Day three of getting up ridiculously early, it must be Disney Marathon Weekend. The 2:30 am alarm went off way too early this morning but we both got up. This time I was the only one running while Dave was going to have a long day of cheering.
Once again we drove from the Boardwalk at 3:15 and got to the Epcot parking lot pretty quickly. We met up with Team AllEars as well as our friend Jim who was doing his first marathon. This time right after the team picture I headed to the corrals. It went much quicker since I left earlier. I actually had some time to sit in the corral before the start. I had quite a few of the Team AllEars teammates with me in Corral D. We were all worried about the heat later in the race and all decided just to relax and have fun.
The first few miles went great. The Magic Kingdom was fun as always and over much too quickly. This was a new course for the Marathon and I wasn’t used to being only at Mile 6 when leaving the Kingdom.
We headed into the Speedway for the first time and I can’t say I loved it. I didn’t like the big downhill and big uphill to get in and out of the Speedway. It was hard on the knees. Next up is one of the boring stretches of the course, the back road to Animal Kingdom. Luckily Michael Miller showed up right as we exited the Speedway and we ran the whole way through this section together and it helped it go by much more quickly. Thanks Mike! We hit the halfway point in Animal Kingdom and I ran into Joe Taricani from The Marathon Show. I was interviewed and made it on his show and got to run with his sign. That was definitely a highlight. I was still running with Mike and now William Vangroll joined us and Helen Dunn and Rich Gairing were also around us as well. It was really getting warm now.
For this race I decided to try the Powerade on the course instead of carrying my own Heed to get me through the race. Big mistake. I started having stomach issues around mile 18 or so. I had to stop and walk to try and get my stomach to calm down. It worked but I lost my running mates. This was a bummer as they sure did have a fun time for those last miles. This was when we entered the Wide World of Sports Complex and the supposed Mile 20 Spectacular. It was most definitely not spectacular. I was very disappointed.
Ice bag under the cap
The last few miles were a struggle, but the amazing Cheer stations from Team AllEars got me through! Dave also had a delicious cold beer for me right when I got to Epcot. But can I just say that that was the longest lap around the World Showcase I have ever made? For every other marathon that has been the victory lap and just a blast, not this time. I was done. I was very happy to finally see the Finish line. This was a tough Goofy due to the heat. It was my second worst Marathon time out of 17 tries. But it doesn’t matter. I finished and I even had a smile on my face.
Here's our video from the race along with the course map:
That will wrap up the Walt Disney World races. Next up: Disneyland's Tinker Bell Half Marathon Weekend races and The RunDisney Coast to Coast Challenge, then the non-race portions of both coasts.
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