Poor Unfortunate Soles: Marathon Weekend 2013 (5K, Half and Full Marathon)-COMPLETE!!

[UGAFan0829]

Woohoo! Great start for the Full! I'm sorry that you felt so nervous and then so lonely! I'm glad that your message board friends let you hang with them until the start!

 

[thebyrdwoman]

Absolutely LOVING this TR

Can't wait to hear how the rest of the Marathon goes -- hopefully your brother made it out to cheer you on!

And eating at Kona AND Ohana in the same day?! Lucky lucky lady!

 

[Ariel484]

Sorry I missed seeing you in corral C before the marathon. It definitely helps to pass the time and take your mind off things to chat with people before the race. I randomly ran into some people that I knew from the gym and it really helped eased my nerves to talk with them waiting for the race to start.

Me too! I'm glad each of us ran into people that we knew.

Woohoo! Great start for the Full! I'm sorry that you felt so nervous and then so lonely! I'm glad that your message board friends let you hang with them until the start!

Yeah, I'm super independent so I wasn't expecting to feel lonely like that. It was weird. I guess I'm just not used to it at these longer Disney races because my brother is normally with me and he TALKS. Like, a lot.

Absolutely LOVING this TR

Can't wait to hear how the rest of the Marathon goes -- hopefully your brother made it out to cheer you on!

And eating at Kona AND Ohana in the same day?! Lucky lucky lady!

Thank you, and welcome!

**SPOILER ALERT: Yes, my brother did make it out to cheer me on...and took video!

Beginning and ending the day eating at the Polynesian was AWESOME. I totally need to do that again.

 

[DancinDaisyDuck]

Oh my gosh, just looking at that route map makes my feet hurt. Sorry you were running solo and missing your brother

That picture of you is adorable!

I was beginning to wonder why you had reservations at the Poly like that! I should have booked a night there on my last trip- I booked 'Ohana dinner one night and Kona breakfast the next morning. Would have cut my travel time down significantly!

 

[creativeamanda]

I'm still so completely amazed that you did all of these races! You are a pure BEAST! I am concerned about being lonely for the Princess half. I think you were doing awesome, though!

 

[camandjacksmom]

I love the animation academy!! Went this time and got wreck it Ralph and Merida!! We have ended up with the same guy alot of times and he takes a vote on who we draw!! I like him because we have drawn some rare characters with him. We have gone since my kids were 4 so roughly 6 years. It's really cool now because we can look back at the pictures and see how much they have grown in their drawing abilities!!

 

[that's nice]

Nice job on the runs

You really have an eye behind the camera. Love your pictures!

 

[swimchick1984]

2013 Walt Disney World Half Marathon! Magic Kingdom, Part 2

Belle (in yellow dress) was out with the Beast near the new walls in Fantasyland, but we passed them up and headed to the castle.

Waiting...

These guys provided some entertainment:

This was another long-ish line (5-6 minutes)...but when the race con-duck-tor is out for photos in his royal attire, you stop. You just do.

After meeting the duck we ran through the castle and came to another complete stop. There were tons of runners trying to get out of the castle to make the turn into Liberty Square, and people just were not moving. Other runners started to great frustrated and yelled "runners to the left, walkers to the right!"...nice try. We just sort of slowly trudged down to the street below.

Still can't get a decent picture despite the fact that I'm walking ever-so-slowly...

We bypassed the photo-op in front of the castle (lines seemed huge and I knew from last year it would be official photos only - they wouldn't take one with my camera) and headed toward Liberty Square.

We passed Tiana in Liberty Square and Jessie in Frontierland and finally found Mile Marker 6! (Ate 4 more Gu chomps here.)

Another 22-minute mile! Without fail getting through the Magic Kingdom is always the longest portion of these Disney races for me...

And now it was time to leave the MK and head back to Epcot. We went backstage and passed Prince Phillip and Aurora standing on one of the daytime parade floats (giant line) and came to yet another bottleneck in the course. The area we had to run in was extremely narrow, and by now quite a few people were walking...so it was hard to dodge around them. I have absolutely no problem with people walking during a race (I do it myself a lot!) but proper race etiquette was just out the door this morning. People were walking right in the middle of the course, giving no notice when they were going to start walking, and groups were walking 4-5 across. It was incredibly frustrating. And these times when all of the runners seemed to be walking in one giant clump of people were really the only times the weather bothered me during the half...the sun and temperatures weren't too high yet, but when all of the runners were so close together it felt incredibly hot and humid out. Whenever we had some space it felt quite pleasant.

Somewhere in here our second alert was sent out: 10K in 1:33:31, an average pace of...15:03! Estimated finish time of 3:17.17. Thats what a 22-minute mile in the Magic Kingdom will do to you.

Continued in Next Post

I agree with the statement about the walkers, it was even more frustrating in the narrow areas. I know there were many a time I was running on the grass to get around super slow people and walkers.

 

[ZellyB]

Love the one picture you bought of yourself! You just look so happy.

 

[dburg30]

Havent even read the first real post of this thread yet, but I know I'll love it. Your post from last year is what initially got me thinking about goofy in 2014!

 

[PCFriar80]

2013 Walt Disney World Half Marathon! Miles 1-3

The con-duck-tor counts down to Corral C's start at about 5:47AM...3 2 1 GOOO!

(Apologies for the shakiness. )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1EdOoWWVMc

And we were off! All through this race I tried really hard to pay attention to our pace...not because I had a specific goal time in mind, but because keeping the marathon in mind I didn't want us to run the race too fast (and trash our legs) or too slow (and be on our feet for longer than necessary). I wanted us to run it juuuuust right...

...okay, I lied. I wanted us to beat our time from the Princess Half (3:02ish).

Ugh...please note the humidity on the Mile Marker 1 sign. Yuck!

I remember the first mile being very narrow and crowded. It was hard to run.

Cool flags!

I think we were able to spread out a bit by Mile Marker 2, if not right after. After passing this mile marker we each ate 4 Gu chomps (strawberry flavor, yum!). Craig wasn't a huge fan because they got stuck in his teeth.

And then we came up to the first character meet of the race: the pirate ship I'd seen from the monorail earlier that morning. We passed it up since the line was pretty big and we already have a picture with the exact same set-up from 2011.

Yo ho yo ho

Next we passed the photo-op screen I'd also seen earlier (I never did stop for a picture in front of this thing) before reaching the MK Entrance gates! LOTS of room to run by now, and if I remember correctly, we saw the lead wheelchair racers and runners pass us by on the other side of the median...they were already 9ish miles in! Wow.

The warning that plays over the speakers here was burned in my brain all weekend: "Caution runners. Road narrows, and speed bumps ahead." I bet despite the fact that I said it was burned in my brain I actually quoted it incorrectly just now. Despite the warning I was distracted by taking a video and managed to trip over a speed bump. Luckily I caught myself. Said video is linked below...not worth tripping for!

(This video is blurry and shaky and pretty awful in general...you've been warned!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnANSVVwF1o

Mile Marker 3 was just inside the gates.

At the 5K mark our first text/email alert was sent out: 5K in 38:18, a 12:19/mile pace. Estimated finish time of 2:41:35. Not bad, right?...

...then we came the first character meet we wanted to stop for. Bye-bye decent average pace!

By now we were outside the WDW Speedway and were both DRENCHED in sweat. Craig had to accept defeat, take off his long-sleeved pullover, and tie it around his waist. I voted for him wearing it around his shoulders Zack Morris-style but he vetoed that idea.

This line looked sort of long but only took 3-4 minutes...racing 'munks!

I must say, the bro was very good at spotting mile markers before I did (ahh, to be tall) and was all about the character pictures during this race. I don't know if it's because I've finally got him trained after our other race weekends, or if he was a fan of the more relaxed approach, or both. But it worked out well for me!

And it's a good thing too, because there was no way I was passing up the next photo-op. It was a long line (6-minute wait) but this is one of the rarer character meet-ups I've seen, so it was totally worth it.

.....how's that for a cliff-hanger??

Continued in Next Post

Great report and I'm a little behind, but you did happen to catch my wife in the "light blue" or "turquoise" shirt at mile 1 [cool flags caption]!

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-s_j-me725zo/UPWSfziLIvI/AAAAAAAAHGk/HtJBArsCQnU/s720/IMG_0535.JPG

 

[dburg30]

ACK! I'm all caught up!!

 

[emilyindisney]

I read a couple of your previous updates on my phone so I can't remember if I commented or not.

Congrats on finishing the half! I agree with what you said about race etiquette. I mean, hey- I get that a lot of people run in Disney for the first time and really may not be die hard runners or anything. I give anyone credit who wants to get out and try but, c'mon people- do some research. It sounds like it would be a better experience for everyone if people followed the usual, unspoken race rules.

Love the picture you purchased! Can't wait to hear about the second half of the course!

 

[Ariel484]

Woohoo! Great start for the Full! I'm sorry that you felt so nervous and then so lonely! I'm glad that your message board friends let you hang with them until the start!

Thanks! Yeah, it was weird...normally I am super independent and I do all of my races at home by myself, so I wasn't expecting to miss the bro so much. Wahh!

Oh my gosh, just looking at that route map makes my feet hurt. Sorry you were running solo and missing your brother

That picture of you is adorable!

I was beginning to wonder why you had reservations at the Poly like that! I should have booked a night there on my last trip- I booked 'Ohana dinner one night and Kona breakfast the next morning. Would have cut my travel time down significantly!

The route is kind of crazy when you really look at it! Running in between the parks is definitely no joke.

Thanks for the compliment on the picture! I think it's pretty funny.

Part of the reason why I was so excited to stay at the Poly was because I knew we could eat there A LOT and it would be so easy. At least changing to the Grand Floridian meant we were only a monorail/boat ride away. Will missed the easy access to the self-serve Dole Whip machine though...

I'm still so completely amazed that you did all of these races! You are a pure BEAST! I am concerned about being lonely for the Princess half. I think you were doing awesome, though!

Thanks Amanda! I honestly don't know what came over me as far as being so lonely. But I still had a great time...and I forgot to write about it but I did chat with other people that were there solo, so that was fun.

Your race is SOOOO CLOSE...ahhh!!!

I love the animation academy!! Went this time and got wreck it Ralph and Merida!! We have ended up with the same guy alot of times and he takes a vote on who we draw!! I like him because we have drawn some rare characters with him. We have gone since my kids were 4 so roughly 6 years. It's really cool now because we can look back at the pictures and see how much they have grown in their drawing abilities!!

I love it too!! Isn't it such a hidden gem?? Wow, Wreck-it Ralph and Merida are really good ones! We can't wait to go back and do it again.

The drawings are great keepsakes. It's so cool that you still have your kiddos' drawings after all this time.

Nice job on the runs

You really have an eye behind the camera. Love your pictures!

Thanks fellow half-er!

Thanks for the compliments on the pictures...I'm trying really hard to improve in that area to justify my purchasing a new camera recently.

I agree with the statement about the walkers, it was even more frustrating in the narrow areas. I know there were many a time I was running on the grass to get around super slow people and walkers.

It was nuts! I really have nothing against people that walk in the races AT ALL (since I myself walk during the races)...but it would have been so much better if people walked off to the side and didn't walk 4-5 people across. Sigh.

Love the one picture you bought of yourself! You just look so happy.

Thanks!! My husband saw it and was like "You have to buy it." Even after I told him the crazy price! I forget, did you get your picture issues sorted out?

Havent even read the first real post of this thread yet, but I know I'll love it. Your post from last year is what initially got me thinking about goofy in 2014!

Great! Welcome. Goofy is quite an experience...good luck with your training!

Great report and I'm a little behind, but you did happen to catch my wife in the "light blue" or "turquoise" shirt at mile 1 [cool flags caption]!

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-s_j-me725zo/UPWSfziLIvI/AAAAAAAAHGk/HtJBArsCQnU/s720/IMG_0535.JPG

Really?! How funny is that!

ACK! I'm all caught up!!

ACK! Yay!

I read a couple of your previous updates on my phone so I can't remember if I commented or not.

Congrats on finishing the half! I agree with what you said about race etiquette. I mean, hey- I get that a lot of people run in Disney for the first time and really may not be die hard runners or anything. I give anyone credit who wants to get out and try but, c'mon people- do some research. It sounds like it would be a better experience for everyone if people followed the usual, unspoken race rules.

Love the picture you purchased! Can't wait to hear about the second half of the course!

Thanks for the congrats! Yeah, when I saw the race program/final instructions I read them cover to cover multiple times because I was so excited. I guess not everyone does that!

 

[Ariel484]

Bleh...apologies for the long delay. I left my flash drive (which contains my trip report) at work and then got sick over the weekend and didn't come in yesterday. Luckily it's just a cold - I know it could be SOOOO much worse and am thankful it's not the flu - and I am back at work armed with meds, super soft lotion-y kleenex, cough drops and a large latte. I haven't been out for a run since Thursday, which feels bizarre. And now I'm wrapping my brain around the fact that the marathon was only 3 weeks ago! Seems like it's been months.

ANYWAY...back to the race.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
2013 Walt Disney World Marathon! Magic Kingdom, Part 1

We made the same turn into the MK as we had the day before and Main Street was much more manageable. Still crowded but at least today I wasn't afraid of getting an elbow to the...uh...chest area.

Don't look into my devil-eyes in this picture...I might steal your soul!

Pretty castle!

And back into Tomorrowland we go!

Buzz was out in front of the Lunching Pad again, the Mickey's Star Traders bathroom lines were huge again, and people were darting off the course to the Space Mountain bathrooms...again. Déjà vu, anyone?! Alice was out in Fantasyland again too...but this time she was with the Mad Hatter.

Note to self: the "hold out the skirt" pose doesn't really work with a running skirt.

I ran back through Fantasyland, past the circus...

...and stopped at the new castle walls.

This was sort of a long line (4 minutes per my Garmin data...it felt longer at the time!) but I couldn't pass up the chance to do my best princess pose with my DISboards namesake.

Probably best to leave it to the professionals.

Continued in Next Post

 

[Ariel484]

2013 Walt Disney World Marathon! Magic Kingdom, Part 2

Belle was also out in her yellow dress, but I passed her up and got into the GIANT line at the castle. Donald was out at the castle the previous morning so I was pretty sure Mickey would be out today. A CM confirmed it for me and let me know that Minnie was there too (!! ), so I just made myself comfortable. I got out my phone to shoot Will a quick text (I NEVER thought I'd text so much on a race course) and briefly considered calling him to make sure he was awake. He was hoping to stroll out to the Grand Floridian parking lot to watch me run by, and I was about 1.5 miles away by then. Eventually I decided I probably didn't need to call and took some videos to pass the time in line (7-8 minutes...again, it felt longer).

The trumpeters were working hard that morning. My favorite was when they would occasionally play the Rocky theme, but I never got a decent video of it.

This next video sort of gives an idea of the atmosphere in the Magic Kingdom (at least that's why I took the video...maybe it conveys nothing ) and just how big this line was.

It was really funny, because people would run by the line, figure out who the line was for, stop in their tracks and backtrack so that they could wait for a photo too. I saw this happen 5-6 times. I also heard lots of people justifying the photo stop out loud and quickly re-adjusting their goals: "Well I did have a goal time but you should really just do this race for fun, it's okay!" Ahh, I'm among my people. But once again I'd be lying if I said I didn't sort of have a goal time in mind. The ultimate goal was to, of course, come out of this thing (the Goofy Challenge) alive...but in addition to wanting to beat my time from last year (6:20) I also wanted to go under 6 hours. Partially just to see some improvement but also because it was going to be HOT that day and I didn't want to be out in the sun for longer than necessary, and a 6-hour finish time would have me completing the race right around noon. So it was interesting and a little alarming to stand in the Fantasyland lines (at the Mad Tea Party, for Ariel and the one I was currently in) and watch the average pace on my Garmin shoot up from 12 minutes to almost 16 minutes per mile.

But I have no regrets...woohoo!

The run through the castle was a lot easier this morning for whatever reason. Tiana and Naveen were out in Liberty Square, and BULLSEYE was waiting for me in Frontierland!!!

This was a picture I'd really been hoping to get...you can probably tell by my ridiculous grin, which in turn made me do some weird neck straining thing. Oops. It looks a LOT worse in the official photo...almost alarming, actually.

And here we are at Mile Marker 6...

Two things about this picture. 1. Starting here and for the remainder of the race I was running near a big family (10 people maybe) from Japan and it was really hard to get pictures without that family in them. So I had to stand and wait for a minute or so to take the above picture, because I like to get those mile marker pictures people-free (I'm still annoyed that there's a person in my Mile Marker 4 picture from the half ). And 2. Please note that today's jaunt through the Magic Kingdom took 32 MINUTES. HAHAHAHAHA...but seriously, with the goal of not being outside for too long in the heat (which hadn't really kicked in yet, at least I didn't think so) I spent the rest of the race really trying to recover from that long sixth mile.

Continued in Next Post

 

[DisneyParrothead]

I really wish the course went through more of the park. We don't even see Adventureland, and c'mon, it's got Pirates and the Jungle Cruise.

 

[mrsdrake625]

Just wanted to say -

First off, you're crazy awesome for doing three races in a row... I'm tired thinking about it!

Second, I LOVE reading your descriptions of the races. Thanks for taking the time to write them and post pics, etc. They have motivated me to try a Disney race sometime soon!

 

[BigEeyore]

Hope you are feeling better! It's just that time of year. At least it isn't the week before the marathon!
Oh, Mickey and Minnie...that line was too long, I just couldn't do it, especially after waiting in that Star Trader bathroom line.
I was happy that (spoiler alert!) I was able to get pictures with Mickey later on in the race...I was kicking myself thinking I missed my one opportunity with the big cheese!

 

[camandjacksmom]

I was beginning to think I would need to send out a search and rescue party!! I'm glad you are on the mend!! I can't wait to see the rest of the marathon!! So the hubby said we could stay at the contemporary for goofy in 2014!! It's not the grand but it's a start. Maybe after the sticker shock wears off I can try for the grand in 2015!!