Marathon Day, January 13^th

 

Well, I have trained and waited for this day for 8 months hoping for a nice cool morning where I could wear some long sleeve clothes while waiting for the start. All three alarms go off on time and surprisingly I have actually slept pretty well. Despite knowing I can’t change the weather, I turn on the TV to the weather channel and close my eyes because in some way I really don’t want to know what the weather is like.

 

66 degrees . 99% humidity. Dewpoint is 62. All this at 2:48 am. Ugh. Things are only get worse as the sun is suppose to come out and it’s not going to rain. Allrighty. Chalk this up to one warm marathon. It was not what a northerner in Jan wants to see. No concerns about throw away clothes to keep warm as I was sweating walking to get my morning coffee. I have to admit it was GREAT that the All Star manager had the beverage center open all night, so coffee and FREE CUPS were available at the beverage center whenever we wanted some.

 

There was no line, no waiting for a bus as I jumped on one at 4am and headed to meet up with the "D" people. Passed the time with a bunch of Disney dead runners and headed to the start. I made a potty stop in the trees (as the porta-potty lines were long) and laughed out loud as someone (most likely a woman) had left a roll of toilet paper as you entered the grove of trees. This must have been the “women’s restroom” side of the trees. ;-)

After that it wasn’t much of a wait in the corrals and I even threw away my short sleeve shirt as I didn’t even need it in the corrals. I couldn't see the video screens to save my life, but heard the crowds and the next thing I knew we were off. I won't bore people with a mile by mile report, but by mile 5, I was just plain hot. For the first time ever, my bunion did me in. LOL I was a hurting pup by 8M and just walk/run the rest of the marathon. Funny thing was that my legs/thighs were totally fine but pushing off was very painful. It actually hurt more to walk (because my gait is so different) but my bunion just made running as painful. I settled in and there was never a question of whether I would finish or not, it was just a matter of how long it would take.

Running through EPCOT first, at about the mile 3 mark, someone yelled “Wheelchairs coming through!”. I couldn’t understand what they were doing there since they had left 5 minutes earlier than the rest of the runners. When someone mentioned seeing the 3 mile marker, the wheelchair racers yelled “Mile 3? Shit.. we took a wrong turn someplace!” as they were not on the correct course, I guess. They weren’t happy to say the least.

The thing about Disney that is always so cool is that there is always somebody around you. I like that. I didn’t get into any conversations with anyone, but I enjoyed hearing people chat. The TNT supporters, as well as the W.I.S.H. supporters were everywhere and I was happy when I heard “Go Kristine! Looking good”. It actually is motivating.

As we headed to the MK, I enjoyed the sights and made the best of it. It wasn’t going to be a PR day for me so I just planned to finish. Over the course of the race, different times were going through my head, but as the race progressed they got further and further away. We turned onto Main St and that’s always a great feeling. MM and MN were there as well as a lot of other characters. The one place that sticks out the most for me was turning past the Carousel and looking up as we headed into the castle and seeing at least 3-4 princesses on a level of the castle, doing the “princess wave” for us. They also had trumpet players announcing our arrival.

It never fails, as I came out of the castle, I saw the photographer but he was reloading or focusing on someone else. Drat. There were picture guys everywhere but I sure would have liked one coming out of the castle. Sigh. More characters and people in Frontierland and before I knew it we were exiting the MK over by Splash.  As we left the MK, we came upon the SHIP from Pirates of the Caribbean movie (must be used in the parade) and the characters from the movie (including the guy portraying Johnny Depp) was there. There was quite the line for pics.

We passed by the GF and Shades of Green which is just about the ½ way mark and I am starting to walk on the grass a little more because of my foot. But it’s ok, I am not angry about it as I know “the marathon is king” and will always have the upper hand.

The road to the AK passes fairly quickly and we are backstage at the AK. They get a great picture of me with Expedition Everest in the background as that’s a new part of the course since I had last run the marathon. We aren’t in AK all that long but the park has opened and there are people standing all around, pointing… as if asking “What the heck are THEY doing?”.

I am able to stay hydrated the whole race and also took GUs without puking. The S! tablets worked out really well, and I think that helped me not dehydrate in the heat. It was nearing 75 at this point with full sun. I see that as positive notes. <lol> I had carried a small bottle in my hand that I alternate filling with water and Gatorade at each water stop. I had planned to ditch it early on but it never was cumbersome and so I held onto it until at least mile 22 when I trashed it .

It was getting warmer as the sun was out (even though there was period when it seemed like it was going to rain and the clouds certainly looked that way) but it never did rain. We started the long straight road to the WWoS and at the out and back there was a radio station and the DJ was saying “Just so you all know, the winner has finished, had a shower at his hotel and is on his plane to go back home”. He was kidding but he wasn’t far off as it was probably the 4:30 hour mark at that time. It was depressing to a degree but I was in good company. I just didn’t want to be seen as one of the runners who was doing it for fun. I had trained. I had done the long runs. I had prepared myself for the race. (unlike some who were just there for the character and picture taking).

I have always avoided hills but trained on them so I promised myself to run every on ramp, down hill, off ramp there was and I did just that. I felt good at being able to hold onto that one goal when the others had long since left.

We turned into MGM (sorry, Hollywood Studios) and they were handing out candy bars. Those fun-sized little things. Never having taken them during a race before, I was a little leery but they went down just fine and I wanted to eat them before they melted in my hand. LOL MGM is a blur but I do remember that there was only one more park to do before the finish. That was gratifying.

Down Sunset Blvd and out the front gates we then ran along the little walking path towards Boardwalk and Y&B club. I was tiring but more so, in a lot of foot pain. Came upon the Disney Dead runners’ area where Nathan, who had run his first half marathon the day before at age 14, was holding up a “Go! Disney Deads” sign which was awesome. Sort of a mental boost at that point.

The sidewalk all the way around Y&B to the International Gateway to EPCOT is just that, LONG. But I make it into EPCOT and secretly hope I can “pick it up” and run the rest of the way in. It’s about mile 23 or24 at this point and I do run past France, Morocco, Italy and China but poop out at Norway. Walk a bit to the connection between Future World and the showcase and then “sprint” towards the finish. In your mind you think that Spaceship earth is the finish line, but in fact we EXIT the damn park there, and as we turn the corner there is a gospel choir. I was hoping for the Hallelujah chorus but it doesn’t come. But there it is, the Mile 26 marker.

I raise my hands early and then pick it up for the final .2 sprint. I am a marathoner at age 50 and I am proud. I keep walking to find the chip people and then the medal people. I want that big-butt Mickey medal and it is placed around my neck. The crowds are cheering but it’s a tough moment as there isn’t anyone at the finish line for me. I walk to the picture stand and have my picture taken. Coming in at this late time, there are no lines, no waiting to have your picture taken. How sad is that?

To the baggage claim tent, some bananas , water and Gatorade and I stand around but say to myself, “Why bother?” and I walk to the busses to go back to the hotel. A kind runner lets me use her cel phone and I call “Ma” to tell her I finished and of course, she is worried because I would have thought I would have long since finished.  My finish time was about an hour longer than I had anticipated but what can you do?  So, naturally she was worried.

As we wait to board our bus, I look over and a guy waiting for another bus keels over. Immediately EMTs are there and he is whisked away by ambulance; a victim of the heat.

Upon arrival back at the hotel, as we enter the lobby, the entire staff of CMs starts applauding us. That was sooooooooooooo cool and so very unexpected. I smile for the first time and head to room 7359 which I am so glad has an elevator to the third floor!