SUNDAY 3RD NOVEMBER 2019
PATRIOTIC MICKEY HALF MARATHON AND TWO COURSE CHALLENGE
By this stage the 2:30am wake up calls are getting a bit old and a bit tedious but I'm up again at 2:30am with everything laid out and ready to go including my regular breakfast of a banana and oat bar to have in the corals as I wait. Today I'm in coral E which is I think a pretty good starting coral considering I really didn't have a great POT. About 2 weeks before we left Australia I ran in the Melbourne 10km race and produced a POT that would have gotten me into coral D but oh well.
The line for the bus this morning was much smaller than the previous 2 mornings and I was on the first bus out of POP. I admit to sneaking in a quick snooze. Last night's sleep, and every night for that matter, was very broken thanks to groups returning to their rooms late and insisting on screaming at each other across the courtyard or yelling down the outside corridors at midnight and 1am. A very frustrating experience and we'll really rethink our accomodation choices for future trips, especially if participating in races.
Upon arriving I headed for the character meet and greet lines and luckily found several fellow lizards from my running group who had all joined the line just prior to my arrival. Half way through the line we all decided to bunch up together to get a group photo which I'm sure everyone in line appreciated.
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Jennie G, on Flickr
And then we were off to our regular meeting spot for the group photo
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Jennie G, on Flickr
Today I went costume-less. The goal was to be comfortable and I felt a little under prepared coming into these races so I didn't want to complicate things worrying about a costume or having to remove and dump parts of a costume mid race. Wearing my lizard running shirt also made it really easy to identify each other and find one another on course.
And we're back to the starting chute!
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Jennie G, on Flickr
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Jennie G, on Flickr
I loved how every morning there were slightly different fireworks for wave starts. It kept things fun. This morning it was actually cold!! Luckily I had bought rain ponchos in case of rain but they also act as a great wind break for cold weather. A lot of runners had done similar with garbage bags or throw away sweats, mylar or fleece blankets. The starting chute looked like a clothing graveyard but it's nice to know that Disney collects all of the discarded clothing and fleece blankets to donate.
So off we set and again I was alone and just taking it all in. I stopped at the first character stop which was Burt & Mary!
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Jennie G, on Flickr
And soon enough I was at the 1 mile marker
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Jennie G, on Flickr
Somewhere between mile marker 1 and 2 a funny thing happened. As I approached a very long meet and greet line (which I'd decided to skip) with my headphones on and a tune pumping out, out of the corner of my eye I see people wildly waving and shouting. At first I thought they were waving at someone behind me until I realised they were all wearing lizard shirts!! A lot of my fellow lizards had started in coral A & B today, so I didn't expect to see them at all on course but here they were, waving me down wildly to join them in the meet and greet queue. Honestly I could have cried! As we waited in the queue my fellow fast lizards explained that what they typically do during a race is that the faster starting groups take off and hold places in lines for the runners starting in slower corals. That way we all get those wonderful meet and greet opportunities. I hadn't realised this previously but OMG it made my experience truely special and we stuck with one another for much of the race. The group also laughed and said I needed to invest in some Aftershokz so that I could hear them screaming at me in future races LOL!!
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Jennie G, on Flickr
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Jennie G, on Flickr
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Jennie G, on Flickr
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There was quite a long stretch between mile 2 and the entry point at Animal Kingdom with no character stops but having my fellow lizards to pace off was wonderful. As we approached Animal Kingdom we found quite a few stops
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Jennie G, on Flickr
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Jennie G, on Flickr
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Jennie G, on Flickr
HELLO ANIMAL KINGDOM!! Your tree looks lovely in the pre dawn light!!
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Jennie G, on Flickr
My very favourite ride in all of WDW is Expedition Everest and as we wound our way through the park I took what might be one of my all time favourite photos of the sun breaking over Everest
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Jennie G, on Flickr
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Jennie G, on Flickr
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Jennie G, on Flickr
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Jennie G, on Flickr
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Jennie G, on Flickr
As we hit the carpark of Animal Kingdom and mile 6, I hit a wall. Don't be fooled by the smiles in the selfies. Everyone does but this next stretch between Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios was probably the worst of the race.
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Jennie G, on Flickr
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Jennie G, on Flickr
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Jennie G, on Flickr
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Jennie G, on Flickr
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Jennie G, on Flickr
Ok so I had to do the typical tourist thing and point out the mile marker with my home country. I looked for this one every race and was so excited every time to see it!
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Jennie G, on Flickr
As we reached mile 10 I was so happy to see Tower of Terror in the distance and running through the off stage area of Hollywood Studios! Mile 10 was pretty much then end and I just kept telling myself that from here it was all party!!
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Jennie G, on Flickr
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Jennie G, on Flickr
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Jennie G, on Flickr
As we came through the backstage gates in Hollywood Studios there was a Beauty and the Beast meet and greet but the line was huge so I didn't stop but I snapped this pic as I streaked by.
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Jennie G, on Flickr
Hollywood Studios had opened at this point and it was a glorious day. It was so encouraging to see people heading towards Tower of Terror and Rockin Rollercoaster cheer us all on and give us high 5's as we ran past. Some guests who clearly didn't realise it was a race weekend seemed completely puzzled by all these sweaty, heaving people running past LOL!!
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Jennie G, on Flickr
As we entered Hollywood Studios I texted my husband so that he could get up and on the bus to the finish line. It was an extremely short run through the studios and before I knew it we were running past the Skyliner and on the trail to the Boardwalk.
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Jennie G, on Flickr
All along the boardwalk area there were guests cheering on friends and family members. People had signs and were high 5'ing us as we ran past. There were also DJ's and some character meets along the way. You could really feel people starting to get excited about approaching the finish line.
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Jennie G, on Flickr
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Jennie G, on Flickr
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Jennie G, on Flickr
I quickly realised that I'd left it too late to text my husband and really should have texted him from Animal Kingdom. He had texted to let me know that he was still stuck at POP waiting for a bus and I was literally only 1 mile from the finish line
OOPS!! So I mulled around and actually pulled off to the side of the course for what felt like an eternity. I found every excuse I could for a photo or meet & greet.
Well I've reached my 35 photo limit so I'll sign off here but I'll be back in another post with my big finish, after party, final thoughts, tips and reflections on my first RunDisney weekend