Race Reports/Encouragement/Kudos - August 29 - 31 and September 1

[keenercam]

The pictures are great!! Thanks for posting, Jeff! Here's WISHing everyone an awesome time!!

 

[smileyk8]

WISHing you lots of luck and fun for your races everyone

I'm not on the list for some reason but did the nike plus 10km at home (chester, UK) in 56mins. My ipod went a little crazy at 4miles, but managed to pull himself through Loved the feeling that people are running all over the world! I had asked my parents to virtually cheer for me, but i guess i'll never know if they did

 

[windwalker]

Ok Jeff now I'm officially jealous.

Fun Challanged Panda

 

[Lexxiefern]

Hey everyone!! My sister and I did the DL half this morning. Weather was awesome! Overcast and 70's at the beginning and the sun didn't really come out until the last half mile for us. We finished in 2:50 and that is a PR for Jen (my sister) by 18 minutes!! We got our coast to coast medal and it is so cool! I will write up a full report (with pictures) once I get home.

I am trying to figure out my flight situation for tomorrow since I am supposed to connect thru houston and that is a tad too close to Hurricane Gustav for my liking. I really don't want to get stuck in Texas. Wish me luck all!

For any living in LA, be safe!!

Becky

 

[mkymsehi]

Quick run by...


I completed the half in 2:02.17. I just missed my PR by about two minutes. Thunder Matt and I started together, and he blew by me around mile 11 to the finish. I just couldn't match his pace at the end.

I didn't take a lot of photos during the race, just a couple before and after. So there isn't a mile by mile photo essay this year.

All the WISH team had a great time. Some had to rush off soon after the race ended, some heading back home already. Others just wanted to get out of the heat and humidity.

It was overcast and cool for most of the race. About the 3 hour mark, the sun broke through, and made it pretty hot. Unfortunately I did see a few people passed out, and even one lady taken away by ambulance just outside the esplanade near Harbor Blvd.

Had a great time, and I'll be back later with a few photos.

Farewell to all the WISH team, Disneyrunning.com, and Disney Dead members. It was great meeting you all, and please have safe travels back to your homes. Especially those of you who live between Texas and Florida. I hope you're all spared from the hurricane's path.

 

[mkymsehi]

More later...

 

[dsnyfan21]

Hi All, Did the DL 1/2 (my first DL 1/2) yesterday morning. I finished in 3 hours 15 min and some seconds. I was a bit slowed at the beginning and really the first 4 miles - ugh!!!
Not sure if I would do this race again because not sure if I liked the course itself. I was VERY aggitated the first four miles and hopefully didn't irritate Lynn with my aggitation.
The beginning was VERY organized and I liked the fact that I wasn't up at 3am catching the monorail over to EPCOT. I walked over from my hotel at 5am.
I caught up with Pat, Jim, Lynn and group at the beginning of the E corral.

Started the race and then into a parking lot.

Next is the entrance into CA. Places on the route narrow and people were jockeying for positon and pushing past people. I stayed ALL the way to the right at the edge of the walkway or street and had people passing me on my right - UGH - it was making me PO'D!!!!. Then out of CA and into DL, oh but wait you must pass through the security baggage check area and they only had 1 out of the 4 lanes of it opend so a BIG bottle neck occured!!! Then into DL, but wait another bottle neck as all the people again had to pass through the iron gate openin between the ticket taker machines on both sides. Through DL. Saw alot of parade floats and characters out, no top 40 music beating out the speakers to get you going.
Here is a photo of everyone trying to get through the castle... bottleneck!!!

Then out of DL and onto the streets of Anaheim. About ever street turn their was entertainment like marching bands, cheerleaders, dancers, Polynesian dancers, mariachi band.

(See Lynn in the photo??)
On to the Honda Center and lots of cheerleaders and the some of the dancers from the Ducks were out there.
Then to the sand/gravel Santa Ana Trail and onto the Angels Stadium and of course the year I decide to do this race you no longer run inside the stadium!! You go around the outside of it. Let down? Yes.

You get to go under the big "A" sign. Their were tons of boy scouts/girl scouts/brownies/cub scouts all along this area and that was great. Lots of high fives and kids misting/squirting you with water.

I was able to speed up at this point. Then out to the streets again and then into Downtown Disney and the finish. Yeah!! I got my Coast to Coast medal!! It looks very nice and is quite heavy.
Shout out to Lynn who stayed with me until about mile 8-9. Also a shout out to Michelle who I caught up with about mile 7 and hung with until mile 8-9. Also a shout-out to Jim who had passed me about mile 5-6 and then I caught up to him around mile 10-11!!!

Had a good time, enjoying staying at the Candy Cane Inn with Pat and Susie. The hotel was very accomidating and the location was good.
Will post some photos later.

Tracy

 

[calif disney 1]

This was my first ever 1/2 Marathon. Finished with a time of 2:13. I too thought that the first 4 miles were crazy slow, and had a difficult time getting around all the people wishing to walk and stop to take pics. but hey, it' Disneyland....and that's what people do...I was very disapointed that we did not run through Angel Stadium, but they had an afternoon game, and that is probably why. I plan to run again next year.....and would love to some day run the marathon at WDW

 

[mkymsehi]

Tracy,

You're already home? Or are you posting during a layover at the airport? How was the plane ride, bumpy or did they detour around the bad weather?

Sorry I didn't get a chance to say goodbye after the finish, I didn't realize you were leaving so fast. I was great meeting you and the rest of the team. See you down the road at another race.

Last night in Disneyland, Big Thunder broke down while we were on it. We were "evacuated" from the ride and were walked back next to the tracks by Cast Members. First time that's ever happened to me, so we were having a good laugh.

We ran into Susie and I think Erica (?) & her husband late at night in Tomorrowland. They went non-stop all day in the park after the race. All the other WISHERs must have been back at their hotels sleeping, or traveling home.

I head home this afternoon after dropping off my friends at the airport this morning. So I have time to walk around Downtown Disney one last time.

Can't wait to see my Princesses and Queen back at home. Daddy misses his girls just as much as they miss me.


I forgot to mention on Saturday, when walking to the EXPO through Downtown Disney, we saw Kobe Bryant walking with one of his daughters on his shoulders, being escorted by a Disney Guide. Said hi and congratulations on bringing home the gold. He said "thanks, I appreciate it."

Then last night while walking back to Paradise Pier, we cut through the Grand California, and they were getting into a giant stretch limo to go home. Must have been 20 people or more in his entourage.

 

[bubba73]

Congratulations to all of you who did the 1/2 at DL. Short of a slower pace than what some of you would have liked and a "bottle-neck", it sounds like you had a wonderful time. Way to go!!!

Well, I did my little 10k yesterday as part of my training to get ready for the 1/2 at WDW. I preceeded it with a 5k the day before, which I did in 37:30. Then, I did the 10k in 80 minutes, which was really a downer. I believe I could have finished faster but my hammy was feeling a little suspect or "twinge" so I didn't want to push it to hard. I could also tell a big difference in my motivation to do this one as well. When I did my 5k a couple of weeks ago, it was organized and had almost 200 people in it. This was more on my own or with whoever I could get to join me. That really made a drastic difference in my outlook. I didn't care of I PR'd because no one was there for me to share it with. It's kind of strange but it was the way I felt at that time.

Congratulations everyone! Hope to see you all soon!!

Bryan

 

[dsnyfan21]

Tracy,

You're already home? Or are you posting during a layover at the airport? How was the plane ride, bumpy or did they detour around the bad weather?

Sorry I didn't get a chance to say goodbye after the finish, I didn't realize you were leaving so fast. I was great meeting you and the rest of the team. See you down the road at another race.

Last night in Disneyland, Big Thunder broke down while we were on it. We were "evacuated" from the ride and were walked back next to the tracks by Cast Members. First time that's ever happened to me, so we were having a good laugh.

I am home. My flight left CA at 9:20pm.
After you walked over to see how your friend was doing at the medical tent, I stayed for a very short time. When I looked at Garmi and showed it was 9:45am, I had to leave. My late checkout was Noon. Walk to hotel was about 10-15 min. Had to gather belongings, take my icebath and call my cousin to come and pick me up. Then we did some more sightseeing before dropping me off a tthe Long Beach airport.
We flew over (Or North) Gustav. So instead of a direct line between Long Beach and Fort Lauderdale they started going North around New Mexico, then Mississippi and Arkansas. Those areas were quite bumpy. GO taobut 2 hours sleep and I had my whole row to myself. Then South around Pensacola, FL and back to Fort Lauderdale.
I have to agree that meeting everyone was a blast and I had a great time with everyone. Great to finally meet you Jeff. Can't wait to see you at the next WDW race. I know you were thinking you may need to add 2010 for a newly designed Goofy Medal.

Good job everyone on your races!!!!

Tracy

 

[windwalker]

I didn't do anything as dramatic as the DL half but I did have a nice race.

This was a 2 mile out and back with a pretty good hill at the beginning and end. I got there an hour early and visited with several racewalking friends. Then warmed up good, potty stop and walked over to the start. I played with the crowd a little pumping everyone up. There was a good showing I'd say close to 200 walkers.

We lined up, said a prayer that the Hurricane wouldn't be to bad this time for the New Orleans folks and prepared to start.

If you have never seen the start of a walk race, the front racers take off fast. We got to the top of the hill and had a nice surprise, there was a new racewalker with us that was in his 20s. The rest of racewalkers are over 40 so we were pleased to see a younger racewalker.

The Tenn state champion was in his customery place in the lead, the new kid right behind him, then a small group of the Ky senior womens champ, the Tenn senior silver medalist and #2 on their Senior Olympic team and me. The 3 of us were having fun taking the lead but staying in a tight group.

The kid stayed tough and finished a minute behind the Tenn champ and our group came in a minute behind them.

My time was 21:29 which is a 10:44 pace. I had energy left at the end but no more speed. This was another PR for me. I'm tickled last two races have been PRs by about a minute per mile.

I won the Grandmaster catagory and got a nice medal but no money this time.

The race was very hot and humid but you have to expect that in Ky in the summer. We had to snark at some people who were running but other than that it was a very nice race.

Thanks for reading.

Racing Panda

 

[dsnyfan21]

Congratulations Dave!! Great time!!

 

[aldisneygrl]

Well, my race went pretty well on Saturday. It was a 10K and I was told that it was an easier course than the one I did in May that has a MASSIVE hill right in the middle at Mile 3. Well, this course had what was labeled as "rolling hills", and I would agree with that statement. They weren't massive hills, but they were still HILLS. Since it was on top of the mountain, it did have some shade, but it was muggy. The course was actually a 5K course that we repeated. I came to find out that I don't like that so much. As I was coming in for mile 3, the winner passed me to go on to the finish line. I still had to do the whole course again, and he was done.

I ran with a friend of mine from work, and we encouraged each other along the way. We ran on the road for a while, and then went out on a gravel path for a while, and then turned around and came back. That part was rather crowded, and I was trying not to turn my ankle on any rocks or branches. I was glad to have her because we got to a part where I wasn't sure where to go because I didn't see an arrow. She said "keep right", so we veered to the right. Well, then I heard a guy behind me say "move to the right, leader coming through." Well, I guess I didn't move fast enough because he said, "move to your other right." I apologized as he rode by, and he was very gracious and understanding.

Anyway, I did have a PR, but barely. I finished in 1:17:46. That was about 1:30 faster than my 10K in May. Not bad, but I wanted to do it in less than 1:15. Also, when I went to read the results, the only person behind me was an 87 year old man. Not that I have anything against him, and it was his 87th birthday Saturday, but I was very downtrodden to think that I was next to last. Well, when I looked at the results on the race website yesterday, I wasn't next to last. I guess they didn't have all the results in by then.

I don't want to sound like a Debbie Downer because it was a very well run race. I did have to stop and retie my shoe. I have been having blister issues since I got my new shoes. Also, I ran the 1 Mile Fun Run after they completed the 5K. I ran the entire time, and did it in 11:54, and I was proud of that. I am just not a patient person. I want to be FAST, and I want to be fast NOW!!!! I know I have made progress, but I get discouraged when I am behind the pack. Someday, I will be up there with the rest of those speedy folks.

I am planning on doing the 15K up there next month, so we'll see how I do then. I think I am a better runner in cooler weather.

 

[jbucci]

We just got home from DL and had an absolute blast

This was my (and DH's) first 1/2, so we had no idea what to really expect. We love meeting people on Sat night and seeing friendly WISH faces throughout the race. I was impressed at the number of people-- we ran in Minnie and thought that was big, but it was nothing next to the 13,000 people in this race. The race started with a runner being called on stage for a special "prize". It turned out to be the announcer's girlfriend and he proposed to her, kind of a unique event for the start of a race. (I have to admit I got misty eyed, a combination of nerves and remembering that my DH proposed in a similar way- he was valedictorian of our college class and his "speech" was to propose to me)

Anyway, back to the race-- it was a bit crowded with several bottleneck areas but overall I didn't have too many problems. Running thought the parks was cool-- tons of character and floats out with music and cheering. There were cheerleaders everywhere on the streets along with bands and even the Hawaiian dancers. My favorite signs made by spectators cheering where the "sweat is sexy" sign and one with Dory that said "Just keep running."

During the race I wound up hooking up with the Cliff pace group at about mile 6 or 7. They were really nice and supportive and ran the race with run/walk intervals of about 3/1. We even sang cadence chants while running- it was great support. I stayed with this group and made it to the finish in 2:59 (my personal goal was to finish in under 3hrs. My DH finished in 2:13 which was pretty close to his goal.

The only other issue I had during the race was that the water stops were not prepared by the time I got to them, sometimes I had to stop and wait for water to be poured in order to get a cup, but overall the problems were minor and I had a blast.

Thanks to Jeff for taking a great pic of me and my DH (I'll try to post it later), and yes Jeff we did leave the park to shower right after you saw us I had to waste a bunch of time at Guest Relations getting a new ticket because I had carried it with me during the race and sweated it into an unreadable blob of paper.

Now I can't wait until TOT in Oct.

 

[FatElvis]

I'm loving all the Disneyland reports! Makes my 10K seem a bit dull.

I ran the Santa Cali Gon Days 10K in Independence, MO on Saturday. It's part of the big Santa Cali Gon festival, which celebrates the place where the Santa Fe, California and Oregon trails began. (I'm educational too!) This was just the 2nd year they had a race, so it wasn't very big (around 200). The course went through mostly residential neighborhoods, a lot of historical homes, plus the Truman Presidential Library. I didn't have a camera, but so I can compete with the great Disneyland pictures, here's an artist's rendition:

It was hilly though - holy cow! I hadn't done a 10K in forever, but I was just hoping to be under an hour. I crossed the finish line in 1:00:30. SO close! Oh well - it was still fun and I was happy!

They had great volunteers, including a few middle school students, playing their band instruments. That was cute. One little girl was holding a sign saying Run Forrest Run, which made me giggle for about half a mile. (Shut up, it was toward the end! )

There was a man also running the 10K, who was celebrating his 89th birthday. 89!! He's sort of a local celebrity - he's run more than 50 marathons, and he didn't even start running till he was 70 I think. He's not fast or anything, in fact I think he was the last finisher. (But he's 89 - who cares about his time!) Most people were still hanging around near the finish line, and a bit before he finished, the DJ (or whatever he was, they always have this guy at races, he plays music and emcees the whole thing) told us he was coming and told a couple of stories about him. He even ran a marathon in Siberia! So the motorcycle cop who had been patrolling the course came around the corner and gave us a thumbs up, then Ed turned the corner and you should have heard the cheers! Right before he crossed the finish line we all sang Happy Birthday. He just grinned! I just got all teary-eyed. Good thing I had my sunglasses on.

They gave us technical shirts, which was nice, especially for a small race. Now to figure out my next race - I love this time of year, tons of races every weekend!

 

[FatElvis]

Well, this course had what was labeled as "rolling hills", and I would agree with that statement. They weren't massive hills, but they were still HILLS.

Also, when I went to read the results, the only person behind me was an 87 year old man. Not that I have anything against him, and it was his 87th birthday Saturday, but I was very downtrodden to think that I was next to last.

Oh my Allie, I had to double check where you were from, because that sounds so much like my race! Hilly and an octogenerian birthday boy!

I can relate, about the winner passing you. Several years ago I did the half at the KC marathon - it was a double 13.1 mile loop course for the marathon (wouldn't that be miserable?) Anyway, I was within half a mile of the finish and all of a sudden, motorcycles are all around me - the winner of the marathon was coming up right behind me! I just waved at the cameras and grinned like a loon. 'Cause I'm NEVER gonna be running next to a marathon winner again! I did tell him "great job!" and he kind of grunted, which I took as a "thank you." So that's always my new goal in a half, just finish before the marathon winner!

Great job on the PR, and I'm with you about cooler weather - I MUCH prefer that. Good luck on the 15K!

 

[cdn_gal_eeyore]

Congrats to all racers this weekend! I haven't had a chance to catch up on race reports, but I promise to soon.

I raced my second triathlon today and it was so much fun! It was up in St. Albert, Alberta, and we had Carolyn Murray, a member of the Canadian Olympic women's tri team as our master of ceremonies. Cool, eh?

I've post my race report here:
http://cdnrunnergal.blogspot.com/2008/09/st-albert-sprint-triathlon-race-report.html

I didn't get a chance to post a link to the marathon I raced last weekend, so if you are interested, here's the link to that one too:
http://cdnrunnergal.blogspot.com/2008/08/marathon-des-deux-rives-race-report.html

Yup, that's right! A marathon last weekend, a sprint tri this weekend! Whew, time for a little racing down time now!

 

[Caseydilla]

I'm back home from the Disneyland Half Marathon weekend. Wow, what an absolute blast. The half was one of the most fun events I've been a part of. I was lucky to meet WISHers Jeff and Marcia at the 5K. Then met Tracy and Chester in the half marathon corral area. I was hoping to meet more people but wasn't able to stick around much and go to the meet ups since my 1 and 5 year old were not always in the best of moods. I enjoyed talking with those of you that I was able to meet! I saw lots of orange tees too and talked with a few of them as well. Robert, I saw you guys during the 5K but couldn't get close enough to say hi. I did shout out to some WISHers that were cheering at the 5K.

Running the 5K

After the 5K with my daughter

My husband and I

Can't forget my son

Heading over for the kids run

Doing the kids run with my daughter

Us running skirt girls at the finish

My daughter with her two kids run medals

The Half Marathon - We both had chip finish times of 2:20.

DH and I in corral C around 5:30 am.

Heading to the start, no fireworks show this year . The annoucer did make mention of the WISH team at the start of the race. I thought that was cool.

At Angels stadium (mile 9 or 10? )

Quick pic with Sully

Me passing mile 13 - I think the 13 mile clock was a minute or two off.

Just crossed the finish (chip time 2:20)

DH and I with our heavy medals!

 

[thndrmatt]

Alright time for the numbers up front!

Disneyland Half Marathon-

2:01:42

Overall place 1711/10849
Gender place 1204/4442
Division place 147/593
Splits:
9:17, 9:34, 9:13, 9:31, 9:07, 9:12, 9:26, 9:10, 9:16, 9:05, 8:50, 8:51, 8:43, 2:26 (.30 miles)
Mats:
5k: 29:58, 10k: 58:57, 15k: 1:28:12

All in all I'm very happy with my race. My previous fastest time on this course was around 2:06, so I chopped a bunch off that. Both previous years I had some 8:xx miles in the first 4 as we went through the parks and so I blew up later, and I managed to stick to my game plan this year. Although the miles are deceivingly uneven due to water/gel/powerade stops on even miles for the most part, I'm ecstatic about how even the 5k/10k/15k times ended up. The weather was gorgeous compared to previous years, overcast until after I finished which probably helped significantly. I felt real strong and decided to push it from the 10 mile mark on in trying to catch those 2:00 balloons. Didn't manage to do it, but the last time I had a time faster than this was March of 2007 at Seaside, and I had run 5 other slower half marathons in between. I'm pretty sore today, but that's part of the fun!

Glad to see actually sticking to a training plan paid off! On to the next race!

Edit: Oh almost forgot, shoutouts to Cheryl (2:49:29, although doing little training she was still within 2 seconds of her Goofy HM time, weird!) my sister Sara (3:09:42, down from 3:43 and no official result at her other attempt here last year, huge improvement!) and sister in law Diana (2:43:58 in her first run over 5 miles EVER! what?!?)

Was also great seeing all the other WISH'rs out there, although it was my usual "express" vacation and we were crazy busy all weekend we saw a whole lot of you guys while collapsed we were collapsed in a heap following the race.

And how bout those coast to coast medals! WOO!