The big race of the weekend was finally here! I was going to run the marathon with PK, Diana and our new friend Tami. It was PK’s first marathon and I was so excited for him! I told him that I would meet him at his hotel lobby at 4:10 a.m. He was staying right around the corner from me and right en route to the race, so it was perfect. So my alarm was set for 3:00 a.m. I had my tea, and cinnamon toast and I packed a bag full of snacks.
I also had to put on several layers of clothing. I had on my long sleeve shrug, my Patriots shirt (in support of PK), a light jacket, a fluffy red sweatshirt, and my XXXL men’s sweatshirt. I was also wearing my sign in honor of Lyla but I had to make sure that when I shed my layers I would have to re-pin the sign and my race bib. It was crazy that in Florida I was dressing in so many layers. When I walked out to the car I was surprised that it wasn’t as cold as I was expecting. But I knew that waiting in the corrals I was going to feel colder.
PK and I drove to Epcot, had to park in one of the spots that were the FURTHEST spot away and we walked the journey to bag check, the runner’s area, and then down to the corrals. Just before we entered the runners’ area I spotted Jacqui Kapinowski on her way to the wheelchair start! I was so happy to see her and she told me she had just been talking to Harry about me recently! I met Jacqui during Princess Weekend in 2014, and she was my first exposure to Achilles International, which I am not a volunteer for.
With this being his first marathon and his first Disney marathon he was surprised, like I was my very first time, at how much walking we had to do before even getting to the race. We got down to the corrals and hooked up with Diana and Tami. Thankfully we weren’t there too early. I believe we were in the corrals for about 20 minutes before they started moving us closer to the start. But just before they did we all go the pre-race porta pottie jitters so we all rushed over there just in time. I was right, it was cold in the corrals so we used the space blankets and I was glad that I had my throw-away sweatshirt, gloves, and ear warmers. I talked PK into bringing his gloves and hat as well for the race.
Our corral took off at 6:23 a.m. and we were consistent with doing our walk/run intervals the first several miles of the race. PK and I planned to run ahead of Diana and Tami to the character or picture locations and then we would all decide if we wanted to wait in line or keep going. Since the first few miles were things that we had already seen in past years, and we wanted to increase the buffer of time between us and the balloon ladies, we skipped the first few stops. We did stop for Lightning McQueen and that’s where I ditched my first layer. Diana and Tami ran ahead and PK and I stopped for Jack and Sally from Nightmare Before Christmas.
My favorite thing is always running under the bridge that is the waterway to the Contemporary with the DJ and his big hands encouraging the runners. He never disappoints. We made our way towards the Magic Kingdom and waited just near Main Street for Diana and Tami and then we all ran down Main Street together.
While in Magic Kingdom, we used the real bathrooms, then Diana and Tami ran ahead while PK and I stopped for all of the character stops. We did end up finding each other around mile 10 at Bear Road (aka the water treatment plant). Just in time for Diana to get her picture with Wreck It Ralph! She was disappointed that earlier in the race they weren’t at the location we were used to seeing them at.
On Bear Road there was a section of the race that had vintage ride cars. This was great. There was the ship from 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, a Rocket from Star Jets, a car for Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, Snow White, and a cart from The Skyway. This was one of my favorite picture spots. I heard Rudy announce that this was going to be around mile 10 and it was incredible to see these epic extinct rides!
After this point in the race we were approaching the out and back loop. i was unaware that this out and back was going to be so long. Last year it was a short distance until the turn around. This year, we had to make up some distance due to the construction going on in Hollywood Studios so the extra distance was on a long stretch of road behind Animal Kingdom. I was a little frustrated when I looked ahead and saw how far it went. But I put my head down and trudged forward. Again, we saw Diana and Tami at this part of the course.
We turned into the back of Animal Kingdom and this is where we were at the halfway point in the race. Stay tuned for part 2 of this blog post, the second half!