07 Minnie Marathon Weekend Race Reports

[ultramickeymouse]

I will start this off with my Go Red for Women 5K report:

We woke up at 5:00 to get ready for the Go Red for Women 5K held at Downtown Disney. Disney doesn't offer transportation for the race(like the Goofy) some we took a cab ride at 6:55 am. It was only 5 min and $10. We went over to the stagging area and met some of our new WISH friends. Treated us like we have known them our whole lived(even though we just met them).

We lined up at 7:20 in the Red running area. The countdown began and we were off. As were were going along I checked my Garmin 205 and the pace showed 13:30. This had to be wrong as I haven't walked this fast since my Achilles tear and 2 surgeries over the last 6 years. As we meandered through DTD over to SSR, we came across mile marker one. The guy called out times and it was like 13:40. I guess my Garmin wasn't lying! We went along SSR , along the golf course, and the tree villas. Mile marker 2 came and the time was called out 27 minutes. We were on pace. We continued to work hard to see what was going on. We went along the canal towards OKW, turned away along the golf course back to West End of DTD. Past the Mickey head golf cart and mile marker 3. And along with the theme of the day in KY, "down the stretch they come". We finished at 41:46 Garmin time for a 13:29 pace. Linda and I went to get our medal, water, bagels, bananas, and more after the race. Better food than after the Goofy the last 2 years! We went over and met with other WISH'ers who had finished and watch those behind us. A great day, great race time, and race friends. The race course was a nice change from the roads of the Goofy's.

See lots of race photos on my website for a more play by play.

15K report to come.......

 

[ultramickeymouse]

Day 2:

Another early wake up call(2:30 this time) Isn't this supposed to be a vacation? Get ready and met Mel and DD Kaley in lobby of BWV at 4:30 for ride over to the finish. Jennifer our new friend joined us as well for this short trip. We arrived at EPCOT and saw lines of busses waiting. It was a eerily familiar to the Goofy morning being in the parking lot of EPCOT in the dark. We meandered around the parking lot to a bus, walked on and sat down. Within 5 minutes we were off to AK. We arrived at AK and met up with a bunch of other WISH'ers in the staging area. We sat around for what seemed like an eternity. There were very few runners when we arrived but bus after bus brought more and more people. At about 5:30 the announcer start to tell runners to get in the respective time. We lined up in the green section at 5:45. Talked to some friends to pass the time. Finally the countdown and we were off. Minnie doesn't get the same treatment as hubby in respect to fireworks. A few red " flares". Can't really do fireworks around the animals I guess?

The course winds it seems endlessly around the parking lot before leaving the parking lot. We hit mile marker 1 as we finally headed to the open roads on our way to WWS. First mile 13:48 pace. Not too bad. This section was still very clear in my mind as this is where my DW was really struggling in the Goofy with an injury(later to be PF) for the last 13 miles. She hobbled and gutted this section. This time we were feeling good and off to repeat yesterdays pace. AS we were moving along we "walked" upon our old friend Lily in the same area we met here at the Goofy. All of our spirits were much better than in January.

Mile 2 comes along and the pace slows a little down to 13:55 pace. We are still feeling good and have good conversation with Lily. We passed by the McDonalds and think wouldn't it be nice to stop and have some breakfast? We now "walk" across Kim who is cruising along. She is cruising along and soon she takes off ahead of us. This section we also play leap frog with Lily. Mile 3 comes up around the section that we will do as an out and back. Always tempted to take that little detour and save a couple of miles Mile 3 pace is back online at a 13:37 pace. Linda and I decided to treat the 15K as 3 5K's. We would work one 5K at a time hard and hope to keep the pace. Continue this as long as we could. Our goal was to do 14:00 pace for each 5K. We hit our goal and got ready for the next 5K. My walking was strong and steady and Linda's jogging was doing well. She hadn't been able to train at all because of PF. She hadn't jogged more than a mile(and only once) in the last 4 months. Jogging the 5K the day before was a major accomplishment. Now 3 more 5K's in a row.

The out and back section was fun as we could see and cheer all of our friends that were ahead of us and as we hit the turnaround we could root on all of our friends that were behind us. At the turnaround, we say Dead friend Mike who was working security at the race. He race with us for a minute rooting us on.

Mile 4 comes up right before we take the off ramp to go to MGM. Our pace 13:39. We had our pace dialed in. This next section is on ramp, off ramp lane, and off ramp to MGM. We see the Tower of Terror sign as a reminder of the fun we will be having at the 13K in October. Linda and I make a quick Porta Pottie break(since there was no line!) and back to the off ramp for mile 5. Lily leap frogs us and we catch here at the marker. Pace for mile 5 was 13:59. Wow, as this included the bathroom break.

The next section takes to the back lot of MGM. We pass by ToT and as we look in the sky, there are several hot air balloons. One even is a yellow happy face. This section is disappointing as there are no characters back stage like there is for the marathon. I guess 2400 runners don't justify the cost? We cruise through the "Costuming" tunnel and mile marker 6 appears. Our pace is still cruising at a 13:39. We continue backstage, go through New York, by Mickey's hat and see the only 2 characters of the race(Mulan and Wendy). We cruise out of MGM on our way to Boardwalk. The walk along the canal is one we do many time as we walk from BWV to MGM. Linda is tiring so we slow up so she can walk a bit. We still keep a strong pace. We hit mile marker 7 by the tennis courts at BWV. Our pace is 13:38. Not bad at all. Linda starts to feel strong so we pick up the pace to finish strong the final 5K.

This is where a lot of people start to tire and walk slowly. We pass many like they are standing still. This section winds along the lake by the Y & B resorts. We see Lily again and pass here for the last time. We than cruise through the back door at EPCOT and into the path around World Showcase. First stop UK where mile marker 8 awaits us. Our pace is 13:17. Our pace has quicken as we can smell the roses. We pass country after country. We see fellow WiSH'er Kristi(& DM) ahead and we catch them just past Mexico. We say Hi and continue to knock out the pace. We are on a mission now as we continue to pass many runners. We hit mile marker 9 at Spaceship Earth. Our pace is now down to 13:06. We are smoking!

As we enter the home stretch back stage, we catch up to Kim and say it is only 3/10 a mile to go. She states how far is a mile? I look and wonder if I am too tired and hearing things. She yells out" I'm from Canada". That explains it I tell here it is only a few minutes to the finish line. We leave back stage and out of EPCOT to the parking lot. The finish line is just ahead. We cross and say Hi to Mickey and Minnie who are greeting runners. Our pace for the last 3/10 is 11:54!! Total time was 2:07:35 for an overall pace of 13:38. Not bad for no speed work or long days for 5 weeks for me and a great 2 days for Linda. Jogging 1 mile in 4 months and recovering from injury to jog 12.4 miles in 2 days was great.

We get our chips removed, get our medals, go to med tent for ice, and head for food. Looks like leftovers from Saturday's 5K. Bananas and Bagels are still go post race food items. We bypass picture line and head over to the WISH'ers area along the finish line to cheer in all our friends as they finish. We get some group pics with our medals and than we head for our cool down walk back though EPCOT to our room at BWV to clean up. Linda takes a nap while I upload all the pics from the 5K & 15K. I watch a major T-storm hit.

I took lots of pics to fill in any holes I have with my report. Sorry for it being sooo long

Until October!

 

[monte]

Wow, great pictures! Looks like everyone had a fantastic time...thanks for sharing.

 

[Hockeychic]

Great trip report, you and Linda cruised by me like I was standing still near the end.....you guys where flying!!!!!!

 

[windwalker]

Great trip report, you and Linda cruised by me like I was standing still near the end.....you guys where flying!!!!!!

Looks like Erica and I have some walkers to pace with for the Goofy. You guys did super.

Dave

 

[wtpclc]

Awesome pix RObert! How did I not meet you, though??? I was in one of your pre-race pix even. Bummer. BTW, I want a lesson on how you take such great pix during teh race!

 

[Tiger Lily 03]

Robert, great report and pics. It was fun playing cat and mouse with you and Linda.

 

[westcliffemom]

Great job! It was great to meet you guys!

 

[ultramickeymouse]

WCM: Great meeting you at the races and afterwards with your family