When I had looked over the course when they released it I knew the hardest part was going to be between MK and AK. It just seemed like a long stretch of nothing. Thankfully it ended up not being as bad as I thought. There was a DJ between miles 6 and 7. I loved how encouraging he was. He let us know that the lead female was at mile 19 and the balloon ladies were 45 minutes behind us. After him they had speakers out playing music. I was baffled that they chose to play Bon Jovi's Livin' on a Prayer. The line came on that goes "we're halfway there" and at that point we were nowhere near halfway so it made no sense and there was a collective groan/laugh. I guess it was just a good song to sing along to
We passed by the great cheering section outside of the Grand Floridian and the Mary Poppins penguins. I really wished I would have stopped for them but I would have had to cut off a bunch of people so I kept it moving. They also had vacation Genie and the Mickey golf cart out by the golf course. Mile 8 was now behind me. I stopped at the next water station and then pulled out my bingo card. I checked off 50 marathon shirts, I had made a silly face at a photopass photographer in MK so that was crossed off, I saw an American flag at TTC and ran through the castle so I checked those off too. I went from thinking I would get some to thinking I can complete this!
About that time I heard the word Nautilus and it caught my attention. DS10 is a big fan of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. So I look over and there it was, the submarine from the old attraction along with various other vehicles from rides long gone. There was no line so I stopped for a picture.
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After that stop there was one for Wreck Ralph and the Big Bad Wolf. They were awesome but I didn't want to wait in the lines. I know I passed by a lot of character stops and I just have to say that I was not disappointed to keep going. I really like to just see the characters. If I wanted to stop I would have had plenty of time to do so. I don't want anyone to think that I was rushed or unable to stop. Ok back to the race, after the BB Wolf there was some Hippies on the side of the ride and they were talking about their van breaking down. I'm not sure where they were from? Then we came up on the waste water treatment plant (I think or maybe it's where the garbage goes?) They had signs out and as you can tell I read them carefully. At mile 10 they had a Doctor Strange bus and I was excited that they had Dr. Strange on the course (DS6 is a huge fan) but sadly it was just the bus.
After that the course went into an out and back. I personally didn't mind it. They had a DJ at the end and I thought that kept things pretty upbeat. Mile 11 was right before the U turn of the out and back. I was just chugging along at that point, I passed up the bananas at mile 12. I didn't want to try anything new on race day. It was then I realized we were going into the back of AK. I texted DH I was there just like we had planned. He was then going to head over to the Mcdonald's on course so he could walk up to the road to meet me. He said he was on his way and I told him give me an extra 15 minutes because I was thinking of going for Everest. He texted back Go for it!
In the backstage area of Ak they brought out some animals. They were so cute, I saw goats, some kind of big black bird, and I think a donkey. I was starting to get nervous. My watch read 9:15 and I had made a fastpass for EE starting at 9:25. A couple days before I thought I should go ahead and make a fastpass just incase. I really didn't think I would stop, I wanted to but I was worried about finishing. So I am debating it in my mind, should I or shouldn't I. I stopped for a bathroom break and then crossed the half mat. I looked over at Everest. The return time was 9:21 and the standby line said a 25 minute wait. I said to myself you have to do it. So I went for it. I tried my band a couple minutes early and it lit up green. The cast members laughed at me as I ran passed. There was no one in the line and I was able to run all the way up to the merge point. The cast member there waved me on and I got in line behind a family that thought it was great. They asked me all kinds of questions. Within 2 minutes I was on the ride. They paired me with another runner from the single rider line that told me she had waited 15 minutes. I snapped a quick selfie.
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And we were on our way into Himalayas. I was so excited to be doing it that I forgot all about my watch. I meant to turn off the auto pause before the race but didn't. That didn't end up being the problem. The problem was as soon as the train started moving the auto pause turned off and it was now tracking me on the coaster. All of my data just flew out the window.
Here is what I got from my Garmin when I uploaded it later.
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It was pretty funny when I realized I had that image after I got home.
Here is the official attraction picture. I apparently was in the perfect spot for it.
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When our train stopped I was the first one off and I bolted backed to the course. I don't remember much about the rest of AK I was on an adrenaline rush from EE. But I guess I took this picture and was very happy about it.
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Then we were into the backstage of AK. I told myself this part was going to be a piece of cake, I mean I had already ran it before at Darkside. I passed by the water stop in the backstage area and kept on truckin'. Then the course followed the sidewalk you take when you walk into AK. I was not such a fan of that part. It was very narrow. Once we out to where the tram stop is it was much better. I love all the people cheering there. For some reason I feel like that was my favorite cheering section of the whole day. I saw mile 14, high fived some kids and passed the marching band that was out there. I got a boost knowing I was close to where DH would be standing. I picked up my pace ran past the grave diggers. There wasn't much to look at at this point so I thought it would be a good time to count cones. Counting 100 cones was pretty easy and next time I should probably come up with a much higher number. Mile 15 was in the bag. I called DH to make sure I wouldn't miss him. He told me exactly where he was and I was able to find him no problem. When I approached him he held out a great big sweet tea, my favorite drink! I stopped for a second to have a couple drinks and gave him a hug. I yelled I'll see you at WWoS as I dashed away.
Continued next post
Your pics are so great, you look so happy!
