Race Report!

I have been wanting to write my race report, but needed to wait until the photos were ready....b/c this time, I went a little crazy taking pictures with all of the various Characters along the route :) My second half-marathon is in the books and I am now debating doing the full next year!

Report
We woke up in the middle of the night...2:30 am. Yes, you heard me right. They start the race super early b/c they close the park down and want to ensure they can clean up and open in time for guests at normal hours. We gathered at the bus stop and waited for the bus to take us to the starting area. (first picture: Katie, Coach Jim, me, and Anne; second picture: my fabulous mentee group! Katie and Team Jeanne's Peeps!)

After a 40 minute wait, we finally got on the busses. We arrived at Epcot parking lot at around 4:15. We then made the "great migration" towards the corrals. This was literally a 25 minute walk to the actuall starting line. See, there are 27,000 people participating in this race, so there is a lot of herding activities :) I had been through it before so knew what to expect. The weather was so much better than last year, so the waiting around for another hour wasn't too bad.

At around 6:00 am, we were off! This is where it got tricky for me. Immediately my shins and right knee were not in a good place. I knew that my shins would eventually get better, but my knee was concerning me. I kept moving as best I could and just hoped for the best. At around mile 5, we started heading into the Magic Kingdom....and this is where my picture taking extravaganza began...

As you can see, I had some fun :) Yes, I did actually run most of the time and here is a shot to prove it:

From miles 6-13, I felt much better and was able to just enjoy the sites and the race. I ran with my coaches at various points (Jim- in the Magic Kingdom, Colin - around mile 8 and mile 10, I think?) That is always really helpful! As I approached the finish in Epcot, I got emotional again. It is just amazing to think that I raised over $2,500 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society AND I completed 13.1 miles. They have a gospel choir right before the finish line and that is such a wonderful motivator to just get across the line! My time was nothing to write home about, but that wasn't the point for me...I just wanted to have fun and enjoy the race. Which I did!


I was also able to enjoy the many Disney parks throughout the weekend and feel like I got the true experience! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you to everyone who supported me - whether through a donation to LLS, words of encouragement, or training with me this season.


Who is in for doing it with me next year?