Hellloooo, Everyone!

OH, MY GOODNESS!!!! Meeting other WISHers and doing the Minnie was absolutely fabulous!! This is just the greatest group of people!!

DH and I drove 7 hours and arrived at WDW around 5 on Friday. We had to pick up our AP's (birthday presents) so went to AK first. Of course, everyone was coming OUT of AK as it was closing (forgot about the time change!!), but fortunately Guest Relations was still open and we were able to get the passes. Back down the road to Wide World of Sports and the Expo!

I agree with eveyone else, that the Expo was small, but hopefully that was because it was the first year. The signs directing you to the Registration were ok, but the signs to the goody bags were confusing!! Oh, the goody bags were really nice. Everything was packed into a black bag with the Lady FootLocker logo, but the bag could be used as a backpack. Inside were: 1 Rainforest Cafe TALL plastic cup that you could take there to get a smoothie, a pair of coolmax type socks (even fit my size 11's!!), thick notepad, sports magazine, lots of coupons, a sample energy bar (and I do mean sample! It was maybe 1/2 inch by 2 inches!), a Red Dress pin and our Minnie Marathon shirt. I agree with Mel. I would trade mine for the volunteer shirt. Did get a picture of all of the medals (Except now they are offering a finisher's medal for Race for the Taste!):

Checked into Animal Kingdom Lodge..beautiful! Two giraffe were having dinner outside our window when we opened the drapes. Sigghhhhh. Non Minnie Trip Report will follow!

Saturday we walked around Epcot waaaayyyyy too much. I was keeping an eye out for inclines! We got over to EoS to check for WISHers by 4:20. Hmmmmm...no signs, no green shirts...waiting, waiting...Finally, I see someone with a Triathlon shirt on and decide to say, "Hi!"...it was Xterratri, Lynne!!! and, oh, my goodness..I had been sitting across from perfectmatch300, Nancy and her husband the whole time! They were wearing shirts with her perfectmatch300 signature on them!! So cute!! Of course, Stitch_lover_Sith and Nycpa were there, as well as MouseDogMom, disneyfanz04, Sap1227, Kamgen, keenercam, and akasleepingbeauty..Did I get everyone??
I just cannot express how wonderful it was to meet people who had been sharing their training tips, ups and downs, words of encouragement and lives with me over the past four months. Those who didn't make it to the meet were really missed..but we hoped we'd find you at the race at least!

Sunday was up at 4:30 a.m., thinking about Krista getting ready for her Pig..and we were out the door and at the start by 5:30. It was a lonely looking place! But past the lights were people sitting, stretching, lining up for the potties...which I got in line for after I said "hi!" to the group. Oh, there was Tiffj!! and Chimera!! I felt like I was meeting celebrities!!

We had wondered how they were going to line us up. The announcer called out that we were to "self seed ourselves" What a hoot!! There were only about 2,000 participants this year, so that was doable..but in the future??!!
Those who wanted "pace cushion" got up near the front. They played the "Star Spangled Banner," and then Minnie counted down...and we were off!


The first mile curved around the Animal Kingdom parking lot, so me being near the end, got to see this 3/4 mile long line of runners..it was really neat! Some of the women dressed up as Minnie Mouse..wearing red shorts or skirts with white dots and Minnie ears..there were quite a few with Minnie ears...these ladies, however, were really special with their tails! I wonder if the tails lasted the 9.3 miles?


DH left me, but there were lots of people willing to talk! At every mile there was a volunteer who called out the elapsed time from the "gun" time. I was pleased and surprised to make it under 15 minutes each time, barely..but UNDER! And, as I kept telling myself, I did not cross the start until at least 2 minutes AFTER the gun! After the turn around (mile 4), I actually saw the dreaded SWEEPER bus!! So, there really was one..but I was ahead of it! The slight inclines over the bridges at mile 2 and 3 were hardly noticeable. The one I heard some people groaning about was the one after mile 4 turning us towards MGM. At mile 5 there was a guy with a bucket of Biofreeze! He had a ladle and was passing handfuls out to whomever! Turned right and then right again into MGM!! Through Costuming past the stunt show, around a corner to the New York skyline, around another corner and there was Jessie and Mrs. Incredible! Our first characters! Through MGM there was an older couple running in front of me. When they saw a photographer, they grabbed hands. How cute is that?
Out of MGM and down alongside a lake (?) near Swan and Dolphin. Bless you Kristi for talking to me! My stomach was getting queasy and just talking really helped! Onto the Boardwalk where the people were starting to move about. Some guests were out jogging..and I saw one CM chasing them down to tell them if they weren't in the race to get to the left of the cones! They were running the opposite direction, too!!

Over the International bridge which was a slight incline and into WS where I dreaded the bridge at UK. But, wait!! We're on the opposite side of the bridge..we're going DOWN..oh, I can do this...yippeee!!

Our second set of characters, Pocahontas, Cinderella and Belle captured keenercam and akasleepingbeauty for a picture. Here are some of the flowers we passed.



and just for our littlegreydonkey/helen


Wow! we were almost there!! Over the little bridge at Mexico, around the corner...and there was the sphere!! Straight down, slight turn to the right (all I want to do is throw up!!) and there was Xterratri, Stitch_lover-Sith, and Nycpa!!! You guys were just the best sight!! Lynne's grinning and holding her medal up and shouting,"Look what's waiting for you!!" I really wished that I had taken a picture of you all!!

One more turn and there was the Finish Line!! As we get closer, the announcer calls out our name and city.."and here comes.......from....." That was just tooo cool!. DH was waiting at the finish. He had crossed, but waited to get his medal until I got there. How sweet was that? Another thing I wish I had a picture of. Headed straight for the lady holding bottles of water. "Are you having your picture taken?" When we said no..she pointed us to the cups of water. The bottles were for those standing in line! Ah, yes...there was the table with the bananas and bagels that I had heard about. Grabbed a banana and wanted the bus. Where was the bus to take us back to the start? Bus? No signs..so we just started walking toward the back of the parking lot, following some other people. Still no signs. Had to ask the driver. YES! He was our ride. Climbed into an air conditioned bus and got to stretch our legs across the seats. We DID IT!!

When we got to AKL and walked up to the entrance, the CM's that were standing there high fived us and congratulated us. That was great. Down the halls to our room and Mousekeepers did the same. How nice. We heard guests saying, "There was a race today?"

Yes, there was.

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL...1 mile, 5K or 15K!!!!