I ran my first Disney Marathon today (six previous marathons with a PR of 3:18 - twice). My aunt has worked at Disney for over 25 years so she's been working on me to come run Disney for a while since I graduated college and moved up to marathons a few years ago.
I signed up last spring on the first possible day since I had heard the race fills up fast. Toyed with the idea of trying the Dopey (5k/10k/Half/Full) but didn't really have upwards of $500 for race entries and figured I could also try that at a later date. I entered my time from a half-marathon this past summer (1:22) and that was good enough to get me bib #67 and place me in corral A.
I spent Friday and Saturday hanging out at Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom (free entry being a benefit of a relative that is a cast member) so spent more time on my feet than I usually would before a race but I flew 1,500 miles to visit and wanted to enjoy myself.
It was an early morning - since I was staying with my Aunt and Uncle we woke up at 2:15 AM to eat breakfast and get on the road by 3 AM (they live 20 miles from Disney in an Orlando suburb). We had no problems getting to the EPCOT parking lot by 3:30 AM and parked and walked together to the large runner staging area to hang out until 5 AM when I started making my way to the corrals.
I was also lucky enough to have not only my Aunt Lois and Uncle Michael to cheer me on but my Mom made the trip from Sioux Falls along with my Aunt Carol and Aunt Pat from Minnesota. They also had an extremely early morning to get to Disney before the roads were closed for the race!!
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| Part of my cheering section: Aunt Carol, Aunt Pat, and my Mom |
I have never seen so many porta-potties and runners in my life!! I should note that my previous marathons have all been smaller races in my home state of South Dakota with usually only a few hundred runners - maybe upwards of 2,000 in a half marathon. The porta-potty lines were moving quickly but it was a long crowded walk to the corrals. I did a little bit of dynamic stretching and jogging to warm up and took my spot in Corral A at 5:20; 15 minutes before the race was set to go off.
Just after 5:35 the gun and fireworks went off and the 35 elite runners and Corral A (about 350 runners) were off and running!!
Mile 1: 7:04 - A dark stretch of Disney highway with some portable lights set up and a HS marching band playing along the side of the road
Mile 2: 7:00 - My early goal was to maintain an "easy" 7:00-7:15 pace
Mile 3: 6:52 - Approaching entrance to Magic Kingdom parking lot
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| Uncle Michael with the first "text alert" as I hit the 5k mark just before entering Magic Kingdom |
Mile 4: 6:48 - Approaching entrance to Magic Kingdom park
Mile 5: 6:43 - Got a little running up and down a couple hills towards Magic Kingdom... didn't want to run any miles under 7:00 until at least Mile 15, and this was my third too quick in a row
Mile 6: 6:42 - Mile six was almost entirely entirely in Magic Kingdom; very fun, especially running through Cinderella's Castle. Was not very crowded in the park as I was up in the top couple hundred runners and we were getting spread out
Mile 7: 7:22 - As we left Magic Kingdom I tried to make a conscious effort to slow my pace down
Mile 8: 6:54 - Miles 8-11 were all on some dark roads between Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom
Mile 9: 7:03 - Powerade and Water were offered about every 2 miles, sometimes more often. I tried to take mostly small sips of Powerade and sometimes followed it with a little bit of water. Knew I needed to stay hydrated as I was pretty well soaked through my short sleeve shirt and shorts from miles 3 through the finish. I honestly couldn't have been much more wet if I jumped into a lake - it was humid!!
Mile 10: 7:07 - I had heard some horror stories about running past the water treatment plant and compost area but the wind must have been in our favor because I did not smell it at all
Mile 11: 7:05 - A small horseshoe turn allowed us to run up against our competition up ahead and also those immediately behind us
Mile 12: 7:05 - Our first Cliff Bar gel station was much needed by this point. The 12th miles brought us through Animal Kingdom which was a highlight. It was still quite dark and I was running pretty much alone - nobody within 50 feet either ahead or behind so I got to interact with the AK cast members and characters
Mile 13: 7:06 - Miles 13-17 was more highway running towards the Wide World of Sports Complex
13.1 Split: 1:31:15 (3:02:30 Pace) - My original goal was Sub-3:00 but I realized that this wouldn't be possible since I could tell my best miles were already behind me. Just settled in to enjoy myself and see how well I could compete the whole distance
Mile 14: 6:54
Mile 15: 7:06
Mile 16: 7:21 - Fatigue was starting to creep in and would eventually get worse. Could have used another gel at this point but was hoping Powerade would do.
Mile 17: 7:13
Mile 18: 7:17 - Had to take a 4+ minute pit stop in a porta-potty just as we were entering the sports complex. Not ideal, but really had no choice and didn't want to get stuck in between bathroom stops. This mile included 3/4ths of a lap on a track (also where Goofy was hanging out)
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| Cruising through the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. Look at that right leg kick-out action! |
Mile 19: 7:29 - Ran by the big cheese himself, Mickey!
Mile 20: 7:32 - Even though I knew I was fading, this mile was a highlight as we got to run a lap around the warning track and outside of the stadium used by the Braves during spring training
Mile 21: 7:46 - Miles 20-23 were spend on the road working towards Hollywood Studios Mile 22: 7:45
Mile 23: 8:23 - Yikes... I was hurting by this point!
Mile 24: 7:39 - Running through Hollywood Studios was a much needed mental distraction. Lots of awesome volunteers and cast members cheering us on!!
Mile 25: 7:57 - Ran on the boardwalk on our way to EPCOT
Mile 26: 7:23 - Entered EPCOT - could see Spaceship Earth (the golf ball) and knew the end was near!! Tried to put in some surges but the legs didn't really want to respond Final .21: 1:31 - Just tried to soak in the final little bit of the race with lots of crowd and volunteer support as we approached the finish. Crossed the line to an announcing calling our name and hometown and got my Mickey Finisher's Medal :)
26.21 miles Garmin time: 3:09:54; 7:15/mile pace (I paused my watch during my restroom break near mile 18)
Official Chip Time: 3:13:41; placed 91st overall out of 19,838 finishers.
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| Unfortunately I did not receive one of the coveted chocolate medals |
I was pleased overall with the race, a new PR of 5 or 8 minutes, depending on which time I go by. Obviously I missed my original goal of 3:00 but the humidity and heat probably had something to do with that (coming from a cold Midwest winter), as well as walking lots of miles the two days before the race.
Overall it was a lot of fun. I'd love to run Disney again, both to run a faster time but also again to do more "fun things" and pose for pictures with characters along the course. I'd definitely recommend Disney to anyone, whether you are a serious runner or not. It is well run, you get a great long sleeve technical shirt as well as a very cool and iconic medal. The volunteers and cast members along the course and at the end were amazingly supportive! This might not be your best bet for a fast PR, but it is truly a running experience.
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| Couldn't get out of that soggy race shirt and shorts fast enough!! |
PS - The expo was by far the biggest I've ever been to and was well organized and pretty awesome. The highlight was definitely stopping by the Runner's World booth and realizing that their CRO (Chief Running Officer) Bart Yasso was just hanging out in the booth. We spent a few minutes chatting about the Black Hills and racing and coaching and the demise of "Running Times" magazine. He was incredibly gracious and friendly. A highlight of the weekend for me!
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| Bart Yasso spent some time talking about the Black Hills and Spearfish running! |
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