Here's my race report:
I am a Galloway (6 minute run, 1 minute walk) runner. I was supposed to
meet a couple people from my group at 5:15am behind the massage tent but
it didn't happen so I nervously made my way to the starting line "alone.
I wondered if I would be able to do the run without the camaraderie of
the people I had trained with for months. It took me about 3 1/2
minutes to cross the starting line and I was off. I stuck to my 6/1
plan (even though it was really tough to walk and let everyone run by)
and boy am I glad I did. By the time I got to 20 miles (in almost
exactly 3 hours) I was still feeling pretty strong and decided to skip
the walk breaks except to walk the water stops. I was trying for 3:40
but I knew I couldn't do the last 6.2 in 40 minutes so I decided to just
enjoy the rest of the run. It's amazing how the walk breaks work to
save your energy. I must have passed at least 500 people in the last 5
miles. My family managed to see me shortly after the start and they
took the monorail to Magic Kingdom and I saw them again on Main Street.
They took the monorail back again and got there in plenty of time to see
me finish. It was so great to see my sister just after I crossed the
finish line (she ran the Family 5K the day before and ran her best 5K
ever just under 26 minutes). I carried a single use camera with me the
whole way and took pictures in each of the parks. The characters in
Magic Kingdom made it all worth while. I high-fived Buzz, Mickey,
Tweedle Dee&Tweedle Dum, and Chip&Dale...and others I probably can't
remember. I was glad for the entertainment on the highway pieces of the
course...the recorded clapping and cheering on the highway overpass made
me laugh. One of my most memorable moments was coming back into Epcot
and the Disney employee saying "Welcome Back" and then shortly after
that hearing the song from Peter Pan "You Can Fly". I made this guy
running next to me (it was his first marathon and he was quite tired and
a little delirious) sing the words over and over with me. Another
moment I remember (which some of you have mentioned) was the "great"
smell before we entered Animal Kingdom...quite ripe! I never saw the
volunteers handing out character cookies or the guy with the medal in
MGM. The sweet tart and sprees came at a perfect time in the run - but
it was a little tough to open the wrapper. The only part that
disappointed me was the fireworks (if you can call them that) at the
beginning and the fact that I couldn't hear a word Fantasia Mickey was
saying.
I proudly showed off my Mickey Medal at work today. And I am happy to
say that I was almost fully recovered by Wednesday night - which I
attribute to all the walking breaks. But I'm going to refrain from
running until next week. Can't run outside too much around here in CT
anyways - people just don't shovel their sidewalks like their supposed
to.
Oh - by the way - I finished in 3:52 (net time) - just 12 minutes over
Boston qualifying time. Maybe if I didn't start so far back I might
have done it. But that really doesn't matter. I had a great time, I
suffered no ill effects, and most of all, it was an awesome experience
that I will never forget!
