I am back online after about a week. Over 150 Disney posts since last week!
I just finished skimming through several race reports. Excellent reports
everyone!
Short version:
Finished Disney marathon clock time: 5:56:08
chip time : 5:50:29
Longer version:
We reached Orlando around noon on Saturday. We picked up our rental car and
headed off to the Expo. The expo was nice, I got to see a few Penguins out
there. I met with Sue and her family, bumped into Bill Thater met with Kathy
Flippo (thanks Kathy for the ticket). I listened to a few of the
presentations at the expo as well over there.
I stayed at the expo for a couple of hours. Then we left for checking into
our hotel.
After checking in, we had to go pick up another family from the
airport who were vacationing with us. Their flight arrived at 5:30 PM and I
was hoping that I could pick them up and get in time for the pasta dinner at
5:45 PM. Unfortunately we got lost and after paying zillions in tolls we
finally reached the pasta dinner unfortunately closer to 7:00 PM. I was
hoping that a few of you were still there. Sue and her husband Jerry and
Peggy and her mother were still there. Kathy was just leaving. I had a quick
dinner took a few photos and we were done for the evening.
Race day I woke up at 3:00 AM and got ready. I wore another set of
clothes on top of my running gear that I would use after the marathon was
over. Thinking that I had another set of clothes in the bag I jumped in the
car. My friend who was staying with us dropped me off at the starting line.
It was cold in the morning. Almost too cold.
After meeting with the Penguins who had assembled together, I got to
see a few more people. Adrith and Cat, Ward Reed, Bill Thater, Charles,
Sue, Kathy and the rest.
When I went to check in my bag I discovered that the extra set of
clothes I was wearing were the ONLY extra set I had carried with me. Gee I
thought I had carried 2 sets of clothes, one set to dispose off and the
other to wear after the marathon. I removed the extra clothes I was wearing
and checked them in. Now all I had on was a pair of shorts and a T-shirt. I
was freezing.
I searched for Penguins and only found Ward Reed for a while. Stood
and talked with him in the red corral until it started moving and then I
lost him. We slowly reached the starting line. I was really cold by then.
The race started off and we cheered the wheelchair division as it
took off. As the braver souls took off when our group started running they
threw away the extra clothes they were wearing. I grabbed a thrown space
blanket and a pair of sweat pants turned them inside out and wore them. They
should keep me warm for a few hours, I hoped.
I had not trained a lot for this marathon. I wanted to see how far I
could run, finishing would be great if I could do it. The first few miles
were cold and we ran through Epcot. I t was great seeing the big "globe
structure" lighted up, ran past it, snapped a few photos.
I saw Sue and Peggy running, ran with then for a while. They were
doing great. I met them several times during the race as we had a similar
pace. On to the Magic Kingdom.
Magic Kingdom was great. I had never been to this theme park before.
The other theme parks I had visited before but not Magic Kingdom. I ran
through, savoring every sight and clicking away photos. I snapped a few with
Mickey, Minney, and several more characters.
I started to get the it band pain on my outer left knee. I had a
couple of Advils at the medical tent. They worked wonders.
I was aiming for a 6 hr finish. When came close to the 1/2 way point
I was dead on for a 6 hr finish. At that time I did a systems check. So far
I was ok, no major pains.
At that point the voice over the loudspeaker shouted, "1/2 marathoners on
the left, marathoners on the right" My wife and the other family were
planning to spend today in Epcot and if I stopped now I could enjoy the rest
of the day with them. Who knows if I will get injured in the next few miles
and have to spend the next week on bed?? Just make the left turn, you will
get the shiny medal. Who knows if you will get a medal at all if you keep on
running?
Slowly but steadily I drifted on the right side of the road. As I
passed the left turn for the 1/2 marathon finish and watched it fade away
from me, I looked at the person next to me and mentioned "So far, this was
the easy part, now for the second half". He agreed.
The second half was uneventful in many places. There were some
inspiring places. One was the tape player that was playing the "Pocahontas
song". That song moved me. The other part that really motivated me was the
tape player on top of the overpasses that played "people cheering". I was
looking for them and until I got to see the speakers I really was expecting
to see people cheering. That was very nice of Disney to do that.
Around the turn near the Wide World of sports there was a DJ playing the "Do
you really want it, Living la vida loca" song. That pushed me back up. I saw
this one person cheering for a runner. I had seen him before at the start as
well. He stood with a stick with a placard that read "K, I LOVE YOU" I was
really impressed with him, he had been cheering for over 5 hrs.
Coming towards the end of the marathon when running through Epcot I
saw Sue and her husband Jerry near "England" cheering for us. That was
really great. Carried on running slowly. Started to see some more marathon
finishers walking with their medals. Great! Almost there.
Coming towards the finish line it was an awesome sight. People
seated in the bleachers cheering on. I crossed the finish line with a big
smile on my face. I got my medal. Almost 6 hrs.
I picked up my bag, changed into drier clothes and then went on to
cheer on the other people coming in. I saw Linae and Val coming in around
mile 25, cheered them on. "There is one just waiting for you, just around
the corner" I shouted as I showed the runners the shiny medal. That brought
a smile to everyone of the runners who saw the medal.
I then called up my wife and friends who were in Epcot and joined
them. I was not feeling too tired and completed the whole day with them in
Epcot and watched the fireworks at night. Somewhere in the afternoon, in
Epcot I saw Julia and Harriet for a few minutes. Shiny medals!!!
I remained the entire week in Orlando after the marathon. We saw
other theme parks as well. I bumped into Bill Thater in Animal Kingdom a few
days later. It was great seeing him.
And so ends my marathon report. I probably wont be running another
marathon this year, maybe one next year. Some of you who saw my wife saw
that she is expecting. We are expecting a baby, ETA March 24th, our first. I
don't think I will have enough time training for a marathon this year on
that account but shorter races I will try for.
I am going to upload the pictures to the net as soon as I get them.
Deepak
