The First Word: If you ever have a chance to go to Disney for Marathon Weekend, I highly recommend it ! The race is very well organized, and the participation by spectators (or should I say, "Cast Members"), was the best I've ever experienced. But be prepared; Due to the fact that there were over 20,000 for the Marathon, and at least 8700 for the Half marathon, they request that you get to Epcot by 4 AM ! At the checkin, everything is organized by Race Number and Race Category. A new feature that was added, was the fact that they printed your First Name on the front of your bib. So, as you were getting to the point where you felt unmotivated, a spectator might say, "Run Strong, Ed", or "Looking Good, Ed". If that doesn't get you going, nothing will !
Since we were in the Eastern Time Zone, and the Races started at 6 AM, the majority of the Half Marathon was run in the dark (for some of us, anyway). I do rememeber wishing I had time to stop, and take pictures (I did carry my camera phone with me, and attempted to take one picture as we passed under Cinderella's Castle, but I still haven't taken a look to see how it came out).
We were loaded in Coral's by projected Finish Time. I believe I entered 1:45 on my Race form for the Half, so I was in Coral H, which was just behind the Elite runners (I would never claim to be a member of that group !).
Here are my splits from the Half:
Mile 1: 8:06
Mile 2: 7:30
Mile 3: 7:22
Mile 4: 8:02
Mile 5: 7:36
Mile 6: 7:33
Mile 7: 7:23
Mile 8: 7:38
Mile 9: 7:41
Mile 10: 7:46
Mile 11: 9:05 - I stopped here and attempted to contact my wife via cell phone. We agreed, that I would call her to let her know I was getting close to the finish, but we couldn't connect.
Mile 12: 8:03 - I believe it was here that I attempted to get a picture of Cinderella's Castle. As of this writing, I don't know if I was successful.
Mile 13: 7:35 - I met a person running the full marthon from the State of Kansas. Both races started at the same time, but we went in different directions around Epcot from Miles one throough 4 and re-merged together at around Mile 5.
Last 0.1: 2:07
Total: 01:43.32
All in all, it was a great race. Again, I highly recommend the experience.
