There were lots of signs like these.* |
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| These W.I.S.H. spectators were awesome. I thoroughly appreciated the Twizzlers they handed out!* |
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| And, of course, characters like these!* |
The course went right by our resort and I was super disappointed that I didn't see John there since that's where he initially had said he would be. But, as I neared Epcot, I saw him along the route. He found me two other times as the course made it's way through Epcot to the finish line. I was so emotional I actually had tears in my eyes! There was also a gospel choir at the last turn before the finish line which was very inspiring both days...the second day I almost burst into tears though!
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| I spotted him! |
Overall, it was a great experience. There were tons of volunteers throughout the entire race, from the pre-race area to the post-race area and everywhere in between. I felt myself smiling almost the entire way. There were characters and spectators with funny signs. There was always something to see! My name was printed on my race bib and near the end, strangers, both spectators and cast members, were cheering me on by name. It was so motivating!
The one rookie mistake I made was putting BioFreeze all over myself! I had never used it before and saw others putting it on their knees which seemed like a good idea because my knees were sore and I was hot. It felt great! The mistake I made was also rubbing it on my arms instead of wiping off my hands on the towels provided...oops! I was all tingly!
I highly recommend
runDisney, especially for beginning half or full marathon runners. I'm not sure how the experience would be for serious runners, as so much of the fun is stopping to take pictures with the characters (which obviously isn't good for your time). I can't wait to do another
runDisney race. I added the Coast to Coast Challenge, where you run a race at Disney World and Disneyland in one calendar year, to my bucket list. I won't be able to complete it this year as the Disneyland races have already passed or sold out...but I will do it someday!
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| I did it!** |
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| Goofy's Race and a Half Challenge complete! |
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| All my loot...the medals and shirts are awesome! |
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| One of my favorite Photopass photos from our trip...with Chip! |
Final race stats for the half marathon
Time: 2:49:06
Overall place: 13,352/23,126
Gender place: 6490/13,128
Division (F25-29) place: 962/1781
Final race stats for the full marathon
Time: 6:10:38
Overall place: 14,107/20,679
Gender place: 6481/10,618
Division (F25-29) place: 1068/1693
*Photos downloaded from runDisney Facebook album.
**Photo proof from MarathonFoto.com.
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