I did it! I completed my very first 1/2 marathon! It was an early morning, I had to be there no later than 4:30 am, so I made sure I was there earlier than that and I'm glad I did, traffic was a mess.
You spend a lot of time just waiting around, even when you get into your corral. I was in corral E and I think I ended up starting 45 minutes after the first runner. It was cool though because the Fairy Godmother does the countdown and there's fireworks that go off.
I'm not gonna lie, that first 5K was rough because it's all on EPCOT Center Drive, which is a whole lot of nothing. When you get down onto World Drive there is a little bit more to look at. They had a pirate ship with the characters from Pirates of the Caribbean, all the princes (including Flynn Rider) and I think some other things that I seriously cannot remember right now.
The next mile or so was through the Magic Kingdom parking lot, through the transportation and ticket center where these Japanese drummers were playing. They were really awesome and you could hear them as you were enter the transportation center.
The next leg was to go under the water bridge (awesome going downhill) then back up the hill (not so awesome) and into the Magic Kingdom. The DJ on the bridge was pretty hilarious and was saying things like, "I've never had this many women run at me at one time" and "There are three men in spandex jumping on trampolines when you get up the hill, if that's not motivation I don't know what is ladies!"
My favorite part of the run was going through Magic Kingdom. It was also the quickest part of the run...funny how that happens. At the castle they had trumpeters playing which was so cool and there is nothing like running through the castle and looking down Main Street. The route then ran us through Liberty Square and Frontierland.
On the way out of Frontierland we got to run through where they stage the parades. They had a couple of the floats out and some characters. Since Disney has it's own fire station and one of them happens to be next to the Magic Kingdom they were nice enough to come out and support us ladies. I am also happy to report that Reedy Creek sent out their finest, not their oldest like when Lani and I were stuck on Space Mountain.
World Center Drive again was a haul, it's just a long stretch of road, not much to see. Thankfully at this point they were putting up signs for us to read and there was a hot air balloon to look at.
By mile 10 I was pumped because the end was near, I was also not so pumped because of the on ramp I'd have to make my way up. The ramp wasn't as bad as I thought, but seriously at 10 miles, it's a little rough. I had to laugh though because one of the groups running by me started yelling "That's our exit!!! That's our exit!!!". So true sisters....so true....
The last 3 miles seemed to take forever, I don't know if that's because it was mainly through a parking lot where you could see the finish line and then had that internal debate of well if I just run across the parking lot would they really know? Of course they would...
Right before the finish they had a gospel choir singing, it was awesome to see them because you knew around the corner was the finish. Sadly they were not singing "Oh Happy Day" or Handel's Messiah, I seriously would have paid them to sing either at this point.
Scott was at the finish line (he had to work) so he was able to snag this shot of me crossing. The time you see is the time from the gun start, my official time was 3 hours 29 minutes and 59 seconds.
After you run across they give you your shiny medal, and let me tell you it was so worth it to get this pretty little thing!
A friend of mine told me before I ran the race that I would go into it as one woman and come out as a total different one, and she was so right. There is no better feeling than tackling something you never thought you could do. I cannot wait for my next half in October with Scott. I really want to improve my time and of course enjoy the time with Scott. Now if you'll excuse me I need to go pop some Motrin and stretch out my muscles.
You spend a lot of time just waiting around, even when you get into your corral. I was in corral E and I think I ended up starting 45 minutes after the first runner. It was cool though because the Fairy Godmother does the countdown and there's fireworks that go off.
I'm not gonna lie, that first 5K was rough because it's all on EPCOT Center Drive, which is a whole lot of nothing. When you get down onto World Drive there is a little bit more to look at. They had a pirate ship with the characters from Pirates of the Caribbean, all the princes (including Flynn Rider) and I think some other things that I seriously cannot remember right now.
The next mile or so was through the Magic Kingdom parking lot, through the transportation and ticket center where these Japanese drummers were playing. They were really awesome and you could hear them as you were enter the transportation center.
The next leg was to go under the water bridge (awesome going downhill) then back up the hill (not so awesome) and into the Magic Kingdom. The DJ on the bridge was pretty hilarious and was saying things like, "I've never had this many women run at me at one time" and "There are three men in spandex jumping on trampolines when you get up the hill, if that's not motivation I don't know what is ladies!"
My favorite part of the run was going through Magic Kingdom. It was also the quickest part of the run...funny how that happens. At the castle they had trumpeters playing which was so cool and there is nothing like running through the castle and looking down Main Street. The route then ran us through Liberty Square and Frontierland.
On the way out of Frontierland we got to run through where they stage the parades. They had a couple of the floats out and some characters. Since Disney has it's own fire station and one of them happens to be next to the Magic Kingdom they were nice enough to come out and support us ladies. I am also happy to report that Reedy Creek sent out their finest, not their oldest like when Lani and I were stuck on Space Mountain.
World Center Drive again was a haul, it's just a long stretch of road, not much to see. Thankfully at this point they were putting up signs for us to read and there was a hot air balloon to look at.
By mile 10 I was pumped because the end was near, I was also not so pumped because of the on ramp I'd have to make my way up. The ramp wasn't as bad as I thought, but seriously at 10 miles, it's a little rough. I had to laugh though because one of the groups running by me started yelling "That's our exit!!! That's our exit!!!". So true sisters....so true....
The last 3 miles seemed to take forever, I don't know if that's because it was mainly through a parking lot where you could see the finish line and then had that internal debate of well if I just run across the parking lot would they really know? Of course they would...
Right before the finish they had a gospel choir singing, it was awesome to see them because you knew around the corner was the finish. Sadly they were not singing "Oh Happy Day" or Handel's Messiah, I seriously would have paid them to sing either at this point.
Scott was at the finish line (he had to work) so he was able to snag this shot of me crossing. The time you see is the time from the gun start, my official time was 3 hours 29 minutes and 59 seconds.
After you run across they give you your shiny medal, and let me tell you it was so worth it to get this pretty little thing!
A friend of mine told me before I ran the race that I would go into it as one woman and come out as a total different one, and she was so right. There is no better feeling than tackling something you never thought you could do. I cannot wait for my next half in October with Scott. I really want to improve my time and of course enjoy the time with Scott. Now if you'll excuse me I need to go pop some Motrin and stretch out my muscles.
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5 comments:
Congrats again on the race!!! I love hearing what you had to "entertain you" during the run. I have never run such a long race, but that's got to have been an amazing experience.
WTG! Sounds like a Disney Half is the way to go... The longest I've ever run is 5K, but I would love to try to run a half in the next year or so! You're such an inspiration!
You go girl!! Amazing job, and congrats on completing your first ever 1/2 marathon!! =)
That is so awesome!!! Congratulations! You rock!
Congrats! That's awesome!
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