WDW Marathon (Or How I Forced My Body to Move in a Forward Motion For Over 7 Hours)

On January 11th, 2015 I did something that I still think is pretty crazy. I ran my first full marathon. Well, walked and jogged. Either way, I completed it. And it was one emotional roller coaster. I was joined by Kristin and Courtney, for which I am so glad because I probably wouldn't have even made it to the starting line without them.

The day started at 3am. I got up after getting maybe 2 hours of sleep and began to prepare. We made boiled eggs the night before in preparation, and Mike tells me that the sounds of cold boiled eggs being peeled sounds like spiders crawling down the walls. Fun fact! I dressed, double checked my camelbak. Triple checked it. Decided to pack some pretzels and counted down the minutes to getting on the bus.

Swag

Disney provided shuttles to the beginning of the race, which was awesome. We saw the line of cars dropping off runners and I was so glad we didn't have to deal with that. The bus left our hotel at 4am, went to another hotel, made some wrong turns, then finally dropped us off. It was 4:30. It was dark. It was chilly. I felt wide awake!

Marathoners!

I didn't bring a throwaway shirt because I figured that it being Florida I wouldn't need one. Wrong! It was really chilly in those early hours and I looked on in envy to each runner draped in an aluminum blanket. So, if you're planning on running a race with such an early start, bring something. Anything! Also, bring money. Disney had lovely hot coffee available...for sale. What jerks!

A little after 5 we decided to head to the corrals. It was a schlep. From the pre-race party to the corrals was about a mile. The corrals were roomy, though (at least back where I was) and there were plenty of portapotties. After one last hug, Courtney and Kristin headed to their section (K) and I headed back to mine (N). There were huge screens set up that showed movie trailers and the party going on at the actual start line. I was so far back I couldn't even see the start.

At 6am the wheelchair racers started. What was pretty cool was that as each corral had their start, they set fireworks off. Everybody got their magic moment. Also, as each letter corral approached the start line, the DJ played songs starting with that letter. I can't for the life of me remember what songs they played for my section, but I remember finding it amusing.

A full hour after the first racers started, I finally got to approach the start. I was chilly and ready to get this show on the road. Everything kind of felt surreal. I couldn't believe I was actually there about to take on this massive thing. And just like that, fireworks were set off and Mickey sent us on our way.

The first few miles flew by. At the first portapotty stop people were already lined up. I couldn't even fathom stopping that early in the race! There were also a few character stops before we reached the Magic Kingdom and those lines were even longer. I ended up not doing any of the character stops because I knew time was going to be an issue for me. They were fun to look at, though.

Welcome to the Magic Kingdom! Now run 3 more miles for the castle!

So I completely forgot that even once you think you're getting close to the Magic Kingdom, you're nowhere close. We ran along the roads leading up to the park but it wasn't until almost the 6 mile mark that we even entered the park. We ran down Main Street and just as the sun was rising, I got to see the castle for the first time. It was actually pretty magical. In front of the castle there was barely a line for pictures, so I decided to wait and get my pic taken. I'm glad I did. A girl in line and I traded phones so we could snap pics of each other. It was really sweet of her.

Once in a Lifetime Experience

 We ran through Frontierland and just like that, we were out of the park. Next was the Speedway. It's  probably really cool if you're into car racing, which I'm not, so for me it was just running in one big circle. Getting in and out was really congested and everybody was forced to walk. It was halfway through the Speedway that my calves started cramping up. I expected it as I have yet to solve that problem. I drank my water, had some Gu Chomps and began my run/walk. I was so glad to get out of that portion.

It was back onto the roads, which really were a downer. They try to spruce it up with fun facts on the sides of the road, but there is nothing going on. At one point you pass their "water treatment facility" which is a fancy way of saying sewage plant. And boy did it smell. We finally made it to Animal Kingdom and I knew Mike and Kristin's family would be waiting somewhere to cheer us on. They ended up being in the parking lot and were all screams and claps and it was really awesome to see them. I ran the whole time I saw them because they just lifted my spirits and as soon as they were out of sight, I began to walk again. This is where things started to go down hill, and I'm not talking geographically.

"Guys, I'm still alive!"

Soon after I passed them I reached the 13.1 mark. Halfway! I started walking and noticed that the bottoms of my feet were beginning to hurt. Not in a muscle way but in a "Oh my God, I'm getting massive blisters" sort of way. I had never gotten blisters in all of my training. The bottoms of my feet had never been an issue. All I can think is that the day before I had worn sandals and those must have rubbed the wrong way. What a horrible day for this to start happening!

It soon because incredibly painful to run so I just walked as fast as I could. Other walkers were passing me and that became disheartening, but I hadn't gone that far to quit. I was sticking to it!

Roads, roads, and more roads brought us to the ESPN World of Sports, which was really no fun. They need to get the 26.2 miles in somehow, but this part just sucked. It was also here, at mile 19, that I hit my wall. I was limping at this point and I felt just absolutely horrible. They had us go around a baseball diamond and I was like, "Is this real life right now?" I started crying and I decided that at the next aid station I was going to give up. I sent the following text to Mike, "At mile 19. Everything hurts." To which he replied, "Keep going. You're almost done. You're doing great." And just like that, I knew I had to finish. We was right. I only had 7 miles to go. Only...

This was actually pretty funny, because it was true

I continued my limp walk on the road toward Hollywood Studios. It was somewhere along this road that a total stranger came up to me and said, "Not to alarm you, but I just saw the balloon ladies." Who the f--k were the balloon ladies?

Disney tells you that you have 7 hours to complete the marathon. What they really mean is that you have 7 hours from the time the last people cross the start line. And those last people are known as the balloon ladies because they wear, you guessed it, balloons. Nice big Mickey balloons that you can see from far off. These women can walk a marathon in 7 hours. If they pass you, you're out.

Rumors started to fly through the crowd. Literally. I'm not making this up. Stranger man told me that he had heard that if you made it to Hollywood Studios, you were safe. Another man chimed in that it was the Boardwalk hotel. Why were these men even talking to me? I couldn't even see the balloon ladies. This somehow made my panic even worse.

I made it into Hollywood Studios with the threat of the balloon ladies looming over my head. I started to run and I think at this point my body was numb to the pain because running didn't feel too bad. I'd run, look over my shoulder, run some more. It was like I was in Jurassic park and the balloon ladies were the velociraptors. As we ran out of Hollwood Studios, the crowd passed under an overpass and began to cheer. Apparently this was the invisible line to cross to be safe from the balloon lady cutoff.  I cheered myself. I cried. The end was really near. The balloon ladies passed me and told me I was safe. I cried some more. A woman next to me started having a fullblown meltdown. That stopped my crying. Things were just getting weird at this point.

I entered EPCOT and had 1.3 miles to go and it was the longest part of the whole race. The park was packed at this point and people watched in horror as the wounded warriors I was with (that's how I began to think of those of us in the back of the pack) dragged our weary bodies through all of the countries. At this point my fellow runners go chatty. Maybe the adrenaline kicked in. One woman told me I was limping because I had kicked so much ass. Another woman told me how she had run the whole Dopey Challenge (5k, 10k, 1/2 and full marathons in 4 days) with two broken toes. The end was so close I could taste it.

I'm smiling, but I'm crying...

As soon as I saw the finish line, I began running. Well, limping in a jaunty style. There was no way I was just walking over that finish line. And then it was done. I crossed the finish line. A man put a medal over my neck and it was all over. And then I started crying again, because of course I did. I had completely lost control of my body and my emotions. My feet felt like they were each one big blister. The heat and humidity had started to kick it up in full gear. I had used two portapotties that had run out of toilet paper and had gotten creative (bye-bye cool cloth from mile 21). And I had finished.

How was I still smiling at that point?

My first (last?) marathon took me 7:24:24. Yeah, I took more than the allotted 7 hours, but oh well. My one goal was to finish and that's what I did. And now I have that forever under my belt. I don't know if another one is in my future. I think that 1/2's might be where I stop from now on, but you never know.

One of the selling points for this race is that you get to run through all of the parks, but you're only in each of them for about a mile. And even when you're in them, you're not really enjoying them. We barely saw anything in Hollywood Studios, just people gawking at us. The crowds were enthusiastic, though, and some of the signs were hysterical. Also, looking at the costumes some of these people ran in was greatly entertaining.

One of my favorite parts of the whole weekend was going to the bar the next day with my medal on and sharing this conspiratorial  nod and a congratulations with my fellow runners. It didn't matter how long it took me. I finished and now I'll forever be in the 26.2 club.

(Epilogue: the next day Mike and I went to Universal and he pushed me around in a wheelchair. I don't even feel a little bit guilty about it.)