for me to post about the marathon.... For those of you who haven't jumped over to the WISH boards, here is a copy and paste of my post...
Hello WISHers!
We returned Monday evening from our weekend at WDW but I haven't wanted to post until now. I guess I am still dealing with my feelings about the Half. I was one of the WISHers caught past the 10 mile mark.
I was surprised by how things were organized as well. I think the event could benefit from a staggered start from each corral, with a pause between each one being released, in order to help with congestion. It took us 17 minutes to get to the start line. Those 17 minutes cost us the opportunity to pass through Magic Kingdom, see the characters, get a finish line photo. I am still very sad and disappointed about this.
We were caught in the mess in Epcot where the poor gentleman suffered a heart attack. There were 3 medics working on him and the ambulance was rapidly approaching, but we later heard he didn't make it. (This has not been verified however!) The area this happened was in Epcot, after you leave World Showcase and head towards the road. There is the merge of the Half and the Full and then a tight area with a very small grassy median in the middle of the walkway. The man was in the grassy area.
I am a slower starter (but did the first mile too fast) but got to a 15 minute mile pace by the end of mile 4. We had a 13 min mile, an 18 min mile, then 15-16 min miles. I was cooking at 15 min miles as we hit mile 7 on.... Even that late into the race, we were weaving in and out of people moving ahead. We passed Karen (Karebear) before the 9 mile marker.
We hit the 10 mile marker at 8:50 am - add our 17 minutes of time from the beginning and we had 57 minutes to finish. We were at the very front of the people getting stopped. In fact, one lady bolted and just ran off. We should have followed instead of stopping to listen. We thought perhaps a train was coming. We were SURROUNDED by Team In Training people, Training to End Stroke people, as well as many others. There were a lot of coaches caught as well -- all believing we were on pace. (I still know I was!) We were told we could NOT continue because GUESTS were preparing to enter the park and there wasn't room for us.
After a lot of discussion by the coaches, they were going to send up back 3 miles so we could finish by retracing. Nope - they had already cleared those areas and there were quite a few Full marathoners. The coaches are still talking with the Disney people. A Training to End Stroke coach kept passing through the crowd, telling her people to keep moving because we WOULD be allowed to finish. Finally a 'big wig' guy arrives - says he is sorry for the mistake. We will be taken to the finish line and will get our medals. Water is distributed by the sheriffs present.
After a very unreasonable amount of time, 1 bus arrived (for 300+ people). Again, it was obvious that this was not a planned sweep spot. We had passed the buses at 10K and the 9 mile mark. As a group, we felt we weren't being credited for the time it took to cross the start line. I do not know what happened to those who went on the bus. The gates were reopened and we were told to walk to the monorail. Get to the monorail - they have no idea why ALL of these people are trying to get on the Express Monorail to the TTC. Finally we get to load. (Being at the front of the crowd at the gate and walking, DSis and I rode in the front with the driver.)
We arrive at the TTC and are told just to walk to the Finish area. Get to the Finish area and are told we are not allowed in the Finish area!! Go to Information - told they don't have the medals - why are you here? Finally we are allowed to walk to the Finish area where the food/drinks are. We received our medals, chips are removed. We have to run to catch the buses with our belongings from this morning. As we are heading back towards the buses to take us to Epcot to the resorts, one of the volunteers tells us we better hurry or the bus will just leave us there. Okay - that comment had me steaming! Like we hadn't been "hurrying" all morning!
Once on the bus, one of the fellow half participants (it was her 3rd Disney marathon - she claimed she will never set foot on Disney property again after this, and is a Florida resident) noted that according to her monitor we had walked 16+ miles. It was after 11 am.
Again, it has taken me a while to be able to post about this because I am SO disappointed. I *did* train long and hard for this event. Even though I was on pace, I was not allowed to finish. My medal feels tainted and I don't have a whole lot of pride in wearing/displaying it. I am sad. I doubt I will ever be back for the marathon.
On the other hand, we had a great weekend at WDW! I got to meet several WISHers, which was great! Tower of Terror still rocks! Magic Kingdom is still a magical place. Pop Century was much better than I expected!
Well, that's my story....
if it won't fit down the stairs!!!
Please know that I will be 
Somehow we missed each other. I hope all went well during the big race and that you're cherishing that Donald medal! 
I did walk for 30 minutes afterways to help with the side effects. I feel great now, except for some soreness in my hip. Not quite sure what I did, but I have been icing the area. 
, 
And I'm glad your back 
It was too hot to carry you all in my fanny pack -- you guys would have DIED from the heat and humidity!! 
-jay-nee
