Marathon number 21 wasn’t my fastest and the weather was way too hot (82F and sunny at the finish), but it might have been the funnest one yet. My friend and running partner Megan ran with me dressed as Minnie Mouse, so I just had to be Mickey, right? It was so fun running through all four parks in costume – my only regret was wearing hot mouse hands for 26.2 miles. Much respect for the cast members that wear full costumes all summer long.
We really didn’t have any time expectations for this race – I had only run long twice since New York, with November and December monthly totals of only 41.9 and 59.3 miles, respectively. Megan hadn’t done any formal marathon training since her 50 miler in September and kept saying she would have to do a lot of walking after mile 17.
Turns out I was the one who wanted to do the walking late in the race. Just like my previous two Disney races, it was sunny and hotter than normal, with high humidity. I was glad to be in a forward corral, which gave us more time to run in the dark. I was hoping to get to the halfway mark before the sun hit us, but that happened just before Animal Kingdom (around mile 11). I wore the gloves for as long as I could stand it, but ended up carrying them for about four miles (and put them back on for the finish).
We saw the family near mile 15 and in Epcot near Spaceship Earth. We looked for my sister near the Contemporary Hotel, but must have run right past her in the dark (sorry Lynn!). My brother ran with his co-worker friend Bob, who we didn’t see until after the race (they started a few corrals back and were trying to break five hours).
The course was new this year, starting in the same spot, but running straight to the Magic Kingdom. Most of the course was similar from there on out, with the addition of a loop around the Richard Petty Driving Experience track and three miles looping around the ESPN Wide World of Sports area. I liked the changes for the most part – give me the same course next time with cooler weather and I’d probably love it.
We saw lots of characters during the race and stopped for a photo with Wreck-It Ralph. I really liked the grave diggers from the Haunted Mansion – that was really clever. The special surprise at mile 20 was cool too – giant puppets on both sides of the road, followed by a big arch with medals from all 20 races (and Mickey, Minnie and Pluto on stage).
Run Disney does such a great job organizing large races like this. The expo was big and crowded, although closing at 7 p.m. with a jam-packed hall was silly and made me feel bad for the smaller vendors. Race day setup with bag drop-off was very smooth and I still think the fireworks are one of the coolest things in the running world. LOVED the misting cooling fans in the finish area, but thought the food in the little box lunches was a little weird.
Now I’ve got Goofy on the mind!
Final results:
Megan and David
- 5M – 49:14
- 10M – 1:38:16
- Half – 2:09:34
- 20M – 3:25:45
- Chip – 4:43:11 (10:48 pace)
Brian and Bob
- 5M – 53:49
- 10M – 1:49:34
- Half – 2:22:05
- 20M – 3:38:22
- Chip – 4:57:03 (11:20 pace)
