Sunday, Jan 13th - Walt Disney World Marathon
Race Course
The 26.2 mile course starts outside of Epcot, goes up to Magic Kingdom, down to Disney's Animal Kingdom, over to Disney's Hollywood Studios and back to Epcot.
Some cool facts about this race. YES, the number of female runners outnumbers the male runners.
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Summary
After waking up 2 days in a row at very early hours, my body was getting used to it exhausted. I woke up at 2:45 am and met my friend April at the bus line around 3:25am ( just like the day before for the Walt Disney World Half Marathon).
We arrived at the staging area around 3:45 and took pictures with some running friends.
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| With my friend April |
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| With April and Crystal Wiseheart aka Disney Diva |
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Meeting a bunch of Marathon Maniacs fellows
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At around 4:45am, we headed to the corrals. We left 15 minutes earlier since we almost didn't make it to the corrals the day before. We arrived to corral B just in time. The gun went off at 5:30 am.
The first 9 miles were the same course as the day before ( from Epcot Center Drive to World Drive [ mile 2-4] to Magic Kingdom [miles 4-7]). My legs were feeling heavy. I told my running buddy, Julius, that I was not going to stop for pictures at Magic Kingdom this time around. However, at mile 7 or so I spotted the Queen of Hearts and some Disney villains. Since I was dressed up as her, I had to take a picture. "Off with their heads" someone said as I was posing. This is probably the most awesome picture I've ever taken at a Disney race.
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| Standing up to the villains. |
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| Peter Pan, Julius, The Queen of Hearts and Wendy |
At mile 9. we arrived at the Disney World Speedway. It was nice to see some cool cars.
Of course, this was my favorite one.
We ran 3 more miles and entered the Disney's Animal Kingdom. We had been there the day before and enjoyed the new Expedition Everest ride.
Outside the Animal Kingdom, I saw Mickey and Pluto dressed up in Safari costumes.
At mile 17, we entered the ESPN WW of Sports where the expo was held a century 2-days ago.
From mile 17-22, we ran on some busy roads. My legs were tired but my mind was distracted by the Disney characters. I did make a few lots of stops for pictures.
At around mile 18, I met again my friend April again.
At mile 22, we arrived at Disney's Hollywood Studios where Wreck-It Ralph was waiting for me. I thought of my friend Edna who was dressed up like Vanellope Von Schweetz. This would have been picture perfect for her. I wondered at that time if she saw him.
From Hollywood Studios, we ran to Epcot. It was about 2.2 miles. At this point, I didn't want to stop anymore. Not even for pictures or water breaks. I just wanted to get to the finish line in one piece. Few minutes later, I could see the Spaceship Earth in the horizon. I was in familiar territory. This is my third consecutive day running in Epcot. While running the very last mile, I felt I was in the movie The Groundhog Day. Once again, we past the gospel choir and few yards later the finish line.
OMG, I did it! I can't believe it! I ran 5k, walked for 7k, ate and slept for 2 hours, then ran 13.1 miles, walked for 7 hours, ate and slept for 2 hours, then ran for 26.2 miles, walked for 10 hours, ate and SLEPT IN! 42.4 miles in 3 days, 4 parks, 4 beautiful medals.
Oh, after the race I was caught on camera doing my little dance. LOL!
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| WDW Marathon race shirt and finisher medal |
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| Goofy Shirt and all the medals. |
BIG thanks to my husband and kids! You rock my world!
To all my family and running friends that helped me out with words of encouragement, I love you. To my mom in-law, thanks for my beautiful running outfit. You might get some requests after this post ;)
To my new running buddy, Julius, many thanks for sticking with me for 39.3 miles and taking all those fabulous pics.
What's next? One more Disney race this weekend ( 01/21), the Tinker Bell Half Marathon to qualify for the Coast to Coast Challenge. Yes, I am a Mad Hatter :)
