2012 Marathon/2011 Princess Half Marathon Weekend Trip Report! 8/21 - 2013 TRAINING!

[Ariel484]

Day 2: Saturday, January 7 continued - 2012 Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend Expo, Part 2

After getting the shirts, it was on to the official race merchandise area. I found their use of color on the merchandise to be really interesting. For example, most of the marathon stuff was purple, not red like the tech shirt/bib, for whatever reason. I really wanted a hooded sweatshirt, but it was brown, so I balked on that one (and regretted it later). Here’s what I did get…a Marathon Mickey plush (which the monster pup definitely thought was a souvenir for him…nice try, buddy!):

A coffee mug:

And one of those “I did it!” shirts. The CM assured me that no, I was not jinxing myself by buying this thing the day before the race…I would be jinxing myself by NOT buying it, since they’d almost surely be out of my size! That’s salesmanship for you. The shirts were in women’s sizes, which was nice (they also had a long-sleeved version that was black and, I think, in unisex sizes).

I don’t really love the concept of these things...I bought it purely for the course map on the back.

Apologies for the messed up color here. It’s a dark purple shirt.

There was also lots of “runDisney 2012” merchandise (hats, shirts, etc.) and more pins. It wasn’t crowded at all so I could take my time looking. As a nice bonus, I could use Disney giftcards that I’d gotten for Christmas to pay for stuff and the CM gave me a Premium AP discount of 20%, which was really nice since I only have a regular AP.

I didn’t find much else I wanted to buy (I really wanted a Mickey-shaped 26.2 sticker for my car but never found one ) but I did find the runDisney booth with all of the other race medals! Ooh...shiny.

From L-R, Coast-to-Coast, Tinkerbell Half, Neverland 5k (I think?!), Disneyland Half, WDW Half…

…WDW Marathon Relay, WDW marathon (mine mine mine!!), Goofy’s Race and a Half Challenge, Wine and Dine Half…

…Wine and Dine Half again, Wine and Dine Relay, Expedition Everest 5K and the 2012 Princess Half Marathon medal.

I wish I’d done a better job with these and made them into a panorama. Oh well.

At the time I was tentatively planning to run the Tower of Terror 10-miler (it's not happening this year ) and was disappointed that the medal wasn't out. I shouldn't have been surprised, but still...boo! I grilled the runDisney representative and he said that the medal was a secret (they have since posted a picture of it on the runDisney Facebook page...WANT.), told me there would be a 5k race during the weekend, and that the 10-miler course will be “all-terrain” – concrete, dirt, etc. That’s all I could get out of him.

My last and best purchase at the expo was The Stick (picture from their website):

Basically you roll it over tight muscles and it helps to loosen them up. The guy at the booth let me try it and let me tell you, the thing works.

On the way out of the expo there were castle screens set up and stations to print free photos! I like free.

Possibly one of the worst photos of me ever taken, but in addition to the free printed copy I allowed was to email it out to people, so I have a digital copy as well. Hmm...hooray? Oh well, how often do you get something free at Disney?!

After running into my New Jersey friend from the bus for the 2nd or 3rd time that morning, I wandered around taking some pictures before heading back to the bus stop.

Just a few baseball games going on that day:

He’s jammin’:

Heading out.

At the bus stop, New Jersey friend and I were at the same place at the same time again! Hehe. On the bus back an information video was playing with tips about the race and logistics of how race morning would go. Great idea. A guy on the bus commented that Disney should dedicate a channel on the resort televisions to this stuff as well. Even better idea.

By now it was about 11:30, and I was getting texts from my mom that she and Craig had checked into the Yacht Club. Hooray! I made it back to Beach quickly, dropped off some stuff, and headed over to their room.

Continued in Next Post

 

[BurleyGirl]

This is good stuff, and I'm not talkin' bout the coffee...I don't even like coffee (but they don't have a little lemonade drinker dude...hee-hee)!
Seriously, I'm enjoying your new adventure!!
I can totally relate with you on the Disney-alone thing, as last year I was forced to take a planned cruise without my DH who had to pull out for the last minute due to work...I cried through the lifeboat drill!! Now that's pretty sad!! And, just like you, I too had my immediate family with me, but there was just something so starkly sad about being somewhere that both of you enjoy without the other one!
Looking forward

 

[Ariel484]

This is good stuff, and I'm not talkin' bout the coffee...I don't even like coffee (but they don't have a little lemonade drinker dude...hee-hee)!
Seriously, I'm enjoying your new adventure!!
I can totally relate with you on the Disney-alone thing, as last year I was forced to take a planned cruise without my DH who had to pull out for the last minute due to work...I cried through the lifeboat drill!! Now that's pretty sad!! And, just like you, I too had my immediate family with me, but there was just something so starkly sad about being somewhere that both of you enjoy without the other one!
Looking forward

Thank you so much. I really appreciated that you are reading and commenting!

That's so sad that you had to cruise without your husband! I really had an underlying feeling of guilt the entire weekend, like I almost felt bad for having fun without him. I think it would have been different if it had been a planned solo trip from the beginning. I was so happy to have my mom and brother there, but they don't completely *get* Disney...the husband does. It sounds like you can relate.

The good news is that he is much better now - FINALLY! - so I am hopeful that he'll be there for Marathon Weekend 2013!!

 

[MightyDuck001]

It is always more fun going with someone else who enjoys it, isn't it? I am really excited to read about the marathon, though! I'm probably staying at the Beach Club this Jan., too, so this is a great coming attractions. And I love the little runner Mickey.

 

[Ariel484]

It is always more fun going with someone else who enjoys it, isn't it? I am really excited to read about the marathon, though! I'm probably staying at the Beach Club this Jan., too, so this is a great coming attractions. And I love the little runner Mickey.

Yes, totally. My mom and brother enjoy it, I just don't know if they appreciate the whimsy as much, ya know?

Good choice picking the Beach Club...you just cannot beat the location! I love runner Mickey too...he's currently snuggling up on the bed in our guest bedroom with our other Mickey plushes

 

[BigEeyore]

Really looking forward to hearing about your marathon! I am still hesitating about pulling the trigger and signing up - trying to read as much as I can about others' experiences to feel confident that I can actually do it...

I love that stuffed runner Mickey! So cute

 

[Ariel484]

Really looking forward to hearing about your marathon! I am still hesitating about pulling the trigger and signing up - trying to read as much as I can about others' experiences to feel confident that I can actually do it...

I love that stuffed runner Mickey! So cute

I'm glad you're looking forward to the marathon portion...it is long, detailed and full of pictures!

I did the same thing you did last year...I went crazy googling "WDW Marathon Race Reports" or something similar, and I feel like there are certain reports that I've read so many times I practically have them memorized. You're not alone!

I love Runner Mickey too! So glad I brought him home with me.

 

[Ariel484]

Day 2: Saturday, January 7 continued - A solo trip no more!

Hooray! My people had arrived! I greeted Craig (haven’t seen the kid since February, so that was exciting) and my mom in their room at the Yacht Club and they excitedly showed me this:

Sheesh. Talk about your amazing views. I don’t know how they got this room, because I booked it for them (30% discount or whatever) and they definitely did not pay extra for it.

I liked their room much, much better than mine, and not just because of their view. I really need to stay at this resort some day.

LOVE.

After oogling the view for a bit, we all agreed that it was lunch time. To Epcot!

We got tickets squared away for both of them at the International Gateway (Craig got a sweet Florida resident rate) and marveled at how short the walk was to Epcot from our resorts. Can't beat it! We got a nice surprise walking in to Epcot: 3 Soarin’ fastpasses from another guest that couldn’t use them! Score!

Craig decided on sushi from Japan for lunch, and I convinced mom to hold out for Norway. We both got ham and apple sandwiches from Kringla Bakeri og Café, along with giant cups of ice water. Time to start hydrating for the race!

YUM. I think this might be my favorite counter service place in the World Showcase.

After lunch, Craig and I decided it was time for Soarin’! Mom wasn’t so sure…she was convinced it would make her sick. During the walk from Norway to the Land, we tried to convince her otherwise.

When we got to Soarin’, the wait was posted at 80 minutes. Not a problem when you have these babies!

Mom was ready to take the chicken exit up through the intro video, but eventually we convinced her that she could just shut her eyes if she didn’t like the ride. So we got in our seats and…nothing happened. The ride broke down! We couldn’t undo our seatbelts, so she started to freak a bit, saying “I am not going on this thing if it’s broken! I’m going to get sick! I’m scared of heights!” We were up and running a few minutes later, and I kept looking at her and laughing the entire time because she sort of looked like someone was torturing her…yet she loved it! Huzzah!

The break down really messed things up for everything else…the wait time shot up by an hour!

Since we were in the Land anyway, we went on Living with the Land (which they thought was lame until the greenhouse part), then the Seas with Nemo and Friends, and Turtle Talk with Crush. I had to work really hard to convince them to see Crush…it was seriously like pulling teeth. But they liked it. We checked out the aquariums for a bit (including catching part of the dolphin show, which was super cool) before heading out of the Seas. As soon as we left the Seas, we were surrounded by people in matching dark blue shirts. Somehow we’d found ourselves in the middle of a Brazilian tour group! Yikes!

Continued in Next Post

 

[Ariel484]

Day 2: Saturday, January 7 continued - Oh, that's right...we have a race tomorrow!

After leaving The Seas we decided to head back to our hotels to rest up a bit and get changed for dinner. We made our way back to the International Gateway.

A dark picture of the Epcot tree:

Birds hanging out on the angel:

Craig and I both grabbed lattes from the small coffee stand in Canada and we made it to our hotels around 5PM. This seemed as good a time as any to lay out everything I’d need for tomorrow:

After getting a bit turned around, Craig and mom found my room and we headed back to Epcot at about 6:15. We were a few minutes late for our reservation at Via Napoli…bring on those carbs!

There was a decent-sized line for walk-ups (20 people maybe?)…so glad we had an ADR!

This was my second time eating here and it was just as delicious as it was in June. I’d wanted to pick a place for our pre-race meal that I’d been to before and seemed like “safe” food (nothing weird to possibly make us sick). This was perfect…plus, the server didn’t harass me when I kept asking for more water.

I ordered the margherita pizza. This was good, but I'd have to give the slight edge to the pepperoni:

Mom ordered the pepperoni...I didn't take a picture so I'm going to cheat and use this one from my and Will's lunch there in 2011 (hence the slightly better lighting, as we were sitting near the windows):

And Craig got pasta with clams and other seafood on it:

He liked it, but after trying our pizza he wishes he’d ordered the pizza instead. Next time bro, next time! Both he and mom loved Via Napoli, and as a bonus, I randomly saw a cast member friend of mine there. Excitement!

After dinner, we walked around World Showcase a bit. I found the park to be surprisingly crowded. I thought this was supposed to be a slow time of the year?!

My terrible streak of nighttime photos continued :

I’d actually kept forgetting about the race all day, but by now Craig and I knew we needed to start thinking about turning in for the night. Mom headed to the Magic Kingdom while Craig and I made our way to France for dessert (strawberry tarts…yum!). I got back to my room at about 8:30, called Will, and realized I could hear the announcement that Illuminations was starting soon! Maybe I could see the fireworks?!

Yes, I could!

I also realized that the informational marathon videos actually did have a dedicated channel in the resorts, just like the guy on the bus had been talking about. Basically it talked about race logistics, runner etiquette, etc. It also had some inspirational runner stories, as well as ads for other races and TV shows on ABC (i.e. Tim Gunn and Ty Pennington promoting their new talk show while wishing us runners good luck). Um...thanks?

Before going to bed at 10:30 (later than I’d planned), I set 3 alarms for Sunday morning: my phone (2:45 AM), a wake-up call with the front desk (3AM), and the iHome on the bedside table. When I’d checked in I’d noticed that the iHome was set an hour ahead and never figured out how to correct the time. I wanted this alarm to go off at 3AM, and knew I needed to adjust for that…I don’t know if it was nerves or just the fact that I can be a little stupid at times, but I set the alarm for 3AM – no adjustment made. Ugh.

After setting the alarms I got into bed and fell asleep pretty quickly. The marathon was almost here!

Continued in Next Post

 

[Ariel484]

Day 3: Sunday, January 8 - WALT DISNEY WORLD MARATHON! Start and Mile 1

Overall I slept pretty decently the night before the race, though I did wake up a few times to peek at the clock (once at 12:30 and again at 1AM), and was awake again at 2AM when the iHome went off . Luckily I was able to easily fall back asleep each time and hopped out of bed pretty quickly when it was actually go time at 2:45AM.

After changing into my running clothes, I stepped outside onto the balcony and was hit with a cold blast of air…and that’s when I realized that throughout all of my careful planning, I’d forgotten throwaway clothes. While runners were required to be in the starting corrals at 5AM, buses from the resorts would stop running at 4, and we were planning to catch ours by 3:30 at the latest, so we would be hanging out in the staging area near the start for quite awhile. Temperatures were, I believe, in the high-40s to low-50s at the point. Smarter people would arrive at the race wearing warm clothes that they would discard before the race or at some point along the course – Disney would pick up these clothes, clean them, and donate them to charity. We, not being smart people, were going to arrive without throwaway clothes and most likely shiver our butts off for a good hour or so.

After having that sad realization, I decided I was as ready as I’d ever be. I grabbed my bag of food and fuel belt and headed out of the villas to the quiet Beach Club lobby. While quickly walking past Stormalong Bay toward the Yacht Club I alternated between cursing myself over forgetting throwaway clothes and looking at the bright side – At least I’m from Ohio and am somewhat used to weather like this. That’s got to count for something, right?! Really, it ended up not being that bad. We didn’t catch pneumonia or anything, and once we actually did begin to run, the weather was perfect.

The Yacht Club lobby was a little busier than the Beach Club lobby. There were quite a few runners and one girl who was, clearly, not a runner. The runners were all wearing old sweats, stocking caps, garbage bags, etc., while this girl was wearing a short skirt, spiked heels (4 inches maybe?) and tons of make-up. Clearly she was returning from a night of partying, just as the rest of us were getting ready to head to the marathon start. Quite a contrast to say the least.

Party Girl and I shared an elevator up to the 3rd floor and I was pleased to find that my brother was up and almost ready to go. Like me, he didn’t pack any throwaway clothes, and was not pleased when I told him how chilly it was outside. He gathered all of his stuff quickly and we headed out into the hall only to remember, just as the door closed, that he didn’t have his room key with him. Poor mom woke up to give it to us and we headed down to the lobby and out the door to catch a bus to the start.

We hopped on the bus at about 3:40 or so, and I think we also stopped at the Beach Club and the Swan and Dolphin – fine by me. The bus was nice and warm, so I didn’t mind the stops. We each had a granola bar and some water, and I recall starting to feel very, very nervous. All I could do was try to remind myself that I was there to have a good time and that this was going to be just like any other run, except way more fun. Luckily my brother is a “good talker” so he kept telling me random stories during the ride, which took my mind off of how anxious I was feeling.

The bus let us off in one of the Epcot parking lots (the Explore lot maybe?) at about 4:15 AM and we walked over to the staging area. I’ve read online that the previous day the buses had been a mess in some areas for the half marathon, but for us it wasn’t bad.

People complain about how much walking is required before these Disney races, but I don’t really mind it. Having to constantly move helped keep my nerves in check and allowed me to warm up a bit. We started off with a short walk to the staging area, which was located in the Wonder lot and was set up almost exactly as it had been for the Princess Half – food trucks, a med tent, an information booth, a DJ…and CHARACTERS!

Pluto and Scrooge were available for pictures…I was surprised to see that Pluto’s line was huge (nothing against Pluto, but he can easily be met in the parks on any given day), while Scrooge’s was almost non-existent. So we met Scrooge for the first time!

Why I look like such a doofus in this picture, I have no idea. This would be a trend all day.

The screens with the marathon weekend logo also had short lines, so we grabbed a picture there as well.

We skipped Pluto’s line (he wasn’t wearing a special outfit or anything) and just walked around for a bit, trying to take everything in. After heading through the “no bag check” line we made a porta-potty stop and continued on toward the corrals on World Drive. I think that this, specifically, is the walk that people hate. Again, I don’t mind it. We just sort of slowly chugged along for a half mile or so, eating bagels with peanut butter that I’d brought from home along the way, chatting, and listening to all of the activity around us. Old Backlot Trams were to our left, the Lights of Winter (I think), wrapped in plastic, were to our right.

After one last bathroom stop, we arrived at Corral D!

We definitely took our sweet time during the walk…a few minutes after we were granted access to our corral, Mickey (talking Mickey, that is), Donald and Goofy were sending the wheelchair racers on their way. The 2012 Walt Disney World Marathon had officially begun!

Corral D was due to start the race at 5:47 AM. Twelve minutes before our start, Corral A got a round of fireworks and began running.

In the above picture you can see the people in front of me looking behind us…in addition to the fireworks being shot off at the starting line, they also came from the overpass behind us (for Corral A only). It was a neat surprise that I don’t think anyone expected. Also, huge flames shot up from the starting line, which felt nice and warm on that chilly morning, even to those of us way back in Corral D.

For the first time ever, despite the fact that it was a total rip-off, I actually bought official pictures from the race. Disney hires a photography company to photograph runners, and there are photos specifically of us that are tagged to our bib numbers as well as general race and resort photos. There were 2 in particular that I wanted, and by then I was almost at the price for the full picture package …plus, it was my first marathon! So I splurged. I’m sure they get a lot of money out of people who think the way I do. Anyway, one of the generic pictures included in my package was this shot of the elite corral starting. Can you feel the heat?!

Corrals B&C got their fireworks and we began to move closer to the starting line.

People were beginning to shed their throwaway clothes in droves at this point (including 2 guys in front of us that arrived wearing very warm-looking bathrobes …genius!). Before we knew it, Mickey was counting down to our start!

3 2 1 GO!

The Corral D runners let out a collective “WOOOOO!” as we crossed the starting line and made our way down Epcot Center Drive. I had thought about the moment that this race would start for months and expected to be sick with nerves, but I wasn’t at all. I was just excited…it was finally here!

The fellas cheered us on:

I punched the start button on my Garmin and one thought kept running through my mind throughout the first mile: Run your own race. It was surprisingly easy not to get caught up in the excitement of what was going on and run too fast. The fact that the road was a bit congested with runners definitely helped with that.

We reached Mile Marker 1 in a little under 13 minutes…I think we saw a high school marching band somewhere during that first mile, but I can’t remember for sure. We saw marching bands at 5 or 6 points throughout the race (some I recognized from earlier miles throughout) and they were great!

“Only 25.2 miles to go!” I shouted to the bro. He and a couple of other ladies nearby laughed…I’m glad no one smacked me.

After walking through the first water stop (lemon-lime Powerade, yuck!) we looped back toward the starting line. Across the way we could hear people cheering. Looking over, we realized that the elite runners had already run through Epcot and were almost to mile 6 already! Talk about speedy fast.

As for us, we still had yet to enter the park…but we were close!

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[Qltrgrl2]

I LOVE your informative trip report. Since I will be attempting Goofy in 2013, I am most anxious to read anyone's marathon trip reports.
Thanks for taking the time and happy running!

 

[BigEeyore]

That walk from the staging area to the corrals that went by the old backlot trams was really awful for the princess this year. We could only manage to actually keep moving by going up in the grass - the people on the road weren't moving at all.

Isn't Via Napoli fantastic? The waiters there are so cute - everytime we go there I end up blushing a LOT and my husband ends up making jokes about it the rest of the day. Oh, and the food is yummy too...

 

[Ariel484]

I LOVE your informative trip report. Since I will be attempting Goofy in 2013, I am most anxious to read anyone's marathon trip reports.
Thanks for taking the time and happy running!

Thank you! As you can see from my ticker, I'm also going to attempt Goofy in 2013. Aren't you so excited?! I sure am!

Happy running to you too!

That walk from the staging area to the corrals that went by the old backlot trams was really awful for the princess this year. We could only manage to actually keep moving by going up in the grass - the people on the road weren't moving at all.

Isn't Via Napoli fantastic? The waiters there are so cute - everytime we go there I end up blushing a LOT and my husband ends up making jokes about it the rest of the day. Oh, and the food is yummy too...

Yikes! That situation at the Princess Half does not sound like much fun at all. I don't remember it being too bad for us, although even if it was crowded I'm sure I saw it as a positive thing since I was cold and wouldn't have minded all of that body head surrounding me.

And YES, Via Napoli is completely fantastic! I've heard some mixed reviews on the place, but we've loved it both times we went...it's become a must-do for us. I have to admit that I didn't really notice the waiters this time around since I was preoccupied with trying to get a gauge on whether my mom and brother liked the place or not (I did this with almost every aspect of the trip since going was my idea - I wanted to make sure they loved everything!)...so I'll be sure to check the wait staff out next time.

 

[Ariel484]

Day 3: Sunday, January 8 - WALT DISNEY WORLD MARATHON! Miles 2-5

Just after passing under the tollbooths, we reached Mile Marker 2:

We could hear a recorded voice warning runners that the path was going to narrow (which it did…a lot…yikes!) and to watch out for speedbumps. This recording popped up each time we were about to enter a park.

And then we were in Epcot!

After running past Spaceship Earth, we again found Pluto doing meet-and-greets, this time out by the Character Spot (we skipped him again). The Christmas Tree was lit up, as were all of the countries in the World Showcase just as they are during Illuminations. Everyone was still excited to be running and there’s nothing I love more than the parks lit up in the dark. The early-morning run through Epcot ties with our time in the Magic Kingdom as being my favorite park experience during the race. This is part of the reason why I am a little disappointed in the new course map for the full marathon that Disney posted today...this portion in Epcot is now gone. Oh well. I'm glad I got to do it once.

Anyhoo, after passing Pluto and the Christmas Tree, we found Mile Marker 3…

…followed by our first character meet of the race in Mexico: Panchito Pistoles!

Okay, so I admit that I was really hoping for all 3 Caballeros together, but at least he’s a new character for us!

After Panchito, it was already time to leave Epcot. We headed out through a Cast Member-only area near Norway, passing Br’er Bear and Br’er Fox on the way. By now we were looping back toward the start and had made our way to Mile Marker 4:

Here we took our first dose of Gu Chomps. We had 3 bags apiece and the plan was to take one serving - half a bag - every 4 miles for fuel. (I realize it’s pointless to take the chomps at mile 24 and hope for any actual benefit…it was more a mental trick than anything else, something to look forward to that late in the race).

Mile Marker 5 was up next:

This was the point in the race where our first update was sent out. Disney offers a service where anyone can follow a runner via text message, email, Facebook, etc. Will and mom were following us via text and my dad was getting email updates (I also had the updates texted to my phone and emailed to me as a keepsake). So we stepped over the 5-mile marker and sent out our updates at 6:55AM (which I’d warned Will about in case he wasn’t awake that early) – 5 miles in 1:05:49, a 13:10 pace…projected to finish in 5:45:12 Yeah, right!

Continued In Next Post

 

[Chiefus]

Thanks for the great trip report so far. I was interested to see if other people had a view on the course change which came out today. (I live in Australia and managed to make it over to run the full in 2009 and 2012, and have signed up for the Goofy next year).

I definitely agree removing the initial loop through EPCOT is disappointing (I think you want to have a park as part of the first couple of miles and it's pretty cool running into EPCOT in the dark), although I guess the upside is trying to rid the long "dead zones" between parks later in the course by adding the visit to the speedway and to WWOS. I'm looking forward to finding out what the "mile 20 surprise spectacular" is...

 

[pxefig]

Love your trip report! Count me in to see how the rest of the miles go!

 

[sunstress]

Really enjoying your race report! Can't wait for the next installment!

 

[Ariel484]

Thanks for the great trip report so far. I was interested to see if other people had a view on the course change which came out today. (I live in Australia and managed to make it over to run the full in 2009 and 2012, and have signed up for the Goofy next year).

I definitely agree removing the initial loop through EPCOT is disappointing (I think you want to have a park as part of the first couple of miles and it's pretty cool running into EPCOT in the dark), although I guess the upside is trying to rid the long "dead zones" between parks later in the course by adding the visit to the speedway and to WWOS. I'm looking forward to finding out what the "mile 20 surprise spectacular" is...

Yep, losing Epcot in the morning is a hard pill to swallow. Plus the beginning of the race is now exactly like the beginning of the half...slightly repetitive for Goofy runners. I do think you're right about losing more of the "dead zones" though...in researching the race beforehand I read that people were really surprised/disappointed by the amount of backroads on the course, so I was glad to be prepared for that.

I really go back and forth on how I feel about the new course...running through the Speedway doesn't really thrill me (just not into racecars), but thinking about it a different way, it is a part of Disney I never would have seen otherwise, so I'm grateful for that. I'm looking forward to running on the baseball field at WWoS. Both of the new portions have me a bit nervous though because I know they won't be shaded.

Oh well...either way, I know the race will be a blast. Can't wait!

My guess on the mile 20 thing is TONS of rare characters out to greet us ...finders crossed.

Love your trip report! Count me in to see how the rest of the miles go!

Thank you! Thanks for reading.

Really enjoying your race report! Can't wait for the next installment!

Thank you! I love being able to re-live it all.

 

[Ariel484]

2012 Cleveland Half Marathon

Yesterday I ran what is becoming my favorite local race - the Cleveland Half Marathon!

I was downtown and parked by 6:15AM...yikes! Of course that's nothing compared to the wake-up time for Disney races.

The race begins and ends at Cleveland Browns Stadium, and one nice thing that the city does is open up the stadium concourse for runners to use before the race. Last year this was great because the weather was misty, cold and windy. But the biggest bonus is that we get access to REAL BATHROOMS! It's so rare at a big race to not have to be completely dependent on porta-potties.

The race started at 7AM (temperatures in about the low-mid 60s). The first 3 miles were hillier than I remembered...and crowded! I spent a lot of time trying to weave around people...blech.

The temperatures continued to climb. By the time I finished, I think it was about 80 degrees out. Bad for running, but great for spectating...and there was fabulous crowd support this year! People were out in their yards, spraying runners with hoses , cheering, and holding up signs. Some of my favorites:

"Worst Parade EVER!" (a classic)
"Running is a mental sport. You're all insane!"
"Run quietly...we're hungover" (spotted when running through one of Cleveland's trendier areas )
"I'm a stranger, but I'm PROUD OF YOU!"

Anyway, back to the weather...due to the heat, this was the most difficult race I've run yet. I drank water like crazy during the days leading up to the race, so luckily I never felt dehydrated. However I saw 2 runners being carried off the course on stretchers, and a few ambulances actually came on to the course, I'm assuming to get to other runners needing assistance.

Back to my race though...they must have changed the course at the last minute, because there was a very steep, very unexpected hill at mile 9. We went down the hill (murder on the quads! I'm feeling it today) and then back up. Lots of us were walking at that point.

Finally we headed back downtown, past Progressive field and toward Browns Stadium/the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame toward the finish line. At mile 12 the full marathon runners turned off to continue running...I was thrilled I was not making that turn! I ran toward the Rock Hall, took a left toward the stadium, and finished in 2:18:56...almost 16 minutes faster than my non-Disney half PR (on the same course last year)! The best part was that my mom was a finish line volunteer, and she gave me my finisher medal! Awesome.

Besides the heat and the surprise hill (which people on Facebook are referring to as "The Hill"...capital T, capital H), this was a great race. Awesome course, fantastic volunteers, cool medal...can't ask for more than that. I'm hoping to do the full next year!

(Slightly blurry, but you get the idea...the guitar spins! )

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[Ariel484]

Day 3: Sunday, January 8 - WALT DISNEY WORLD MARATHON! Miles 6-9

We headed down an overpass and passed Mile Marker 6:

Both Craig and I were really wary of the roads – during the Princess Half we both had major knee pain by mile 10 due to the banked and sloped roads throughout the course, so we tried to be extra careful and make any effort possible to run on flatter parts of the course. I think this really helped a lot – my knees were in nowhere near as bad shape as they were after the half.

Now we were heading up World Drive toward the Magic Kingdom! But first, a meet-and-greet…

…with the 3 Little Pigs?! Sure, why not. You can see that my brother is NOT excited for this picture and is ready to get the heck outta dodge!

After this picture, we had some confusion. There was a water stop followed by a cluster of porta-potties after the Pigs and I mentioned that I needed to take a bathroom break. Bro and I got separated while walking through the water stop…and suddenly Princess C was nowhere to be found! I stopped for a couple of minutes but didn’t see him in front of or behind me…well, crap. Looks like the rest of this marathon will be a solo endeavor! I was pretty bummed about this, but what can ya do?

After losing Princess C, I decided to pass on the bathroom break and continue on toward the Magic Kingdom.

I see the entrance gates! I mean, you can just barely make them out behind the balloon, but they’re there!

I hopped in a line for a photo-op just before Mile Marker 7 and was surprised to see the 5:30 pacer (holding the balloons in the picture below) pass me by…how had I EVER been close to the 5:30 pacer?!

At the time I had no idea who this guy was...

...later I found out it's Professor Ludwig Von Drake. The rarest of the rare, I guess. You can tell I’m dedicated to character photos when I stop for someone that I don’t even recognize!

Mystery Duck/Professor Ludwig Von Drake had a decently long line, so the seventh mile was a long one for me:

Monorails were whooshing by and I found myself closer to the entrance gates to the Magic Kingdom!

Unfortunately we weren’t running under the gates, as we had during the Princess Half…just next to them. Boo!

Mile Marker 8, along with another helping of Chomps, was up next, right next to the Walt Disney World Speedway (which is part of the marathon course for 2013...I have no strong feelings for or against this, but I'm slightly concerned that this new portion of the course is going to be super sunny and super hot):

There were some drivers and racecars out from the Richard Petty Driving experience, as well as some classic cars lining the course.

As we got closer to the Transportation and Ticket Center, we came across some CMs on old-timey bikes!

I thought I’d be clever here and use the TTC bathrooms (I was really, REALLY hoping to avoid the porta-potties all day if I could help it)…unfortunately everyone else had the same idea. The line was a bit too long, so I skipped the bathroom break and basked in the cheering of all of the spectators around us. Even though no one was there for me specifically, it was still pretty awesome. We made our way toward the Polynesian, and…well hello there, Mile Marker 9!

I would just like to point out that about 5 minutes after I passed this mile marker, Fredison Costa of Brazil won the freaking race with a time of 2:19:01. That’s, like, a 5:20/mile pace. Isn’t that crazy?! I don’t think I could ever run that fast, period, even for, like 5 seconds. AND, he just edged out the second place finished, Adriano Bastos, by 14 seconds. I would have loved to see that finish.

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