The Darling Family Takes on Marathon Weekend: Jan at the Boardwalk Villas

[dismagiclover]

So I exited Hollywood Studios and saw this.

Notice Mr. Incredible and Wonder Woman. Only at Disney! We then ran the path from Hollywood Studios over to the Boardwalk. I was still primarily walking, but I was going at a decent clip. During the walk I passed by a couple of men who said, “Whoa. Slow down.” I told them I figured the faster I moved the faster I’d finish. (Deep thought, isn’t it?) They just laughed and said they weren’t feeling that way at the moment. I was pretty beat, but by this point in the race I could almost feel that Mickey medal around my neck so I carried on. I hit Mile 24

Then this beautiful site greeted me.

They all looked so beautiful to me at this moment. They were so proud and so supportive and I just love them so much. See how everyone was wearing their medals. That was just for me. They were sitting on a rock right outside the Boardwalk and DH has named the rock “Jenny’s Rock.” The Boardwalk is our DVC home so now every time we go home we can stop by and see my very own rock. We talked for a minute or so and then DH sent me on my way with a promise to see me at the finish line. After passing by the Boardwalk villas we made a left turn and headed across the bridge to the Yacht and Beach Club. The fan support here was great! Lots of people lining the path and cheering us on. At this point in the race that was a real boost. We headed towards Epcot and made another left before the International Gateway turnstiles where we went through the backstage real quick and then popped out in the UK. From there we started the trek around the World Showcase (the long way around.) It is here that I hit Mile 25.

I was so close. I’d walked the World Showcase lots of times, but never had I been this tired doing it. There is one funny moment that I wish I’d taken a picture of in France. Aurora was standing by the course presumably to meet the runners. By this time everyone was so tired that no one was stopping for her. Or maybe it was because of the look on her face. Never in my life have I seen such a forced smile. I don’t think Aurora enjoyed standing so close to people that have run 25 miles. I think the thought going through her head was something along the lines of, “I’m a princess. I shouldn’t have to be doing this.” Alas I have no picture of Aurora’s misery primarily because taking a picture would have involved stopping and even stopping felt too hard at this point. So I continued around the World Showcase. Here are a couple of pictures of me.

This may not have been the slowest I’ve ever gone around the World Showcase, but I don’t think it was the fastest either. It had also never felt so far before. Eventually I made it past Mexico and some happy faces were waiting for me on the path between World Showcase and Future World. The Darling Family was there. The boys were trying to really motivate me and challenged me to a race. They were on one side of the cones and I was on the other. The race didn’t last too long though. I was attempting to run at this point, but my boys were walking faster than my run. I waved goodbye and headed towards the finish. Right after we entered backstage we hit Mile 26.

Right past this was a gospel choir. And then I spotted the finish line . . .

 

[dismagiclover]

Great pics again....cannot believe the characters that you met! The entire cast of Beauty and the Beast...I would have been so happy I would have gone straight into the ugly cry....that is my all time favorite movie!!!

They were great characters! I mentioned this above, but I didn't even realize it was the cast of the show at the time. I recognized Belle, Gaston, Cogsworth and Lumiere, but I couldn't figure out who the people with them were I think I was a tad bit tired

 

[mickeystoontown]

Awww, seeing your family waiting for you at the Boardwalk brought a tear to my eye. I can just imagine how you felt. And now you have a rock named after you!

A gospel choir is waiting for you at the finish? They must have sounded like angels singing.

 

[Shannon84]

You are still smiling in the pictures even at the end, so thats a good sign

Poor Aurora stuck at the end of race

 

[RunningGirl]

LOVE the gospel choir! I have to say I have lots of sympathy for Aurora. Yucky sweaty smelly runners - yikes!

 

[YayforMickey]

I love your marathon report! It's been amazingly inspirational. You look so great after running for so many hours-- I'm starting to wonder if you were just hopping on a bus in between these pictures.

Please don't wait long before posting about the finish line. Can't wait!

 

[SGcruiser]

Your family looked so happy to see you. It had to be so nice knowing they were going to be right around the corner to cheer you on. You definitely don't look like you've been running/walking for over 4hrs, I wouldn't know it if you didn't have the markers in the pictures. What did you eat for fuel during the race? Did you alternate water and Gatorade? Can't wait for the finish.

 

[dismagiclover]

Awww, seeing your family waiting for you at the Boardwalk brought a tear to my eye. I can just imagine how you felt. And now you have a rock named after you!

A gospel choir is waiting for you at the finish? They must have sounded like angels singing.

The gospel choir really did sound like a choir of angels! I was very happy to see them.

You are still smiling in the pictures even at the end, so thats a good sign

Poor Aurora stuck at the end of race

I smiled through the whole race. I know it sounds crazy, but honestly every minute of this race was fun for me!

LOVE the gospel choir! I have to say I have lots of sympathy for Aurora. Yucky sweaty smelly runners - yikes!

Poor Aurora! I guess she can just be glad no one was stopping. Then she really would have had to get close to a smelly runner

I love your marathon report! It's been amazingly inspirational. You look so great after running for so many hours-- I'm starting to wonder if you were just hopping on a bus in between these pictures.

Please don't wait long before posting about the finish line. Can't wait!

Oh no! You discovered my secret It's so easy to be happy that Disney. I think that is why my pictures turned out so good.

Your family looked so happy to see you. It had to be so nice knowing they were going to be right around the corner to cheer you on. You definitely don't look like you've been running/walking for over 4hrs, I wouldn't know it if you didn't have the markers in the pictures. What did you eat for fuel during the race? Did you alternate water and Gatorade? Can't wait for the finish.

It was actually over 6 hours of racing by this point. Remember, I am slow. I had quite a few of the gels that runners use and I did alternate between water and Gatorade at the water stops. They also gave out bananas at one point and I ate one of those. There was also a candy stop right before we entered DHS. I was loving that chocolate! I tried really hard to stay fueled so that I wouldn't hit the wall. Since I never hit the wall, I guess it worked for me!

 

[mermaid764]

How awesome that your family was waiting there to cheer you on

Too funny about Aurora

Can't wait to hear about the finish

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

Oh man!! You didn't finish the update even though you saw the finish line?! Oh man! Hopefully we don't have to wait long to see the ending!!!!

 

[dvc4life]

I am tearing up with such happiness for you. This is just so exciting to hear about your experience and that you are willing to share it all with us. But to see your family sitting there at BWV and knowing they were behind you all the way, that is priceless. And now you are at the finish line and there they are again. What an inspiration.

Can't wait to hear about crossing that finish line.

 

[charming23]

Joining in. I have been lurking but I have to say the support you got for the race was amazing. I can't wait to hear more.

I am also a tad jealous of your Phineuas and Ferb pics,

 

[3prettyprincesses]

Ok, add me to the list of people here who got teary eyed while reading this last update! I can only imagine how emotional it was to be so close to the end and then see the people you love most cheering you on! And you have your very own rock, cool!

Oh what a cliff hanger, you brought us this close to end and left us hanging! I can't wait to see when you cross that finish line. I'm seriously considering that half marathon now because you made it look fun. How is that possible?

 

[MagicShell]

The end is so close! I can't wait to see a picture of that hard earned medal. I wonder what you did for the rest of the day.

 

[carissanboys]

I told myself many times during the half, "The faster you go, the sooner you finish."

You're almost there!

 

[dismagiclover]

How awesome that your family was waiting there to cheer you on

Too funny about Aurora

Can't wait to hear about the finish

My family was so great during the whole experience! Not only during the race itself, but they were also great about the hours I would have to spend training.

Oh man!! You didn't finish the update even though you saw the finish line?! Oh man! Hopefully we don't have to wait long to see the ending!!!!

I'm going to get the finish line up today! I figure I've dragged it out long enough

I am tearing up with such happiness for you. This is just so exciting to hear about your experience and that you are willing to share it all with us. But to see your family sitting there at BWV and knowing they were behind you all the way, that is priceless. And now you are at the finish line and there they are again. What an inspiration.

Can't wait to hear about crossing that finish line.

I am very blessed to have such a great family! DH especially went above and beyond during this whole process to support me and give me the best race experience possible. He is a keeper

Joining in. I have been lurking but I have to say the support you got for the race was amazing. I can't wait to hear more.

I am also a tad jealous of your Phineuas and Ferb pics,

Welcome! I'm glad you decided to come out of lurkdom! I was excited to see Phineus and Ferb. Mostly because my boys and DH think they are great! Rumor is they will be out for meet and greets in the parks this summer.

 

[dismagiclover]

Ok, add me to the list of people here who got teary eyed while reading this last update! I can only imagine how emotional it was to be so close to the end and then see the people you love most cheering you on! And you have your very own rock, cool!

Oh what a cliff hanger, you brought us this close to end and left us hanging! I can't wait to see when you cross that finish line. I'm seriously considering that half marathon now because you made it look fun. How is that possible?

I love how DH named the rock after me! It's like a little piece of me is still there in Disney World I say go for the half marathon! I'll tell you it isn't easy, but I don't think you'll regret it! I hope to get the finish line up soon.

The end is so close! I can't wait to see a picture of that hard earned medal. I wonder what you did for the rest of the day.

You will see plenty of pictures of that medal! I didn't take it off for four days And trust me, I didn't do anything too strenuous for the rest of the day. Though DH made sure I didn't just go to sleep. Then I would not have been able to move in the morning.

I told myself many times during the half, "The faster you go, the sooner you finish."

You're almost there!

Yep at the end of races you sometimes just have to think, "One foot in front of the other." Eventually it gets you there!

 

[dismagiclover]

There it was. The finish line was right in front of me! There was no doubt now. I was going to finish this race! I was running (albeit very slowly). Here is a link to the finish line video. I appear 12 seconds in. Notice I ran all the way across the course just so I could give Minnie a high five. Michael would tell me I need to work on my focus.

Finish Line Video

Here are my finish line photos.

My official finish time is 6:46:13 . No one will ever accuse me of being fast, but I finished. It is hard to explain the feelings I had when I crossed over the finish line. The first thing that happened was I started to cry. What I really felt like doing at that moment was plopping myself down on the ground and sobbing. Not tears of pain (though I was feeling plenty of that.) Rather, tears of awe at what I had accomplished. I am a Marathoner! Let me say that again. I am a Marathoner! I’ve done lots of things in my life that I am proud of. I’ve had many fabulous experiences, but this was unlike anything else. I can’t say it was the most painful experience I’ve ever had. Childbirth tops it. Or the most euphoric. Believe it or not that was childbirth too. Or the most joyful. Or the most challenging. I’ve always been a believer in the philosophy that you do what you’ve got to do. In other words if something difficult confronts you then you face it head on and deal with it. This was different though. This was an incredible challenge. At one time in my life it seemed like an impossible challenge, but it was a challenge that I chose. And unlike most of the challenges in life I had the ability to unchoose it whenever I wanted without any real consequences. In other words I didn’t just choose it once. I had to choose it again over and over. Every training run, I had a choice. When there was snow on the ground and it was 25 degrees I had to choose to go out for the 20 mile run. I had to choose to show up at that starting line and I had to choose to keep going every mile. No one else could get me to that finish line. This one was all me. Through those continuous choices I discovered an incredible part of myself. I discovered that I am stronger than anyone thought I was. I discovered that I am tougher. And I discovered that I have courage. I tell my kids that being brave is doing something even though you are scared to death. I was terrified of this race. I was terrified right up until I crossed the starting line, but I did it anyway. There were many times in training that I wondered what the heck I was doing. There were times it was brutal out there. There was not a single time I wondered why I was doing this during the race. The race was all fun. Every single minute of it was fun. So as I crossed the finish line the tears were tears of joy and awe. Because I am a Marathoner.

However, I was a very tired marathoner and a marathoner that wanted her medal. So I got my emotions under control and shuffled over to get my medal. I was so happy to have that medal placed around my neck! Here is my finish shot.

One of the proudest moments of my life. Here is a close up of the medal.

Here is how all of our medals are currently displayed.

I headed into the food tent. The kind volunteers congratulated me. I distinctly remember one wonderful lady looking at me and saying, “Jenny, you are my hero.” (Our names are on our bibs.) I smiled and thanked her. Then I headed out into the family greeting area. I was on a mission. Remember way back to the beginning of the day (what would be 27 updates ago). I’d wanted a sweatshirt from the merchandise tent, but I couldn’t buy it then. So I headed over there now hoping it was still there even though I was at the tail end of the racers. (Though there were 800 finishers behind me.) Lucky for me it was. Here it is.

Plus you will see me wearing it quite a bit the next few days. With that accomplished it was time to hunt down my family. They weren’t too tough to find. They all congratulated me and DH even gave me a big hug and kiss. I guess he didn’t mind being close to a stinky runner as much as Aurora. Everyone had their medals. So what did I want? Pictures of course. We headed over to the character area where we took some family pictures now that we all had our medals. Here is who we met.

The boys refused to meet the "girl ones".

So even after the race Clarabelle Cow and Horace Horsecollar are pretty good gets. So the original plan had been to take a leisurely stroll back to the Boardwalk through Epcot. I really wasn’t feeling up to it, but if everyone else really wanted to I would have. However, DH said Michael was complaining about being tired and was a bit of a bear on the walk over to the finish line. (I think he was still suffering the after effects of his race.) So we decided to ride the bus back to the resort. We hopped on the bus. Well I didn’t hop on. It was tough taking those bus stairs. So even though moving was difficult and I’d never been so tired in my life, I was happy. Because guess what? I am a Marathoner.

 

[torsie24]

Awwww, you made me tear up!!

How wonderful! You're my hero too! I don;t think I could ever do a marathon!

WELL DONE!!

 

[mickeystoontown]

You're a Marathoner! Congratulations! I had tears in my eyes as you described the emotions you felt as you crossed that finish line. I know you were so very proud of yourself. Way to go!