Have a Magical Race

And Magical race it was.

The Walt Disney World Marathon was more enjoyable than I could have ever imagined.  From the moment I stepped off the plane, it was beautiful...the weather, the sites, the people..everything.

I flew in on Saturday Morning and went straight from the airport to the expo at ESPN Wide World of Sports.  The last time I had been to Disney World, we did not come to this facility, and, let me tell you, if you are a sports fan this place is heaven. 

I'm sad to report my lack of exploration of the expo...I'm sure it was wicked awesome, but I was so tired I literally got my number and shirt and left.  I'll take more advantage next year.

Now, I learned many travel dos and don'ts during NZ, but what would be another trip without a major lapse of judgement?  (sidenote: this was another solo trip)

I had decided to travel without a car, relying on the shuttle from the airport and the Disney Buses which would run from all the Disney resorts.  I *thought* I had researched everything thoroughly, but there was a small detail I missed; Downtown Disney was not considered a 'resort,' it is a 'park.'   oops.  I blame this on my 16 year old mind, which was the last to visit DW in the flesh, and only remembered it was called 'downtown' and I figured there would be places to stay in downtown, therefor buses would come to downtown to pick people up...not so much.  Luckily, Saratoga Springs is more-or-less walking distance from downtown Disney and at 3am I made the trek over to Saratoga to ride the charter bus to Epcot.

I would say the only two downsides to the race was the start time and the amount of wait time in the corrals.  We were supposed to be in our corrals by 5am, which I was, but my wave wasn't scheduled to start until 6:25am.  Longest corral wait ever.  But the Fireworks were awesome and everything else after that was awesome.  The race set the bar high for anything else I do.

As the race states in the description, we ran through all of the parks, starting with Magic Kingdom.  I saw pictures of the front runners who hit Magic Kingdom pre-dawn and the castle was still lit with the pretty icicle lights...by the time I got there, daylight was breaking so there wasn't any icicle lights, but is was still very pretty.

The race took many back roads not accessible to the public.  We got to see the water treatment plant..so exciting, I know.

Mile 10 took us to the race car track which was lined with probably close to 100 classic/flipping awesome cars.  I could have stopped and got pictures of every car since they were all so cool, but I snapped a quick picture at the beginning and admired the rest as I ran by...especially the Dancing Ponies at the end of the track...

After the racetrack, we entered Animal Kingdom to celebrate Half Way.  It was a quick run, straight through.  A few animal handlers greeted us at the back entrance with random animals...the sheep sticks out in my mind.  Not sure why.

We hit the highway for awhile, headed towards ESPN's Wide World of Sports.  The had so much stuff on the roads, I didn't get pictures of everything or I would probably still be running.  Mile 17 was the entrance into the WWoS and also when I hit the wall.  I didn't train properly for this and only started it because I'm to stubborn to admit defeat, so it wasn't a matter of if I hit it, but when.

Whilst in the WWoS, we got to run on the track, which is fantastic and also got to take a lap around the Baseball Stadium..forgive me for not remembering who plays there.. :-/ 

The race had said something super exciting would be at mile 20 to celebrate the 20th Anniversary.  I had sort of forgotten this when i was actually running, but took a picture of the 20 mi maker anyways.  It wasn't until after the race and talking to my mom who asked me what the surprise at Mile 20 was.  haha. Oh.  That was what mile 20 was all about.  It seems pretty clear now that I look back at the picture...especially since there were crazy dancer people and all sorts of silly things leading up to that grand stage.

Anyways, once we left the WWoS, we moved on to the final stops of the race, Hollywood Studios, across the walkway and finally to Epcot where the we crossed the finish line.  By the time we reached the WWoS, the parks were starting to open to the public, which was pretty cool.  Half the walkways were blocked for runners, the other half were tourists giving us strange looks...but every so great was the finish line...and crossing it!

 

One of the things I will most remember is all the encouragement from onlookers.  They lifted my spirits when I thought I had hit rock bottom.  Multiple times during the race I was almost in tears, not because of pain, but just pure overwhelming happiness.  I have a gift and I should be grateful every day.  I have a gift of working legs. I have a gift of the ability to travel.  I have the gift of life right now and I plan to take that gift for every second I have it. 

No worse for the wear, I iced my knees when I got back to the hotel and cleaned up for the after party where I got to meet up with 2 college friends whom I hadn't seen in years.  Being able to share the final experiences of the race weekend with people I knew made me wish my mom had been able to come with me. ... so she's doing the Disneyland Half with me. :-D

It was sad to see the night end and the experience coming to a close, but I look forward to next year..and really a few days from now when I get to register for the Dopey Challenge!!!!  So. Excited.

The morning after the race, I received this quote from Runner's World.  If you don't get their Quote of the Day emails, I highly suggest you do.  They have given me inspiration when I didn't think there was any to be found and as a solo runner, sometimes I need just that.

If you can't read it, the quote by Tasya Lacy states:

'I realize that I have been blessed with health and strength to overcome not only the miles on the road, but also overcome the hard times in life when you want to throw in the towel.  When I cross the line now, it is a celebration of the fact that I didn't quit.'

Something I try to instill in all of my students everyday.  Whatever you do, don't quit.  Finish what you start and finish it with pride.