Walt Disney World Marathon
Fireworks lit the early morning (6a.m.) sky to announce the race start. The temperature of sixty four degrees wasn't horrible, but I was comfortable in shorts and a short sleeve breathable top, never a good sign. The dew point was a drippy 66, probably not unusual for Florida, but from personal experience it didn't bode well. As the dew point rises past 60 my race times also increase. By three miles, through Epcot, sweatboy's pores began to open. After the race I found out Jan was in a similar state. Where was that cold front TWC had promised? Turned out it was 18 hours away and would bring wonderful marathon weather Monday-Wednesday.
It was strange running in the dark for over an hour, a stillness to the life of a normally bustling park. The streets were well lit, we had thousands of runners around us, but it was a surreal experience. Based on previous times I was able to start in the first corral, Jan was in the second and Amanda was in the first corral in a start line on the other side of the highway from us. Amanda took a different route than us through Epcot, then the two groups merged around 3.4 miles.
Each race, but more so each marathon, is a personal experience and every runner sees things through their own eyes, so I can really only comment on how I found the WDW. Maybe Jan and Amanda will comment or post as they see fit?
I never felt physically comfortable through the entire race. It seemed like I was fighting my body for 26.2 miles. I kept hoping there would be a few miles, at least, where I could float along or speed up like I had done on so many training runs. Alas, that was not to be. This was a workman like effort, where I struggled through every mile after the first one. Boston qualifying was gone after my third straight 8:20-8:30 mile at mile 4. I knew that if I was even going to finish I had to immediately back off the pace.
If this had been a local race, I probably would have stopped and dropped out, after all, a BQ time was goal number one. But this was WDW, I had lots of time to run or walk if necessary, I wanted the 15th anniversary medal, I wanted to run through all the parks, a lot of people were cheering me (us) on from Spencerport, we spent a lot of time and money traveling there, Amanda would have made fun of me and quitting didn't seem to be an option. If Boston was out, then running under 4 hours was the next goal.
Around mile 8 a marching band from a local high school was playing as I made an absolutely necessary stop in a port-a-john thanks to intestinal distress. Nothing like using the facilities during a rousing Sousa tune! While pondering the morning on my new throne it took some time to decide if I should just stay in there for the day. About three minutes later I emerged from my temporary palace and promptly ran one of my better miles for the day!
Jan must have sped up at this point, with a dinosaur hot on her trail! 
Look, I'm actually smiling as Augie takes my photo around mile 24-25 in Boardwalk! Either Augie said something funny or I was delirious. When we crossed over to Epcot I kept hoping we would turn left, the short way. Deep in the recesses of my mind I knew we turned right, the long way. The 25 mile clock popped up, by chip time I had just over 12 minutes to stumble through 1.2 miles. I ran scared. Twelve minutes seems like a long time, and on a normal day I could run a little less than 2 miles that fast, but not this day. Finally we rounded a few curves, I saw the banner, the clock ticking away, and sprinted (hah) to the line, stomping my foot on the mat as hard as I could. 18 marathons down and a fine way to retire, a chip time of 3:58 and change on a personally difficult day.
It was strange running in the dark for over an hour, a stillness to the life of a normally bustling park. The streets were well lit, we had thousands of runners around us, but it was a surreal experience. Based on previous times I was able to start in the first corral, Jan was in the second and Amanda was in the first corral in a start line on the other side of the highway from us. Amanda took a different route than us through Epcot, then the two groups merged around 3.4 miles.
Each race, but more so each marathon, is a personal experience and every runner sees things through their own eyes, so I can really only comment on how I found the WDW. Maybe Jan and Amanda will comment or post as they see fit?
I never felt physically comfortable through the entire race. It seemed like I was fighting my body for 26.2 miles. I kept hoping there would be a few miles, at least, where I could float along or speed up like I had done on so many training runs. Alas, that was not to be. This was a workman like effort, where I struggled through every mile after the first one. Boston qualifying was gone after my third straight 8:20-8:30 mile at mile 4. I knew that if I was even going to finish I had to immediately back off the pace.
If this had been a local race, I probably would have stopped and dropped out, after all, a BQ time was goal number one. But this was WDW, I had lots of time to run or walk if necessary, I wanted the 15th anniversary medal, I wanted to run through all the parks, a lot of people were cheering me (us) on from Spencerport, we spent a lot of time and money traveling there, Amanda would have made fun of me and quitting didn't seem to be an option. If Boston was out, then running under 4 hours was the next goal.
Around mile 8 a marching band from a local high school was playing as I made an absolutely necessary stop in a port-a-john thanks to intestinal distress. Nothing like using the facilities during a rousing Sousa tune! While pondering the morning on my new throne it took some time to decide if I should just stay in there for the day. About three minutes later I emerged from my temporary palace and promptly ran one of my better miles for the day!
The crowds leading up to Magic Kingdom were awesome. I immediately decided another goal was not to walk in a park or in front of any cheering people. Both definitely provided a boost to my motivation. As a Disney fan since the age of 6 or so running through the parks was a dream come true. We ran down Main St., circled Tomorrowland, Fantasy Land and through the castle. 
The next few miles took us on backroads past the Grand Floridian and then service areas. There were plenty of water stops, humorous signs along the way and music every mile or so to keep runners occupied. It was on this road the left hamstring started to play games, further psyching me out. Would this lead to strange foot strikes and massive calf cramps like Marine Corp? Finally around mile 15 we entered Animal Kingdom.
Jan must have sped up at this point, with a dinosaur hot on her trail! 
After leaving Animal Kingdom it was a long stretch towards WDW World of Sports, before looping back and heading for MGM (now called Hollywood Hills or something similar). We actually had to run up three hills! In Florida no less! More live music kept me motivated and knowing at this point that if I kept shuffling I would break the 4 hour mark.
Notice the leg position and foot strike here compared with the photo of me coming through the castle. I would have tripped if there had been any pebbles on the ground. The crowds, volunteers and Disney workers were wonderful. Having our names with our race numbers was a great idea. People were cheering us on from MGM and through Boardwalk.
Notice the leg position and foot strike here compared with the photo of me coming through the castle. I would have tripped if there had been any pebbles on the ground. The crowds, volunteers and Disney workers were wonderful. Having our names with our race numbers was a great idea. People were cheering us on from MGM and through Boardwalk.
Look, I'm actually smiling as Augie takes my photo around mile 24-25 in Boardwalk! Either Augie said something funny or I was delirious. When we crossed over to Epcot I kept hoping we would turn left, the short way. Deep in the recesses of my mind I knew we turned right, the long way. The 25 mile clock popped up, by chip time I had just over 12 minutes to stumble through 1.2 miles. I ran scared. Twelve minutes seems like a long time, and on a normal day I could run a little less than 2 miles that fast, but not this day. Finally we rounded a few curves, I saw the banner, the clock ticking away, and sprinted (hah) to the line, stomping my foot on the mat as hard as I could. 18 marathons down and a fine way to retire, a chip time of 3:58 and change on a personally difficult day. 
Mike
ReplyDeleteThe three of you should be proud, that's a good effort on a hot day. My last marathon was done on a hot day, convinced me that heat and distance running don't go together.