Chuck had talked to a Cast Member at the gift shop the previous evening and learned that Animal Kingdom Lodge was going to have a small breakfast buffet for the runners in the wee hours of the morning. I was thrilled to find that they had bagels and peanut butter, my usual pre-race meal. Food always tastes better when it's free, and this was no exception.
The bus ride to the staging area was uneventful and we headed to the Galloway Training Programs tent. One of the little-known perks of being a member of the Galloway program is access to a special tent at the start of the Disney races. The tent area had coffee, decaf, canned soft drinks, and (imagine angels singing here) two porta-potties with minimal waiting. We felt like elite runners and even had a chance to talk to Jeff Galloway for a few minutes before the race.
My daughter texted the friend we'd had dinner with, and she was an absolute godsend, helping them get the bedding stripped and purchasing some Gatorade and saltines for him. I felt terrible knowing my friend was helping clean up after my child and trying to make him feel better while his parents were hours away from returning to the room. Not the best mental state to be in at the start of the race. But I was so very thankful she was there and willing and able to come to the rescue. Cute story: afterward, I learned that my daughter had Googled his symptoms and became convinced he had alcohol poisoning from the trace amounts in the Zebra Domes he'd eaten the night before.
With our minds pretty distracted by what was going on in the hotel room, we watched the fireworks for each corral's start. Finally it was our turn to cross the starting line. My friend and I usually do a 3:1 run/walk ratio while Chuck tends to do 1:1. To conserve energy for the next day, we utilized the technique that had worked for our half marathon last year and did a 1:3 run/walk. That is, run for one minute, walk for three minutes, and repeat ad nauseum. Our average pace was in the 15:XX range as a result, which was perfectly fine. The sweep pace (the minimum you had to achieve for an official finish) was a 16-minute mile, and we remained comfortably faster than that for the entire race.
This was my 4th time running this particular route, and I definitely knew what to expect. Here is the view of our route in Google Earth (race route from 2009):
One of the most magical moments of the race is when you go through a large gate and suddenly you are on Main Street, USA. The Christmas decorations are still up and it's as if you've entered another world. The spectators lining the street give you a huge boost, and after you make a right turn, you see Cinderella's Castle straight ahead. You make another right turn into Tomorrowland where you may get to see characters in space age costumes. You make a left and go past the Tomorrowland Speedway and then hang another left just past the Mad Tea Party. You follow the curve around Fantasyland until you see the Carrousel and then... the rear of Cinderella's Castle along with a Princess and Prince (and sometimes a Wicked Stepmother) for photo ops. We ran through the Castle and tried to get some good photos. We weren't able to get all three of us in one good shot, but there is a cute photo of me and Chuck with our arms up as we came through. After the Castle, you make a right turn into Liberty Square. Once again, characters abound, from classic Disney characters in colonial garb to gravediggers straight out of the Haunted Mansion. You follow the path from Liberty Square to Frontierland and go past Splash Mountain, which is usually down for refurbishment and looks oddly naked without the water flowing down the flume. Next thing you know, you go past the Walt Disney Railroad and through another backstage area, where parade floats and characters (including Jack Sparrow on a pirate ship!) are waiting for still more photo ops.
After a water stop, you leave the backstage area and head back onto the roads. It became very narrow and we saw that another runner had taken a tumble. Ever the good Samaritan, Chuck tried to come to her aid, but she seemed to have it under control. I hope she was able to finish her race without further incident. The next landmarks to look forward to were the Grand Floridian Resort and Spa (where Mary Poppins and Burt are usually waiting), the Wedding Pavilion, the Palm and Magnolia Golf Courses (where you can often find Golfer Mickey, Donald and Goofy), and the Polynesian Resort. There was a lot of crowd support near the hotels and we really appreciated the fact that our bibs had our names on them. Nothing like hearing, "You've got this, Kim!" when your energy is starting to flag.
After we passed the resort area, my stomach started to bother me. Hoping I wasn't about to have my own bout of "alcohol poisoning," I darted into the restroom at the Hess gas station near mile 9. I told Chuck and my friend to run on ahead and that I would try to catch up. GI crisis successfully avoided, I headed up the road at a faster pace to try and catch them. I ran the fastest mile of the day at this point and found them not too much further up the road. I worried that I might have pushed too hard during this segment, but the effort was worth it once I realized we would be able to finish the race together.
My least favorite part of the course was just ahead: the overpass where you go from World Drive back to Epcot Center Drive. Luckily (?) Sarge from Toy Story was there to encourage us to "Move it! Move it! Move it!" up that hill. Once we reached the top, we were heartened to see the large number of runners streaming behind us. It's always so reassuring to know the sweeper bus isn't right on your tail. Finally the overpass curved to the right and we could see Spaceship Earth in the distance. As we got closer, we noticed the ramp was sloping downward. Chuck and I said our usual, "Nobody beats Fatty on the downhill," and raced each other down while my friend just laughed at us. As I pulled ahead, he said, "That's right... Nobody beats Fatty!" So, I won this little downhill race, but I guess it was a dubious honor after all.
We had another clump of spectators at the edge of the Epcot parking lot and near the bus stops. We entered a backstage area through a gate and had our last water stop of the course. Next thing we knew, we were back on stage in Future World. We had a quick run down the side of Future World West and came back up through Future World East and one last backstage section. Of all the backstage sections, this one is the best, bar none. Not only did we get to see the long-awaited Mile 13 marker, but there was a gospel choir to inspire us to a strong finish. That last tenth of a mile felt quite a bit longer than that, but we were in the finish chute before we knew it. We all finished feeling terrific and looking forward to running again the next day. My friend and I were going to run the full marathon while Chuck was going to do the second half of the marathon as part of the relay team Sorry ExCuses with our fellow Syracuse alum running the first half.
Chuck and I grabbed our post-race amenities and scurried back to the hotel room as soon as possible. I was beyond grateful that we had a washer/dryer in the room, especially since we had soiled bedding to wash in addition to our running gear. This was a mixed blessing when I realized that my son's new iPhone (a gift from Santa, no less) found its way into the wash as well. Chuck took our daughter out for their traditional post-half-marathon meal at Epcot's Biergarten while I stayed in the room with our sick kiddo. I grabbed a great quick lunch at the Mara (Animal Kingdom Lodge's food court) and spent a quiet afternoon just hanging out in the room. My selection of Animal Kingdom Lodge was once again reinforced, since it was nice to be able to watch the animals from our room while my son rested.
The Epcot tourists returned in the early evening, our son started feeling better, and we all went to bed knowing another early, early morning awaited us.
