kareneast
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 16, 2000
Karen & John Participating in our first full marathon
John Also participating in his first goofy
Thursday
Karen & John We arrive pretty early in the morning. Headed to SSR to check-in with a grocery stop on the way. Our room was ready so were able to get settled & have some lunch before heading over to the expo. As we walk up we see a whole bunch of Wishers near the front of the line, so we jump in line with them. It was great seeing familiar faces & we also got the opportunity to meet some new people. Picking up our packets & shirts was pretty uneventful with little to no waits. Next is the official merchandise area & then a stroll around the expo. We ran into a few more Wishers. By this time it is starting to get pretty crowded so we head out. We get some dinner then turn in for the night since we had an early morning & will be having early mornings for the next few days.
Friday
Karen & John We were up early & headed over to Animal Kingdom to Scream Team for the 5k. We were glad to see so many Wishers participating & we really enjoyed cheering them on. We went up a little bit past the start so we could see everyone starting then headed over to the other side for the finish. There was a little confusion in that they were telling everyone that the racers would go straight along the road into the finish. Everyone stretched all along the fence where the starting corrals were only to find out when we saw the first racers that everyone was coming from around the curve closer to the finish. Now all these people that are stretched out have to squeeze into a much smaller area. We ended up about 5 rows of people back. We did get to meet Jackie & spend some time with her before her DD & DH passed. When Anne & Bob finished there race they came over to where we were & the 4 of cheered on every racer to the very last ones. I must say we saw some very funny & unusual things, from the people running in jeans to the ladies carrying their purses.
Friday nights POP Meet was one of the highlights of our trip. It is great seeing everyone & getting to meet lots of new people. We want to thank everyone for all the thank yous on the Wish backpacks. Again, it was our pleasure to share with our team mates. In retrospect the backpacks really gave me (Karen) the chance to meet more Wishers then I would have. I am pretty shy in big groups & until I get to know people, the kind of person who likes to just blend into the background. The backpacks forced me to walk around & introduce myself as I was making sure every family got one.
Saturday Half Marathon
Karen & John Were up early & head over to Epcot together. When we get there we part ways. John heading to the start area. Karen heading to the monorail.
Karen I had the great pleasure of scream teaming for the half. I got on the monorail to my first stop at the TTC armed with some supplies in case anyone needs them, throw away blanket to sit on and of course my cowbell & clapper. I was at the TTC pretty early so I found a great spot. Soon Renee came up & introduced herself (I was wearing a Wish shirt). Shortly after more Wish Scream Teamers began arriving. It was great cheering everyone on, but most especially fellow WISHers! I think I get just as much out of scream teaming as I do participating in a race. When John passed the TTC, I headed over to Poly where I found more Wish Scream Teamers. John texted me that he was getting close to the Poly and that he needed a couple more gels (it turned out his little gel flask had clogged). When he came by I handed him some gels & a cold/wet wash cloth. He looked really good at that point, as so did all of the Wishers that I saw. Headed back over to the TTC to jump on the monorail back to Epcot. Found a whole bunch of Wishers scream teaming in the parking lot just before the bus area. We stayed & cheered until the very end when the DLFer passed. It is an amazing experience to be out there cheering on these people at the back of the pack. They have been out there in the heat & humidity longer then anyone else, but they keep moving forward. Off to find John.
John (as typed by Karen) He said he got to hang out with a bunch of Wishers before the start, which was nice to pass the time. He felt really good throughout the whole race. He ended up finishing in 3:16:46 which is not only a PR but 14 minutes faster then last years WDW Half. After the race he got a massage which he said felt great.
Karen & John We met back up & made our way back to SSR where John took his first ice bath.
Between the massage & the ice bath he was feeling pretty good. We walked over to DTD where we ran into Dave & Erica and Donna (a friend of Dave & Ericas who is a sometimes lurker on the Dis If you are lurking 
) We spent an enjoyable lunch at Planet Hollywood with them. After some shopping we headed back to SSR. Later we went up to get a light dinner where we had the pleasure of running into Mel, Jeff & their DDs and then Kristi & Chad. Off to bed for the big day tomorrow.
Sunday Full Marathon
Karen & John Were up early, eat some bagels, & get ready to go. We head out the door by 3:30 & get to the bus area to find a bit of a line, but since the busses were picking up at OKW before coming to SSR there were only small amounts of people able to get on a bus at time, so it took us 3 busses before we were on our way. Kathy, Lynne, & Erin were already on the bus. It was nice chatting with them on the ride over & along the long trek from the bus drop off to the racers area. We slowly make our way to the corrals briefly chatting with Wisher here & there and of course a couple of port-o-potty stops. We get to our corral & see a huge group of Wishers at the beginning of our corral. We were going to go squeeze ourselves through the masses in our corral to get us up by everyone else, but the very nice lady guarding the entrance to the corral ahead of ours let us just go under the fence there. I (Karen) couldnt believe I was standing there about to start my first marathon. I was scared to death, and I guess I wasnt doing a good job hiding it, because someone (I think Mel) said I looked scared. Yep
.I was! Just think how much worse I would have been without the Wish Team being out there with me.
Ok back on track ..The National Anthem plays & John starts choking up. It is a very emotional day for him because 9 years ago to the day we were sitting at his mothers bed watching her die from lung cancer. She passed away that evening. It was hard to think of how far he has come without his mother here to share it with. The countdown begins, the fireworks go off. Here we go! It took us about 7 mins to cross the start. Susie was going to stay with us, she has an awesome walk pace but it was a bit faster then mine & quite a bit faster then Johns, so she quickly pulled away. John was feeling the 100% humidity right from the beginning & by around mile 2 his leg started hurting. We get to water stop #2. It was so great to see the Wishers there. Johns leg was getting worse. He told me to go on ahead, he didnt know if he would make it, but would keep going as long as he could. I really didnt want to leave him but he insisted. So I walked with him for a bit more and then left him limping at about 3.5miles.
Karen - I picked up my pace hoping to catch up to Susie. Luckily for me she had an early restroom stop so I was able to catch her. The first half went really well. We were doing W3/R1 intervals (except for hills, those we walked up & ran down). It was great seeing so many Wishers on the course, some we passed, some that passed us, & some like Mel & Jen that we played leap frog with for quite a few miles. It was absolutely the best seeing the Wish Scream Teamers along the course. We couldnt do this without you ok maybe we could but it certainly wouldnt be the same. Running up Main Street & through the Castle was just as much of a thrill for me this year as it was last year. We made it to the half way point in 3:11 which was a half PR for both Susie & I, so that was really cool. After this point things started to go down hill for me. My allergies flared up probably due to the fog, humidity, all the damp woods we were going past, & the compost waste facility. My nose stuffed up so bad that I did the rest of the race only breathing through my mouth. I also had to use my asthma inhaler again. Then to add to all that, my calf started spazzing on our run intervals. We switched our intervals to W4/R1. My calf continued to spazz on & off during the runs. On the second overpass hill going out to WWS while running down the hill, my calf was spazzing so bad that I had to stop running. I was afraid to run again for fear of seriously hurting myself & not being able to finish. Plus at this point I knew we were far enough ahead of the sweepers that with walking we would still finish. I told Susie to go on ahead, but she didnt, she stayed with me, and I cant thank her enough. I really enjoyed the out & back. One because I knew Anne & Heather would be out somewhere near the turn around, two because the time really passed looking for Wishers both ahead of us & behind us, and three because I knew at this point I would finish even if I had to crawl (this thought really started choking me up I kept telling myself you cant start crying, you wont be able to breathe). Coming out of HS my feet were hurting so bad that every step felt like the ground was pounding straight through to the bones. Here is where I started using Wendys mantra of Boardwalk, YC/BC, Epcot, youre done. We make our way through Epcot, past the gospel choir, & I know the finish isnt much further. We decide we are going to run through the finish but we wait until we get to the red mats just before the finish, so we really dont have to run very far. I got to high five Chip (or was it Dale) on my way to the finish. As I cross the Finish Line a flood of emotions run through me. A big high five & hug to Susie We Did It! Having that medal put around my neck was amazing. I see John standing up ahead. I hobble over to him. He gives me a kiss & great big hug. My emotions finally start bubbling over & I start to cry. I cant believe that I just finished a marathon. Heres the stats: Chip Time 6:38:46 - Pace (according to my Garmin) 14:56mpm - Half Split 3:11:??
A couple of final thoughts
Wish Scream Teamers are the BEST! I wouldnt have been able to finish without you. Both your emotional support & your physical support of twizzlers, oranges, sport beans, ice, water, etc. is what kept me going. I kept telling myself (especially during the really tough parts) that Wishers would be up ahead. Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!
I have never done anything that has hurt so bad as doing a marathon. It was worse then childbirth (& I didnt use drugs for that), but it was also one of the most rewarding things I have ever done. And definitely something I will never forget!
John (as told by Karen) He continued to limp along maintaining the minimum pace, but between the heat & humidity & his leg hurting it wasnt looking good. He was very happy to see the Wish Scream Teamers at the TTC. At mile 10 his knee gave out. It became very painful to doing the run intervals. When he got to Main Street he had missed the cut off & had to go along the back of the buildings. This was a little disappointing but since he had done the half the day before he knew he at least got to run up Main Street once. He was very glad to again see the Wish Scream Teamers near the Poly. After this point his knee wouldnt let him run more then 2 steps at a time, and since his walk pace alone is not fast enough to maintain the min. pace the sweepers were gaining on him. He struggled along the lonely road out towards AK. He even had a TNT Coach walk with him for a few minutes asking if he was ok. He made it to mile 15 before the sweepers finally caught him. His Garmin still said he 2/100ths of a mile to go to 15. He asked if he could just walk up a little bit so that it at least said 15 miles on his Garmin. The guy on the bike said he understood & it was fine but he had to go with him. John told him fair enough. Is he disappointed that he didnt finish, yes. Is he second guessing things he could have done different, yes. But we both are very proud at how far he has come & everything he has done to get here. He has been dealing with runners knee in both knees, he tripped & fell over a rock during our 12 mile LR. A few weeks later he fell again. This time on a wet restroom floor at work that didnt have a wet floor sign up. And then fell again a few weeks after that while we were out Geocaching. The tip of his sneaker caught under a root that was sticking up out of the ground but was covered by leaves so you couldnt see it. 2-3 weeks before Marathon Weekend he thought about whether to just do the full or still try to do the Goofy. He decided since he had signed up for the Goofy he wanted to at least try and do it. He went into it knowing he may not finish. He did have some great positives. He PRed in the Half. He made it to mile 15 in the Full when he was already limping at mile 3. And he did do 28.1 miles over the 2 days.
A few final thoughts
He said if all the distance that you had to walk from the busses & to the corrals counted, he probably did finish a marathon.
He said if Wish Scream Teamers were every quarter mile along the course he would have finished. His best miles were the ones where Wisher were cheering.
He wants to make a shirt that says: I challenged Goofy and Goofy won .This Time!
Monday
Karen & John We really enjoyed the Boardwalk Bakery meet. Seeing everyone with there medals, posing for another great team photo. We were so busy talking to everyone that by the time we made it into the bakery they werent even serving breakfast anymore.
If you made it this far ..Thank You for reading.
John Also participating in his first goofy
Thursday
Karen & John We arrive pretty early in the morning. Headed to SSR to check-in with a grocery stop on the way. Our room was ready so were able to get settled & have some lunch before heading over to the expo. As we walk up we see a whole bunch of Wishers near the front of the line, so we jump in line with them. It was great seeing familiar faces & we also got the opportunity to meet some new people. Picking up our packets & shirts was pretty uneventful with little to no waits. Next is the official merchandise area & then a stroll around the expo. We ran into a few more Wishers. By this time it is starting to get pretty crowded so we head out. We get some dinner then turn in for the night since we had an early morning & will be having early mornings for the next few days.
Friday
Karen & John We were up early & headed over to Animal Kingdom to Scream Team for the 5k. We were glad to see so many Wishers participating & we really enjoyed cheering them on. We went up a little bit past the start so we could see everyone starting then headed over to the other side for the finish. There was a little confusion in that they were telling everyone that the racers would go straight along the road into the finish. Everyone stretched all along the fence where the starting corrals were only to find out when we saw the first racers that everyone was coming from around the curve closer to the finish. Now all these people that are stretched out have to squeeze into a much smaller area. We ended up about 5 rows of people back. We did get to meet Jackie & spend some time with her before her DD & DH passed. When Anne & Bob finished there race they came over to where we were & the 4 of cheered on every racer to the very last ones. I must say we saw some very funny & unusual things, from the people running in jeans to the ladies carrying their purses.
Friday nights POP Meet was one of the highlights of our trip. It is great seeing everyone & getting to meet lots of new people. We want to thank everyone for all the thank yous on the Wish backpacks. Again, it was our pleasure to share with our team mates. In retrospect the backpacks really gave me (Karen) the chance to meet more Wishers then I would have. I am pretty shy in big groups & until I get to know people, the kind of person who likes to just blend into the background. The backpacks forced me to walk around & introduce myself as I was making sure every family got one.
Saturday Half Marathon
Karen & John Were up early & head over to Epcot together. When we get there we part ways. John heading to the start area. Karen heading to the monorail.
Karen I had the great pleasure of scream teaming for the half. I got on the monorail to my first stop at the TTC armed with some supplies in case anyone needs them, throw away blanket to sit on and of course my cowbell & clapper. I was at the TTC pretty early so I found a great spot. Soon Renee came up & introduced herself (I was wearing a Wish shirt). Shortly after more Wish Scream Teamers began arriving. It was great cheering everyone on, but most especially fellow WISHers! I think I get just as much out of scream teaming as I do participating in a race. When John passed the TTC, I headed over to Poly where I found more Wish Scream Teamers. John texted me that he was getting close to the Poly and that he needed a couple more gels (it turned out his little gel flask had clogged). When he came by I handed him some gels & a cold/wet wash cloth. He looked really good at that point, as so did all of the Wishers that I saw. Headed back over to the TTC to jump on the monorail back to Epcot. Found a whole bunch of Wishers scream teaming in the parking lot just before the bus area. We stayed & cheered until the very end when the DLFer passed. It is an amazing experience to be out there cheering on these people at the back of the pack. They have been out there in the heat & humidity longer then anyone else, but they keep moving forward. Off to find John.
John (as typed by Karen) He said he got to hang out with a bunch of Wishers before the start, which was nice to pass the time. He felt really good throughout the whole race. He ended up finishing in 3:16:46 which is not only a PR but 14 minutes faster then last years WDW Half. After the race he got a massage which he said felt great.
Karen & John We met back up & made our way back to SSR where John took his first ice bath.
Between the massage & the ice bath he was feeling pretty good. We walked over to DTD where we ran into Dave & Erica and Donna (a friend of Dave & Ericas who is a sometimes lurker on the Dis If you are lurking ) We spent an enjoyable lunch at Planet Hollywood with them. After some shopping we headed back to SSR. Later we went up to get a light dinner where we had the pleasure of running into Mel, Jeff & their DDs and then Kristi & Chad. Off to bed for the big day tomorrow.Sunday Full Marathon
Karen & John Were up early, eat some bagels, & get ready to go. We head out the door by 3:30 & get to the bus area to find a bit of a line, but since the busses were picking up at OKW before coming to SSR there were only small amounts of people able to get on a bus at time, so it took us 3 busses before we were on our way. Kathy, Lynne, & Erin were already on the bus. It was nice chatting with them on the ride over & along the long trek from the bus drop off to the racers area. We slowly make our way to the corrals briefly chatting with Wisher here & there and of course a couple of port-o-potty stops.
We get to our corral & see a huge group of Wishers at the beginning of our corral. We were going to go squeeze ourselves through the masses in our corral to get us up by everyone else, but the very nice lady guarding the entrance to the corral ahead of ours let us just go under the fence there. I (Karen) couldnt believe I was standing there about to start my first marathon. I was scared to death, and I guess I wasnt doing a good job hiding it, because someone (I think Mel) said I looked scared. Yep
.I was! Just think how much worse I would have been without the Wish Team being out there with me.Ok back on track ..The National Anthem plays & John starts choking up. It is a very emotional day for him because 9 years ago to the day we were sitting at his mothers bed watching her die from lung cancer. She passed away that evening. It was hard to think of how far he has come without his mother here to share it with. The countdown begins, the fireworks go off. Here we go! It took us about 7 mins to cross the start. Susie was going to stay with us, she has an awesome walk pace but it was a bit faster then mine & quite a bit faster then Johns, so she quickly pulled away. John was feeling the 100% humidity right from the beginning & by around mile 2 his leg started hurting. We get to water stop #2. It was so great to see the Wishers there. Johns leg was getting worse. He told me to go on ahead, he didnt know if he would make it, but would keep going as long as he could. I really didnt want to leave him but he insisted. So I walked with him for a bit more and then left him limping at about 3.5miles.
Karen - I picked up my pace hoping to catch up to Susie. Luckily for me she had an early restroom stop so I was able to catch her. The first half went really well. We were doing W3/R1 intervals (except for hills, those we walked up & ran down). It was great seeing so many Wishers on the course, some we passed, some that passed us, & some like Mel & Jen that we played leap frog with for quite a few miles. It was absolutely the best seeing the Wish Scream Teamers along the course. We couldnt do this without you ok maybe we could but it certainly wouldnt be the same. Running up Main Street & through the Castle was just as much of a thrill for me this year as it was last year. We made it to the half way point in 3:11 which was a half PR for both Susie & I, so that was really cool. After this point things started to go down hill for me. My allergies flared up probably due to the fog, humidity, all the damp woods we were going past, & the compost waste facility. My nose stuffed up so bad that I did the rest of the race only breathing through my mouth. I also had to use my asthma inhaler again. Then to add to all that, my calf started spazzing on our run intervals. We switched our intervals to W4/R1. My calf continued to spazz on & off during the runs. On the second overpass hill going out to WWS while running down the hill, my calf was spazzing so bad that I had to stop running. I was afraid to run again for fear of seriously hurting myself & not being able to finish. Plus at this point I knew we were far enough ahead of the sweepers that with walking we would still finish. I told Susie to go on ahead, but she didnt, she stayed with me, and I cant thank her enough. I really enjoyed the out & back. One because I knew Anne & Heather would be out somewhere near the turn around, two because the time really passed looking for Wishers both ahead of us & behind us, and three because I knew at this point I would finish even if I had to crawl (this thought really started choking me up I kept telling myself you cant start crying, you wont be able to breathe). Coming out of HS my feet were hurting so bad that every step felt like the ground was pounding straight through to the bones. Here is where I started using Wendys mantra of Boardwalk, YC/BC, Epcot, youre done. We make our way through Epcot, past the gospel choir, & I know the finish isnt much further. We decide we are going to run through the finish but we wait until we get to the red mats just before the finish, so we really dont have to run very far.
I got to high five Chip (or was it Dale) on my way to the finish. As I cross the Finish Line a flood of emotions run through me. A big high five & hug to Susie We Did It! Having that medal put around my neck was amazing. I see John standing up ahead. I hobble over to him. He gives me a kiss & great big hug. My emotions finally start bubbling over & I start to cry. I cant believe that I just finished a marathon. Heres the stats: Chip Time 6:38:46 - Pace (according to my Garmin) 14:56mpm - Half Split 3:11:??A couple of final thoughts
Wish Scream Teamers are the BEST! I wouldnt have been able to finish without you. Both your emotional support & your physical support of twizzlers, oranges, sport beans, ice, water, etc. is what kept me going. I kept telling myself (especially during the really tough parts) that Wishers would be up ahead. Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!
I have never done anything that has hurt so bad as doing a marathon. It was worse then childbirth (& I didnt use drugs for that), but it was also one of the most rewarding things I have ever done. And definitely something I will never forget!
John (as told by Karen) He continued to limp along maintaining the minimum pace, but between the heat & humidity & his leg hurting it wasnt looking good. He was very happy to see the Wish Scream Teamers at the TTC. At mile 10 his knee gave out. It became very painful to doing the run intervals. When he got to Main Street he had missed the cut off & had to go along the back of the buildings. This was a little disappointing but since he had done the half the day before he knew he at least got to run up Main Street once. He was very glad to again see the Wish Scream Teamers near the Poly. After this point his knee wouldnt let him run more then 2 steps at a time, and since his walk pace alone is not fast enough to maintain the min. pace the sweepers were gaining on him. He struggled along the lonely road out towards AK. He even had a TNT Coach walk with him for a few minutes asking if he was ok. He made it to mile 15 before the sweepers finally caught him. His Garmin still said he 2/100ths of a mile to go to 15. He asked if he could just walk up a little bit so that it at least said 15 miles on his Garmin. The guy on the bike said he understood & it was fine but he had to go with him. John told him fair enough. Is he disappointed that he didnt finish, yes. Is he second guessing things he could have done different, yes. But we both are very proud at how far he has come & everything he has done to get here. He has been dealing with runners knee in both knees, he tripped & fell over a rock during our 12 mile LR. A few weeks later he fell again. This time on a wet restroom floor at work that didnt have a wet floor sign up. And then fell again a few weeks after that while we were out Geocaching. The tip of his sneaker caught under a root that was sticking up out of the ground but was covered by leaves so you couldnt see it. 2-3 weeks before Marathon Weekend he thought about whether to just do the full or still try to do the Goofy. He decided since he had signed up for the Goofy he wanted to at least try and do it. He went into it knowing he may not finish. He did have some great positives. He PRed in the Half. He made it to mile 15 in the Full when he was already limping at mile 3. And he did do 28.1 miles over the 2 days.
A few final thoughts
He said if all the distance that you had to walk from the busses & to the corrals counted, he probably did finish a marathon.
He said if Wish Scream Teamers were every quarter mile along the course he would have finished. His best miles were the ones where Wisher were cheering.
He wants to make a shirt that says: I challenged Goofy and Goofy won .This Time!
Monday
Karen & John We really enjoyed the Boardwalk Bakery meet. Seeing everyone with there medals, posing for another great team photo. We were so busy talking to everyone that by the time we made it into the bakery they werent even serving breakfast anymore.
If you made it this far ..Thank You for reading.
You two are an awesome couple!
It was a great recap, and thank you for sharing! 
My DH said the same thing about all of the extra walking pre and post-race!
I was thinking this must be the 3rd time I have seen you 
??? You did DL-Chicago- and WDW 
