2011 Marathon weekend trip report - COMPLETE!! 4/5 About This Page:

[wydivers]

Please, please hurry back!

[Minnie Lor]

Okay, if you ever read that I signed up for a full then you have my permission to slap me silly.

[mcc0313]

Glad that DH was keeping up and that everything with his heartrate seemed ok...I would have definitely been cheering you on, I think I would have been close to tears by mile 20. We have done the 10 mile but even then my legs were saying "why are we doing this again?"

[ilovedisney247]

Way to go Beth! Keep it coming! I love reading this!

[Bee]

way to go can't wait to read more... which training plan did you follow?

[disney_duke]

I'm totally with you!!! Those 7 dwarfs were in my corrall! Some other solo ladies and I were chatting with them before the race started. Such a cute idea, right?! I really enjoyed reading lots of peoples shirts, and I too hope the woman you saw finished as well. I loved this Tshirt: Any idiot can run. But it takes a special kind of idiot to run a marathon.

Yep, there's that wall. It's soooo true about that saying, the first 20 and the last 6 are entirely different races. I lost track of what mile around 22 or 23. I asked someone passing me as she was checking her watch and she assured me 23 was coming up soon. 1-20 is a physical race and 21-26 is definitely mental!!!!

[mom to 3 princesses and 1 prince]

Originally Posted by Nimros

I'm sitting her cheering the two of you on as I'm reading....Go Beth and Rick, go!!!

Thanks, Cathy!

Originally Posted by Colexis Mom

Another great update and pictures! I hope you made it!

You'll find out soon!

Originally Posted by Ciavobella

Hurry back.

Should have another update for you this afternoon.

Originally Posted by wydivers

Please, please hurry back!

Thanks for reading!

Originally Posted by Minnie Lor

Okay, if you ever read that I signed up for a full then you have my permission to slap me silly.

Ack! This report isn't supposed to discourage you from giving a marathon a try!! I really had an awesome time, despite the rough spots in the last few miles. I enjoyed it so much, in fact, that I'm doing it again next year! I just think we didn't train the way we should have, and if we had, it would have gone much better for us!

Originally Posted by mcc0313

Glad that DH was keeping up and that everything with his heartrate seemed ok...I would have definitely been cheering you on, I think I would have been close to tears by mile 20. We have done the 10 mile but even then my legs were saying "why are we doing this again?"

Oh, there were many, many tears shed that day! And me legs were talking to me, too!

Originally Posted by ilovedisney247

Way to go Beth! Keep it coming! I love reading this!

Thanks so much for reading along!

Originally Posted by Bee

way to go can't wait to read more... which training plan did you follow?

Well, I used the Runner's World Smart Coach app, but I didn't really follow it like I should have toward the end. I've got to get a better training plan for next year!

Originally Posted by disney_duke

I loved this Tshirt: Any idiot can run. But it takes a special kind of idiot to run a marathon.

this! I'm going to put this on the back of my shirt next year!

Originally Posted by disney_duke

1-20 is a physical race and 21-26 is definitely mental!!!!

This is so true. I totally had to talk myself through those last few miles! If anyone watches Amazing Race, this last week the pink goth girl had a major meltdown and was berating herself like crazy. I thought to myself, if I had had that attitude during the race, I never would have made it! (Ooops, spoiler alert!)

Back later...

[MGW]

Wow! You are making me soooo nervous and I know you finished!

My concern would be losing my way at that point. Was the path clearly marked? Were there enough people still around you to help you find your way?

[mom to 3 princesses and 1 prince]

Originally Posted by MGW

Wow! You are making me soooo nervous and I know you finished!

My concern would be losing my way at that point. Was the path clearly marked? Were there enough people still around you to help you find your way?

Oh, yes, there's a clearly marked route. There were enough people around us, both running and cheering, that we knew we were heading the right way!

[mom to 3 princesses and 1 prince]

I hardly remember anything about our time in the Studios - the shortest amount of time in any of the parks, I think. I remember mostly from my photos that we ran past the hat and down Hollywood Boulevard toward the exit. We passed the Christmas tree and headed toward the path that leads to the Epcot resorts and eventually, Epcot itself.

Am I the only one who wishes they would take the Christmas decorations down before marathon weekend?


For some reason, the time was not showing up on the clock here. Oh no, are they even turning the timers off now?!?!?

Once we reached the Epcot resort area, I knew we were almost done. The path gets real narrow along here, and allows for some good conversations with the other runners. We caught back up with the Dwarves and they talked about how they'd all gotten separated. It would be hard to keep seven people together on a race this long, I imagine!




We yelled our thanks to this guy for sticking it out until the end of the race. This stretch would have been even harder without entertainment!


We stayed here in 2007 (when the in-laws foot the bill for our trip!) I would love to stay here again.


One more mile to go!!!!!

We passed a DJ on our way to the Boardwalk area who gave a shout-out to "Lou Mongello's team" as we ran by. That was really cool, because our shirts say WDW Radio Running Team, not Lou Mongello. I always love when I find out people associated with Disney are big Disney fans, like us. It's not always the case.

I don't remember where exactly the last water stop is, but the volunteers running it were very memorable. Instead of "water!" and "powerade!" they were yelling out cocktails instead. I told them not to tease us, because throughout the race, DH would say, "There's beer around the next corner, right?" Inevitably, this comment would turn into a conversation with the surrounding runners about where they were planning to stop and get a beer. For a while, early on in the race, when I was still wearing my Wisconsin sweatshirt, we got to talking with two guys in Team in Training shirts. They were from Illinois, and folks from IL and WI aren't known to have the best relationships. We put this aside for the race, though, and talked about where we'd get a brat and a beer together after the race.

As we approached the final medical tent, where we'd stopped to get Bio-freze and Tylenol a number of times throughout the race, I said, "There ain't nothin' that med tent's got that can help me now!" My fellow runners laughed and had to agree!

So we had run 25 miles; only a little over a mile to go! As we approached the International Gateway, we saw one of the members of the WDW Radio Running Team cheer squad. It was nice to see a friendly face so late in the race! We headed into Epcot through a backstage gate just before you go through the International Gateway. (Later that evening, I pointed it out to DH as we went through the IG and said that this race has forever changed the way we see WDW!)

This backstage entrance brings you out in the United Kingdom. Surprisingly, there were still lots of cheering people here! As we ran out onto the promenade, I realized that the last mile would be a whole lot shorter if we'd been allowed to go to the left instead of the right. I hollered out, 'Can't we go the short way?!?!? We can't? Oh CRAP!"

We took a right and headed over the bridge toward France. I think we saw Alice in Wonderland and called out to her as we trudged by. I took a few shots of World Showcase but was really just focused on getting to the finish line!



It was cool to see the Illuminations torches lit during the daytime!




My favorite pavilion! My dad was in the Army for 25 years, and I grew up mostly on military bases. I also love history, especially Revolutionary War stuff. So sad I didn't get to see the American Adventure show this trip.




When I saw and heard the Gospel Choir, I almost broke down and cried. It's funny, because before the 2010 half marathon, I thought I would bawl the entire time. As it was, I didn't cry at all. This race, I cried so many times!!!!


This shot was my profile picture on FB right after the race.

I'd forgotten to mention that about an hour before the end, I got a call from my friend and fellow WDW Radio Running Team member, Mary Jo. She wasn't in Florida, but was our online coach and did a lot of encouragement via email and text. I'd asked her to call me, but when she did, it was during that rough part of the race when I felt like I didn't have time to think, much less take a phone call.

Well, Mary Jo called just as we were passing Spaceship Earth. I realized that if I didn't take her call, she probably would think the worst, so I answered. We chatted for a minute, but when I told her where we were, she wanted me to be able to enjoy my last few minutes of the race, so she said good-bye real quick. We later found out that she called Lou to let him know that we were just about to finish. We were the last members of the team to be finishing, and they'd been worrying about us!

Finally, we could see the finish line up ahead. Way ahead. Way waaaaay ahead. How come the last part of a race seems to be longer than you've ever run before? One of our official race photos shows how emtional the ending of the race was; it's not a pretty picture of me, but I'll post it anyway.


Please subtract about 20 minutes from this time so it doesn't seem as pathetic!

I think one of the reasons I decided to bring my camera was so that I could have a picture of the moment when we got our medals. As we ran up to the finish line, I practically threw my camera to Rick so he could take my photo. I love the smile on the medal guy's face. I was so happy to be getting my medal, and he was happy, too!


At one point in the race, I said that if I finished this race, I'd kiss my medal!


We saw our Tour Guide Mike friends in the medal area; I was so glad to know that they'd finished and gotten their medals. Now we just had to find out if we were official so we could go to Disneyland!

Up next: official race photos and post-race stuff

[disney_duke]

You made it!! Funny about the beer story. I heard those comments throughout the race too. In fact, when I was doing my last walking portion past Mexico, I ended up next to a runner who was also walking with a beer in his hand. People were cheering him on saying "that's the way to finish the race!" and so on. So I asked him where he stopped for his beer and he said the UK. He said he wouldn't actually recommend to just anyone to drink a beer on the last mile, but that he actually trained this way!! On each of his weekend long runs, he stopped by his house to complete his last mile while walking and drinking a beer. Now that's the way to do it!!!

[lauriep]

Woo hoo!! I knew all along you'd made it to the finish line, but was still worried! Nothing at all pathetic about the official time--YOU DID IT!

[Colexis Mom]

Congrats on finishing the race! That's quite an accomplishment!

[Nimros]

Yay!!!! You did it!!!

How was Rick feeling by this time?

[Minnie Lor]

Oh my gosh, you did great! You got lot's of character pic's and you RODE EE for goodness sakes. Such an amazing story! I'm forwarding the link to DH so he can read it.