Hi friends! Jenny is recovering from an intense foot reconstruction surgery, but has agreed to share her tales of running the Walt Disney World Marathon. If you're just catching up, make sure to read part 1, which covers the Pasta in the Park Party, and part 2, which outlines her experience volunteering at the expo. And now, for the piece de resistance, her race report!
As
I set my alarm for 2: 15 a.m. and lay my head down I hoped and prayed that I would
be able to sleep. I love traveling to races but I dread the lack of sleep
hotels often offer and this was no exception.
My
good friend and running wife Barbara Dutton and I were school-girl-giddy to
dress as Minnie Mouse and head to run the Disney Marathon. Bucket list item
number two for Barbara and my third attempt at completing 26.2 miles, we
decided to just finish the course and not PR. The heat forecast was for around
82 and thankfully with our 4: 30 a.m. start time a lot of the running would be
before the sun had risen.The course ran through all 4 Disney Parks so we had to get ourselves to the start line at the EPCOT theme park, easy right? WRONG. It was my decision to book our hotel and I made the same mistake Barbara did last year. I booked the Hilton LakeBuena Vista, which makes no provisions for the Disney marathon runners. The hotel DID NOT offer a shuttle to the theme park and we had to leave our hotel at 3:15 a.m. at the latest. Barbara in her best “Dutton Law” voice had a WORD with the management, who we seriously uninterested in helping us. They promised to get back to us and never did and it was the very kind Bell Hops who eventually arranged us a shuttle.
The
traffic had started to get busy as we arrived at EPCOT so we quickly headed to
gear check and then onto the port-a-potties. Barbara noticed that an aid
station was offering water, Tylenol and sunscreen and she headed over to cover
her self before we started the two-mile walk to our start corral.
25,000 runners were expected to cover the 26.2 miles with us and I
have to say I’ve never seen such a mix of all shapes and sizes in runners. They
were “average” shaped sisters, brothers and friends running together. They were
there to commemorate anniversaries and memorials and not to be elite. This race
was about having fun and being together. Fireworks signaled the start of each
corral and we headed off with Corral G and down the service roads towards the
Magic Kingdom.
The first few miles passed quickly and we arrived at the Magic
Kingdom entrance at mile 5. The course was full of plenty of aid stations,
water/powerade stops, entertainment, character photos, sections of the parade
floats, music from DJs and live bands, there was never a dull moment. The sun
had finally fully risen when we reached Cinderella’s castle and the
temperatures were starting to warm up. I had made us Minnie Mouse tulle skirts
and Barbara decided she was just too warm to run in hers any longer. One of the
places where marathonfoto are guaranteed to be is where you run through the
entrance to the castle. Don’t miss your opportunity for a great pic.
After the Magic Kingdom and when we hit Mile 8 we entered Disney
Speedway and this is when my problems started. Having an existing foot problem
and being on my feet too much the days running up to the marathon, I was
struggling with terrible pain and nausea from the pain which was made horribly
worse by running at a gradient around the Speedway. I tried to distract myself
by eating some Gu and enjoying the classic cars and cars from movies, which
were lined up on either side of the track, but that didn’t help. It wasn’t long
before I was walking slowly and wanting to stop.
By now Barbara was getting concerned about being swept and I
encouraged her to leave me and finish her race. I was going to do what I could
but I was not convinced I would reach half way let alone finish. So I watched
Barbara run off into the distance and headed towards the Animal Kingdom. At
Mile 12 a cheer squad holding reptiles and cute furry animals, greeted me. I’m
not a big bearded lizard fan, but I couldn’t resist saying hi to the handlers
and admiring their reptiles albeit from a far. The terrain through Animal
Kingdom irritated my feet further and I had to drag myself past the numerous
benches along the route. This made me very upset, as it’s my favorite park and
probably one of the few places where there was some shade. The temperature at
this point had risen and my face was definitely feeling some sunburn L
13
miles and every step is agony. My stomach is nauseous from the pain and my head
hurts. Considering stopping made me very upset and I battle on through mile 14
and eventually to mile 15. At 15 and half miles I decide no more. My feet do
not have another mile in them let alone 11 and I find a race official and ask
to finish and leave the course. The lady
who helped me was amazing and quickly arranged for a car to collect me and take
me to the finish line at EPCOT. I get in the car and I am beside myself upset.
Another official takes my details and we head home. L We collected two more people along the way
and they were ecstatic about being picked up and I later heard someone had been
picked up at Mile 1. We arrived at the finish line and were met by 6 doctors and
race officials who kindly gave us our medals. One of the doctors quickly
wrapped me in a space blanket and took me inside a shaded tent. After wrapping
my feet in ice I was given snacks and water and was constantly checked to make
sure I was feeling good. They were all amazing.
Self aid, first aid and more photo opportunities were available beyond gear check but we chose to head near the runner’s retreat tent with friends. As we watched the crowd and were inundated with congratulations and smiles from other runners and their friends and families, all I could think of was my DNF. I was very lucky to receive a medal regardless and I was amazed at later finding out the winner crossed the finish line in 2 hours 21 minutes. Whoa. I realize now my long miles have now ended and I am good with that and I will never forget my Disney trip. If you have a race bucket list add Disney to it, even if it’s not a marathon distance. The weekend includes a Family Fun 5k, half marathon and full marathon. Disney has fondly nicknamed their half and full marathons, Goofy and the runner receives an extra medal for completing both races. Do I have a Goofy in me? Probably not but I-d love to go and be official Chear Squad for someone else. J
2 comments:
Thanks so much for sharing your Disney Marathon experience! It sounds like an absolutely magical weekend in the way that only Disney can create! That medal is just AWESOME.
So, so, so sorry to hear about the foot injury, especially if you had to have surgery right afterwards. I can only imagine how agonizing it must have felt to try to run through the pain. But it was very smart of you to not pressure yourself to do more than you could safely do. There will always be other races and I've definitely learned the hard way not to push yourself too much.
I've been wanting to do the Disney Marathon and/or any of the Disney races for quite some time, now, so your thoughts really are super helpful. Thanks again for sharing your entire experience!!!
Thank you for sharing your story. I am sorry that the race was tough but you definitely earned the medal even if you did not finish. I mean if I was in that much pain there would be no way I could have made it as far as you did!
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