Mrs. Darling's 2010 Half Marathon Trip:Yes, it does snow at Disney World

[jmskinner]

I just sat here and read through your report. I am loving it. Ok, I am seriously thinking of giving this a try. Running a marathon. I know my family and friends won't believe it until it is done, but I am sitting here so excited reading your report.

But I am also sitting here with tears of joy for Sandy. Amazing!!! for her!!!

We were at a car show the weekend of the marathon and as I stood outside looking at cars, I thought of everyone running that marathon because it was horrible weather for sunny 'ol Florida.

Ok, as soon as the hubby gets home, I'm going to see if he would be interested. Looking forward to more!!!

[carissanboys]

Originally Posted by jmskinner

I just sat here and read through your report. I am loving it. Ok, I am seriously thinking of giving this a try. Running a marathon. I know my family and friends won't believe it until it is done, but I am sitting here so excited reading your report.

But I am also sitting here with tears of joy for Sandy. Amazing!!! for her!!!

We were at a car show the weekend of the marathon and as I stood outside looking at cars, I thought of everyone running that marathon because it was horrible weather for sunny 'ol Florida.

Ok, as soon as the hubby gets home, I'm going to see if he would be interested. Looking forward to more!!!

Are you thinking of running the marathon or the half-marathon??

[jmskinner]

Originally Posted by carissanboys

Are you thinking of running the marathon or the half-marathon??

Oh, it would have to be the half marathon, I'm sure.

[Sandy321]

Jenny, Jenny, Jenny - I'm so sorry.... you are delusional

*grin!! I LOVE the Pirate Picture!! OMG!! Too funny - that's a great capture!!

First I have to say - unfortunately in '09 we were only there in spirit - irl we were at hospital, and then our #1 son got married... but it was the '08 trip that was so memorable...



I gave my camera to the CM - and they ended up taking a 5 second movie OF NOTHING!! :rotfl2
so when I passed the Pirates I thought, drats... if only... but I kept pushing forward.... forward... and hey there were a LOT of people behind you (and therefore me!) I cant believe they swept at mile 8! so many people....


in '08 I wanted to get some photos - and I eventually crossed the finish line - but the finish line was turned off... so my goal this year was to be an "official" finisher!!

I know, I know.... too many words....

Y'all are great!!

you are the real hero!! YOU TOTALLY ROCKED THE RACE!!

[Sandy321]

oh PS....

after reading Maroo's trip report of the Make a Wish with the Steam trains... I really gave them a cheer - and wanted to stop for a photo there too!!

[dismagiclover]

Originally Posted by Stefy

OMG you met Captain Jack and Barbossa!!! How cool is that

Question, how nice of that girl to shout out that comment to you. How did she know your name though?

Well done Sandy

What does swept mean?

Our names are on our bibs in pretty large letters. You have to be doing 16 minute miles throughout the marathon. If you don't keep the pace they can take you off the course and you don't finish. And Sandy points out below that she actually wasn't swept. She just crossed the finish line after they turned off the clock so it wasn't official.

Originally Posted by carissanboys

Great pics with pirates. Argh!

I agree. Sandy is awesome.

Originally Posted by Happy Elf

Great pics with the pirates! Arrr!

What a great hero moment! What a neat story about Sandy.

The pirate picture is one of my favorites and Sandy does have a great story!

Originally Posted by jmskinner

I just sat here and read through your report. I am loving it. Ok, I am seriously thinking of giving this a try. Running a marathon. I know my family and friends won't believe it until it is done, but I am sitting here so excited reading your report.

But I am also sitting here with tears of joy for Sandy. Amazing!!! for her!!!

We were at a car show the weekend of the marathon and as I stood outside looking at cars, I thought of everyone running that marathon because it was horrible weather for sunny 'ol Florida.

Ok, as soon as the hubby gets home, I'm going to see if he would be interested. Looking forward to more!!!

I say go for it! The race isn't easy, but I don't think you'll regret it. I can't explain the sense of satisfaction you get when you cross the finish line (especially the 1st half marathon.) I remember tearing up when I hit mile 13 during my first half and realized I was really going to finish. It is so empowering and made me realize I was tougher than I ever knew

Originally Posted by Sandy321

Jenny, Jenny, Jenny - I'm so sorry.... you are delusional Trust me. You aren't the first person to ever think that

*grin!! I LOVE the Pirate Picture!! OMG!! Too funny - that's a great capture!!

First I have to say - unfortunately in '09 we were only there in spirit - irl we were at hospital, and then our #1 son got married... but it was the '08 trip that was so memorable... oops I got some of the details wrong, but it's still a great story!

I gave my camera to the CM - and they ended up taking a 5 second movie OF NOTHING!! :rotfl2
so when I passed the Pirates I thought, drats... if only... but I kept pushing forward.... forward... and hey there were a LOT of people behind you (and therefore me!) I cant believe they swept at mile 8! so many people....
Mile 8 is an early sweep. I wonder how many were swept.

in '08 I wanted to get some photos - and I eventually crossed the finish line - but the finish line was turned off... so my goal this year was to be an "official" finisher!! And you finished in style

I know, I know.... too many words....

Y'all are great!!

you are the real hero!! YOU TOTALLY ROCKED THE RACE!!

I'm glad you popped in. Kind of like I have a star posting in my trip report I love the photo in your signature.

[UGAFan0829]

What a great update. Sandy is my hero, too!! That story made me cry! Yeaaa!

[Ellester]

I'm laughing over your son's grief over the left behind coat. That sounds so like my kids, I'm sure you were like "what?". Five year olds are such a trip! I'm sure it now belongs to someone who really needed a nice fleece jacket.

I never knew about all the characters on the course, how cool! And, great job Sandy! You all are inspiring me!

[UGAFan0829]

I have a somewhat dumb question-If you cross the finish line, but your time is unofficial (the clock is off), do you still get a medal?

[Sandy321]

Originally Posted by dismagiclover

Our names are on our bibs in pretty large letters. You have to be doing 16 minute miles throughout the marathon. If you don't keep the pace they can take you off the course and you don't finish. And Sandy points out below that she actually wasn't swept. She just crossed the finish line after they turned off the clock so it wasn't official.





The pirate picture is one of my favorites and Sandy does have a great story!


I say go for it! The race isn't easy, but I don't think you'll regret it. I can't explain the sense of satisfaction you get when you cross the finish line (especially the 1st half marathon.) I remember tearing up when I hit mile 13 during my first half and realized I was really going to finish. It is so empowering and made me realize I was tougher than I ever knew



I'm glad you popped in. Kind of like I have a star posting in my trip report I love the photo in your signature.

Originally Posted by UGAFan0829

What a great update. Sandy is my hero, too!! That story made me cry! Yeaaa!

OK - y'all need to stop - - I was not I did not... I can and should've done better!! (its embarrassing all the nice things y'all are saying, the truth is I am so not worthy!)

Originally Posted by UGAFan0829

I have a somewhat dumb question-If you cross the finish line, but your time is unofficial (the clock is off), do you still get a medal?

Funny you should ask that...

When I signed up for the Half in '08 I read trip reports, read blogs, and posted questions... and the advice from prior races AT THE TIME - was get to the front of your corral, and get to mile 10 - they previously hadnt swept after mile 10 - that changed in '08!

THEN, when I did realize the chip thingy was off - and the timer said 4hours + some minutes... I was sad.... there were lots of people in front of me, and behind me... we get thru the chute... to hear "sorry we ran out of medals, stop at the info booth and leave your name and bib number... " um but we werent recorded "oh, well"

Long story short - the truck with the last box of medals went to the expo instead of the finish line - a kind CM paired me up with another runner from the resort who had a car and we drove over to get our medal!! (and it was another mile of walking to get the medal!! lol)

(and I'll always wonder, what my CHIP time was that year!)

bottom line - in this year '10 - they announced me as the last official runner in the Half Marathon - but I've since heard there were other people that crossed after me I seriously didnt see anyone behind me from mile 12 to the finish line...

What happens to those that are "swept"? Can they get a medal?

[dismagiclover]

Originally Posted by UGAFan0829

What a great update. Sandy is my hero, too!! That story made me cry! Yeaaa!

I teared up a bit when I wrote it too.

Originally Posted by Ellester

I'm laughing over your son's grief over the left behind coat. That sounds so like my kids, I'm sure you were like "what?". Five year olds are such a trip! I'm sure it now belongs to someone who really needed a nice fleece jacket.

I never knew about all the characters on the course, how cool! And, great job Sandy! You all are inspiring me!

We were a bit confused at the extreme emotion over the coat. You would have thought I'd left his beloved stuffed panda or something. Go figure

Originally Posted by UGAFan0829

I have a somewhat dumb question-If you cross the finish line, but your time is unofficial (the clock is off), do you still get a medal?

I was gonna say I have no idea, let's ask Sandy, but she already answered the question

Originally Posted by Sandy321

OK - y'all need to stop - - I was not I did not... I can and should've done better!! (its embarrassing all the nice things y'all are saying, the truth is I am so not worthy!)

Alright I'll cut out the hero worship, but I still think you're pretty cool.

[UGAFan0829]

[/QUOTE]=Sandy321;35186044

What happens to those that are "swept"? Can they get a medal? [/QUOTE]

I'm glad that you managed to still get a medal after all that!

As far as getting swept---From what I've been reading-if you get swept, then you don't get counted as finishing, and from what I've read, you have to finish in order to get a medal.

[dismagiclover]

So here we were at Mile 7 a little over half way done . (I’m not sure why I couldn’t fit this mile marker all in one pictue)





We’d been on the course close to 2 hours. Liz was really hoping to finish in under 3 hours. In other words, it was time to get serious. So Liz took the lead and headed over to the grass so we could really run (the road was rather crowded.) I followed behind for a bit and then I remembered I really don’t like running on the grass. (Some of you may be getting the impression that I just really don’t like running.) Anyway, the grass is pretty uneven and sometimes hurts my knees and ankles a bit. So I headed back to the road which slowed me down because I had to people dodge. I saw Liz fading farther into the distance and I made a decision. I would let her go. We’d talked before the race about how I knew she could do this faster than me and I didn’t want to hold her back. I assured her I wouldn’t mind one little bit if she left me behind. She really wanted to get through the Magic Kingdom with me and we decided then we’d see what happened. Well what happened was I sneakily let her go ahead. She really did think I was right behind her. I figured she would be better off running this part of the race on her own at her pace. Chances were good she could still make it in under three hours. Plus, with Liz racing ahead I could just relax and enjoy. (Though I have to confess I’d been pretty relaxed all along.)
I guess now is a good as time as any to explain my racing philosophy. (I suspect some of you may have figured it out already.) I really do train for my races. My last long training run was 11 miles and I did it in around 11:30 minute miles. When I’m training I try pretty hard to push myself and take seriously the task ahead. Race days are a whole other ballgame. Especially Disney Race Days. I train because I want to be confident that I can finish. I don’t want to have to worry about sweepers picking me up or questioning whether I can make it to the end. I train so that I can have fun. For me my finish time on race day is pretty far down my list of priorities. I’m all about stopping and smelling the roses. (And I’m sure you’ve noticed I do a lot of stopping.) Now this is a race philosophy that is tough for some fellow runners to wrap their head around. My DH didn’t get it until he actually ran the Disneyland Half with me. (Though I’d explained it beforehand.) And I don’t think Liz really understood it either until she ran with me. It takes a certain kind of person to have this race philosophy. It takes a person without a competitive drive and a person who frankly doesn’t have the desire to test his or her limits. Right or wrong I can’t say I’m going for my best on race day. I’m just going for a good time. And I must say a good time it was. Despite the freezing rain and crowded roads I was having a fabulous time. I ran by the Grand Floridian and who did I see.



I bet Mary was glad she had that parasol in this weather. Now I didn’t stop. Despite my racing philosophy so eloquently outlined above I was feeling like I should maybe pick up the pace a bit. So I kept running. But then I saw them. A pair there was no way I was passing up. Here they are



Don’t they look adorable? (Mickey and Donald, not me.) I’ve never seen these outfits. I love them. And check out that golf cart. Cutest golf cart ever! The line was a bit long for these two and while I waited I chatted with some fellow Marylanders. Runners are the friendliest people and Disney Runners are the most friendliest (yes I know that is completely grammatically incorrect.)

After saying goodbye to Mickey and Donald I headed towards Mile 8



Then I was upon Mile 9. (I’m speeding up!)



Then I hit Mile 10.



Check it out. I actually ran an 11:30 mile. I guess I must have been feeling focused.

Well the focus went away rather quickly. Look who I found.



I’m actually trying to look tough.

I hit mile 11 (and you can see I’ve reverted back to my smelling the roses pace.)



I was actually showing Michael (my 5 year old) the pictures of the race and he was explaining to me that if he was running he would try to go a bit faster. He said, “I think those characters make people lose focus.” He told me he is not going to stop for the characters when he runs the race. Then he said, “Well maybe I’ll only stop for 5 of them.” He has a little bit of his Mama in him after all.

[dismagiclover]

=Sandy321;35186044

What happens to those that are "swept"? Can they get a medal? [/QUOTE]

I'm glad that you managed to still get a medal after all that!

As far as getting swept---From what I've been reading-if you get swept, then you don't get counted as finishing, and from what I've read, you have to finish in order to get a medal.[/QUOTE]

If you get swept you don't get a medal. What I don't know is if you get a medal if you cross the line after the time limit has passed. So you're not an official finisher. It appears from Sandy's pictures that this year they swept everyone after Sandy since there is no one behind her in pictures. Thus, there are no "unofficial finishers". I, obviously, could be wrong about that since I wasn't there.

[UGAFan0829]

Wonderful update! I love your theory about stopping to smell the roses, and the characters too!! Seriously, you really look like you're having a great time, and that's what it's all about. It was really sweet of you to let Liz run ahead so that she could meet her goal.
I SO can't wait to read more!