Why was I so incredibly excited to run this race? Well, it would be run at night, and I really
like to run at night. I was just coming
off a good half marathon time at Disneyland and a good Marathon time, so I had
a chance of doing really well. Finally,
I wanted to finish the year off on a positive note – I wanted to place in my
age group.
2012 was the first full running year I had. It felt like I spent 2011 just training for
this year and getting through all the bumps in the road to get me this
far. After two fourth place finishes and
two top ten finishes at my last four timed races, I was done with just missing
out on an age group placement. I was
going to go all out for this half, try to get a new PR under 1:40, and try to
get in the top five for my age group.
While I was excited for the half, I was just as excited to
attend my first Food and Wine Festival at EPCOT. For the first time in 2012, there was a
special vegan booth. Seriously? Is Disney finally getting on board the vegan
bandwagon and realizing that there are vegans (or people that don’t eat meat
and have dairy allergies) that visit their parks? The vegan booth did not disappoint, and the
fake-meat and dessert was great. I just
wish it was a daily offering at all the parks.
One of the best things about running at Disney is the
massive Expo. While the Wine and Dine
Expo was a little less crowded than the marathon expo, I am a lover of free
stuff, especially food items. I always
enjoy a free Clif bar sample and applesauce in a squeeze pouch…wonderful
creation for the wait time on the night of the half.
There are two races over the weekend, or on Saturday, the 5k
in the morning and the half marathon at night.
I signed up for both, for no other reason than I really liked the name
of the 5k – the Jingle Jungle 5k through the Animal Kingdom. There was already Christmas everywhere at
Disney in the beginning of November. The 5k race went so fast.
Since it is untimed, I do stop to take pictures with all the characters,
who of course were Christmas themed. It
seems like it’s almost a race to get from one character to the next just to see
who it is. The 5k’s at Disney are over
far too fast, and before I knew it, I was slapping mittens with Minnie and
Mickey at the finish line.
 |
| Finish Line of the 5k - slapping mittens with Mickey and Minne |
Once the 5k was over, the wait began for the 10 or so hours
until it was time to board the bus for the half marathon. Some people spend the day in the parks, or
relaxing at their resorts, but since I hit the elliptical to make sure my legs
were lose and that my muscles weren’t tightening up. Then it was food time, and nap time. I have never prepared for a night race
before, so I didn’t really know what to do.
But there was a lot of pacing around the hotel room, a lot of listening
to “Run This Town” and A LOT of nervous energy.
All I could think of on the walk from the hotel to the
Boardwalk to catch the bus was that I was here to accomplish something and even if I didn't place, I was going to try my hardest. Once the bus got to the Wide World of Sports
complex (WWoS), and there were so many people, it does get overwhelming. But standing at the start line, almost on top
of the start line, I knew I was ready to either run the race or get it over and
done with - and hopefully, not get run over by the thousands of people behind me.
The fireworks went off and the race started, even in the
dark, the course was so well lit and there was so much to see. The road from the WWoS to the Animal Kingdom
was not the most exciting, but there were still Disney characters on the
route. The worst part was entering into
the Animal Kingdom park. Once inside,
the path was lit up by fluorescent lights in the shape of tusks, but it was
still dark and the footing was a little bit difficult. I don’t know the Animal Kingdom as well as I
know the other parks, so after this short path, I had an anxiety attack as
something went through my head that I didn’t know where I was or where I was
going. It was hard to stay in the mental
moment that I was running and had to keep going.
Once I recognized the entrance, or exit, from the Animal
Kingdom that I had run earlier that day during the 5k, things calmed down a
bit…well, until I saw the lit up alligator at the side of the road. I didn’t enjoy that at all and may have
screamed. I don’t like alligators. After
the Animal Kingdom, and running on the road around the parking lot, it’s back
on the highway to Hollywood Studios.
Again, this road is pretty uneventful, but I had found my happy pace and
was focused on keeping pace and getting to the next park.
After running on Hell Highway, it was into Hollywood
Studios. The route in the park was
different than the route for the marathon course as it went down the street in
front of the Tower of Terror instead of behind.
Then once at the big blue hat, the course again turned to go somewhere…but
I could no longer see any one in front of me and I had no idea where I was
supposed to go. I just kept following
the road until there were finally yellow cones to show that I was to go past
the Toy Story area, and I saw the guy that had been running in front of
me. The last thing I wanted to do was
get lost on the course.
The time spent in Hollywood Studios seemed to take
forever. I’m pretty sure we ran past
every attraction, went down every back road, and around every possible curve to get all the miles that we needed
to get. Not that it was bad, but I was
anticipating the finish. After mile 10,
we were finally running out of Hollywood Studios and onto the path to the
Boardwalk/Yacht and Beach Club resorts.
The entrance into EPCOT is again different from the marathon
as the entrance is near the former Figment Attraction (now Caption EO I think),
but it also means that the finish line comes sooner. Running into EPCOT was an amazing experience
as there were spectators lining both sides of the walkway all the way to the
big EPCOT ball. The cheering was so loud
and I had a huge smile on my face. It
was almost over, I looked at my phone and knew I was going to break 1:40, but I didn't know by how much.
Leaving EPCOT and racing to the finish line, I shut off my
ipod to hear “Firework” by Katy Perry as I was running through a tunnel of
light (wondering where in the world the finish line was since I didn’t see the
mile 13 marker). After the tunnel of
light, there it was the finish line. I
crossed it, shut of my GPS, and turned around to see my time. I really did it as I saw the 1:39 flash on
the time clock. My GPS recorded 1:38:58,
so I knew it was close. All that
mattered was that it was a new PR by at least a minute.
The medal from the Wine and Dine is one of my favorite
medals and it was so good to finally have it in my possession, especially to
wear at the after party. But, the after
party for me was hoping EPCOT would be open long enough for me to walk to the
Swan since immediately after the race my legs cramped up. What made it even more interesting was that I
had a checked bag that I was lugging (or dragging) with me that weighed about 5-7
pounds.
The best moment from the night, or the early morning of the
next day, was sitting in the garden behind the UK waiting for the band to
play. It was 1:52 a.m. on Sunday, when I
saw the results on my iphone and started crying. I got third place in my age group. Finally, I placed. This is what I had come here to do, and I did
it (which is a whole new meaning to my pink Wine and Dine I Did It t-shirt).
Of all the events from the weekend, the Food and Wine
Festival, the expo, running the 5k, and running the half marathon, the details
will eventually fade. But the feeling at
that one moment…I hope will never get lost.
