Well I have to say that the Disney Marathon was absolutely
magical! My family arrived in Orlando the Saturday before the race and enjoyed the parks for a few days. I was extremely anxious to get there to join in all of the fun.
On my first day there (Thursday) we went to Epcot, which I have to say was kind of boring. I hated going to that park when I was little and now I remember why. The highlight of the day was definitely the beer! We went to pick up our race packets that afternoon as well. The expo was nicely done and already super crowded.
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| Brayden with Mexican Donald the Duck |
Ryan arrived on Thursday night and we devoted Friday and Saturday to the Magic Kingdom. Bradyen loved the park and even road the Thunder Mountain roller coaster. It was pretty intense for a 4 year old. He said he liked it but questioned why it had to go so fast.
We only did a half day at the park on Saturday so Chrissy and I could take a nap in the afternoon. The race started at 5:30am, which meant we had to leave the hotel at 3:30am (pretty much the middle of the night). But we went back to the park on Saturday night for the parade and fireworks.
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| Pop pop took some pretty decent pictures even with Brady on his shoulders |
Sunday was race day! As instructed we got there really early, which was not really necessary, but it was nice that we didn't have to rush around once we arrived. We had plenty of time to eat our PB&J's and go to the bathroom before taking the 1 mile + walk to the start line. They delayed the start for each corral, and luckily we were in corral B, so we didn't have to wait too long to cross the start line. They shot off fireworks at the start of each corral, which was pretty cool.
We breezed through the first 10 miles or so before Chrissy's knee started to hurt. We knew it would be an issue. She had to stop and stretch a few times throughout the race. She was in a lot of pain, so we ended up walking through most of the water stations and at certain points along the course when she needed a break from the pain.
The course was great, we ran through all of the parks and all around the Disney property. There were definitely some points of the race that were on boring back roads, but Disney did a great job with make sure there was entertainment through the less exciting parts of the race. We didn't stop to take any pictures with the characters, not that we were in any rush...but we didn't want to keep everyone waiting too long for us at the finish line.
The last part of the race was through Epcot. My favorite part was seeing a couple stop for a beer and a frozen drink to bring through the finish line and a guy that bought a funnel cake to eat while crossing the finish.
The red tops and black skirts were definitely a hit. We got a lot of cheers from the spectators for the "Minnie's". Our official finish time was 5:31:42. Obviously not a new PR, but that was not the goal. I just wanted to have fun. I will post some of the pictures taken on the course later. They are hysterical...I look like I was having the time of my life. I would 100% recommend this race and might consider doing the Goofy Challenge next year which is a Half Marathon on Saturday and a full Marathon on Sunday.
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