I am finally at home and will contain my report to just the race itself.
I could go on and on, about the plane rides, the hotel, etc...but I
don't want to bore you all.
A few things not mentioned so far about the race. The temp was about 50
at race time but the humidity was 94% when I got up. That was a 180
degree turn from the 30s and bone chilly wind of Fri. My body had no
idea what to expect . On Fri I was cursing that I hadn't packed tights
and on Sunday I was wishing I had a singlet!
The plan to meet in the lobby of AKL I don't think happened. I mean, I
was standing there from about 3:40 - 3:50am and I might have seen deads
there, but considering I had no clue what they looked like, I finally
just left. I might have been standing next to Adrith! The busses were
great and plentiful at my hotel and I arrived a little after 4am at the
start.
Medical tent? What medical tent? I never found the darn thing, so I
never hooked up with Beth. I thought I was going to be spending the next
2 hours by myself, when I looked up and who do I see? LITTLE KURT, who
was STILL smiling..Oh, and Bart and Isabelle were there too. ;-) So, I
was very happy to hang out with the 3 of them until Isabelle and Kurt
left to catch a monorail to the MK.
Bart and I chatted for a long time before we made our way to the
starting corrals. We ran into Bob Chapman and a mini-encounter ensued!
It was great to have someone to pass the time and we stayed together
until they went to the marathon direction and me to the half. Thanks for
the encouragement guys!
I don't know about you all, but I was very very disappointed in the
pre-race celebration. What was up with that? Two characters and NO
MUSIC?? Remember in 1999 they had all kinds of characters and a stage
show, etc? I was disappointed.
I did see Dave Lawrence as he was in my corral but that little bugger
moves like the wind and I never saw him after the gun! It was lonely in
the corral and there seemed to be people who only knew each other. It
was weird.
I had a really really good race for me. I won't bore you with mile
splits or anything, but I finished in 2:16:23 (chip time). Not a PR but
not far off from my PR. I was strong the whole race , except for the
mile in the MK near Tomorrowland where i lost time looking for water and
restrooms. But hey, who cares? Just last week, I was unsure I would even
begin the race.
The highlights for me were running almost equal mile splits, running
around EPCOT in the pitch dark (in 1999, the half didn't go around World
Showcase), knowing where to look for the photographers and smiling for
them, hi fiving the characters in the MK (though I never saw Mickey
which was weird) and asking Mary Poppins if she "had a spot of tea"
right around mile 12.
One question though....isn't mile 12 - 13 the LONGEST mile in history?
I swear they mismarked it! I was glad to have only registered for the
half, because the rains came shortly after and all I could think of
was....I am going back to take a warm bath!
Sorry this is so long.....thanks again,
Kris
