I'm wondering if photographers weren't pulled off the course because of temperature and wind. I saw at least 1 abandoned green tent used by the photographers. And there were many places where I had seen photogs in the past, but no was was there for the marathon.
You know, now that you mention it, I do remember seeing at least one empty green tent at some point during the race.
Maybe you're right!
I hope you didn't run with your phone in your hand the whole time either. Talk about arm soreness.
I did up until the halfway point since I had those throwaway leggings covering my tights! I'm just really strong, okay?
But in all seriousness, I did carry my phone for most of the race. It didn't really bother me that much - I can't carry it in the Spibelt because it'll bounce like crazy. And I had one of those silicone Apple cases on it, so it was a pain to slide into and out of my tights pocket. Now I have a different phone case and it is much easier to get out of the pocket, but for the race it was easier to carry it in my hand since I knew I wanted to take lots of pictures. Eventually I was able to fit the case in my Spibelt and the phone could go into the pocket way more easily after that.
And speaking of Bob's Barricades, there were two people out there running as Bob's Pace Team dressed up as cones.
Um, best costume ever!!
Oh good point. I remember seeing an abandoned tent as well.
Hi! I'm one of those that have read many of your trip reports, but never commented. Thought I should start.
Very inspiring, by the way.
Hi! Thanks for reading and commenting!
I may have seen you (okay, I did) in the corral for both the 5 & 10ks, but was too bashful to say 'hi!' especially since I haven't commented before.
I definitely get the
bashful feeling - if you see me again, definitely say hi!
During races, I'm not usually one to stop for character pictures, mainly because I don't want to wait in line. Darkwing Duck may be the only one I would wait for, and last year they had cut off the line during the 10k because of the rain.
I saw Clairabelle (I think Horace was leaving for a break), and I actually would have stopped, but I was on the opposite side of the road when I saw her, and it was too difficult to get across. I did make my first character stop ever during a run for Meeko (no line - woohoo!!).
The character pics are, like, 90-95% of why I do these races!
I don't have any Marathon pictures before Animal Kingdom. I think at a few photograph spots (probably in MK) people next to me ended up cutting in front of me, so I'm sure my bib was blocked for those.
OMG, I had one of those during this race. I have a picture of it in my next update.
I ran next to Bob's Pace Team for a while! I think I overheard a conversation they were having with another runner about "working there".
The big day!!
You did Dopey in 2015, right? Wasn't that year also cold? You should be used to it! (Although ... I'm guessing it wasn't as cold as this year. Plus, I think in 2015 the 5K was the coldest race, and surviving a 5K in the cold is way easier than surviving a marathon)
Yes, and you're right - the 5K was the coldest day (similar conditions to the marathon). 10K was a little better. Half marathon was perfect weather and marathon was a little warm. Again, I much prefer that over a heat advisory!!
Good call using people as shields from the cold!
Also ... I think I'm going to take lessons on throwaway clothing from you. I'm trying to figure out what to do if I ever end up in a cold race ... I definitely have some old hooded sweatshirts that I can (only slightly reluctantly) part with, and since my head and neck are always cold, that's definitely a good thing to bring!
HOOD - cannot stress that enough!! It was a lifesaver!
This hoodie was from my rec diving team in high school and I've been "retired" from diving for 10+ years now, so I was okay with letting go of it! It served me well that morning!
I love that you channeled Laurie Hernandez to help get you through. NY/NJ area represent! (That is literally the only time I will ever say anything nice about New Jersey). Sometimes the mental struggle is the hardest part of running, and it's important to remember that you DO got this!
Yes! Gotta drown out the negative thoughts!
Is it just me or is the mile 7 marker clock not working? Too cold for the clock, I guess ...
It's not just you.
Come on, clock, you have ONE job...
Also, cone alley sounds like some sort of running torture device.
Um - IT IS. Here's a pic (from 2015 marathon). The one good thing I can say about it is that if you're cold, this is where you'll warm up! Because you're crammed in from all sides by alll of the other people!
I love your character pictures - excellent stops! Big Bad Wolf is awesome - I don't know that I've ever seen pictures of him out before (although I tend to miss these things sometimes), that's a good score!
I don't think I've seen him out either! We did meet the 3 Little Pigs in 2012, so BBW was a first for me!
I'm hoping that if Pandora or whatever they're calling it opens on time that would replace at least some of the out and back.
That would be awesome!! I'm curious to see what the course will look like for, say, the 30th anniversary marathon in 2023 or whatever. Seems like they're getting a lot of possibilities for new course routes!
You might have run right by us!!! We had the Keys to the Kingdom tour booked for 8am that day (which ended up actually being 9am- that's a long story!). We got there super early for fear of having trouble with the marathon traffic- which ended up being no issue at all of course!
Ah, I bet you were there then! Glad you didn't have any traffic issues!
Loving all your race photos! Did you just use your phone to take them?
Thanks! Yep, it's my iPhone 6S for anything that's not a PhotoPass picture (i.e. the ones where I'm running).
Oh man, it seemed like it went on forever. It seriously took me like 15 minutes to complete this out & back - I was keeping the pace pretty relaxed today but MAN! This was another change to the course to make up the mileage we would be missing with the DHS construction - I was not a fan of this change!
