When I conceived the idea of running a half marathon there was no
doubt that my first one had to be at Disney. Why do you say? One, I am a big
Disney fan, if you haven't figure that by now and 2 I knew that if I completed
my 1st 1/2 marathon at Disney I was doing it for fun and not for competition,
which is what I needed.
After running. or rather walking the Enchanted 10k the day before
I was more than ready to run/walk the 1/2. I was ready to embark in this new
distance journey.
Like the day before I woke up at 2:45 to take the bus to EPCOT, this
time I was by myself. I woke up, got ready and gathered my things to leave. I
was going to check my bag, but quickly realized that I did not have the bag
that had my number, so I decided to venture lightly to the race. All I needed
was my phone, id and GU since I was hoping they would provide water and bananas
at the end. I boarded the bus at 3:15 and got to EPCOT almost at 4. That meant
that I had 1:30 hours to kill before the start. Once we arrived at EPCOT I
quickly realized why they encourage people to get there early. You first have
to walk 1/2 mile to the gathering area, among 40,000+ people. Having worked at
Disney, I have seen crowds, but believe me, I don't thing I have seen this many
people in one area. After walking through security, I looked around to see what
I could do. They had plenty of entertainment for people. They had a lady
dressed up as a Princess doing a stand-up comedy type act, in which she was
making fun of people that woke up early to do this, people's costume, or just
people. They also has a DJ, and lines in which you could take pictures with the
Princess 1/2 Marathon Poster.
At around 4:30-4:45 they started calling people to make their way
to their corrals, which meant that we had to walk almost a mile to the start
(didn't Disney know that we were running 13.1 miles). I made my way to Corral E
and started to get nervous. From the beginning I knew I was going to do the
run/walk method and I knew how I was going to do it. The stop watch that I was
going to use broke, my GPS watch did not want to work, so my only solution to
record my race/do my intervals relayed on 2 things: My Nike+ app on my phone
and my head to count my intervals. Yes people, I counted to 40 every single
time I walked and ran. I was nervous about it, because I kept thinking, what if
I dont remember what number I'm on, or what if I forget to start and keep
running? Believe me, all of these happened, but I can tell you that by doing
this I kept calm and focused the entire race.
Once they started to release each corral, I became more and more
excited, there was no turn back now! I knew that I had done the best of my
training, even with all the problems that I had during it and that no matter
what happened, I knew I had the strength to finish the race, either by running
it or walking it.
Corral E kept moving further into the start line. It was our turn
to go. I tried to be as far up into the corral as possible because I just
wanted to go. When the fireworks went off, it became real. We crossed the start
line and I got excited. If you have run a race you understand the feeling, if
you haven't you don't know what you are missing. This is where you forget every
worry that you had up until this point and you just let go and try to do the
best you can. I have to say that doing a 40/40 interval (40 seconds running, 40
second walking) was not easy at first, specially for a person who is not use to
stopping and going that much. It took me at least the first to second mile to
get use to counting to 40 each time and stopping and going. Once I got the rhythm
of it, it was easy, easier than I thought. Once of the challenges of the day
was the humidity. We were sweating before the race started.
Miles 1- 4 were all on Disney Main roads from EPCOT to Magic
Kingdom. I thought I was not going to like that part, but since I worked at
Disney for 10 years, running through those road brought back amazing memories
of my time there. How many times did I drive from home to Magic Kingdom and beyond
and had taken that same road? Thousands. We used that road as a short cut
between Kissimmee and Winter Garden (the town behind Magic Kingdom). Also,
Disney being Disney, had characters and music throughout the road. Once we
passed the Magic Kingdom Toll Plaza I got more and more excited. I was a little
hot, but I knew that soon I was going to be running through Cinderella's Castle
and part of the MK. Entering the MK Parking lot I started to get teary eyed.
More and more amazing memories came to me and I was passed the 5k mark and
still no pain. Those were good signs.
Miles 4-7 were magical. We ran through the ticketing booths where
the Japan Drums met us and then near the Contemporary Resort. After passing the
Contemporary I got more and more excited. We took a left turn and through MK's
back stage. Soon enough I saw it, Main Street, the street where all children
fall in love with Disney. The place where years and years ago I had enjoyed
with my family for the first time, and then coming as an adult and shaping my
adulthood. I had walked this street plenty of times, as recent as December, but
ever since I started running, I wanted to run it and here I was, this was it. I
ran as slow as I could, but I did not want to walk and took it all in. Once I
rounded the corner to run through Main Street thousands of people were cheering
for all of us. I got super emotional, because although I had move away from
Orlando because I wanted to, I missed Disney and my closest friends so much and
being there at that time made it all more and more real. Once I ran Main Street
and took pictures I continued my journey through MK. Another fun part about
this was running under Cinderella's Castle, and on to Liberty Square and
Frontierland. After passing Frontierland you are backstage again and on the
other side of the MK.
During Miles 7-12 it was almost the same route but you passed the
Grand Floridian and Polynesian. During this time I was still feeling great so I
decided to stop and take pictures with some characters along the way. I took
pictures with Mary Popping, Mrs. Incredible and the Glass Slipper Keepers.
After passing them I was ready to finish and get on with my race specially
since I knew that I had to return the same way we came back from.
Once we reached mile 11 we were starting to enter EPCOT's Parking
lot and it was becoming more and more real. I had put it in my head that I
wanted to run the entire last mile no matter what, but once I reached mile 12
my knee started to act up so I decided to just finish the race. Once we entered
EPCOT, I knew we were close. I got more and more excited about finishing this
race and reaching such a goal. We entered EPCOT the same way we did the day
before bit this time instead of turning left to go to the ball we turned right
to go almost to the World Showcase Entrance. Once we passed Spaceship Earth I
knew we were close because the Gospel Choir was there to cheer us on. I started
running to get to the finish line. About 500 yards away from the finish line I
started to get sick. I felt like I wanted to puke (A feeling I had ad the
MCM10k in October). I pushed through and finished. Luckily I did not puke and
made my way to get my 2 medals. Since it was hot, volunteers where handing out
cooling towels to cool us down. They gave me my 1/2 marathon medal and then
they pointed to where I needed to go to get my Glass Slipper Challenge medal
and go and take pictures. I did all that and although I wanted to stay and hang
out, I decided it was time to go back to the hotel, have breakfast, take a
shower and a nap.
This was a great experience and I am glad I got to do it. This is
not my last Disney race, nor my last 1/2 marathon. I liked the distance and the
course, but, I don't think that I will be running to many 1/2 marathons anytime
soon.
If you ever have the chance to run a Disney event, you should do
it. Don't do it for time, do it for the experience. I had a great time and I
accomplished a great goal. Hopefully I'll do it again in the future.
I hope you enjoyed my race recaps. Stay tuned for more Nats
Traveling Feet adventures as James and I embark into the Foreign Service.
Until next time, keep your feet traveling,
Nats
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