We had managed to get to bed before 9 pm the night before, but I think we all wished we had managed an earlier bedtime when that alarm went off on morning two. We were still excited to take on another race, just perhaps a tad less so than the previous morning.
The three of us had all of our gear set out for the most part, so getting ready was a quick task, even with three people sharing one bathroom. Our costumes on day 2 were Lock, Shock and Barrel from Nightmare Before Christmas, complete with home made masks.
We once again walked over to the All Star Music resort, and there was a line of busses waiting for runners.
It was a quick ride over to the start area, which was in the Epcot parking lot. It was warmer the morning of the 10k than it had been the day before, but I was still dreading dropping my jacket off at the bag check. Thankfully I had a mylar blanket, so I would have some warmth at least.
We were again in the last corral of the day, so we knew we had a wait ahead of us. Instead of hanging out in the regular race start area, we walked into the corral to wait this time around. I hadn’t packed much in terms of gels that morning since it was a shorter distance, but I did bring along a Kind bar and a water bottle to have while we waited to start.
Once the national anthem was sung, the corrals slowly started stepping forward. It was quicker than it had been the day before, but the longer we waited the hungrier I got, which is unusual for me before a run, even on race morning. By the time we were about to start running I was nauseous, and a little anxious about the miles ahead.
We ran through the start line, and onto the highway that surrounds Epcot. The crowd spread out as we got further from the start line, and we were able to start running. As we took off, the announcers talked about doing the voice over work for the “Caution runners, course narrows ahead” warnings that we hear on course, as well as the speed bump warnings - maybe we should have taken that at a sign, in retrospect.
The first course entertainment that we encountered was Anna and Elsa up on an overpass, spreading some snowy magic down to the runners. They had a projection in front of the characters, and some music from the frozen 2 soundtrack playing. The characters were chatting, and cheering runners on as they went by.
Just after the overpass was the entrance to Epcot, and they had the illuminations music playing, and some lights going. There were cones guiding the runners into the narrower path, and we had a bit of the mishap as we went under the sign - there was a speed bump, and Mike took a little tumble. He managed to roll with his fall and bounced right back up. We talk a walk break since it was a bit of a shock, but he seemed okay overall. I think we were all nervous for a few minutes, but he was able to go on, so we started running once more.
We were somehow already approaching the first mile marker, and right after the sign the Mad Hatter was out to greet runners. We decided to stop for a photo since we are all fans of Alice in Wonderland, and the line was short. The second mile seemed to slip away without too much fanfare, as it was all on the highway.
We were a little nervous about being able to maintain a 16-minute mile, so there were discussions about Mike and I having to split up from Jude if the pace got too slow, since Mike and I had to meet pace requirements to earn our Dopey medals. We set my watch to run/walk intervals, so that we would be on more of a timer.
Just after mile 3 Clarice, Chip and Dale’s female friend, was out to greet runners. We were all excited to enter Epcot in the third mile, and needed to make a quick bathroom stop in Germany. We made our way around world showcase, singing along as Disney music was piped into the park. We spotted a few more characters, including Pinocchio and Abu, and just stuck to our intervals.
There were plenty of aid stations in the park and on the highway, and we made sure to take in lots of fluids, since we had warm days ahead of us for the rest of Dopey. While we were all a little cold as we waited for the race to start, the temps had gone up and it was already getting toasty.
Eventually we made our way out of Epcot, and towards the boardwalk resort. We spotted Goofy, all dressed up and ready to get a workout in right as we hit the boardwalk. We made our way around the resort, and charged up the hill at the end of the boardwalk, unintentionally - and then Mike and Jude pointed out that I sometimes take on hills with a little too much enthusiasm, so we walked as was needed. We got faked out by Donald, who was greeting runners with a bunch of surfboards, and in the distance we thought it may be Stitch dressed as Elvis, which Mike probably would have sacrificed all of his Dopey medals to meet.
When we got back on the boardwalk we started running again, working our way closer to the finish line. Our average pace was within the time limit and we were closing in on the last mile, so I was finally able to relax. We ran by the yacht and beach club resorts, and then ran by the skyliner before heading back into Epcot for some additional time running around world showcase.
Eventually we got to run by a distant Spaceship earth, and a marching band played as we finished the last mile of the race. We left Epcot just after the Mexico pavilion, and began our final descent towards the finish line. We ran backstage, and passed the new building that will become the guardians of the galaxy roller coaster, then turned one more corner and spaceship earth was in view again.
After passing the mile marker for the 6th mile, the music picked up as we headed for the finish line. The three of us ran together through the finish line, and just like that, the second day of the Dopey challenge and Jude’s first 10k was complete.
We collected our medals, drinks, and snacks before heading to the bag check to grab my stuff. Mike even had an extra surprise in store for Jude - since he was taking on the 5k and the 10k, Mike had a custom medal made for him, so he got his own challenge medal - the “jack’s not so scary challenge.” Jude was happy about his bonus bling, and Mike was so proud of him, and excited to give him the medal.
From there, we headed right to Hollywood studios, in hopes of getting a boarding pass for rise of the resistance - and in this instance, the force was on our side! Our group wouldn’t be called until later that evening, so after a hitting up a few rides we went back to the hotel to take a nap - a real necessity when your mornings consistently start before 4 am! Aside from the nap we spent the day in the parks, hopping between Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios.