Dopey Adventure, Day 6: The Conclusion

Today was the day. This is where the true test comes to determine if I'm truly Dopey. The marathon. It'll make you laugh. It'll make you cry. It'll make you so delirious you can't remember taking photos that show up on your phone. And now it was time to tackle it.

The alarm went off at 3:00 again and I slid out of bed and changed into my Mickey running outfit. By 3:30, Wendy was knocking on our door to walk with me, Ashley and Paul to the buses. It was really humid - 99% humid to be exact. I grabbed my inhaler and put it on my race belt which contained my gels, salt tabs, Tylenol and pretzels and we were off.

Once we got to the staging area and through security, Wendy went off in search of water and the rest of us headed to the corrals. Again Paul and I were planning to start with Ashley in her corral. We got to our corral and put some garbage bags down on the road to sit on and wait for the start.

Waiting to start.

Soon enough the fireworks were going off and we were on the run. The plan for the marathon was to walk at every water stop to save our legs. We also were giving ourselves permission to stop for whatever photo opps we wanted. Additionally, I had a plan to ride a little roller coaster during the race if the timing worked out like I hoped it would.

Mile 2 - halfway through Dopey!

I told Ashley we needed to stop and commemorate my halfway point of the Dopey Challenge which would occur at mile 2. Luckily there was a Mike Wazowski photo opp there so we got a 2 for 1. We stopped and grabbed a quick pic. Paul's knees were bothering him a bit so we kept an eye out for a medical tent. We found one shortly and its giant drums of Biofreeze.

Getting into the Disney spirit.

Miles 2-5 were fairly boring. It was dark and we were on the highway. There was roadside entertainment but nothing we felt the need to stop for. Finally we arrived in Magic Kingdom. It wasn't as foggy today so we stopped again to get photos with the castle. As usual, running through the Magic Kingdom was fun. There were lots of people there cheering and the music playing really made for a magical backdrop as we ran through the park. All too soon it was over and we were back on the roads.

We had settled into a good rhythm. Run, water stop, quick walk break, scan for character photo opps. At mile 10 1/2 we had a winner - Jafar from one of my favorite Disney movies, Aladdin. We had to stop. Not long after that, we ran by the Contemporary Resort and to our surprise, I heard someone yelling my name. It was Dan. He had come out to cheer. I waved and gave him the thumbs up to know I was doing ok and ran on. Not long after that, we stumbled upon what ended up being probably my favorite group race photo with Mary Poppins, Bert and the penguins.

Had to stop for an Aladdin movie character.

Aren't we adorable?

Now that we'd been running for a while, and having been soaked through with sweat by mile 2, I was worried about some spots on my arm that had started to chafe a bit the day before during the half so I stopped at a medical tent for some Vaseline. It was a mess and my hands were greasy. As I mentioned earlier, you tend to get a little delirious during a marathon and become unable to use common sense. Such as the time I thought pouring water on my Vaseline covered hands would help clean them off. Considering it's used by runners to combat issues with moisture, it wasn't my brightest moment. Needless to say I was excited to see Animal Kingdom coming up so I could find an indoor bathroom stocked with paper towels.

But paper towels weren't the only things I was excited about at the upcoming park. See this is where our best chance to ride a roller coaster resided. Expedition to Everest, one of my favorite Disney rides, was located right on the course. As long as the park was open and the line wasn't too long, we could totally do this. I checked my watch as we came to the road leading to the back entrance to the park. Ten minutes to park open. This. Might. Just. Work.

 I have NO recollection of taking this photo.

Right before entering the park, around mile 12, we saw Timon from Lion King and agreed we needed to stop for a photo. Afterwards, I shared with Paul and Ashley that we were probably going to be able to make the roller coaster work. Paul seemed a little suspicious of riding a roller coaster during a marathon. He's a fast runner - the idea of doing something like that was a completely foreign concept. But to give him credit, he was all in this experience for Ashley so he was game.

By the time we got into the park, it had just opened to the public and soon I could hear the screaming coming from the vicinity of the Everest ride, telling me it was up and running. As soon as the mountain peak came into sight, I pointed it out to Ashley saying, "THAT'S where we're going." We got to the ride entrance and I pointed around the corner to the single rider line, which generally goes faster. We exited the race course and jumped in line. There we ran into a group of runners holding laminated cards and it occurred to me that they were playing marathon bingo. They showed me one of their playing cards, which looked super fun. While we waited in line, we all helped them cross off another item - singing a Disney song with strangers.

Waiting in line for the roller coaster portion of our marathon.

Best. Race. Photo. Ever.

These folks had this awesome sign just outside Animal Kingdom.

Ashley, Paul and I all got on to the ride and were off and back on the course in pretty short order. We loved it! Paul even admitted that he was glad we took the time for a ride. Having accomplished my unofficial goal, I was in a pretty good mood, which was good because now we were getting to probably the most boring part of the course. The next several miles were fairly uneventful. During this stretch we stopped at a few more medical tents so our trio could load up on a combination of Biofreeze and Vaseline for various trouble spots.

Finally, around mile 17 we found ourselves getting ready to enter the ESPN Wild World of Sports Complex. Many people hate this part of the course. They find it pretty boring. I didn't necessarily find it boring but I did find it long. That part seemed to go on and on and on and on. At this point my feet were starting to hurt. Running for 4 straight days and 39 previous miles had taken its toll. The good part about this section was that I found my pal Mickey there and he had a fairly short line so we stopped for more photos. Finally we found ourselves exiting the park.

Mickey brightened up the ESPN section of the race.

We had just hit mile 20, when I hear Ashley behind me calling my name. Her breathing was ragged. Something was wrong. Out of nowhere she was having an anxiety attack. She knew that she just needed someone to talk her through it so I described to her what we were going to experience next and how after a couple more miles she will have run further than she ever had before and we'd celebrate. Paul kept reminding her to take deep breaths and we took turns trying to make her laugh. By mile marker 21, she was feeling good enough to take a photo with mile marker 21, even though she had a bit of forced smile. But she posted the photo on Facebook anyway because she knew how ridiculous it all was. She never did lose her sense of humor. I assured her that strange things happen to people at mile 20.

Things were going well....and then mile 22 happened. Out of nowhere I started having trouble breathing. Asthma attack. Ugh. Honestly, given the humidity, it was pretty surprising that I'd gone this far without any trouble. I slowed to a walk, grabbed my inhaler and took some puffs while Ashley ran ahead to grab me something to drink at the next aid station. It took me about a half mile for my breathing to get back to normal so I could start running again. I so was glad to have Ashley and Paul there to distract me while I was having trouble breathing.

Though my breathing got back to normal, I never did really feel back to normal. I couldn't put my finger on what the problem was but I just didn't feel good. Usually, miles 21-23 are bad for me but I rebound for the last couple. Unfortunately that didn't happen this time. We were getting to one of my favorite parts of the race. The end section of the race goes from Hollywood Studios to the Boardwalk to Epcot and then the finish. I had been looking forward to it but now I felt awful.

There were plenty of photo opportunities at this point so we stopped for a few fun ones. As we entered Hollywood Studios, they were handing out chocolate. It was glorious. Then as we passed spectators, more and more often they had tubs of food for us. It was great because at this point, I didn't have the energy to unzip my race belt to grab my own. Near the Boardwalk, I spotted a woman and her child holding a Sam's Club sized tub of pretzels. I grabbed one and put it in my mouth. I wasn't able to chew it so I just sucked the salt off and eventually spit it out.

Boo!

I love Sully.

Finally we got to Epcot. I was NOT feeling good. At one point I saw Dan again. He was excitedly yelling that I was DOING IT. I could tell he was really excited for me. It gave me a little bit of a needed boost. Ashley had to stop for a bathroom break but I was afraid if I stopped with her I would throw up and all I kept thinking was "I don't want to throw up until after I finish." Ashley darted off and Paul stuck with me. He could tell I was hurting so he kept talking to me, asking me things like "Can you see it? Can you see your Dopey medal? It's so close." All I could say was "I think I'm going to be sick."

With a mile to go, I was determined to finish strong(ish). I picked up speed and used everything I had in that last mile. Soon, I see Ashley had caught up with us. We turn out of the park and see the gospel choir. Seeing them is often an emotional experience at this late point in the race. I was just glad to see them because I knew I was in the final stretch of my 48.6 mile journey. Soon the goal I'd been working towards for almost a year was going to be accomplished. I couldn't quite comprehend that just yet. Maybe I still haven't.

All three of us finished together. As soon as I crossed the finish line and stopped running, an unexpected thing happened - my legs went all wobbly. I thought I was fine but apparently I was more wobbly than I thought and Paul caught me as I was about to fall. I felt fine but for some reason my legs weren't working like I thought they should. A sharp-eyed medic spotted us and came over to ask if I was ok. I said yes and refused her offer to go to the medical tents. She was super friendly and humored me but deftly directed me to a bench and gave me some ice. Actually, the ice felt pretty good so I sat there a minute and soaked up the glorious coolness.

Ashley snapped this pic. I told her not to let my mom see it until I sent her my "I'm alive" photo.

I was ready to get up soon and get through the finish line area. The three of us walked on and went through our respective Goofy and Dopey finish areas to have our identity checked before getting our additional medals. I had done it. Dopey was completed. I could rest now.

We took some photos and made our way back to the bus pick up area. By the time we got back to the resort, I had a message from Dan that Wendy had finished but was in the medical tent with really bad blood blisters. She had not enjoyed the marathon much at all.

We did it!

Mission Accomplished.

Back at the resort I was still not feeling good. I felt sick for about 2 more hours but after that I was good. I was expecting some major soreness, figuring running almost 50 miles in the last 4 days would take its toll. I kept waiting for the soreness to come. It never did. Not that afternoon after I rested in bed for a while. Not that evening when we went for drinks. Not in the middle of the night when I got up to use the bathroom. Frankly, it was weird.

That night I went for celebratory drinks with Paul and Ashley. Ashley had finished her first (and she says last - we'll see) marathon. We headed to Disney Springs and celebrated at Splittsville. After drinks, I left them and headed to the Polynesian Resort for a late dinner with Dan and a limping Wendy at Ohana. I think I ate my weight in bread pudding while watching patrons being led in a hula dance.

So I did it. But I didn't do it alone. I had so many people on this journey with me. Obviously, I had Dan and Wendy and Ashley and Paul. But I also had my family who ran and biked along with me on training runs and supported me even if they were not crazy about me doing this whole thing. I had friends like Lisa who sent me encouraging quotes. I had friends like Karin and Kristen and Amy and Jess and Barb and Dawn and Cheryl and Laurie and Jill and Kelly. I had Fleet Feet training program alums like Jeffrey and Jane and Angie and Barb and Erin. They ran with me at the crack of dawn or before dawn. They ran with me in the heat, in the cold, in the rain and once even in a blizzard. I had friends like Patrick who handed down his Dopey doll and cheered me from afar. I had friends like Jennie who helped me with my costumes. I had my PT Josh and his assistant Lauren who helped me get to the starting line injury free (and tortured me with planks, ASTYM, dry needling and some sort of electroshock therapy). I had friends who left me messages, sent me food. I had all these people and more.

When I had the crazy idea to do Dopey, I said it was a "one and done" thing. Dopey is expensive and exhausting. It requires a lot of time, training and tremendous lack of sleep. It was a goal and I knocked it off my bucket list. And now it's done.

During the week I was in Florida, I was texting back and forth with my friend Karin who had done Dopey the year before with our friend Cheryl. She wanted updates on how everything was going. Before I even left Disney, Karin sent me a text saying her and Cheryl had decided to do the Dopey Challenge again in 2018. And then my eyes rested on the last line....

"Are you in?"