Disney’s Wine and Dine Half Marathon 2012 Recap (Flashback)

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.