Congratulations to Jeff for being the first to finish his Half Marathon
race AND post a race report. I'm glad that you discovered that you may
have "had a little bit of fun" after all. It sure was great to have you
at the APD. I completed another Walt Disney World Marathon this
weekend... this one was my 9th Disney Marathon finish. In addition to
being there as a Dead Runner and Coach for Team in Training, I went with
a great group of friends from Jacksonville and we all stayed just
outside the big Disney World park. In preparation for the event, a Craig
O'Neal and I order a selection special shirts for the Disney Dead
runners and design special graphics for the shirts that include both the
group and the event themes (with a wizard Mickey Mouse this year). When
we all get together for the "alternative pasta dinner" the night before
the race, we distribute the shirts and everyone gets to meet and talk
with the people who write in to this great list.
Coming right after last weekend's 50K trail race, I realized before I
even started that I was a bit more sore and tired than I'd like. I was
not as fast as usual, but still finished under 4 hours. Considering the
torrential rain that came about 3/4 of the way through the race, like
many around me I was happy to be finished. The people that I had coached
also finished fine -- and well behind me, thankfully. I am only a little
sore today, but this will pass and I will be running again soon -- maybe
even this afternoon. Today it is cool and clear here, after having
overcast skies, strong winds and then the heavy rain yesterday in
central Florida. From our Jacksonville group, Craig and I finished the
marathon and John, Josephine, and Don all completed the Half Marathon.
For Don and Josephine, this was their first time racing anything that
long and they did it with virtually no training preparation at all.
Josephine even finished in 2:45, running about half of the distance! Now
both of them seem intent upon entering more races, so hopefully we will
see them again at next year's Disney Marathon weekend, too.
My daughter Lauren did not get to go to the race with me -- who would
watch her while I race? She is already excited about my latest Disney
Marathon medal -- she wants to run in the race some day, too. She will
be going to Disney World with a friend in a couple weeks, as part of the
friend's 7th birthday celebration. Perhaps that will be a good time for
me to find another race to do, so that I don't miss her so much.
Though I was around the marathon finish area for about two hours
following my finish, I did not get to see many of you who finished. I
suppose that the rain and wind may have been a reason for many to go
right back to their hotels, so I may have missed seeing you to
congratulate you for your races.
I am hoping that everyone had a successful weekend and that we will all
be going back for the 10th Disney World Marathon in a year. See you on
the list and at the races,
Jakson
