Debra - thanks for the gentle nudge....did she ever get to Epcot? The answer is YES - definitively, and I have the photos to prove it! And to jog my memory - that's my secret. I wouldn't remember all this if I didn't have the photos to remind me, which is why I run with a camera, I guess.
One thing I didn't photograph and therefore didn't put in at the appropriate places earlier were the water stops. And the medical stop. Well, the first wan was a water stop and was that water GOOD. I don't remember if it was the 2nd or 3rd stop when they started having Powerade, but I do remember at one point, Powerade sounded really good. I almost took one. Ohhhh, the lemony high fructose goodness. Fortunately, good sense prevailed and I passed it up, recalling that if you don't train with it, you shouldn't take it. I stuck to my sports beans and plain water and the propel that I had in my own personal water bottle, and never had a stomach problem at all. Whew!
At the medical stop, (wherever that was - by the side of the road between the turn around and DHS, maybe?) they were handing out biofreeze. Now I haven't traditionally been that into the biofreeze, but biofreeze had made my feet feel SO good overnight and for about 5 seconds, I considered stopping and getting some, but realized I'd have to completely take off my shoes and socks to put that stuff where I was wanting it. My blisters on my pinkie toes were not TOO bothersome, but I was definitely feeling them more as the race went on.
Now, on to Epcot:
If you've never entered Epcot through the International Gateway, that's OK, but you seriously HAVE to go through the back-door entrance to the world showcase sometime. At first, I foolishly thought that we were going in through Morocco. I think I must have been delusional. Check out the mural on that little building on the right there - I think it was Winnie The Pooh themed. I wish I had gotten a better photo, I can tell you.
Anyhow, we emerged here!
And before I knew it, we were at:
This is my last world showcase photo
It was taken after, I believe, I called my dear husband and said "You'll never believe this - I'm in Morocco! - where are you?" And he told me, bless his heart, that they were at the finish already. I had had some concerns about how he was going to get himself and the two boys out of the room and to the front of Epcot in time for my big finish, given that busses likely weren't starting that early. They had ultimately decided it was easiest and fastest to take a cab. I said I'd be there in about 10 minutes.
I don't know how accurate my time estimate was, but they didn't complain that I'd taken too long, anyhow.
It's exciting to see Spaceship Earth once again:
Then there was this wacky DJ guy who was rocking out to whatever song was playing with literally, an air guitar.
It was inflatable. And he was hilarious. Just what I needed at that moment and I gave him a big thumb's up and thank you. Have I mentioned that what I do on these races to keep my attitude good is to try to thank as many of the volunteers and police officers and medics and in this case, cast members as I possibly can? It keeps me from focusing on the discomfort and distance and time and helps me remember how grateful I am to be able to participate in the event, how lucky and proud I am to have the endurance to get through it. Because a year and a half ago, the idea of running a 15K or even a 5K....well, it sounded nearly impossible. And now I can do it. So I thank the volunteers and it keeps things positive. I also appreciate how many people it takes for an event like this and that it wouldn't happen without them. I just hope it's not too annoying to the volunteers - can you imagine - every other person "Thank you! Thanks! Thanks a lot!" A person could get tired of it. But I don't think they get that many of them, so it's probably OK.
Approaching Mile 9 - and check out that gigantic column! Is that for the monorail? Spaceship Earth? Is this a trivia contest here?
I wish I'd gotten a picture of them, but I was past them before I realized and wanted to finish quick. My family was outside the Epcot gate right at the start of the finish chute. My older son was holding the sign I'd made at the Expo
and and all 3 of them waved and cheered. And DH took what must be a very unflattering photo of me. That's how I remember it, anyhow. But this is what he actually got!
As Crush would say "Duuude....there's the finish line!"
And suddenly it was over. And in under 2 hours!
I had been planning to take it easy since I was feeling ill-prepared for the distance and had run the day before, and finished about 10 minutes ahead of what I had estimated I'd do.
I let them cut the chip right off of my foot, was given a Minnie Medal and sent on my way. At this point, I saw Patrick again and pointed out that I never had caught him. And he said that he wished they'd stop herding people out as he was waiting for a slower friend so they could get a photo together. My family had made their way around the back of the chutes and kind of lingered and followed me on the outside as I cooled down, talked to Stacy and her family who were there cheering for Stacy's sister, got photos taken that I now can't find on ASI, and ultimately got my crummy little blueberry bread, banana, orange slices, powerade and bottle of water. Since ToT, it has been my rule that I eat what I'm given after a race - I didn't that night and ended up having internal thermostat issues later in the evening, possibly from low electrolytes/dehydration.
I told my family that they HAD to see the heelies stunt kids show and went and stood with Scott and Amy and cheered on the rest of the race. I chatted more than I photographed, but I did get one of Stacie and Matt:
Next it was the Kid's Races. I had signed my boys up because at $5 each, it seemed like the biggest bargain in all of WDW. My boys both ran hard and were glad to get their medals.
Next we made our way into Epcot. I had brought a change of clothes and the plan had been to do a little Future World and then go on to our princess breakfast. The timing worked out such that what we had time for was walking very slowly into the park, and sending the boys to get Soarin' fastpasses while I moved slowly to the Test Track area restrooms to change into my clean clothes. Not optimal - a shower would have been better, but I'd brought a bunch of baby wipes and cleaned up pretty well. Unfortunately at this point in the weekend, the only clean shirt I had was the huge Owner's Locker shirt, and I felt like I was wearing a bit of a tent. I also put on lots of fresh deodorant. Like I said, not optimal, but workable.
I could not believe how slowly I was moving - I walked towards the Odyssey place and saw my boys walking over the bridge to Mexico. They were going to leave me in the dust, so I hollered and they waited for me. And as we approached Norway, who should we see but Mary Poppins! I do love Mary, and we had to get her autograph in my son's book...even though he is apparetly not a fan and refused to go near her. I thought she was wonderful. She remarked on my medal and said that when she has to go that far, she uses her umbrella and next time perhaps she'd lend it to me.
We then slowly made our way over towards Akerhaus and an Epcot Security guy tells us that everything is closed here. It's just the check in for the Princess breakfast. And I said that that was where we were going and was that OK? And he said that sure that was OK, but he didn't notice any princesses with us.
I told him that we were princess FANS. Which is not even that true - we are actually breakfast fans.
Unfortunately Ariel wasn't there that morning. DS4 is in love with Ariel, but hides from all the other princesses. He did come out to meet Mulan - not actually a princess. Jasmine tried really hard, too, but he just was not into meeting the ladies that day. Unless they were able to defeat the Huns and knew Kung Fu, evidently.
The rest of the day, I sort of barely remember. I think I needed the restroom and the one at the princess place was overcrowded and full of so much glitter, I headed for the one on the other side of the bakery, and DH took the kids on Maelstrom and then I took them on it again while DH went to get Test Track fastpasses for later. We met up in front of the Mexico pavilion and rode the new Grand Fiesta ride. Then we hauled ourselves slowly, slowly over to Soarin' where I wished we didn't have to stand so long in those holding pens. I had opted, obviously, not to rent an
ECV that day - not having to run the next day, I was beyond caring about preserving my feet, I guess. Anyhow, that was the only point at which I thought "Oh, for an ECV to sit on." After that, we left and rather than wait for a bus, we just jumped into a cab back to OKW, where I showered and had a hearty nap. Oh, and DH did all the weekend's laundry.
I do greatly appreciate that man. He later said he appreciated being able to enjoy a couple of cool Yeunglings in peace at the Gurgling Suitcase.
Later that night, we made our way back to Epcot for our reservations at Rose & Crown. This is DH's favorite (or maybe second fave behind Boma) and since this was a do-over trip for him as much as it was a race my buns off trip for me, we had to go to R&C. Having passed on the boozy drinks all weekend, I felt it was high time, and ordered a Welsh Dragon because it is made with Peach Schnapps, my favorite. It was kind of weird because it also had melon liquer, creme de menthe, orange juice and pineapple juice. I think the mint made it weird. But the more I drank, the more I liked it.
And the less I felt competent to do things like cut up my DS's pizza or take him to the restroom or anything. My feet felt great, though! Seriously, even after the drink had mostly worn off, my feet felt good! So I'm thinking a post-race Welsh Dragon could become a tradition I could get used to.
We finished out the night with a ride on Test Track and then there was the Illuminations or Mission Space debate......think fast! Ultimately, Mission Space won out, if you can believe it. Only half of us rode it, but it's another of DH's favorites, and I was just as glad to sit at the end. We left with the big crowd after illuminations, didn't have to wait too long for a bus and got back to OKW to put the kids to bed and start packing for home. What a weekend!
And thanks for believing I had it in me, too. I don't know where my limits are anymore. 
My nephew has heely's and seems do pretty well on them. 
