"I'm going to Disney World!" part 2

My cell phone alarm was going off signaling that it was 2:45 am (1:45 my time). I bolted up and jumped out of bed in the middle-of-night darkness usually reserved for overnight bathroom trips. Trying to be considerate to my hotel roommates and Team Raegan members Jennie and Bridget, I crept into the bathroom and put on a pair of capri tights, a pair of long tights, a pair of sweatpants, a long-sleeved shirt, my Raegan race shirt, a long-sleeved "throwaway" shirt, a pair of gloves, a headband that I skillfully arranged over my ears, a pair of gloves and a tastefully-fashionable garbage bag. I grabbed my breakfast bar and a some Powerade and headed out to meet Runner Wendy and Dan to make our 3:45 bus to the start line of the marathon. Temperature: 20ish degrees. The "good" news was that it was expected to rise to 27 degrees by race time.
We had to be at the corral area 2 hours before race time - I'm still not sure why. The frigid temperatures, combined with the Florida humidity, made for the coldest 20 degree morning I've ever experienced. All around the corral area, runners were congregating in groups in front of tents in an effort to block the wind. No one was paying any attention to the poor DJ who was trying to pump us up for the race. That morning was the first, and likely last, time I ever looked forward to using the porta-potty because it was marginally warmer in there. Side note: have you ever tried using a porta-potty while you were wearing 4 layers of clothing? It ain't easy.

Finally, it was time to make our way to the actual starting line. Little did we know that it was a 32-mile walk from the corral area to the start line. Well, it was actually more like a half-mile, but I still think it should have counted towards our 26.2 miles. The good thing about the trek was that we were finally moving and getting marginally warmer. By the time we got to our assigned area of the start line, I felt like I could ditch my "throwaway" outer layer (and the garbage bag, as attractive as it was). I had slipped 2 activated handwarmer packets into my gloves and they now rested in my palms. They stayed there for 19 miles. (Thanks Colleen!!)

Runner Wendy, Dan and I found a spot to stand for the final minutes and took some pictures. We were starting to feel the excitement. This was Dan's first marathon and Runner Wendy and I had dreamed about running the Disney Marathon for years. Soon we witnessed the fireworks that signaled the start of the race for the first wave of runners. The marathon was underway!! I forgot about my nagging cough and how cold it was and enjoyed the magical moment. Nobody does magic like Disney. Another round of fireworks for our wave and now we were off!

It was still dark, and would be for the first several miles, but we could make out people along road cheering us on. It was very cool. Really cool - after all it was only 27 degrees. We entered Epcot around mile 3, and just before we entered I heard my parents. I spotted them all bundled up waving and yelling for us. That gave me a little burst of energy as we entered the park. We were soon rewarded with the sight of the dark and nearly empty Epcot. How cool! As we ran through the World Showcase, runners around me starting saying hello and goodbye in the language of whichever "country" we were in at the time.

After leaving Epcot, Runner Wendy and I settled into our race pace. We had told Dan to go ahead with his pace a couple miles earlier. The miles between parks were fairly boring. There were bands, cheerleaders and other types of entertainment during these stretches but they couldn't compare with the coolness factor of the miles run in the parks. When we got to our first water stop, Runner Wendy and I both grabbed cups and were surprised to find that what was in the cups was more of a slush than liquid. It had frozen since the time it was poured! As water stops went by, the other danger forming was that the spilled cups of water and Powerade were leaving a coating of ice on the ground surrounding the stops. The heroic race volunteers were busy spreading whatever sand they could find to give us some traction.

Mile 10 1/2 had to be one of my favorite parts of the entire race. At this point, we found ourselves running into the Magic Kingdom. As we were running down Mainstreet, USA, Cinderella's Castle magically rose up in front of us and Disney Cast Members lined the course cheering and clapping for us. Our smiles were huge. We decided we had to pull off to the side and take some pictures.The miles between 11, when we left Magic Kingdom, and 16, when we entered Animal Kingdom, seemed really long. At this point my back started aching. My guess is that the 2 pre-dawn hours standing in a frigid parking lot before the race was now starting to effect my often-fragile back. At the next water stop, I took an additional 2 ibuprofen to add to ones I took before the race. We saw my parents again at mile 12.5 and I really needed the boost they gave me.

Soon after, Runner Wendy and I spotted Mickey Mouse on a golf course so we stopped and got in line to get a picture. We had both said that even if we got no other picture than that of us with Mickey, we'd be happy. We got within about 5 people of the front of the line when we saw Minnie and Goofy coming from over the hill. They were replacing Mickey! Sadly, we didn't make the cut. Sad, discouraged me still nursing a sore back, we trudged on through miles 13, 14 (at which point we needed to do a porta-potty stop - arrgh!) and 15 before we finally arrived at Animal Kingdom.

Entering another park perked us up as we were greeted with more Disney Cast Members and some fun park-themed music. We stopped for picture in front of "Everest" during our trek through the park and I started to feel a little boost of enthusiasm. Even more so when I spotted a medical tent and slathered some Biofreeze on my back. But the best news were yet to come. After we exited the park around mile 18, we spotted Mickey again! We quickly got in line again. We had one person left in front of us when Mickey's handler said they were cutting off the line there because Mickey needed a break. Runner Wendy and I about collapsed right there. We begged the handler not to do this to us again. We must have sounded really pathetic because he looked at us and said, "See that trailer right there? He's just going in for about 60 seconds to get a drink. He'll be back." Relieved and a little embarrassed, Runner Wendy and I sheepishly waited for our turn with the Mouse. Getting that picture fueled our run for another couple miles.
We were well over half done now and we had our photo with Mickey. The next park was we- didn't-know-how-many-miles away. I wasn't sure how Runner Wendy was faring, but the next couple of miles were probably the most boring of all for me. I suspected she wasn't feeling too great because she was suggesting a walk break a bit more frequently than she had earlier in the race. Not that I didn't take her up on the suggestions. At mile 20 I said to Runner Wendy, "We've only 6 miles to go. You'd think we'd need to enter another park soon." The next park was only about 2 miles away but it felt like about 50. Shortly before we hit the next park, Runner Wendy needed another porta-potty stop. Since I was stopping with her, I got in line too and for the 3rd time that morning, peeled away 3 layers of clothing in a smelly box and peed into a hole in the ground.

We entered Disney's Hollywood Studios around mile 22 and it was a welcome sight! By now the parks were open so we were greeted with guests along both sides of the marathon route. They were clapping, cheering, waving hand-made signs and telling us we "could do it." My absolute favorite spectator sign that we spotted that morning said, "If it was easy, we'd be running too." At mile 23, Runner Wendy and I stopped to get a picture with Mike Wysowski from Monsters, Inc. It was a welcome, albeit brief, stop. Soon after Wendy told me to go on without her. Not wanting to leave her, I stuck back a while longer before she told me that I needed to leave her to run my own race at that point.

Running through the remainder of Hollywood Studios, I tried to take in all the atmosphere: the Sorcerer Mickey hat, the "New York" skyline and the growing crowd of people. From there, we went straight to the Boardwalk area. Running around the man-made lake and through the Atlantic City replica was a beautiful and welcome distraction to the growing discomfort in my lower back that had began to creep back into my consciousness. People on both sides of the course saw that I was beginning to struggle and cheered for me by name as they read my shirt.

Luckily we ran straight from the Boardwalk back into Epcot. The boring "between parks" miles were behind us now. As I entered Epcot, I knew I was almost done. Soon, I heard excited voices yelling my name and realized they were coming from Team Raegan members Bridget and Jennie. They had both been sick and I thought they would sleep through the entire race and I couldn't blame them. But they were there! Seeing them gave me the burst of energy I needed to make it through the last mile. As I was finishing mile 26 and in the final stretch, I turned the corner and was greeted by an awesome gospel choir, outfitted in flowing white robes. There was a brief consideration that the frigid race had killed me and I had actually died and gone to heaven. But I came back to reality in time to see the finish line and Mickey waiting for me there.

I managed to find the energy to raise my arms in victory as I crossed the finish line (A picture of which I can purchase for $16.95). We were herded through the finish line area where I received my coveted Mickey Medal. We were then ushered through the photo area where you were photographed with your newly-earned hardware, then through the food tent where I grabbed some fruit and drinks in an attempt replenish some of the 3,895 calories I burned during the race.

My parents greeted me right after exiting the food tent and we proceeded to the family reunion area to wait for Wendy and meet up with Dan, Bridget and Jennie. Everyone found us easily and we chatted in the same cold parking lot where I'd started my day. Before grabbing a bus back to the hotel, we took some photos.
I'd been dreaming of running the Disney Marathon for 8 years and planning for it for almost a year. For 4 months, training for the Disney Marathon had been my life. In that time, I'd lost a lot of sleep, a little weight and a toenail, but I gained one of the best experiences of my life. A lot of times I complained about the early mornings, the long runs and the cold weather but it was all worth it. I learned that I could accomplish my goals, no matter how crazy people tell me they are.

I could not have done this alone. Thanks to my family for their support and encouragement and following me down to Florida in record-breaking cold weather. Thanks to Wendy for joining me on the this adventure (Dan too!). Thanks to Bridget and Jennie for being part of Traveling Team Raegan and providing that needed burst of energy to get me through the last mile and also for helping me celebrate Mickey-style afterward at Disney World. Thanks to Janet and Pam for letting us come in to the office later on some mornings in order to get a 10-mile run in before work. Thanks to Anjanel for designing kick-ass t-shirts that lots of folks in Florida commented on. Thanks to all Team Raegan members for letting me run to your house, for offering me drinks along the way, or for just offering me encouragement when I had so far to go. This would not have been nearly as much fun without you.

And now because we didn't think to do this at the finish line, here's something I just have to add.
Announcer-type Team Raegan person: "Raegan, you've just run a marathon. What are you going to do now?"
Me: "I'm going to Disney World!"

And after eating a piece of tye-dye cheesecake back at the hotel, that's just what I did.