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Marathoners finish Disney
Denise Mehall and Amy Vanderpool of Vandalia ran 13.1 miles on Saturday and 26.2 miles on Sunday as part of the Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend, culminating three months of hard training.
"We had lots of fun." Vanderpool said.
The "fun" began at 4 a.m. on Saturday as they alighted from a bus, walked two miles, then stood in 38-degree temperatures with 15,000 other runner to await the 6 a.m. start of the 13.1-mile half marathon.
Vanderpool remembered feeling tight at the start due to hours of waiting in cold temperatures.
She and Mehall ran together for the entire 13.1 miles on Saturday, finishing in 2:02:38.
Vanderpool called their pace of 9:38 seconds per mile "conservative" for the half marathon. It was good enough to put each within the top 10 per cent of the runners in their age category.
Vanderpool said both were mindful of the fact that they needed to recover in time from the half marathon to run the full marathon on Sunday.
Neither woman slept much Saturday night, as they had to awaken at 3:30 a.m. to meet Disney's early arrival time for Sunday's full marathon.
The two friends ran together the first half of the full marathon, passing that point in 2:07:47. During the second half of the marathon, Mehall began to pull away, finishing with her personal best time for the marathon of 4:04:51. Vanderpool finished in 4:17:38.
Afterward, Vanderpool said, "I am glad it is over! I will never do this again! It is extremely hard to run a full marathon on the day after running a half marathon!"
Mehall, excited with her personal best time, said she might run the event again someday.
Other than the long wait at the beginning of each event, Vanderpool said that it was well organized, with many stops for water, energy drinks, and energy gels along the way.
In addition to the challenge of the first ever half- and full- marathons on consecutive days, the women had other reasons for traveling to Florida and running the events together.
Both women celebrate birthdays this week, Mehall her 37th, and Vanderpool her 43rd. They wanted to celebrate their birthdays by going to Florida and running together. Running has been their passion for the last three years, and they generally run together while training with the Vandalia Running Club.
Mehall had another reason to travel to Florida for the Walt Disney Marathon Weekend. Both women visited Mehall's parents in nearby Tampa after the marathon. Her mother suffers from multiple sclerosis, and the Disney Marathon Weekend benefits the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.
Vanderpool said their training prepared them well for the event. Both women train regularly with the Vandalia Running Club, and plan to resume their training runs about a week after they return to Vandalia.
The Vandalia Running Club runs from Demmitt Elementary on weekend mornings. Members participated in the Ohio River Road Runners Xenia Marathon, Cincinnati Flying Pig Marathon, Indianapolis Half Marathon, US Air Force Marathon, Dayton River Corridor Classic, and Detroit Marathon last year. Two members plan to travel to Phoenix to run the Arizona Half Marathon on Jan. 15.
Those interested in running with the Vandalia Running Club, call Amy Vanderpool at 890-0025.
| Reprinted with permission from the Times Community Newspapers of Greater Dayton, Ohio | | | |
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