*Doing the Donald in 2010* Jan. Half Marathon Support Thread!

[december14disney]

Hi all!

I finished! Chip time was 2:55. I had two goals: never stop to walk and to finish in under three hours. And I did both!

Wow that weather was something but I truly believe some higher power wanted me to know that if I could run it in that I could do anything!

Congrats to everyone! I may even be signing up for the Princess half!

 

[CampbellScot]

I wondered why I didnt see you - I waited for you!!

Getting out of Chicago was nothing short of a miracle!

The meet was overwhelming. I was glad DH was able to meet up with Chris (the Blind runner)

and how funny that Liz ran by me at Mile marker 6 IN THE MK (in my many many layers I chose to wear my WISH shirt on top of my coat!) Its always encouraging to me to hear, "love your shirt" or "youre looking good, keep it up" (as they pass me strong!!)

Liz and her friend (whose name I forgot - sorry) passed me and asked me my screen name!! LOL small world!! We both ran to take a picture of our time at mile 6 -

I stopped at LTT to have a kind CM tie my shoe (I couldnt bend over! ) I was fading, but felt strong!!

I'm trying to keep in mind our lovely WISH shirt sentiment - DEAD LAST FINISH is greater than...

Yes, I was DEAD LAST! (and I get teary eyed) I am grateful I could make it past the flag waver at Mile 10 - going up that hill/overpass is tough, I kept moving, the sweeper on the bicycle asked me how I was, and she said I looked ok, but in pain (I have plantar fasciitis, pain is relative!) so she said as long as I kept up....

At Mile 11 I turned and realized... the white vans, and police car was coming upon us - I kept trodding along... After Mile 11 you go down and then up the last overpass into Epcot and Mile 12 - she had 1 - 2 people cut across and she said they had to keep up with me, but if they were in pain...

and I kept trying to catch the pack - I truly gave it all I had, but couldnt... Carrie and Scot from WISH were standing in the rain - waiting to cheer me on... but still, surely I could catch the pack? nope, but I tried... in epcot on the run up to Future World the sweeper said I could cut across if I wanted to - I said I wanted my medal, and it wouldnt be fair to get by those that ran up... so up I ran...

and then finally the Finish line, a wheelchair runner met me and said he was going to stay with me, but for me to run as fast as I could... I was... he asked where I was from, and everyone yelled YaY Sandy from Chicago...

Then 4 or 5 people stopped and waited for me and we crossed the finish line - the announcer said to stand on your feet and cheer the last runner, and he said my name...

overwhelming that!!

Bless you for not giving up and not taking an easier road. You deserve that medal!!! Thanks for posting your story!!

Congrats to all of you! I so wish I could have been there...but my doctor told me today that there is no way my lungs could have taken that cold weather. I'd have been swept for sure. Pneumonia and frigid temps and running just do not mix well.

I'm going to get ready for next year!!!

 

[corinnak]

Sandy - we met at the boardwalk meet. Thank you for posting your story here. Your finish shows true honor and heroism - you finished something that had eluded you before. You NEVER gave up. You didn't even take the cuts they offered you. Your medal is just the same as the one they gave the first guy, too. And you worked JUST as hard for it. Think of all the people who started but did not finish - you have every single one of them wants. Think of everyone who did not start, because of injury, illness, life circumstances, or a greater desire to stay warm in bed. And think of all those who did not even think to TRY to finish a half marathon. Your story is the best one I've heard so far from this race, and it was a race for stories, I'll tell you. Wear that medal with pride and claim that Final Finisher status with pride as well.

I'm so glad I had a chance to meet you and I hope to see you at another race soon!

 

[liznboys]

Hi Donalds!! I'm finally able to post about my race. It went great! My goal/plan was to take the first half slower and enjoy myself and take lots of pictures. And then after the MK part if I felt up to it I would speed up for the second half. I wanted to finish in under 3 hours. I did just those things, and my time was 2:54:33. I am thrilled!! It was the best of both worlds I think and it was so much fun.

The POST race part was pretty awful though. After I got through the food tent and was waiting in the reunion area for Jenny I got so cold. I truly do not think I have ever been that cold in my entire life. I was shaking and teeth chattering. Jenny got there and we had someone take our picture together and then we were ready to get out of there and back to our room at BLT. I was so cold I was kinda out of it, lost my sense of direction and ended up walking to the buses instead of the Monorail. After what felt like the longest journey ever, we made it back to the room and it felt soooooooooooooooo good to get out of my running stuff and into the shower. Lots of people must have been showering at that point because the water would only get warm. Probably a good thing as I would have had it VERY HOT if I could have.

After we cleaned up we went to MK for the rest of the day and had a great time there. I did have an issue with my right leg though. There was a muscle hurting on the rear/right side of my leg from my mid thigh down through my knee and into the top of my calf. It hurt off and on, especially when walking down a slope or down steps. We ate dinner at CRT and when we were walking down those narrow and steep steps I wanted to sort of hop down so as not to bend my leg. It was funny. But, the good thing is that when I woke up Sunday it felt much better, and now it is 100% fine. Not sure what it was, but thankfully it doesn't seem it was an injury, just post-race (intense) soreness I guess!

And as far as my runner's knee and my torn Achilles from last year, neither of those gave me a bit of trouble! YES!!!!!!! You don't know how relieved I am about that! When those things happened I had no idea what that would mean for race day, and I am just thrilled that they were fine. Phew!

Despite the weather I absolutely LOVED doing this race. And I'm planning on Doing the Donald again next year!! I'm hoping to register very soon, I'm so excited!!

 

[liznboys]

I'm sorry Jenny and I were not able to get to the meet(s)! You don't know how badly I felt about not getting to the Donald meet. I hope that those of you who went were able to meet up, or at least meet at the main WISH meet or another time. I so wanted to say hi in person and wish you luck in the race. I was really bummed!!

Sandy~ I'm glad I met you during the race! You were doing SO well, you looked great out there. I kept thinking about you the rest of the race. I'm thrilled that you finished!!! I'm so happy for you! I actually have a picture of you as you were heading towards LTT. I took a picture of it as we went past since we were eating lunch there later.

cj~ Hang in there, glad your treadmill is helping you run!

Jenny~ Love the new avatar! Such a cute picture of you and the guys!

sk8, heatherlynn, Joanne and december14~ Congrats you guys! So happy for you!!!

 

[Sandy321]

You guys are really sweet!

It was wonderful at the Boardwalk Bakery meet - a little cramped in that corner room (I'm so over the Florida Cold!! lol) The sun was shining, as was all the WISH'ers that met up with!! ITA Corrina, lots of stories, and its wonderful to be a part of it all! I'm in much better spirits - its a process for sure... from being embarrassed that all those CM's, volunteers, and friends waited out in that cold wet mess just for me!! To going online and finding out my time really wasnt the slowest of the days (those corrals!)

So I guess its time to start working on Marathon Weekend 2011!! Who's in?!! You have to know the weather surely cant be... oh, never mind!!

Jenny posted a picture when Liz and Jenny passed me around mile 7 on my Pre trip report (link in my signature) boy do I look like a lime green marshmellow or what?!

Thank you so much Liz and Jenny - you were so encouraging me - I had no concept of time - and when you said I was right on course at 15 - 16 min miles, it gave me hope to keep on pushing! I know there was a MAJOR sweep at Mile 8 - people are saying "thousands got swept"

 

[liznboys]

CampbellScot~ Yeah it would not have been a good thing at all for you to be out there in that weather. I'm glad you were warm at home! I thought about you this weekend. I hope you are feeling better, and you WILL do the Donald in 2011!


Sandy~ I am in for 2011!! And yeah, I said the same thing..."the weather can't possibly be the same as...right...?!?"

 

[liznboys]

Here are my results:

If anyone else wants a screen shot of theirs let me know and I'll post it, just post your bib number.

 

[liznboys]

SNOW pictures from a bit before 5am Saturday morning:

 

[liznboys]

I added some race pictures to my signature. I couldn't pick just one! It was such fun!!!

 

[dismagiclover]

Liz I love your siggy! It looks awesome!

 

[heatherlynn444]

love your siggy pics!!! they look great! love the character pics.


I posted a recap of my 1/2 experience on my blog which is in my siggy.

 

[fairestoneofall]

liz, i love your pics!

and barbosa! yay!!!! i will hope and pray he is out next year too!

 

[liznboys]

Jenny~ Thanks! We got some awesome pictures!

Heather~ I read your blog. That's neat you met the running skirt twins. I wanted to get that Minnie Dot skirt so much! But never did. You looked great in it! I'm going to get it one of these days.

Emily~ Yeah, I was so excited to see Barbosa!! (But mostly Jack...) The pirates all looked soooo good. I hope they are there next year again too! I see you're doing the Donald next year, I am doing it again!!!


And actually, I just now registered, so I am OFFICIALLY Doing the Donald in 2011!!! YAY!

 

[Sandy321]

Here are my results:

If anyone else wants a screen shot of theirs let me know and I'll post it, just post your bib number.

AWESOME!!

Love the pictures you added!!

Yep, I think I'm officially crazy!!

I dont know my bib number yet - I'll let you know - but I LOVE YOUR STATS!!

and the pirates were there in '08 so I'm hoping they are part of the "regulars" In '08 there werent characters on that long stretch out of the MK - loved seeing the golfers and Mary Poppins!!

 

[dismagiclover]

AWESOME!!

I dont know my bib number yet - I'll let you know - but I LOVE YOUR STATS!!

and the pirates were there in '08 so I'm hoping they are part of the "regulars" In '08 there werent characters on that long stretch out of the MK - loved seeing the golfers and Mary Poppins!!

Your bib number is 43054. I got it off the pictures I took.

I loved the characters along the stretch out of MK too. I think the characters in their golf outfits were my favorite of the whole race. They just looked so cute and I loved Mickey's golf cart.

And I just wanted to invite anyone that is interested over to my new trip report. The link is in my signature. Hopefully Liz is going to pipe in there regularly and tell you all the real story of our trip too

 

[liznboys]

Sandy~ I'm sending you a PM with yours and your dh's results (I got his numbers off the Goofy list).

Jenny~ That's such a great picture. I just love that golf cart. That's the only picture I wish I had gotten. I'll get it next year, hopefully!

 

[liznboys]

Hey all, I'm looking on YouTube for videos from the Half, just watched this EXCELLENT one. It gave me one of those happy/I'm about to cry lumps in my throat!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMjpeCSFErU

I'll post any other good ones I find.

 

[liznboys]

Ha, look at this person in the Stitch costume, so cute! They look nice and cozy!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-w1W5i-xRc&

 

[dismagiclover]

Hey all, I'm looking on YouTube for videos from the Half, just watched this EXCELLENT one. It gave me one of those happy/I'm about to cry lumps in my throat!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMjpeCSFErU

I'll post any other good ones I find.

Race is a little different up there in the front isn't it? There is actually running room I would have loved to see Princess Tiana!