Lessons from the Disney Marathon

Disney Marathon 2013

With an entry in the 2013 Disney World Marathon, I found myself extremely excited and nervous to embark on this magical journey with two very close friends. Our Plan: stick together as long as possible, but if one or more feel so inclined then they GO! Race weekend was upon us and we made our final arrangements for food, sleeping, and race day transportation. 

My daughter (11 yrs) and I made plans to stay with my step-Mom for the evening. After packing everything thing I found necessary to bring, and more, we set out for Orlando going straight to the Wide World of Sports Expo. Amazingly, we found Striders everywhere..they are a force to be reckoned with, anywhere they run! The race packet was full of goodies and a beautiful royal blue race shirt. We walked around the expo checking out the wide array of running apparel and paraphernalia. HP provided free printed photos of the runners and their friends and families placed in a protective sleeve. After talk about strategic race day plans, many of the Striders parted ways. 

After an intimate "no phones on the table" dinner with friends (mushroom ravioli and loads of bread) and a visit to the Nike Outlet store, my daughter and I made our way to Nana's house, where she opened the door with a huge smile. We talked about the race day agenda and my needs as a runner. All the sudden, she tells me we should go to the sporting goods store for a running hat. She is so wonderful, and not just because she bought me a hat that just about saved my life (more about that later)!! She took us to dinner at TooJays, where I fueled up with a Portabella mushroom cap "burger" and fresh fruit. I think my daughter ate more than me. After we returned home and chatted for a while, checking out what was on the tube, I noticed how late it was - about 10 p.m. Yup, our wake call was at 2:30 a.m. 

Quietly, my daughter and I dressed and packed our things, tip-toed out the door, and ate breakfast on the way to the All Star Music hotel. We took the provided shuttle about dark : 30 a.m. with our friends. Disney sure knows how to throw a party, or should I say an extravaganza!! Upon arrival, Disney employees greeted us and directed us to the pre-race party area. A live DJ, a dancing area, hundreds of port-o-potties, and twenty thousand of our closest friends. Nerves slowly built to a rolling boil as we moved into Corral C and approached the start line. High fives all around and the fireworks let loose as Mickey Mouse counted down and said, "GO!" 

The three of us were on our way. I am not one to recount every single mile of any race I do because frankly I do not remember specifics while running, but would like to mention a few things about the race itself in general. (Nor do I do math while I run!) Disney is the happiest place on earth and they want runners to feel the love. Every mile marker had characters available for photographs and high fives with a Disney backdrop. Running through all four Disney parks with over twenty thousand people and look what is posted on the RunDisney site:

Striders doing what they LOVE!

The three of us passed the half marathon split at 2:04 and feeling good about our pace. Over the next few miles we split up, with me lagging behind. I started feeling tired quickly and found myself walking through water stations and in between. Looking back, I would contribute it to my lack of fueling on race morning and during my magical miles. My legs began to cramp, feet began to hurt, and I felt like stopping after attempting everything I could think of to focus and GO! Walking was my only option, or STOP! I told myself that if I could just walk I would end up at the finish line and cross over for that coveted 20th anniversary Mickey Mouse medal. I walked, stopped, sat down a few times, and walked more and all the while I had people passing me saying, "we are almost there" and "good job", which seemed to be the only thing that kept me off of that bench along the Epcot walkway. Totally dehydrated and experiencing heat exhaustion, I ended up in the medic tent with my daughter as my nurse forcing electrolytes in me every 15 seconds. What a pushy lil' princess she is.

The medal is absolutely beautiful and I am extremely happy to have done the Disney Marathon. The characters induced excitement in everyone, the employees made sure everyone's dreams came true (i.e. keeping them hydrated), and most of all the camaraderie of 20,000+ runners breathing, sweating, and struggling for their own goals and still making that extra effort to encourage each other is why I LOVE to run in these races. My experience at the Disney Marathon was inspirational and educational to say the least. While I did not reach my goal, my dream of completing the Disney Marathon did come true! Thank you Disney World for putting on the "happiest" race on earth.

Next up....Clearwater Marathon - 1/20/13