Hi:
Once again, I have <the> last race report to be filed. Part of the delay
was the fact that there was a work project that was very high priority, and
I was being bugged about getting it done on a daily basis. The other part
was that I wasn't too happy with my race, as you will see.
I was actually in Brunswick, Georgia for the week before the race. I was
there for work, and really wasn't able to get near as much running in as I
should have. Frankly, my training over the period since Raleigh was not up
to par, so this was just another excuse. I was lucky, in that my original
plan wasn't to get back to Raleigh-Durham until about 9:00PM, so when I got
back at 5:00 I should have been happy. Sherry picked me up at the airport,
and after a few stops for last minute things (like film and a disposable
camera), I went home.
We left for the airport early, at 5:30. After the usually delays and
hassles, we made it to Orlando by 9:00, and were heading to Disney by
10:00. The first stop (after getting lost) was the Wide World of Sports,
for the expo and packet pick up. In line for the marathon clothing I saw
Laura Jensen. After spending too much on clothing, and buying a personal
chip (on sale(!) for $19.00, Disney must have made a huge mistake, they
never put anything on sale) I continued to wander. At the poster booth I
heard my name called, and lo, there was John at the RW booth, standing with
Bart (Yasso 800s) Yasso. He had a new beard, I guess you could call it.
At John's talk I met Val, and ran into Kathy Filipo (see I remembered your
name) Nancy, Charles, Julia, Harriet, Linae, and a bunch of
others. Somebody (I foget who, please forgive me) gave out the cutest hand
made penguins! Each with their own expression!!! Thank you, again,
whoever you are!
The rest of the day was spent registering the new chip (I found somebody
who knew what they were about, on the first try, no less), checking into
All Star Sports (imagine a Day's Inn, decorated by a sports crazed 8 year
old on a huge budget, and you have the idea. Movies and Music are the same
idea.) Sherry and I then hit the expo quickly one more time (got some new
shoes to try out now) and then to the pasta dinner.
As has previously been mentioned, the pasta dinner was a total bust. There
weren't many people there, the food was very blah, no cookies (!), only
water. One funny note, though. We ran into Julia Kim and Harriet
Kang. They had gone to the Dead's Alternative Pasta Dinner (a good idea
for the future, although the Connectors also had a great idea about going
to Wolfgang Puck's in Downtown Disney) and were there only because the
pasta dinner tickets were part of their package, want it or
not. Anyway, Donald comes waddling in. Julia gets all excited and starts
trying to prod Harriet into bringing Donald to the table. Julia is yelling
at Harriet, "Get that damned duck!!" Harriet did get aformentioned duck to
the table, so there are pictures, now.
A quick retirement to the motel, and a very fitful night sleep (don't know
why) followed by the o dark thirty wake up. Sherry actually got up (I was
surprised about that, I expected her to sleep), and we took the bus to the
Epcot start. You have heard about most of that already, so I won't go over
the details again. I delayed checking my bag as long as a could, then
stayed in the (relative) warmth of the bag check tent until we where chased
out.
Then I was in the mass of humanity standing in the staging area, waiting in
the cold. I can't figure out why the race organizers elected to have us
wait for 20 minutes there, rather than move us to the start, but that's
what they did. I ran into Deepak there, and felt bad for him. At that
time I was wearing my sleeveless coolmax shirt, shorts, tyvek jacket, and
sweats over all that. He had on only his shorts and shirt. Lesson to you
all: unless you KNOW that you will be warm at the start, bring clothing
(something other than a trash bag, they don't provide much warmth) that you
can discard. I was chilled, but not uncomfortably cold.
Finally, we started the slow .6 mi walk to the start. My number put me at
the back of the blue start. It seemed that I only spent a few minutes at
the start (time for a quick trip to the woods) then Magician Mickey arouse
out of the start area, started the wheelchairs, then the runners start. I
decided to ditch the sweat pants then, and (naturally) they got caught on
my running shoes. By the time I got ready to run, I was one of the very
last on the blue start to cross the line.
The first few miles went very well. I saw Sherry and some other screamers
in the first few miles, at the same time I was urging the crowd to (with a
nod to Jen F.) "show us some love". The first 10K went well. It was cold,
but I was comfortable (the sweatshirt went away at mile 4). Going though
the Epcot World Showcase was great, although it was deserted. I was on
pace, and feeling well. Coming into the Magic Kingdom at mile 9 I noted
some frost on my gloves, but otherwise no worries. Through the Magic
Kingdom was great. I got my picture taken with Mickey, Buzz Lightyear, and
the Country Bears. Coming out of the Magic Kingdom, by the 1/2 marathon
finish, I started to feel a little bit tired. Not good.
Past Cruella DeVille at mile 14, and onto the nasty, ugly stretch before
Animal Kingdom. Shortly after the waste water treatment plant (a highlight
of the course) at mile 15 I realized that this was not going to be my
day. I was tired already, my right knee started to hurt (from where did
this come? my knees had been fine for the last 6 months), and my quads
felt wobbly already. 4:30 was not going to happen today. At about this
point I decided to stop keeping track of splits, as I didn't need my watch
to tell me what I already knew, I was having a bad day.
I wish I had taken more time in Animal Kindgom. The keepers came out and
cheered (this was in a really boring part of the course, and in the park
itself all of the staff (most of whom were from overseas) were cheering.
Out of the Animal Kingdom and back onto roads. I was hoping to see Sherry
there, so I could dump the tyvek jacket. Well, no Sherry, or anybody
else. The jacket had served well, and it had started to fade, so off it
went, LA Marathon 99 memories and all.
The next 4 miles were tough. The only fun part was the fake crowd noise at
two overpasses. It was a bit easier without the time pressure, but I still
was not having a good day. At mile 22 I made it back to civilization at
Disney-MGM. I liked the guy dressed as one of the army men from Toy Story,
and there were a few other characters there as well. I appreciated the
spree and sweet tarts, but they went into a pocket for later, not consumed
then (only water and gels on the course for me). There was one last
stretch after MGM that was a bit rough (but it was by the water, so it was
OK), then finally into the Boardwalk and Epcot.
One note about Epcot and MGM. There were a number of near misses with park
visitors crossing the marathon course too close to runners. I'm glad that
nobody came in front of me, because I tell you, at mile 25, when I am deep
in the BMZ I am neither willing nor able to stop. Talking with Sherry
later, she told me that she saw a nasty collision near mile 25. A park
visitor just walked out into the race, collided with a runner (who fell)
and kept going. The runner continued. Sherry then commenced to "counsel"
the crossing guard as to their responsibilities. I feel bad for that
Disney employee. Don't let Sherry's small size fool you. She has this
pissed off Southern Woman thing that she can get going, and you don't want
to be on the receiving end of it.
I digress, though. So, at mile 25 I managed a smile for the photographer,
then commenced the second run though the World Showcase. It was harder
this time, but there were more people. The Norwegians were out in full
force, with flag, doing (I guess) Norwegian running chants. Pretty
cool. I saw Sherry right under Spaceship Earth. I wanted to know where
the #*(& finish line was. I guess I wasn't looking so good.
Finally, just out of Epcot, a few turns, then the finish. Final time
4:48. Third worst finish ever. John, bless him, was there waiting for
us. I talked with him for a bit, gave him my assessment of my performance
that day "<eric> run." then staggered off. The gomies were, as noted
before, lousy.
I collected my bag, found Sherry via cell phone, then took the bus back to
the motel. Note to all: we found that the cellular service at Disney was
very spotty. I think this was due to heavy traffic, and lots of
competition for cells. In the future I think that FRS radios would be a
better alternative for reunions and communication within families.
I took a ice bath, got cleaned up, then we went to the Magic Kingdom (I
think) for a while. We went back to the All Star Movies to compare notes
with the other Penguins. I was disappointed for Kathy, tough break.
The rest of the time (Monday and half of Tuesday) was spent doing the parks
and taking pictures. Overall, not a great effort. I looked at my training
log, and realized that I hadn't done nearly enough mileage. I slacked off
too much over the holidays. That is a real problem with Disney. Next
time, I'll do the half. Get my Donald medal.
Ward
Ward Reed
Durham, NC
http://www.wardreed.com
