Marathon Weekend 2016

[FFigawi]

So that's what DH stands for...

 

[Waiting2goback]

It's great to hear the change that you were able to bring about in your life. My wife doesn't always understand why I run, but she is encouraging. My wife doesn't understand why I get up early on weekends to go run when I could sleep in. My problem is I find I'm constantly fighting a battle within myself. My life isn't static I'm either progressing towards healthier or unhealthier. Not doing anything isn't a choice for me to stay the same, not doing anything is me choosing to gain weight and get unhealthier.

Nope, I know of one person who understands why I run, a coworker that got into running this year. He just did the Wine and Dine and he leaves in 2 days to go do Avengers. Everyone else I know thinks I'm crazy. But, I just have to do it. And some day when I am officially divorced I hope to meet a woman that loves Disney and running as well.

@Waiting2goback I hope you get to do your Boston Marathon one day and I'm so glad you have the support of your daughter! As a parent I know hearing that would mean the world to me.

Thank you. I will get my Boston Marathon medal because failure is no longer an option!!!!

 

[Z-Knight]

This was posted on the Wine and Dine thread but it is beyond inspirational so I'm putting it here too. It truly makes me smile and I hope it will make you all smile and give you inspiration. This boy is super awesome AND super FAST!!!!!!! What an awesome family.

His name is Tommy Des Brisay and he has some form of Autism, but beyond that minor limitation, he is truly gifted in other ways...as many people with autism are.

Wine and Dine 2013 - he came in 9th.

After parade...has some back store in the "subtitles".

 

[Neoflynn]

This was posted on the Wine and Dine thread but it is beyond inspirational so I'm putting it here too. It truly makes me smile and I hope it will make you all smile and give you inspiration. This boy is super awesome AND super FAST!!!!!!! What an awesome family.

His name is Tommy Des Brisay and he has some form of Autism, but beyond that minor limitation, he is truly gifted in other ways...as many people with autism are.

Wine and Dine 2013 - he came in 9th.

You will never know, truly how much this touched me....
I am gonna get personal here for a bit because even though I don't know any of you this is truly one of the most supportive groups I have ever been a part of. Some of you may know from my posts around here that I have a four year old son, and although he is super smart we have always noticed some quirks about him with certain behaviors and just how he reacts to certain things. We have recently spoken to our doctor and believe that he may fall somewhere on the autism spectrum, we are actually having a testing session next week to hopefully get more of an idea of exactly what may be going on with him. I have been somewhat terrified of this because no parent wants to think that there may be something wrong with their child but I think that although it may bring a certain set of challenges it can also lead to greatness as seen in that video. I don't want to get to deep into things but seeing this really helped me to realize that it deep down it doesn't matter what a diagnosis may say deep down there is greatness in everyone.

Thanks for sharing this @Z-Knight

 

[Pixie Heart]

@Z-Knight - this is really inspiring. Thank you so much for sharing this!

@Neoflynn - It's never easy receiving this kind of news. But I strongly believe in 2 things: (1) that God (whoever he or she might be) never gives us more than we can handle; and (2) there is nothing a special kid cannot do or won't do. I learned this 2 things by seeing it happen. So, you have my sympathy and my prayers. And things will be fine!

 

[Waiting2goback]

This was posted on the Wine and Dine thread but it is beyond inspirational so I'm putting it here too. It truly makes me smile and I hope it will make you all smile and give you inspiration. This boy is super awesome AND super FAST!!!!!!! What an awesome family.

His name is Tommy Des Brisay and he has some form of Autism, but beyond that minor limitation, he is truly gifted in other ways...as many people with autism are.

Wine and Dine 2013 - he came in 9th.

After parade...has some back store in the "subtitles".

AWESOME! My future exwife works with autistic kids so I know a bit about it. This just shows how much Disney changes lives. It helped change mine and it has changed millions and millions of people. But they always go that extra step, from having every character sign the paper to having characters hug him during the parade. Everybody should be required to watch these videos because it shows what you can achieve. As the song says in the parade video, " Anything is possible".

 

[opusone]

You will never know, truly how much this touched me....
I am gonna get personal here for a bit because even though I don't know any of you this is truly one of the most supportive groups I have ever been a part of. Some of you may know from my posts around here that I have a four year old son, and although he is super smart we have always noticed some quirks about him with certain behaviors and just how he reacts to certain things. We have recently spoken to our doctor and believe that he may fall somewhere on the autism spectrum, we are actually having a testing session next week to hopefully get more of an idea of exactly what may be going on with him. I have been somewhat terrified of this because no parent wants to think that there may be something wrong with their child but I think that although it may bring a certain set of challenges it can also lead to greatness as seen in that video. I don't want to get to deep into things but seeing this really helped me to realize that it deep down it doesn't matter what a diagnosis may say deep down there is greatness in everyone.

Thanks for sharing this @Z-Knight

Our son was diagnosed with high functioning autism when he was 3 1/2 (now 10), and I don't know if this will help, but my wife wrote a blog post a few years back:

The Key (http://blog.aspecialaddition.com/?p=10)

 

[margitmouse]

This was posted on the Wine and Dine thread but it is beyond inspirational so I'm putting it here too. It truly makes me smile and I hope it will make you all smile and give you inspiration. This boy is super awesome AND super FAST!!!!!!! What an awesome family.

His name is Tommy Des Brisay and he has some form of Autism, but beyond that minor limitation, he is truly gifted in other ways...as many people with autism are.

Wine and Dine 2013 - he came in 9th.

After parade...has some back store in the "subtitles".

Thanks for posting this... Tears just kept running down my face. Inspirational, and I loved the interaction between him and his running partner Sean.

I also appreciate the courage that people have here, to lay open the private details of their lives, To share their journeys and crossroads. Then to watch others join in to share their own experience and support.
Thinking of you all, thanks you for sharing your experience, your strength and your hope, your stories of inspiration.

 

[Ariel484]

Couldn't have said it better myself, @margitmouse

 

[Barca33Runner]

I was wondering what is the best resource for finding ride closures, park construction, etc.? Our group usually visits one park over Marathon Weekend on Thursday after the 5K. We usually do Epcot because it has a nice mixture of things to do for everyone, but we are thinking of mixing it up a bit. We haven't been to HS or AK in quite a while (I think HS was still MGM the last time we were there), but we want to see what the construction and closures will be at all of the parks before making a decision. Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[Kathymford]

I am an emotional mess to begin with this week, not sure why, but nothing new (HA) and that video is just the capstone. Amazing, amazing story. Glad I'm not the only one with tears @margitmouse! I love Disney and its community. Thanks for sharing.

 

[rteetz]

I was wondering what is the best resource for finding ride closures, park construction, etc.? Our group usually visits one park over Marathon Weekend on Thursday after the 5K. We usually do Epcot because it has a nice mixture of things to do for everyone, but we are thinking of mixing it up a bit. We haven't been to HS or AK in quite a while (I think HS was still MGM the last time we were there), but we want to see what the construction and closures will be at all of the parks before making a decision. Thanks in advance for any help.

I post updates daily in the news round up thread on the news and rumors board. Right now I can tell you that DHS will likely just getting started with park construction in January. Soarin is down in epcot starting January 4th. No major closures that haven't already happened for DHS right now. Star Wars Launch Bay opens at DHS Dec. 1st. AK construction is pretty out of the guest way not except for river of light which is supposed to open sprng 2016.

 

[roxymama]

Women's Running magazine had a cover contest through the Rock n' Roll race series and just yesterday they announced that the cover model will be an 24yr old autistic women named Kiley. I received an email update about it and thought immediately of this thread. Here is the link.
She actually has seizures due to mild epilepsy too but has not quit. Inspirational and I really like when the models represent a wide range of athlete

http://womensrunning.competitor.com...ner-contest-winner-revealed-kiley-lyall_49772

 

[Z-Knight]

55 days, 5 hours, 55 minutes, 55 seconds LEFT!!!!!!

 

[Waiting2goback]

I am an emotional mess to begin with this week, not sure why, but nothing new (HA) and that video is just the capstone. Amazing, amazing story. Glad I'm not the only one with tears @margitmouse! I love Disney and its community. Thanks for sharing.

Oh, I was crying too. I was crying because of what he accomplished. I was crying when his mother and father were wishing him good luck and he said, "Ok, Mommy". I was crying when they presented him with the card with all the signatures because that is the kind of stuff that makes Disney special. Yes, they are expensive. Yes, they make a lot of money. But in my mind, it is that extra money that hires the people that does these special things. Then the second video came and the characters came to see him and waved to him. On top of it the song in the background. And it all circled back to Walt, as everything usually does for me. Once upon a time a young man believed in himself when everyone, including his parents, thought he was crazy. He didn't quit. He kept fighting and creating and pushing the envelope. And because of him we have these movies, and parks, and races that people love and use as motivation to change our lives.

Yes I got very philosophical but this is what Disney does for me. I have been on many other forums for other topics before and they are usually filled with angry people who get rude and personal. The only website that was nearly as supportive and encouraging as this one is from beachbody.com.

Something died when Walt did but it is so amazing to see what is still alive this many years later. So many people think I'm weird for liking Disney so much. They see it as me loving the "theme park". And I can never explain that what I love is the Disney "community" and what that means. I know there are bad people who go to Disney but I chose not to see them. For those 4-5 days I am there in January I allow myself to escape because the rest of the year I live in real life.

Sorry for rambling but I am going to watch those videos again right now!!!

 

[Z-Knight]

I am an emotional mess to begin with this week, not sure why, but nothing new (HA) and that video is just the capstone. Amazing, amazing story. Glad I'm not the only one with tears @margitmouse! I love Disney and its community. Thanks for sharing.

I can't say I'm in tears, but I am definitely grinning from ear to ear. These videos are probably the best thing I have seen on the internet in several years. You should check out the various other videos where he visits with the Princesses, etc...unbelievable. You can't help but smile when you watch them. I'm not a Disney person per se - I like Disney but I am not AP, DVC or any other member. I don't visit the parks multiple times of the year (been twice), I don't have kids, but I see that it makes people happy and so I like it. But these videos (https://www.youtube.com/user/lookyus) have actually shown me that there truly is Magic in Disney - I would have NEVER said that before, but I truly believe it now.

Check out his site and order a t-shirt:

http://www.autismmeansfriendship.com/

 

[Mimsy Borogove]

@Waiting2goback I remember reading your posts on the TOT10 miler thread last year and I'm so happy to hear that things are better for you now and all you've accomplished. Good luck to you marathon weekend.

 

[SarahDisney]

I think that one of the greatest things about Disney is that you can tell how happy it makes people. If people who know me outside of Disney saw me at Disney or heard me talking about all the things I love about Disney, they'd be shocked, because when it comes to Disney, I'm pretty much all happy all the time, and outside of Disney I'm ... well ... not (unless happy is a new synonym for angry, in which case I'm pretty much always happy).

There are people who have dreams that they never think they can accomplish ... whether it's a sick kid who wants to become a princess, someone with a disability who wants to run a race, or just a family that wants one vacation that they can remember forever ... and Disney helps those dreams come true. And that's one of the things I love about Disney. It really is a place where magic can happen.

 

[Waiting2goback]

I can't say I'm in tears, but I am definitely grinning from ear to ear. These videos are probably the best thing I have seen on the internet in several years. You should check out the various other videos where he visits with the Princesses, etc...unbelievable. You can't help but smile when you watch them. I'm not a Disney person per se - I like Disney but I am not AP, DVC or any other member. I don't visit the parks multiple times of the year (been twice), I don't have kids, but I see that it makes people happy and so I like it. But these videos (https://www.youtube.com/user/lookyus) have actually shown me that there truly is Magic in Disney - I would have NEVER said that before, but I truly believe it now.

Check out his site and order a t-shirt:

http://www.autismmeansfriendship.com/

I started watching his others as well. And I am 100% believer in Disney magic. I have heard far too many stories about sick kids getting to go to Disney through Make-A-Wish, or Give Kids the World, some kids get better after visiting Disney and some kids don't make it but the families have those memories forever. That is Disney magic!

@Waiting2goback I remember reading your posts on the TOT10 miler thread last year and I'm so happy to hear that things are better for you now and all you've accomplished. Good luck to you marathon weekend.

Thank you very much and good luck to you as well!

I think that one of the greatest things about Disney is that you can tell how happy it makes people. If people who know me outside of Disney saw me at Disney or heard me talking about all the things I love about Disney, they'd be shocked, because when it comes to Disney, I'm pretty much all happy all the time, and outside of Disney I'm ... well ... not (unless happy is a new synonym for angry, in which case I'm pretty much always happy).

There are people who have dreams that they never think they can accomplish ... whether it's a sick kid who wants to become a princess, someone with a disability who wants to run a race, or just a family that wants one vacation that they can remember forever ... and Disney helps those dreams come true. And that's one of the things I love about Disney. It really is a place where magic can happen.

I'm the same way. I am a completely different person. I am as introverted as they come but when I am there I am smiling from the inside and I talk to strangers. I always end up talking to a family when I am waiting for a parade, etc.... So out of character for me.

 

[Berniemgr]

Alright, apologies for the long post but here it is. Some comments to go along with it. I try and create training plans based on two philosophies.

OMG! This is beyond amazing and way more than I ever expected! I'm actually a somewhat new runner (started 4 years ago) so I haven't really read much yet or gotten all the research/knowledge under my belt yet - but I'm learning. I truly appreciate the time you took to not only educate me and increase my knowledge, but also write such a detailed plan. I'm truly grateful beyond words!