OK, I'm back with the next segment of the Goofy Race Report series. Part 1: The Expo can be found here.
It's now race time and first up is the WDW Half Marathon - a course that routes you from Epcot to Magic Kingdom and back.
As I mentioned in my last post, we were treated to freakishly cold weather for marathon weekend. All of us runners were checking weather forecasts religiously leading up to the race. For the half, not only was it freezing cold (high 20's / low 30's) but we also got some rain (sleet?) as well! Oh joy!
Luckily, I was well-trained for running in this weather. CIM had similar weather (if not slightly "warmer") plus my peak training runs were in 30-40 degree weather in the snow back home in Ohio during the holidays.
I always say I want cold weather for race day so it's just like they say "Be careful what you wish for!"
On to the pictures...
Disney gang greets us at the start!
This was my first time running the half and let me just tell you, other than the short stint through Magic Kingdom, this course is BORING. Seriously. You start outside Epcot but don't actually run through it until the end. It's basically 5 miles of just boring WDW expressways and then you hit Magic Kingdom. That part is fun but once you leave, you're back to the boring expressways.
The fun thing about Disney is they know people are running it mostly for the picture opportunities. And just in case the race photographers didn't get a good picture of you running out of Cinderella's castle, they set up a special location to the side to take a posed one for good measure. Of course, I had to take advantage of that!
And since I was obviously not in a rush, I made sure to take lots of pictures with the characters...
This was a photo spot outside Magic Kingdom on the way back to Epcot. This captures the beauty of Disney races... no one is concerned about their time! I waited several minutes for this one but for Minnie and Goofy, totally worth it!
Finally crossing the finish line! Bet you haven't seen that time on the clock for a half marathon before, huh? ;)
All in all, it was an OK race. Definitely not one I would do on its own but that's just me. The worst part came after the race. It had rained on us during the race, but it doesn't really bother you while you're running. But once you're done with the race, standing in a very slow moving line waiting for food while shivering cold, you become quite miserable. I may have cried a little. OK, maybe not but I was very unhappy.
Normally, I would have skipped the food line altogether but I knew I didn't have anything in my gear check bag and I wasn't sure what food would be available in the meet and greet area. Knowing I had to run a full marathon the next day, I was especially concerned with getting some recovery food back in my system ASAP.
The nice thing was that my family was waiting for me so at least once I got through all of that, I got some much needed TLC :) [Although it did take some time to find them as well - one drawback to big races.]
I wised up for the full and packed post-race food and drinks in my gear bag and left that with my family to bring with them. The gear bag pickup line could be slow moving as well so I didn't want to take any chances.
Official Results
Chip Time 2:46:27
Overall Place 10346 / 17127
Gender Place 4989 / 9688
Division Place 799 / 1444
Age Grade 39.9%
5K Split 34:36
10K Split 1:17:02
15K Split 2:00:37
Below: Once again, guilty of jazz hands. It's like this weird reflex action that comes over me whenever I see a race photographer on the course.
And since I was obviously not in a rush, I made sure to take lots of pictures with the characters...
This was a photo spot outside Magic Kingdom on the way back to Epcot. This captures the beauty of Disney races... no one is concerned about their time! I waited several minutes for this one but for Minnie and Goofy, totally worth it!
Finally crossing the finish line! Bet you haven't seen that time on the clock for a half marathon before, huh? ;)
All in all, it was an OK race. Definitely not one I would do on its own but that's just me. The worst part came after the race. It had rained on us during the race, but it doesn't really bother you while you're running. But once you're done with the race, standing in a very slow moving line waiting for food while shivering cold, you become quite miserable. I may have cried a little. OK, maybe not but I was very unhappy.
Normally, I would have skipped the food line altogether but I knew I didn't have anything in my gear check bag and I wasn't sure what food would be available in the meet and greet area. Knowing I had to run a full marathon the next day, I was especially concerned with getting some recovery food back in my system ASAP.
The nice thing was that my family was waiting for me so at least once I got through all of that, I got some much needed TLC :) [Although it did take some time to find them as well - one drawback to big races.]
I wised up for the full and packed post-race food and drinks in my gear bag and left that with my family to bring with them. The gear bag pickup line could be slow moving as well so I didn't want to take any chances.
Official Results
Chip Time 2:46:27
Overall Place 10346 / 17127
Gender Place 4989 / 9688
Division Place 799 / 1444
Age Grade 39.9%
5K Split 34:36
10K Split 1:17:02
15K Split 2:00:37
This ended up being my slowest half marathon time to date (ah, but stay tuned for this weekend!) but if you look at my rankings, it was actually pretty average for the Disney runners. This is why I love Disney races!!! WHEEEEE!!!
Next up, Goofy Challenge Part 3 - The Full Marathon!
6 comments:
you're tights are making me miss the cold weather! however, this race doesn't sound very exciting to me! lol I think I would just be excited to see a hot prince on the course ;)
Great pics! Glad you stopped for those instead of worrying about your time :)
ahh!!! i need to run in disneyland or world! id be happy with either!!! :) just to take pics with the characters would be super fun! great job!
The run is very colorful, the mascots give life to the event. The pictures are great and the race report too.
zbsports
Oh no, I shouldn't have read that it's boring! Well, I guess I'll take advantage of the fun photo ops and hopefully that will make it seem less boring!
Sadly I agree the half course was not as hip as I remembered it. Part of it was that the races started earlier this year than in the past so the sun was still down through the Magic Kingdom. I obviously have "sucker" written on my forehead for wanting to sign up again.
Post a Comment