When I got back to our hotel room the night of the Disney Half, I was pooped after the early morning race, and a busy park day. I started gathering up all of my race day needs, so I would be set to leave for the marathon the following morning without any thought.
RunDisney had issued a weather advisory, warning about high humidity levels, and warm weather the following day. I was nervous, as my asthma had been less than friendly, and I was used to training in New York winter. I knew I was trained for this distance though, and didn’t have any intent of running a PR the following day. So I pushed my worry to the back of my mind, and used my nebulizer before bed.
Mike and Jude got back to the room as I was getting ready to go to sleep, and Jennie shortly after. They all wished me luck, and I was happy that they were going to be out there cheering me on the following day - you know you have supportive friends when they are willing to get up at 4 am to chase you down while you run your way though all of Disney World!
The next morning was rare, in that my alarm actually startled me when it went off. I rolled out of bed and got ready in the bathroom area of our room, which had a big sliding door which closed off the sink area, and gave me plenty of space to have lights on without disturbing the others too much. I decided to go with a tank top from RawThreads that read “Will Run for Mickey Shaped Foods” and a pair of trusted New Balance 2-1 impact shorts. My fuel for the race would be a combination of Gu and Skratch energy chews.
I took the short walk from the hotel room to the bus, and climbed on in the usual order morning stupor. A quick ride over to the start area, then through security and into the race area. My first stop was the merchandise booth, as I always like to check out what they have left one last time while I have the chance. I didn’t pick up anything else, but they still had a variety of gear available.
After, I headed over towards the end of the family reunion area, where the Joyful Miles bloggers were having a pre-race photo meetup, and I plopped myself down to go though my race bag and sort out what I would be checking and keeping. I loaded up my SPI belt with fuel, and attached a pair of Goodr sunglasses in their case to the belt, knowing I would want them once the sun came up. Once Jackie and Laura arrived to the meetup location, we all stopped to pose for a quick photo before going our separate ways into our race corrals.
My one snafu of race morning? I didn’t manage to use the bathroom before starting, which made me a little more nervous for the miles ahead. But I reminded myself that I wasn’t running with a time goal, and I would just stop along the way if necessary.
My friends – Mike, Jennie and Jude, were planning to chase me around Disney as I ran the marathon course, so they were up not too long after me and on their way to the start line, to cheer me on from beginning to end. They were planning to spot me a total of 5 times – at the start, at the ticket and transportation center, at the Polynesian, in the animal kingdom parking lot, and at the finish line. In my opinion, it was a race day for them as much as it was one for me, as they would be fighting crowds and traffic to find me at each location…. Have I mentioned how much I love my friends?
It was about a mile walk to the corrals from the start area, and there were volunteers and security stationed at the entrance to make sure everyone heading to the corrals was wearing a race bib. Once I got into my race corral – I was placed in “C” for the goofy challenge, I found some space to stretch and just tried to take it all in, reminding myself it would all be over before I knew it. The multiple humidity warnings that had been issued made me nervous, but my plan was to set my watch to the screen that shows the time of day, not worry about the pace, and stop for whatever characters tickled my fancy along the way.
As 5:30 A.M. approached the announcers prepared for the start of the race, with the national anthem being sang out over the runners. I took a Gu, discarded my heat sheet, and shuffled towards the start line as I waited for my corral to be released, and at just before 5:40 it was our turn to get moving. Just after the start line, I hung to the left side of runners, with my phone’s flashlight on, looking for my cheer squad. Once again the light allowed us to spot each other and I could see them cheering me on as I began my 5th marathon. The first mile of highway was a bit crowded as everyone tried to settle in, but mile marker one featured sorcerer mickey, perhaps giving us all a little magic to get through the race ahead. I wanted to get through as many miles as possible before the sun was up, hoping that the air would stay breathable for as long as possible. Despite the dark sky, I could feel the humidity pressing down on my body already.
In the second mile I saw long character lines – first for captain hook with a pirate ship, and then for Darkwing Duck and Launchpad Mcquack with a plane. Both cool photo stops, but the long line deterred me, as I didn’t want to stand around for so long that early I the race. So onward I went, my 90s kid heart a little disappointed I didn’t stick around to meet Darkwing duck.
Mile marker two had Rapunzel and Flynn on it, and we continued along the highway. The monorail could be seen to our right, making resort rounds. As they zipped by, I wondered if one of them contained my friends. We once again ran under the magic kingdom sign, and I took a moment to stop for my traditional selfie – something I have done for every race that goes under it, since my first Princess Half. Mile three took us through the parking lot at the ticket and transportation center, and they had a few characters out along the way – first Gamora and and Skylord from guardians of the galaxy, then Nick and Judy from Zootopia. I was excited to get to the ticket and transportation center to find my cheer squad, so I once again ran by the characters.
We transitioned from the dark parking lot into the lit up ticket and transportation center, and I looked around, hoping to spot Mike, Jude and Jennie. Despite being alert, I managed to run right by them – but I turned around and ran right to them once I heard Mike shouting. I pulled Mike and Jennie each into big hugs, and Jude and I mimed an air hug as he was a little further back in the crowd. Just the encouragement I needed to keep me moving forward. I passed mile marker 4, and then ran under the bridge – where they had a light projecting the “RunDisney” logo, and then passed by the contemporary, went into the Magic Kingdom bus loop. Just before entering through the main gates to magic kingdom, mile marker 5 was standing tall – how was I already five miles into this race?!
They had big inflatable light up pillars lining the entrance into magic kingdom to ensure that there was enough light, and when I entered the park there were spectators lining main street, as always. The sun was not yet up, so the Kingdom was lit up with beautiful lights – one of my favorite sights to see. At the end of Main Street was the castle, in all its glory, still donning its holiday lights as we ran towards it. Before we were to run through it, we had to make our way around the park.
The first stop was tomorrow land, where Buzz Lightyear was out greeting the runners. We curved through Tomorrowland, passed the Tomorrowland speedway, and just outside of Alice’s teacups were tweedled-dee and tweedle-dum, where my love of wonderland got me to pull over for the first time that day, and pose for a picture. I mean, I wanted to spend as much time as possible in magic kingdom anyway.
I continued around the park, and saw Donald outside of the circus, in his snake charmer outfit, with a line of runners waiting to meet him. Then we went through new fantasy land, where we ran by Ariel and Belle’s castles, before heading to the big castle – Cinderella’s. Just before the carousel they had one of the “Thugs” from Rapunzel dressed up as a mime, who can usually be spotted in the festival of fantasy parade, out, and I pulled over and put on my best mime pose to grab a photo. Just before the castle the Fairy Godmother was out, but I ran straight through, and then pulled over for the obligatory castle photo. I only stopped at one photographer, but here is a tip that I heard after the race, in the podcast that Joyful Miles put out – if the castle photo is the BIG one for you, wait in line for each photographer that they have stationed there, to ensure you get a good one.
From there we were routed through liberty square and into frontier land. Jesse and Woody were out, and if memory serves correct, goofy was there as well. We passed mile 6 just before heading backstage. It was still dark as I made my way out of magic kingdom, and back on to the highway. As always, it was a bit crowded on that area of the course, but I wasn’t in a rush, so I didn’t try to weave through runners. Marker 7 was just before the grand Floridian, where the penguins from Mary Poppins were out, and then on the opposite side of the road was a gathering of grooms, equipped with headsets to talk to runners as they went by. The Disney wedding pavilion is at the grand Floridian, so it is typical for either Brides, grooms, or bridesmaids to be out during RunDisney events.
As I ran by the Polynesian I again spotted my cheer squad, and waved to them across the street – at this point, they were not letting spectators line the road right next to the runners, and they were instead stuck on the other side, at a slight distance.
The next few miles were all highway between Magic Kingdom and animal kingdom, and included a long out and back stretch that I didn’t particularly enjoy. Some of the props set up on the side of the road included retired ride vehicles, such as a nautilus and the ride car from snow white’s scary adventures, and a giant orange bird figure. Just after mile 8 they had a few members of the now closed adventurers club out, and putting on a little show to entertain us as we ran by. The sun was officially up as I passed mile marker 11, but at least it had offered a pretty sunrise along the way.
We ran through the backstage area of animal kingdom before entering the park, seeing greenhouses and topiaries. Clarabelle and Horace were posing near Mickey and Minnie topiaries, making for a cute photo op. Before entering the park we passed mile marker 12, and they had bananas at the next aid station. Just before entering the park they had a mini petting zoo, featuring a giant rabbit, a hawk, and a snake, and some of the animals even had race bibs on.
The cast of the lion king show were along the road, up on their stilts as well, and Rafikki was near by – a character that I did stop for, as I love the lion king. Just after entering the park another familiar face from the lion king was out – Timon! Again, I stopped for a photo, I just couldn’t resist. Since I was in the park and there were real bathrooms, I decided to make a pit stop just before mile 13. I can deal with porter potties, but when real bathrooms are an option, they win out.
Mile marker 13 featured characters from the jungle book, and just after a ballerina swan from fantasia was out with no line, so I popped in for a quick photo. It was a character I had never seen out before, and I always love seeing rare characters. The sun was shining over Everest, and even though the park was not quite open there was a queue of runners waiting to get on the ride mid-race. I thought about joining them, but since I sometimes wind up with motion sickness from that ride, I decided it was better to skip it this time. The course ran through dino-rama, and then we were headed into the parking lot. My friends were still on the bus waiting to arrive, so I crossed my fingers that I would get to see them. The parking lot contained mile marker 14, which meant I was officially more than half-way through this race.
The entrance area to animal kingdom was crowded, with a mix of spectators and people trying to get into the park for opening. I collected some candy from strangers as I ran by, and with a stroke of luck, spotted my people! They had just gotten off of the bus and made it to the spectator area in time for me to run by, yay!
There was a marching band in the parking lot playing as we went by, and at the parking lot exit the haunted mansion grave diggers were set up with tombstones and shovels, and I jumped in line to get a photo. I had taken the same photo the first time I ran the Disney marathon, and was excited to have the opportunity to continue the tradition.
At this point, my friends had to head back to the hotel to secure all of our stuff for check out – we were flying home that night! Checkout times at Disney are typically 11 am, and while I had requested a late check out, they had not been able to approve it, so they had to go and move all of our stuff into daily storage at the resort, and I would be stuck showering at the pool facilities post-race if I didn’t make it back before 11 – and I knew that it was going to be tight timing. Jennie decided to stop at the front desk and ask one more time if there was any way they could accommodate a late check out…. And by some miracle they were able to make it happen! I didn’t get this news until I was at about mile 21, but I sighed a deep sigh of relief when I found out I would have a bed until 1 pm.
The next few miles were all highway, and I was relieved that I had brought sunglasses with me. Now that the sun was up, it was bright out, and the humidity that they had warned us about was in full swing. I wasn’t pushing it too hard with my pace and had no idea what any of my mile splits were, but I felt good, and hoped that I would continue to feel good for the rest of the race.
We entered ESPN for some loops just before mile 18, and they handed us nice cool sponges. Mile marker 18 had Lilo and Stitch on it, and I stopped to take a selfie to send Mike, since they are his favorite characters – and you know, since I was trying to convince him to do Dopey with me in 2020. We weaved our way through ESPN, and there were lots of characters out. I stopped for a photo with Minnie before we ran around the track, spotted goofy while on the track, but kept going as he had a decent queue, and then after the track stopped for a photo with Donald and Mickey. They gave us bananas again just before mile 19, and Sadness and Joy were set up just before the baseball diamond. I debated stopping as I ran by them, and wound up being a little remorseful that I didn’t strike a sad pose with them, lamenting the fact that the race was coming to a close.
We left ESPN, and I could feel my right IT band tightening up. This was a huge issue for me during the wineglass marathon, but I was determined not to be discouraged by it. At the next first aid station I stopped and put some bio freeze on it, and it instantly felt so much better. Still tight, but not painful. Throughout the rest of the race, I stopped and reapplied bio freeze any time it was available. I passed by mile markers 20 and 21 on the highway, and they had Pluto out in a construction zone, digging up bones. We ran over the old entrance to Hollywood studios, and got a glimpse of the ‘Galaxy’s Edge’ construction in the distance.
Then we entered Hollywood Studios through a back entrance, near where fantasmic happens, and they had a candy station! In previous rundisney events they have one type of M&Ms, but this time there was a whole selection of all different varieties of candy. I grabbed a bag of caramel M&Ms and some skittles, and stowed them away in my race belt. Just before we ran by the tower of terror, I spotted Mr and Mrs Incredible, and hopped on line for a photo. Jennie texted me that they were in an uber on the way to the finish, and asked me how I was feeling. I posed for my photo, and sent it to her, unable to resist the caption of “I’m feeling INCREDIBLE!”
We ran through a small portion of Hollywood studios, passed the tower of terror, and then headed towards the main entrance. The park was open at that point, and they had the runners sectioned to one area of the sidewalk. We left through the main entrance, and ran next to the gondola construction, headed towards the boardwalk resort area, which would take us into the final stretch in epcot.
The heat and humidity hadn’t bothered me thus far into the race, but I felt it to an uncomfortable level in the last mile of the race. Combined with the fatigue I was feeling with the cumulative miles, I was ready to cross that finish line! We left the boardwalk and ran by the gondola construction near epcot, and then entered the world showcase. It would be one last quick trip around the world, and then the marathon would be complete.
I wound up stopping for two characters along the way, Alice and Belle, who were in England and France, respectively. Each country had cast members out and cheering, and as I made my way into Mexico, I saw crowds of people around the margarita stand – runners getting a finish line drink! I considered stopping, as I thought it would be a fun finish line photo, but I didn’t have a photo ID on me so decided not to wait on line and risk being turned down (I have had issues in the past with cast members telling me I am too young even when I do have my ID, and I just didn’t have the energy for it).
I texted my cheer squad, and it was going to be a close call on them making it to the finish line – their uber from the hotel had gotten caught in traffic on the way to Epcot. When I left world showcase and approached spaceship earth, I stopped for one last photo. Then it was just a matter of running past the gospel choir, seeing mile marker 26, and turning the corner towards the finish line.
I ran through the finish, and was simply overjoyed. I felt strong, I felt accomplished, and I loved the experience I had just had. I was handed a medal and an ear hat by a volunteer, collected my poweraide and water, then headed towards the challenge tent, where I was awarded my goofy challenge medal, for completing the half marathon and the full marathon in one weekend. I made my way towards the bag check, got my stuff, and plopped down in the epcot parking lot. A few minutes after I sat down Jude, Jennie and Mike arrived, and while they had missed the finish line, they were excited for me to have finished the race. We all headed for the busses, Jennie and I heading back to the hotel to pack up, and Mike and Jude heading into Disney springs to meet up with Jude’s sister.
Jennie and I would celebrate with a drink at the Wave – the seven seas lagoon fish bowl, and then all met at chef Mickey’s for brunch. It may have been my slowest marathon to date (5:03:02), but I wouldn’t trade a minute of that time in exchange for the race experience that I had. You may remember back in September that all I wanted out of the wineglass marathon was to find my love for marathons again…. well, the 2019 Disney Marathon helped me do just that.