We're not slow. We're just enjoying the course. A 2014 Marathon TR - Completed!

[ZellyB]

Hi, everyone,
This will be the second trip report I've done for a Disney Marathon trip. The report for our 2013 marathon is linked in my signature below.

My name is Gisele. I'm a 49 year old who took up running endurance distances in the spring of 2012. I use the Galloway method and it completely transformed me from someone who hated running into someone who loves it now.

My running partner and husband is Chris.


This is us getting ready to run the local Bass Pro Half Marathon in November.

Joining us on this trip is Chris' sister Sandra and her husband, Aaron. They've run a couple of half-marathons in the past, but this would be their first marathon.


Aaron was not especially interested in running a marathon, but Sandra managed to find him in a weak moment and convince him to sign up.

We've also got three kids. Drake, our 15 year old son. And Paige and Sophie who are 10 year old twins.


This was before our annual Turkey Trot run on Thanksgiving day. We've been working on developing a love of running in our kids, but I'm not sure we've managed yet. They do the Turkey Trot every year, but I think it's the Krispy Kreme donuts we promise them after the run that is the real incentive.

Kids did not go with us last year nor this year. We've worried about managing them while trying to do the run. But, our current plan is to do Goofy next year for the 10 year anniversary and we are planning to take the kids with us for that trip. I'll likely bring along one of my sisters to serve as caretaker while we are running.

And because every trip report is better with more pictures. Here's our dog, Sandy, being humiliated by my children.


This was a challenging training year for me as was last year. I was diagnosed with breast cancer in November of 2012. I had a bilateral mastectomy shortly before Thanksgiving, but managed to go ahead and run the marathon in 2013 before starting chemo. I finished my chemo in 2013 in May and began training within a few weeks as soon as I felt I was able. It was very slow going to build back up at first, but I eventually got back to some normal strength and pace and was thrilled to be training again.

Once we got through all our training we were primed and ready to head off to sunny Florida for the marathon. Especially given this was the weather we were leaving behind.


BRRRRRRR!!

Next up: Orlando here we come and packet pick-up!!

 

[Ariel484]

Yay, Gisele! So glad you started your report!

Cute picture of the kiddos, and I LOVE your dog! What a trooper, letting the kids dress him/her up like that!

Glad to hear that you made it through chemo okay and were able to get back to full strength! You are an inspiration!

Can't wait to read more about your trip!!

 

[ZellyB]

Yay, Gisele! So glad you started your report!

Cute picture of the kiddos, and I LOVE your dog! What a trooper, letting the kids dress him/her up like that!

Glad to hear that you made it through chemo okay and were able to get back to full strength! You are an inspiration!

Can't wait to read more about your trip!!

Thanks for joining in!

 

[ZellyB]

We headed out of cold Missouri on Friday excited to be flying off to the warmth of central Florida.



We were hoping for on time flights. If all went well, we would arrive in time to get our rental car and get to the Expo on Friday night to get our packets and hit up the Expo for any marathon items we might want to buy. Luckily all went well and we were able to get the car and drive into the WWoS around 5:30 that evening.



Lots and lots of people still here. Much like I remembered from last year, there were swarms of people. We headed off to find the place to check in and get our packets for the race. In no time we found it.



It was easy to follow the signs to the marathon pick up. The process was simple to manage, just find the section that matched your bib number, show your ID and get your packet. Quickly we were all squared away with bibs in hand.



Last year they had us walk over a mat to ensure our chips in the bibs were working, but they got rid of that process this year apparently. Anyway, next it was off to the Expo area to get our shirts and gear bags.

It was still very crowded in the Expo area.


We got our tech shirts and I really liked them. Mostly because they had women's cut shirts this year. The shirt last year was unisex and ended up being too big on me. This year was much better. We started looking around at the official merchandise, but I was surprised how little was left. Last year we had arrived at the same time and while it was picked over, there was still quite a bit to choose from. This year there was very little left. I don't know if the Dopey folks had just brought more people in sooner to snatch up merchandise or what. The one item I really wanted was another running hat, but they only had visors left. I settled on a short sleeved tech shirt for myself and t-shirts for the kids.


We decided to head on out and find our condo and get checked in there and try to grab some dinner. So it was good-bye to the WWoS and the Expo and on to the condo.

Last year we had stayed onsite at Shades of Green, but with Sandra and Aaron along with us, we decided a condo would be a better choice. We found a nice place at Windsor Hills and were able to check in easily. We'd never stayed here before, but we were very happy with the condo.





While not Disney themed or as wrapped up in pixie dust as staying on property, we couldn't beat the space for the price. Having the kitchen was especially great.

We took some time to find the community hot tub and then grabbed a quick dinner and picked up some food items at the nearby Super Target. By that time it was pretty late and we had a day at the parks planned for the next day, so we settled in for the night.

Next up: Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom, or why park hopping the day before a marathon might not be the best idea.

 

[ZellyB]

We got up bright and early to get to Hollywood Studios by rope drop. We wanted to get there early and ride the things we wanted to get in before crowds grew. On the walk in, I was taking pictures of Sandra, Aaron and Chris in front of the hat when a Photopass CM came along and asked if I wanted him to take it with my phone.



As we were walking away and I pulled up my picture to see how it turned out and discovered this.



Cracked me up. He'd turned the camera view around while taking our shots. The magic of Disney CMs.

We headed straight for Toy Story Mania and picked up a fast pass. Then off to our favorite ride in all of Disney...TOWER OF TERROR!!!



Not the best selfie I've ever taken of myself.
The line was only 10 minutes for standby which was awesome. The park ended up being much more crowded then I expected it would be. Last year the parks were really quiet so I expected the same this year. Maybe last year was just unusually slow or something.

We did manage to ride it twice while the line was this short, but by the time we got done riding the second time, the stand-by line had grown to 40 minute wait. We had planned to ride it a third time, but decided to move on. Next came RnR coaster.


The standby line was about 20 minutes so we jumped in.

Once we finished RnR, we decided to check out Star Tours. It had only a 5 minute wait, so we basically walked on.





We had to be careful with these types of motion simulator rides because both Chris and Sandra are prone to motion sickness. But, they both managed it fine thankfully.

Next up was the return time for Toy Story Mania.



A man and his gun. For the record, I won. This really is a fun little ride. I don't think it's worth a 2 hour standby wait, which is routine, but with a fastpass, it's totally a great time.

On the subject of fastpass, they still had the legacy fastpass in action at all the parks except for DAK on Saturday. We were told that they were going to be pulling the machines at MK next week, so we weren't sure it that would be before or after we left for our trip.

Once we finished up with Toy Story Mania, there wasn't much else we wanted to do at HS, so we decided we might park hop over to MK. We had bought the Military Salute passes with park hoppers. They are such a great value.

We headed out to our car and then over to MK. Our first stop was a visit to the Mouse. There was no line basically, so we were headed in to see him in a few minutes.



This was a talking Mickey. He sort of freaked me out a bit at first. But it was actually fun to be able to talk to him and have him respond.

Next was a stroll up Main Street and our first glimpse of the castle.



Pretty as ever.

Sandra and Aaron had not yet been on the new Little Mermaid ride, so we headed over there for a quick ride.





After that, we stopped in to watch Philharmargic which I adore and then a ride on the Haunted Mansion. We did a little bit of shopping on Main Street as well. By then, we decided our legs were probably feeling a little worse for wear and it would be better to head out for dinner and prep for the race. So, off on the tram and back to the car.


Next up: Race Prep and waiting for the start!

 

[wiigirl]

Following along!

 

[ZellyB]

Following along!

Welcome!

 

[ProudMommyof2]

Signing on- great start and I can't wait to read more!

 

[Ariel484]

Great shirts from the expo! I'm glad you were able to get some merch...they really need to get that stuff figured out. I'm sorry you didn't get the hat you wanted.

Uh-oh, that's a LOT of walking around before the race, young lady!!! Always such a challenge to stay off your feet when you're running Disney!!

 

[ZellyB]

Signing on- great start and I can't wait to read more!

Glad to have you here!

Great shirts from the expo! I'm glad you were able to get some merch...they really need to get that stuff figured out. I'm sorry you didn't get the hat you wanted.

Uh-oh, that's a LOT of walking around before the race, young lady!!! Always such a challenge to stay off your feet when you're running Disney!!

Yeah, there toward the end of the day as we were finishing up at MK, I was starting to worry that we'd overdone it. Oops!

 

[ZellyB]

Once we'd finished up with dinner and gotten back to the condo we started getting everything ready for the run. We gathered our shoes, socks, shorts/running skirts and t-shirts and laid everything out. We like to go ahead and attach the bib to the shirt as well.

For this race, we really wanted to have some matching shirts. Thanks to a suggestion from another DisBoard member, I found a website that makes custom tech shirts. Here's the front:



And the back:



The guys were pretty much the same, but the 6 had Mickey Ears on top and the bottom of the numbers was red with yellow buttons. I loved them so much.

Anyway, we got everything set out and ready. Chris and I decided we wanted to do a quick drive to Epcot following the directions that the race instructions suggested if you were coming from 192 to avoid closures. Ugg. It took us forever to figure it out and a massive thunderstorm had struck. It was a nightmare and took us much longer than expected to find our way. But, eventually we managed it and got back to the condo. By the time I showered and got settled for bed, it was almost 9:30. Nearly an hour later than I had hoped for. But, still, i was eventually able to relax and fall asleep.

2:15 AM and my alarm goes off. It's so early!! This is the main reason I can't imagine doing Dopey. 4 early wake-ups would be torture! We got up and dressed and got some coffee brewing. Next up was toasting up some bread and peanut butter for a morning meal before heading out. We also had laid out the fuel sources we were carrying along with us for the run.


I started filling up the pockets on my running skirt with Cliff bars, sport beans and Jolly Ranchers. I had bought a new Sparkle Tech skirt (just plain black this time). I love them because they have great cargo capacity with two big pockets in the shorts and a huge pocket at the waist. By the time I was done, I had a veritable picnic in my pants.

By now it was 3:00 AM and we were ready to roll



The drive in to Epcot was easy. We were early enough that there wasn't that much traffic. We pulled in to park at around 3:30. We relaxed in the car until a little after 4 when we decided it was time to walk toward the staging area.

Next up: The start corrals and off to the races!!!

 

[ProudMommyof2]

The shirts look awesome! That is a very early start and I would be afraid I wouldnt fall asleep worying about what time I have to wake up.

 

[Ariel484]

LOL at the title of your update!!

SO smart of you guys to do a test-run of the drive the night before...what a great idea!

The shirts are adorable! I love them! And AMEN on the SparkleTech love. Those skirts are pricey but they are worth every penny! I can never run with a fuel belt again.

It's race day, yay!! Can't wait to hear about it.

 

[ZellyB]

The shirts look awesome! That is a very early start and I would be afraid I wouldnt fall asleep worying about what time I have to wake up.

We had multiple alarms set because of that same fear!

LOL at the title of your update!!

SO smart of you guys to do a test-run of the drive the night before...what a great idea!

The shirts are adorable! I love them! And AMEN on the SparkleTech love. Those skirts are pricey but they are worth every penny! I can never run with a fuel belt again.

It's race day, yay!! Can't wait to hear about it.

The cargo capacity in those skirts is crazy. About the time we were caught in that huge downpour while trying to find the exit I wasn't so sure it was a good idea, but we were glad we did it the next morning.

 

[ZellyB]

We debated some about taking our throw down shirts that we had brought with us, but decided at the last minute to leave them in the car. We started walking in toward the pre-race staging area. Once in this area, there are lots of tables and various vendors selling some food. A DJ/Announcer and the various tents for you to do a bag check. We didn't bring a bag for the check. By the time we got into the pre-race area they were already telling people they should start heading toward their corals. I was surprised by this because the last year I think they called us to head that way later and they started with the first corrals and worked back. Either way, we decided to go ahead and start walking toward the corrals.

It's a loooooooong walk to the corrals. But, it's also pretty exciting. There's all this nervous excitement in the air as the hoards of people shuffle their way in the dark toward the start. Along the way are various porta-potty stops. With the new corral structure this time there were two different places where the corrals split up to get you to the right spot. Right before you start entering the corrals, there was another set of potties, so we decided to hit them up before going to the corral.

Sandra and Aaron had actually been placed in J, but moved back to L so we could all start together. We were fairly near the front of the L corral, but as race time approached the crowd began to build.
This is looking up toward the start line. The big white blur is a massive light shining on the corrals. You can see the stage and big screen at the start off to the left in the distance. We were a long way back.



And the crowd behind us...


Even though we did this race last year, I was still astounded anew by the number of participants. I sat around some on the ground even though it got me kind of chilled. Last year my feet were so tired and sore by the end of the run that I wanted to keep my weight off of it as long as I possibly could.

The 5 1/2 hour pacer leader and group were gathering near us. She said they were planning to run half a mile and then walk one minute to hit that pace. While I would love to think I could do that kind of pace, we already knew we were probably going to be much slower than that and we were totally okay with it. The leader though was very engaging and fun to listen to, so it helped to pass the time as well.

Before too long, it was time for the race to start. We heard the call first for the wheel chair racers and then the A corral and the first of the fireworks went off. As we watched that first set of fireworks go off, Chris quoted one of our favorite lines from Bolt, "Let it begin. Let it begin. LET IT BEGIN!!!" It cracked me up and was the perfect remedy for my stretched nerves.



There are individuals who walk each corral forward as each subsequent group starts. We listened and watched for the fireworks for each of the corrals until before we knew it, Corral L was at the start and ready to go. The countdown from Mickey, "4, 3, 2, 1. Go!!!!!"



And we were off!!!

Sorry this one didn't have many pictures. I guess I didn't snap very many before the start of the race. The next posts will have more!!

Next up: Miles 1-5 or why stopping at the porta potties within the first 5 miles might not be the smartest choice.

 

[ZellyB]

And so we were off! We had gotten a bit chilled waiting for the start, so it was nice to get moving. I was so thrilled with the forecast, though. After suffering through 80+ degree temps last year that about finished me off, I was looking forward to actually running this race with highs in the 60s.

It was pretty crowded at the beginning much like last year. The new corral system was supposed to help with some of the overcrowding on the course, so I was curious to see how that would work out as we moved through the race. We are Galloway run-walk-run folks who do a 2 1/2 minute run and 1 minute walk. Back where we were, there were lots of other run/walkers. It was actually pretty funny to hear all the various beeps signaling rate changes. We were able to manage slowing to a walk pretty easily. We were very careful to signal our walk breaks by raising a hand and we never walked more than 2 abreast in the tight parts of the course. I'm always paranoid about slowing down in front of someone unexpectedly and causing a fall.

In pretty short order we had covered the first mile.



Last year I only managed to get a shot of a few of the mile markers, so I really wanted to try and get most of them this year if possible. Still quite dark out at this point although the roads are all well lit. Shortly before mile 2, we saw the pirate ship for the Pirates of the Caribbean photo op. We had stopped for this shot last year and the line was really long, so we decided to pass it by.
Horrible blurry shot of the ship.


Shortly after came the Mile 2 marker.


This part of the race has a really wide track, so it's a nice area to get to spread out a bit and not be so tense about walking breaks. Up ahead we could see the entrance gates for the parking lot of Magic Kingdom.


It's exciting to see the gates and know that before long you'll be running toward the castle. A short time after crossing through the gates and we saw the 3 Mile marker.


You can see the sky is starting to get lighter as the sun begins to come up. We were all feeling really good and just having a fun time about now. Although both Chris and Sandra were saying they needed to find a good place for a potty break. We had passed several porta-potties, but there were only a few at a place and had long lines, so we just kept running past them. Off to our right I saw a character stop that I really wanted to get this year, so we jumped over to get in line.



Woohoo! I loved the way this shot turned out. Love the pose from Jack Skellington.

We ran along the outside of the race track that I knew we would hit several miles later. Just like last year, I could see other runners already moving through the track and I knew how far ahead of us they were.

We moved on again and came upon a water stop and Mile 4.


At this stop there were more porta-potties set up and Chris and Sandra both felt like they couldn't wait any longer, so we jumped in the line. What a mistake! I think we probably lost 10-15 minutes here. No joke!! But, you know, sometimes you just have to do what you have to do. It was frustrating, but we eventually got on the road again.

And then before we knew it we were at mile 5.



We were just moments away from entering Magic Kingdom and I was so excited to run through that park again. At this point I got the first text message from the run tracker. 5 mile in 1:21:18. Pace 16:16. EEK!!! Chris had been stopping his Garmin whenever we would stop for any reason and our pace while moving was around a 14 minute mile, so the stops (especially that bathroom break) had clearly cost us a lot of time. Still, I knew we had a good cushion in front of the sweepers, so I wasn't too worried, but it was something we would have to be careful about.

Next up Miles 5-10. Magic Kingdom and the Speedway.

 

[ProudMommyof2]

Awesome updates. I have followed the Galloway method and I definitely get a faster pace by having the walk breaks.

 

[Ariel484]

60-degree temperatures! How nice to not have a heat advisory!

Love that shot you got of Chris and Sandra approaching the MK entrance gates - they should frame that one!

GREAT picture with Jack and Sally! Such a fabulous photo-op on the course!

Can't wait to hear about the rest of the race.

 

[ZellyB]

Awesome updates. I have followed the Galloway method and I definitely get a faster pace by having the walk breaks.

I really like doing the Galloway method. I find that being able to change up my pace makes the long distances easier to manage.

60-degree temperatures! How nice to not have a heat advisory!

Love that shot you got of Chris and Sandra approaching the MK entrance gates - they should frame that one!

GREAT picture with Jack and Sally! Such a fabulous photo-op on the course!

Can't wait to hear about the rest of the race.

The temperatures were heavenly. I love that picture. So fun!!

I've been really behind on updating. Thanks for hanging in there.

 

[ZellyB]

In no time at all, we were coming in through the side gates and into the Magic Kingdom. The sun was coming up in earnest and as we were approaching Main Street, there were a lot of cast members lined up and cheering us along. It's so great the boost of energy that you can get from spectators and I knew that in just a few moments we'd be getting an enormous dose of energy.

Sure enough, in just a few seconds, we were running through big crowds on either side and turning the corner to see this sight.



I just love that moment when you see the castle for the first time. There's all these people cheering and seeing that view just really gets you excited about being at Disney. Here you can see that there were obviously a large number of runners moving down Main Street, but I will say that in here I did feel like the course was a bit less crowded. It seemed like last year that it was much tighter through here, so maybe the changes to the corral structure really did help.

Like last year, there were CMs standing all along the route up to the castle and so we stopped and asked for a couple of pictures with the castle in the background.

I wanted one shot that showed our shirts...


And, of course, one with our happy faces...


After our little photo session, we headed on down the road and made a right turn and headed toward Tomorrowland.



Near the Teacups stood Alice and the Madhatter, but we opted to move on along. We were worried about time and We were thinking about stopping for some of the Princesses behind the castle. However, when we got to the area right behind the castle, no Princesses. There were several lined up along here last year, but none to be seen this year. Off to our right though was a REALLY long line and I knew that meant one royal couple was up ahead.



One of these years I am determined to wait through that line for Royal Mickey and Minnie, but after our long bathroom break, we decided it was better to keep moving on.

The run through the castle is always so much fun and then the quick jog down the ramp and on to Mile Marker 6...



And the world's worst selfie...



Terrible.

Anyway, we moved on through the rest of Magic Kingdom and then were headed out some back gate when I saw a line ahead. I knew this was a spot last year that I saw Aurora and Prince Philip, so I figured it was a princess meet and then we spotted who it was...



Yippee!! Rapunzel and Flynn. I was so happy. The line wasn't bad at all and we moved through it pretty quickly and then all too soon we were leaving Magic Kingdom and passing Mile Marker 7...



I hate leaving Magic Kingdom behind because that really is the most amazing part of the race for me. The views, the excitement, my physical state just adds up to a really fabulous experience.