DopeyBadger
Imagathoner
- Joined
- Oct 15, 2015
Sunday, January 8th – Marathon and DHS: Part 1
Everything had been building to this morning. The goal was to give the best effort for the marathon and whatever it equaled it equaled. My wife thought maybe a BQ but I thought that was probably a tad too ambitious. I would be content with a PR of any kind and a healthy finish especially with how the last marathon went in October and the anxiety it caused for the weeks after.
I was up at 1:45am and ready to go. I could tell that I was getting sick. I probably had picked it up from all the sick people we had encountered over the weekend. But the silver lining was I wasn’t sick yet, just was going to be sick soon. But while I knew I was going to be new sick, I could tell my old sickness was pretty much over. Which meant my congestion and need for snot rockets was not going to happen during the marathon. Hooray for a one day reprieve! Nice timing!
I got showered, dressed and ready to go. I had my last drink of water at 2:00am, and ate a banana and PB bagel. It said it was 42 with no wind according to Weather Underground. But I looked out the window and saw the trees moving so I knew that was a lie. It was more like 30-35 with the wind-chill. I was wearing so many layers. I was wearing two pairs of pants, two pairs of gloves, my thermal long sleeve, my running shorts, three throw away long sleeves, a winter hat, and a thermal running hat. In addition, I brought with me a blanket and 10 garbage bags to help cut the wind. I felt overdressed, but I knew it was important to be overdressed then under.
My mom and I headed down to the bus depot and got on the first bus at 3:00am. During the bus ride, I just kept giving my mom advice on being calm. Just take whatever the race gives you. She was so pissed it was cold out. She had a cramp that she had gotten while sleeping that wouldn’t leave and now it was moving up her whole leg. We made it to EPCOT at 3:15am and made our way through security and gear check. We headed to the pre-race meeting spot on the other side of gear check. The wind was brutal. So, we tried to find the best spot out of the wind. We ended up right next to the porta-potties in the corner to cut the wind. We could see all the empty garbage cans being pushed around by the wind. But in our spot, there was almost no wind. We added garbage bags to our feet and legs to cut the wind and it made it tolerable. I had my sign out, but I knew it was going to be hard for the other DIS’ers to find me because I looked like a homeless person. Thankfully, @jacks_xo was able to find us. It was a lot of fun to meet her and learn about her occupation. I was hoping I could calm her nerves before her first marathon, but she didn’t need me as she would go out there and Crush it! Little sad I didn’t meet up with any others, but from the sounds of it some members found each other and formed little mini-groups.
At 4:30am, they opened the walk to the corrals. I hit up the porta-potties one last time in the holding area because the other ones would be in the grass and would be a risk for wet shoes. Then my mom and I started our walk from the holding area to the corrals. I was interested to see how the corral area would be different this year. As we made it closer, it became apparent the change was made because of some sort of construction going on in that area. So, they were just trying to make the best of the situation. We were really lucky they didn’t run the HM the day prior because the walking path to the front corrals was completely in the median in the grass. That would have been a nightmare in the rain as everyone’s shoes would have not only been soaked by rain, but muddy because of the grass walk.
My mom and I wished each other well and went into our corrals. It was a nice surprise to pass another set of porta-potties outside of corral E. So, I decided that since it was there I would give it another try. Felt comfortable and ready to go. Headed to the front of corral B. Found a nice spot next to the fence and settled in. The guy next to me was in shorts and a singlet (no throwaway clothes) and he looked really cold. I gave him some of my trash bags to try and help cut the wind. I started my dynamic stretching to get warm. Since the corral was so small, and the area outside the corral didn’t seem conducive to warming up. So, I skipped the running jog. I just knew I would have to take the first few miles as warm-up. I knew it was going to be a risky decision because it was cold and I wouldn’t be appropriately warmed, but as long as I was cautious in the beginning I thought it would be ok. At 5:25am, I started to strip off all the layers and get ready. I’m glad I started when I did because it took forever to get everything off. I ate my E-gel about 10 minutes prior to starting and consumed 8 oz of water. Final clothing: long sleeve thermal, shorts, thermal hat, and thermal gloves. Off was the wheelchairs… And then corral A… and then us in corral B… READY…. SET…. GO!
Last year’s Dopey marathon – 3:55:35
Marathon PR to beat – 3:23:43
Predicted Time – 3:19:41
*As a reminder, all mile splits provided are for the purpose of reading. During the actual race, I attempted to remain blinded to my pace and run purely by effort.
MILE – SPLIT (PREDICTED TIME)
Mile 1 – 8:09 (3:35:29)
The goal was to keep the effort calm and easy. Try and get the legs loose without risking injury and sacrificing the rest of the race. It was cold, but the wind wasn’t terrible. It was there, but not bad. Keep the Pac-Man theory going. Start slow and chomp some Mickeys along the way.
Mile 2 – 7:48 (3:30:52)
Mile 2 was all about preparing for the northerly turn. The wind was coming at about 16 mph from the Northwest, so I knew the next few miles were going to be critical to success. I needed to find someone to draft behind. A few good candidates kept volunteering their services by running just about the same pace and ahead of me. Added bonus they were taller and slightly larger than me so it gave me something to work with. I could tell a guy in a yellow jacket was doing the same strategy and so we created our own nice little wind tunnel.
Mile 3 – 7:46 (3:29:01)
We ran through the Magic Kingdom entrance and hit our first water stop. The strategy was to run through the stations, grab a water cup, pour it into the Nathan handheld, and then keep running. I always tend to race better when I don’t break stride. The drawback to this method is it isn’t terribly accurate so I tend to spill water on my hands. I’ve never had to race in winter gloves before, but this would become a problem later in the race. Stuck to the drafting idea.
Mile 4 – 7:32 (3:26:34)
One of the big keys for running a big race like Disney World is running the tangents well. Mile 4 is a perfect example. Stick to the corners and then take advantage of the course as designed. A good example is the parking lot area right before the Nightmare before Christmas meeting and TTC. Many runners follow the cones on the right, but the shorter path is the turn exit and then straight to the next corner. It probably only makes a minimal difference, but these things add up over time. All the small things can make a several minute difference in the end.
Mile 5 – 7:31 (3:25:00)
Always love the energy at TTC and the band at the exit. Keep drafting, keep sticking to tangents, and still maintaining a calm solid effort. Not a fan of the steep decline and incline to go under the water but it’s important to remember not to change the effort. No one wins their race by powering up a hill in mile 5 of a marathon. Just take it easy and let it happen.
Mile 6 – 7:31 (3:23:57)
Ate my first during race E-gel at the start of mile 5. Entering Main Street was fun, but even more enjoyable this year than year’s past because of how thin the race field was by now. The wind was completely cut by the park. The crowd enthusiasm was good. Just ride the feeling through the mile. Not a big fan of tight turns though and the parks always have a few of those. But I was able to safely navigate them.
Mile 7 – 7:30 (3:23:09)
Exiting Magic Kingdom brings with it the beginning of cone alley. As I was making this run, I came upon a wheelchair competitor and tried to give her as much space as possible. Especially on the downhill since I knew she would cruise past me. Hit the water station and then entered cone alley. It was really dark back there and didn’t help having the wheelchair right next to me. I knew she was anxious but unable to pass ahead and I was just trying to be cognizant of where she was. This was the point I started to get a touch of jelly legs. I tried to put it out of my mind, but I was slightly worried they wouldn’t ever leave. I just kept trying to switch up my stride to maintain a semblance of pace.
Mile 8 – 7:25 (3:22:16)
Keep up the good effort. Still felt like the same pace even though the Jelly legs caused a bit of apprehension. Feeling good.
Mile 9 – 7:29 (3:21:47)
Hit the water station around mile 8.2 and saw the wheelchair girl at the med station. Couldn’t tell what the issue was, but that was the last time I saw her for the day. My guess was a mechanical issue with her wheelchair. This was around the area they had the nostalgic Disney ride items out, but they didn’t mean much to me since I didn’t recognize them. But it brought a smile to my face when I passed it because I figured it would mean something special to the other runners behind me. Take note that this was the last time someone would pass me during the race until mile 17.
Mile 10 – 7:28 (3:21:20)
A little of a twisty turning section, but sticking to the tangents to keep the run as short as possible. I finally felt like I was loosening up and feeling good. The effort wasn’t changing, but I could tell I was starting to get faster. That’s 7 straight miles run blind that were within 7 seconds of min/mile pace of each other. Pretty happy with that blind pacing!
Mile 11 – 7:23 (3:20:47)
The beginning of the out and back. I actually enjoy these during a race because I can mark people to try and catch them. And because it allows me to see familiar faces of people who passed me and during the back section who I passed. An important note to make about this section is how many people ran the cones during the out, even though the other side of the road was clearly shorter. Eventually a few people figured it out as I passed them with the same pace as them.
Mile 12 – 7:19 (3:20:10)
Saw my only fellow DIS member during the marathon run at this point as I recognized @BikeFan from the meet and greet. Unfortunately, it didn’t click in my head until we had passed each other. But was cool to see a familiar face out there. I found a fellow runner who REALLY didn’t want me to pass him. As I came upon him, I could tell he noticed me and then tried to match me stride for stride. Running right next to me for the next 0.5 mile right in lock step.
Mile 13 – 7:19 (3:19:39)
E-gel #2! But as soon as we hit the aid station with bananas and water he stopped/or slowed and I kept powering through. I never saw him again. We made our way into Animal Kingdom. Next to WWOS this is usually my least favorite miles. The road is intentionally uneven and pitted/pot holed to make it “realistic”, but it makes for perfect ankle twisting territory. Although, surprisingly it didn’t affect me that much this year. I actually felt really strong. It helped that I could tell I was still speeding up and still chomp chomp chomping. I was sad to see the animals weren’t out yet. I wanted to meet “Flash” the turtle!
Mile 14 – 7:05 (3:18:46)
Now I could start to tell today was going to be a good day. The legs felt loose and ready to go go go. There was no one around me, or at least no one who was sticking with me. I started to hit a groove and just kept riding that feeling.
Mile 15 – 7:15 (3:18:18)
Exited Animal Kingdom and hit the parking lot. I came up on a coach and runner situation. Seemed like he was telling him he got him this far and to go go. The coach slowed down and the runner found another gear speeding up. I just tried to maintain and not get dragged into his move. Passed him and never saw him again. As I exited the parking lot of Animal Kingdom I saw another familiar face. It was the woman from last year/the expo line. I still didn’t say anything, but I hugged the buses to keep the tangent. I hit the water station maintaining the same strategy of pour and keep running. It was around this point that this strategy started to create a problem. My hands/gloves were soaked in water. They were getting so bad I actually started ringing them out after each aid station. But I just tried to push it out of my head and maintain effort.
Mile 16 – 7:14 (3:17:52)
Enter the first of two straight overpasses. I just kept the same hill training strategy. Keep your eyes up to keep the lungs open. Don’t change the effort but I shorten my stride. I passed quite a few runners on this overpass. Every water station meant the gloves kept getting wetter and kept making my fingers colder.
Mile 17 – 7:18 (3:17:34)
The first moment I teared up during the race. The charity for adopting orphans with down syndrome really got to me. It was touching to see and those signs hit a chord with me since my cousin has down syndrome. I actually lost my breath for a moment. This was also the second overpass and I passed several more people during this section. Once I reached the top, I finally got passed by another runner (the first since the middle of mile 8). I tried not to change anything as I was still feeling good.
Mile 18 – 7:21 (3:17:24)
This mile was sign of things to come. I could see the top runners as they hit mile 21.5 and the green army man hill. But more so, when I turned towards WWOS it become very apparent how annoying the wind would be on the way back. Just look at the faces of your fellow runners and it will tell you all you need to know. I also got to see the lead woman (assuming because she was being followed by a bike). We entered my least favorite section of the race, WWOS.
Mile 19 – 7:38 (3:17:38)
Why do I dislike WWOS so much? Because of the constant turns and weaving on short paths. I’m a straight-line runner and prefer to maintain that straight-line pace. The slowing/speeding up to navigate turns takes a lot out of me instead of just go go going. Although running on the track is fun. A guy clearly wanted the inside lane on the track, but he was going slower than me. So, I stayed behind him on the track turn, but then once we hit the straight away I just maintained my pace and passed him.
Mile 20 – 7:45 (3:17:59)
The last E-gel was consumed (first at 15 min prior, then mile 5, then mile 12, and then mile 19). I could tell my pace was starting to slip because it was becoming more difficult to maintain pace. I was also getting passed by a few runners here and there and quite the opposite of going 8ish miles without anyone passing me. The baseball field was alright, but running in the dirt reminded me of running in the snow back home.
Mile 21 – 8:04 (3:18:43)
As I exited WWOS, all I could think was “ugh, the wind…” It wasn’t easy to run through because there weren’t many runners around so no drafting potential. I did enjoy seeing the other runners as they headed into WWOS. Some looked strong. Some looked tired. Some looked excited. Some looked done. I just tried to maintain effort and held out hope that once we hit the western section of the race maybe the wind would be easily breakable again. Those gloves were like carrying weights on my hands, and were making my hands so cold.
Mile 22 – 7:59 (3:19:17)
It looks like they are making this intersection a new overpass, so it’ll be interesting to see how that effects the marathon course in future years. The race was starting to get tougher. The green army man hill was at 21.5. Nice tough steep hill.
Mile 23 – 8:06 (3:19:56)
Just stay focused. People passing me, but you’re still doing great. It’s tough, but that’s why it’s fun. Almost to the home stretch. Up the last on ramp and that should be the last hill!
Mile 24 – 7:53 (3:20:17)
The new section of DHS because of the current park construction. What the what?!?! While it was short there was quite the steep hill in the backlot of DHS. Since this section was new I wasn’t expecting it, but still that was a bit of a surprise. Then we headed down the TOT road and it was interesting to run through DHS this direction since we normally don’t run on this road. Then we turned to run down the main road in DHS. It was cool to see the morning crowds starting to enter the park and the cheering from them. And then before I knew it we were exiting DHS. But something started to change. I started to feel stronger. I felt ready to start attacking the remainder of the race. I kept saying that you’re feeling good and let’s give our best effort to the finish line. Not another marathon until 10 months from now so no holding back now. So, I tried to pick up the effort and the pace. Try and chomp as many runners as possible.
Mile 25 – 7:41 (3:20:24)
Finally, removed the blind and looked at my watch and saw the 7:53. I was happy with that but I knew I could do more. The boardwalk is one of my favorite sections because of the crowd support. Especially on a weather day like this do I appreciate the crowd support. Things were still going really well and I felt strong.
Mile 26 – 7:47 (3:20:36)
Wahoo! We’re entering ECPOT countries! We’re almost done! Keep your eyes on the ball. The closer the ball gets the closer you are to the finish. Just keep running! There’s the ball! Almost there!!!
Mile 26.44 – 3:27 (3:20:52)
Then the CHOIR! So excited to hear them. Unfortunately, they weren’t singing when I passed by. It was just a recording and they were just swaying back and forth and clapping. Still nice, but not as moving as the real thing. Turned the corner into finisher’s ally and the crowd support was strong. I revved up the crowd as I ran through and then I finished arm raised in the air. I stopped my watch and looked down. A new PR!!! I screamed in excitement! It felt so great to nail another marathon PR especially on a weekend like this. So much fun!
Final Time – 3:20:52
Official PRs: 1
Marathon – 3:20:52
Unofficial PRs: 5
15k - 1:08:10
10 mile - 1:13:14
20k - 1:31:20
Half Marathon - 1:36:27
30k - 2:18:54
Overall Standing: 197th
Gender Standing: 174th
Division Standing: 40th
Number of Finishers: 17728
Final Dopey time (5k + 10k + M) – 4:25:19
Overall Standing: 43rd
Gender Standing: 39th
Division Standing: 8th
Number of Finishers: 6576
I saw my wife at the finish line and told her to meet me at the exit. I headed over to the volunteers passing out medals and looked for the best person. I said, ummm you! Thanks for the medal! Walked through the chute and picked up the goodies. Made my way through the challenge tent and got my extra medals (Half-Marathon, Goofy, and Dopey). Stopped to get some finisher pictures. To my surprise, the woman from last year/expo/mile 14 walked up and said that she liked my water technique. She hadn’t see anyone do that before and always knew that if she needed a drink of water who would be the person to ask. I asked her if she ran the race last year and she said yes, but she couldn’t remember if she ran from C. We congratulated each other and wished each other well.
I made my way through gear check and found my wife. I started the process of throwing on a bunch of new clothes. She helped me get the gloves off but she didn’t even want to touch them because of how much water was in them. I tried to drink my chocolate milk but both of them in my bag were frozen. I did some stretching. I got up and actually felt pretty good. I made my way over to Dopey and got a few pictures with him. Unfortunately, because of the cold I didn’t get any pics with me, G, Steph, and Dopey.
We headed over to concessions and I was pleasantly surprised with the selection. I got a chicken sandwich and it tasted delicious! We made our way over to the finish line and settled in. I was happy to see my mom and a few other runners I was tracking were still doing great. I was able to get a bleacher seat (which was a nice addition to this year).
I saw a man come up to the fence and talk to his family right after he finished. Then, I realized it was @Baloo in MI. We waved to each other and congratulated each other on a great race.
I saw @Disney at Heart 's husband come across and remember him saying that they were running together. I saw @Disney at Heart and called out her name. She found me and we waved to each other.
I kept trying to use my spreadsheet to predict when people would cross the finish line. Based on the others to that point I could tell it was about 20 minutes off.
I believe I also saw @Barca33Runner finish. I also saw the Diaper Dans and really liked their costume. I figured out after coming home that that was very likely @IamTrike and friends. One of my favorite costumes was someone in a lion king head mask. It was amazing! There was also a full-on Jack skeleton and wife. Pretty incredible makeup.
So, I kept receiving updates, but eventually I was getting concerned about my mom because she hadn’t hit the 20 mile marker mat. But I remembered everyone was about 20 min behind so I wasn’t really concerned yet. Then, we hit 20 min post and still nothing. I got an update on my watch that someone else had crossed a different mat so I knew the system was still working. Then, 30 min past. Then, 40 min past. My wife and I really started to get concerned. I knew my mom had her phone and before we left each other that morning we agreed if she left the course for emergency or injury that she should text Steph. So, she had either slowed way down or not texted like we promised. I pulled out my phone to check my Strava and saw my texts. Since I had been checking them on my Garmin 235 I hadn’t cleared them on my phone yet. And there it was, mom had crossed 20 miles quite some time ago. She was still doing great and would be there soon.
About this time, a dad and two kids (Jackson and Haven) about 4-6 in age joined me on the bleachers. They were waiting for their mom to finish. They were a riot. They asked me why I was sitting in the stands. I told them because I was waiting for my mom too. Their mom was going to do the half, but moved up to the full because of the half’s cancellation. She had run about 10 fulls in her life but hadn’t run one in 2 years. I told the kids I finished running about 2 hours ago. They were like whoa, you must be fast. I said I’m fast because of all the miles put in during training. I said how many miles do you think I ran in 2016? Haven said 13. Jackson said 100. The dad said 700. Nope, 2500 miles. They were like whoa! We had a lot of fun talking about Disney world. Jackson’s favorite ride was Space Ship Earth. We probably talked for 30-40 minutes.
Then I got the text! She finished! Her first marathon was done! She actually looked in really good spirits when I saw her.
Mom’s Final Time – 5:34:03
Mom’s Official PRs: 1
Marathon – 5:34:03
Overall Standing: 8347th
Gender Standing: 3491st
Division Standing: 38th
Number of Finishers: 17728
We left the finish line and headed over to the gear check exit to collect my mom. She seemed happy with how she did. She said it was cold, and she couldn’t breathe. She said she commonly gets cold induced asthma so it was pretty tough but she still finished. She did some stretching and we got a picture together. Her personal Dopey Challenge (2014 5k, 2015 10k, 2016 HM, and 2017 M) was complete! Congrats mom! Proud son!
Next Post: Sunday, January 8th – Marathon and DHS: Part 2
Everything had been building to this morning. The goal was to give the best effort for the marathon and whatever it equaled it equaled. My wife thought maybe a BQ but I thought that was probably a tad too ambitious. I would be content with a PR of any kind and a healthy finish especially with how the last marathon went in October and the anxiety it caused for the weeks after.
I was up at 1:45am and ready to go. I could tell that I was getting sick. I probably had picked it up from all the sick people we had encountered over the weekend. But the silver lining was I wasn’t sick yet, just was going to be sick soon. But while I knew I was going to be new sick, I could tell my old sickness was pretty much over. Which meant my congestion and need for snot rockets was not going to happen during the marathon. Hooray for a one day reprieve! Nice timing!
I got showered, dressed and ready to go. I had my last drink of water at 2:00am, and ate a banana and PB bagel. It said it was 42 with no wind according to Weather Underground. But I looked out the window and saw the trees moving so I knew that was a lie. It was more like 30-35 with the wind-chill. I was wearing so many layers. I was wearing two pairs of pants, two pairs of gloves, my thermal long sleeve, my running shorts, three throw away long sleeves, a winter hat, and a thermal running hat. In addition, I brought with me a blanket and 10 garbage bags to help cut the wind. I felt overdressed, but I knew it was important to be overdressed then under.
My mom and I headed down to the bus depot and got on the first bus at 3:00am. During the bus ride, I just kept giving my mom advice on being calm. Just take whatever the race gives you. She was so pissed it was cold out. She had a cramp that she had gotten while sleeping that wouldn’t leave and now it was moving up her whole leg. We made it to EPCOT at 3:15am and made our way through security and gear check. We headed to the pre-race meeting spot on the other side of gear check. The wind was brutal. So, we tried to find the best spot out of the wind. We ended up right next to the porta-potties in the corner to cut the wind. We could see all the empty garbage cans being pushed around by the wind. But in our spot, there was almost no wind. We added garbage bags to our feet and legs to cut the wind and it made it tolerable. I had my sign out, but I knew it was going to be hard for the other DIS’ers to find me because I looked like a homeless person. Thankfully, @jacks_xo was able to find us. It was a lot of fun to meet her and learn about her occupation. I was hoping I could calm her nerves before her first marathon, but she didn’t need me as she would go out there and Crush it! Little sad I didn’t meet up with any others, but from the sounds of it some members found each other and formed little mini-groups.
At 4:30am, they opened the walk to the corrals. I hit up the porta-potties one last time in the holding area because the other ones would be in the grass and would be a risk for wet shoes. Then my mom and I started our walk from the holding area to the corrals. I was interested to see how the corral area would be different this year. As we made it closer, it became apparent the change was made because of some sort of construction going on in that area. So, they were just trying to make the best of the situation. We were really lucky they didn’t run the HM the day prior because the walking path to the front corrals was completely in the median in the grass. That would have been a nightmare in the rain as everyone’s shoes would have not only been soaked by rain, but muddy because of the grass walk.
My mom and I wished each other well and went into our corrals. It was a nice surprise to pass another set of porta-potties outside of corral E. So, I decided that since it was there I would give it another try. Felt comfortable and ready to go. Headed to the front of corral B. Found a nice spot next to the fence and settled in. The guy next to me was in shorts and a singlet (no throwaway clothes) and he looked really cold. I gave him some of my trash bags to try and help cut the wind. I started my dynamic stretching to get warm. Since the corral was so small, and the area outside the corral didn’t seem conducive to warming up. So, I skipped the running jog. I just knew I would have to take the first few miles as warm-up. I knew it was going to be a risky decision because it was cold and I wouldn’t be appropriately warmed, but as long as I was cautious in the beginning I thought it would be ok. At 5:25am, I started to strip off all the layers and get ready. I’m glad I started when I did because it took forever to get everything off. I ate my E-gel about 10 minutes prior to starting and consumed 8 oz of water. Final clothing: long sleeve thermal, shorts, thermal hat, and thermal gloves. Off was the wheelchairs… And then corral A… and then us in corral B… READY…. SET…. GO!
Last year’s Dopey marathon – 3:55:35
Marathon PR to beat – 3:23:43
Predicted Time – 3:19:41
*As a reminder, all mile splits provided are for the purpose of reading. During the actual race, I attempted to remain blinded to my pace and run purely by effort.
MILE – SPLIT (PREDICTED TIME)
Mile 1 – 8:09 (3:35:29)
The goal was to keep the effort calm and easy. Try and get the legs loose without risking injury and sacrificing the rest of the race. It was cold, but the wind wasn’t terrible. It was there, but not bad. Keep the Pac-Man theory going. Start slow and chomp some Mickeys along the way.
Mile 2 – 7:48 (3:30:52)
Mile 2 was all about preparing for the northerly turn. The wind was coming at about 16 mph from the Northwest, so I knew the next few miles were going to be critical to success. I needed to find someone to draft behind. A few good candidates kept volunteering their services by running just about the same pace and ahead of me. Added bonus they were taller and slightly larger than me so it gave me something to work with. I could tell a guy in a yellow jacket was doing the same strategy and so we created our own nice little wind tunnel.
Mile 3 – 7:46 (3:29:01)
We ran through the Magic Kingdom entrance and hit our first water stop. The strategy was to run through the stations, grab a water cup, pour it into the Nathan handheld, and then keep running. I always tend to race better when I don’t break stride. The drawback to this method is it isn’t terribly accurate so I tend to spill water on my hands. I’ve never had to race in winter gloves before, but this would become a problem later in the race. Stuck to the drafting idea.
Mile 4 – 7:32 (3:26:34)
One of the big keys for running a big race like Disney World is running the tangents well. Mile 4 is a perfect example. Stick to the corners and then take advantage of the course as designed. A good example is the parking lot area right before the Nightmare before Christmas meeting and TTC. Many runners follow the cones on the right, but the shorter path is the turn exit and then straight to the next corner. It probably only makes a minimal difference, but these things add up over time. All the small things can make a several minute difference in the end.
Mile 5 – 7:31 (3:25:00)
Always love the energy at TTC and the band at the exit. Keep drafting, keep sticking to tangents, and still maintaining a calm solid effort. Not a fan of the steep decline and incline to go under the water but it’s important to remember not to change the effort. No one wins their race by powering up a hill in mile 5 of a marathon. Just take it easy and let it happen.
Mile 6 – 7:31 (3:23:57)
Ate my first during race E-gel at the start of mile 5. Entering Main Street was fun, but even more enjoyable this year than year’s past because of how thin the race field was by now. The wind was completely cut by the park. The crowd enthusiasm was good. Just ride the feeling through the mile. Not a big fan of tight turns though and the parks always have a few of those. But I was able to safely navigate them.
Mile 7 – 7:30 (3:23:09)
Exiting Magic Kingdom brings with it the beginning of cone alley. As I was making this run, I came upon a wheelchair competitor and tried to give her as much space as possible. Especially on the downhill since I knew she would cruise past me. Hit the water station and then entered cone alley. It was really dark back there and didn’t help having the wheelchair right next to me. I knew she was anxious but unable to pass ahead and I was just trying to be cognizant of where she was. This was the point I started to get a touch of jelly legs. I tried to put it out of my mind, but I was slightly worried they wouldn’t ever leave. I just kept trying to switch up my stride to maintain a semblance of pace.
Mile 8 – 7:25 (3:22:16)
Keep up the good effort. Still felt like the same pace even though the Jelly legs caused a bit of apprehension. Feeling good.
Mile 9 – 7:29 (3:21:47)
Hit the water station around mile 8.2 and saw the wheelchair girl at the med station. Couldn’t tell what the issue was, but that was the last time I saw her for the day. My guess was a mechanical issue with her wheelchair. This was around the area they had the nostalgic Disney ride items out, but they didn’t mean much to me since I didn’t recognize them. But it brought a smile to my face when I passed it because I figured it would mean something special to the other runners behind me. Take note that this was the last time someone would pass me during the race until mile 17.
Mile 10 – 7:28 (3:21:20)
A little of a twisty turning section, but sticking to the tangents to keep the run as short as possible. I finally felt like I was loosening up and feeling good. The effort wasn’t changing, but I could tell I was starting to get faster. That’s 7 straight miles run blind that were within 7 seconds of min/mile pace of each other. Pretty happy with that blind pacing!
Mile 11 – 7:23 (3:20:47)
The beginning of the out and back. I actually enjoy these during a race because I can mark people to try and catch them. And because it allows me to see familiar faces of people who passed me and during the back section who I passed. An important note to make about this section is how many people ran the cones during the out, even though the other side of the road was clearly shorter. Eventually a few people figured it out as I passed them with the same pace as them.
Mile 12 – 7:19 (3:20:10)
Saw my only fellow DIS member during the marathon run at this point as I recognized @BikeFan from the meet and greet. Unfortunately, it didn’t click in my head until we had passed each other. But was cool to see a familiar face out there. I found a fellow runner who REALLY didn’t want me to pass him. As I came upon him, I could tell he noticed me and then tried to match me stride for stride. Running right next to me for the next 0.5 mile right in lock step.
Mile 13 – 7:19 (3:19:39)
E-gel #2! But as soon as we hit the aid station with bananas and water he stopped/or slowed and I kept powering through. I never saw him again. We made our way into Animal Kingdom. Next to WWOS this is usually my least favorite miles. The road is intentionally uneven and pitted/pot holed to make it “realistic”, but it makes for perfect ankle twisting territory. Although, surprisingly it didn’t affect me that much this year. I actually felt really strong. It helped that I could tell I was still speeding up and still chomp chomp chomping. I was sad to see the animals weren’t out yet. I wanted to meet “Flash” the turtle!
Mile 14 – 7:05 (3:18:46)
Now I could start to tell today was going to be a good day. The legs felt loose and ready to go go go. There was no one around me, or at least no one who was sticking with me. I started to hit a groove and just kept riding that feeling.
Mile 15 – 7:15 (3:18:18)
Exited Animal Kingdom and hit the parking lot. I came up on a coach and runner situation. Seemed like he was telling him he got him this far and to go go. The coach slowed down and the runner found another gear speeding up. I just tried to maintain and not get dragged into his move. Passed him and never saw him again. As I exited the parking lot of Animal Kingdom I saw another familiar face. It was the woman from last year/the expo line. I still didn’t say anything, but I hugged the buses to keep the tangent. I hit the water station maintaining the same strategy of pour and keep running. It was around this point that this strategy started to create a problem. My hands/gloves were soaked in water. They were getting so bad I actually started ringing them out after each aid station. But I just tried to push it out of my head and maintain effort.
Mile 16 – 7:14 (3:17:52)
Enter the first of two straight overpasses. I just kept the same hill training strategy. Keep your eyes up to keep the lungs open. Don’t change the effort but I shorten my stride. I passed quite a few runners on this overpass. Every water station meant the gloves kept getting wetter and kept making my fingers colder.
Mile 17 – 7:18 (3:17:34)
The first moment I teared up during the race. The charity for adopting orphans with down syndrome really got to me. It was touching to see and those signs hit a chord with me since my cousin has down syndrome. I actually lost my breath for a moment. This was also the second overpass and I passed several more people during this section. Once I reached the top, I finally got passed by another runner (the first since the middle of mile 8). I tried not to change anything as I was still feeling good.
Mile 18 – 7:21 (3:17:24)
This mile was sign of things to come. I could see the top runners as they hit mile 21.5 and the green army man hill. But more so, when I turned towards WWOS it become very apparent how annoying the wind would be on the way back. Just look at the faces of your fellow runners and it will tell you all you need to know. I also got to see the lead woman (assuming because she was being followed by a bike). We entered my least favorite section of the race, WWOS.
Mile 19 – 7:38 (3:17:38)
Why do I dislike WWOS so much? Because of the constant turns and weaving on short paths. I’m a straight-line runner and prefer to maintain that straight-line pace. The slowing/speeding up to navigate turns takes a lot out of me instead of just go go going. Although running on the track is fun. A guy clearly wanted the inside lane on the track, but he was going slower than me. So, I stayed behind him on the track turn, but then once we hit the straight away I just maintained my pace and passed him.
Mile 20 – 7:45 (3:17:59)
The last E-gel was consumed (first at 15 min prior, then mile 5, then mile 12, and then mile 19). I could tell my pace was starting to slip because it was becoming more difficult to maintain pace. I was also getting passed by a few runners here and there and quite the opposite of going 8ish miles without anyone passing me. The baseball field was alright, but running in the dirt reminded me of running in the snow back home.
Mile 21 – 8:04 (3:18:43)
As I exited WWOS, all I could think was “ugh, the wind…” It wasn’t easy to run through because there weren’t many runners around so no drafting potential. I did enjoy seeing the other runners as they headed into WWOS. Some looked strong. Some looked tired. Some looked excited. Some looked done. I just tried to maintain effort and held out hope that once we hit the western section of the race maybe the wind would be easily breakable again. Those gloves were like carrying weights on my hands, and were making my hands so cold.
Mile 22 – 7:59 (3:19:17)
It looks like they are making this intersection a new overpass, so it’ll be interesting to see how that effects the marathon course in future years. The race was starting to get tougher. The green army man hill was at 21.5. Nice tough steep hill.
Mile 23 – 8:06 (3:19:56)
Just stay focused. People passing me, but you’re still doing great. It’s tough, but that’s why it’s fun. Almost to the home stretch. Up the last on ramp and that should be the last hill!
Mile 24 – 7:53 (3:20:17)
The new section of DHS because of the current park construction. What the what?!?! While it was short there was quite the steep hill in the backlot of DHS. Since this section was new I wasn’t expecting it, but still that was a bit of a surprise. Then we headed down the TOT road and it was interesting to run through DHS this direction since we normally don’t run on this road. Then we turned to run down the main road in DHS. It was cool to see the morning crowds starting to enter the park and the cheering from them. And then before I knew it we were exiting DHS. But something started to change. I started to feel stronger. I felt ready to start attacking the remainder of the race. I kept saying that you’re feeling good and let’s give our best effort to the finish line. Not another marathon until 10 months from now so no holding back now. So, I tried to pick up the effort and the pace. Try and chomp as many runners as possible.
Mile 25 – 7:41 (3:20:24)
Finally, removed the blind and looked at my watch and saw the 7:53. I was happy with that but I knew I could do more. The boardwalk is one of my favorite sections because of the crowd support. Especially on a weather day like this do I appreciate the crowd support. Things were still going really well and I felt strong.
Mile 26 – 7:47 (3:20:36)
Wahoo! We’re entering ECPOT countries! We’re almost done! Keep your eyes on the ball. The closer the ball gets the closer you are to the finish. Just keep running! There’s the ball! Almost there!!!
Mile 26.44 – 3:27 (3:20:52)
Then the CHOIR! So excited to hear them. Unfortunately, they weren’t singing when I passed by. It was just a recording and they were just swaying back and forth and clapping. Still nice, but not as moving as the real thing. Turned the corner into finisher’s ally and the crowd support was strong. I revved up the crowd as I ran through and then I finished arm raised in the air. I stopped my watch and looked down. A new PR!!! I screamed in excitement! It felt so great to nail another marathon PR especially on a weekend like this. So much fun!
Final Time – 3:20:52
Official PRs: 1
Marathon – 3:20:52
Unofficial PRs: 5
15k - 1:08:10
10 mile - 1:13:14
20k - 1:31:20
Half Marathon - 1:36:27
30k - 2:18:54
Overall Standing: 197th
Gender Standing: 174th
Division Standing: 40th
Number of Finishers: 17728
Final Dopey time (5k + 10k + M) – 4:25:19
Overall Standing: 43rd
Gender Standing: 39th
Division Standing: 8th
Number of Finishers: 6576
I saw my wife at the finish line and told her to meet me at the exit. I headed over to the volunteers passing out medals and looked for the best person. I said, ummm you! Thanks for the medal! Walked through the chute and picked up the goodies. Made my way through the challenge tent and got my extra medals (Half-Marathon, Goofy, and Dopey). Stopped to get some finisher pictures. To my surprise, the woman from last year/expo/mile 14 walked up and said that she liked my water technique. She hadn’t see anyone do that before and always knew that if she needed a drink of water who would be the person to ask. I asked her if she ran the race last year and she said yes, but she couldn’t remember if she ran from C. We congratulated each other and wished each other well.
I made my way through gear check and found my wife. I started the process of throwing on a bunch of new clothes. She helped me get the gloves off but she didn’t even want to touch them because of how much water was in them. I tried to drink my chocolate milk but both of them in my bag were frozen. I did some stretching. I got up and actually felt pretty good. I made my way over to Dopey and got a few pictures with him. Unfortunately, because of the cold I didn’t get any pics with me, G, Steph, and Dopey.
We headed over to concessions and I was pleasantly surprised with the selection. I got a chicken sandwich and it tasted delicious! We made our way over to the finish line and settled in. I was happy to see my mom and a few other runners I was tracking were still doing great. I was able to get a bleacher seat (which was a nice addition to this year).
I saw a man come up to the fence and talk to his family right after he finished. Then, I realized it was @Baloo in MI. We waved to each other and congratulated each other on a great race.
I saw @Disney at Heart 's husband come across and remember him saying that they were running together. I saw @Disney at Heart and called out her name. She found me and we waved to each other.
I kept trying to use my spreadsheet to predict when people would cross the finish line. Based on the others to that point I could tell it was about 20 minutes off.
I believe I also saw @Barca33Runner finish. I also saw the Diaper Dans and really liked their costume. I figured out after coming home that that was very likely @IamTrike and friends. One of my favorite costumes was someone in a lion king head mask. It was amazing! There was also a full-on Jack skeleton and wife. Pretty incredible makeup.
So, I kept receiving updates, but eventually I was getting concerned about my mom because she hadn’t hit the 20 mile marker mat. But I remembered everyone was about 20 min behind so I wasn’t really concerned yet. Then, we hit 20 min post and still nothing. I got an update on my watch that someone else had crossed a different mat so I knew the system was still working. Then, 30 min past. Then, 40 min past. My wife and I really started to get concerned. I knew my mom had her phone and before we left each other that morning we agreed if she left the course for emergency or injury that she should text Steph. So, she had either slowed way down or not texted like we promised. I pulled out my phone to check my Strava and saw my texts. Since I had been checking them on my Garmin 235 I hadn’t cleared them on my phone yet. And there it was, mom had crossed 20 miles quite some time ago. She was still doing great and would be there soon.
About this time, a dad and two kids (Jackson and Haven) about 4-6 in age joined me on the bleachers. They were waiting for their mom to finish. They were a riot. They asked me why I was sitting in the stands. I told them because I was waiting for my mom too. Their mom was going to do the half, but moved up to the full because of the half’s cancellation. She had run about 10 fulls in her life but hadn’t run one in 2 years. I told the kids I finished running about 2 hours ago. They were like whoa, you must be fast. I said I’m fast because of all the miles put in during training. I said how many miles do you think I ran in 2016? Haven said 13. Jackson said 100. The dad said 700. Nope, 2500 miles. They were like whoa! We had a lot of fun talking about Disney world. Jackson’s favorite ride was Space Ship Earth. We probably talked for 30-40 minutes.
Then I got the text! She finished! Her first marathon was done! She actually looked in really good spirits when I saw her.
Mom’s Final Time – 5:34:03
Mom’s Official PRs: 1
Marathon – 5:34:03
Overall Standing: 8347th
Gender Standing: 3491st
Division Standing: 38th
Number of Finishers: 17728
We left the finish line and headed over to the gear check exit to collect my mom. She seemed happy with how she did. She said it was cold, and she couldn’t breathe. She said she commonly gets cold induced asthma so it was pretty tough but she still finished. She did some stretching and we got a picture together. Her personal Dopey Challenge (2014 5k, 2015 10k, 2016 HM, and 2017 M) was complete! Congrats mom! Proud son!
Next Post: Sunday, January 8th – Marathon and DHS: Part 2
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