2014 Marathon Weekend Recap and Post Trip Race Report About This Page:

[Tim Sullivan]

***EDIT - Decided to get this moved to the trip report area, as I might follow up with some highlights and thoughts from the rest of our vacation. 2 weeks at WDW, with some new (to us) experiences, figure I might turn this into one big trip report. Hope everyone enjoys! ***

As promised, here is the first of what will probably be many posts recapping my experiences with my first marathon, and runDisney event. I'll try to include photos, or if not, will link to the blog posts that will have them as well. Just waiting for the MarathonFoto link to get mailed to me so I can get some of the in-race photos too.

Bit of background for those that might need it...I entered into the Goofy Challenge, running the half on Saturday and the full on Sunday. I had never run any distance events before this one, so it was going to be the first of many great experiences. I also realize that many might not know (though my friends from the running forum will) that I am an "Athlete with Disability", having a pretty bad visual impairment that makes me nearly blind. No low-light/night vision, and pretty severe tunnel blindness. So with that out of the way...

Arrival was on the Friday of marathon weekend. It was really hard seeing some of the online friends I was following posting runDisney stuff as early as Monday and Tuesday of the setup and prep for the weekend's events...I was so excited to get there! Made it really hard the last few days of work to concentrate on anything other than my upcoming run.

Luckily the trip down and to the hotel (POFQ) went really smoothly. Flight left a little late, but we literally walked onto our DME bus and left for the resort, which was great. Got there, checked in to the hotel and had a bit of lunch. I was travelling with an entire cheering crew, consisting of my MiL, FiL, BiL, wife and two daughters. I was itching to get to the expo, I had read a lot of horror stories about long lines and waits, I wanted to make sure I could get everything done as quickly as possible. The In-Laws offered to keep an eye on the kidlets and spend the afternoon at the pool so I wouldn't have to worry about the expo by myself, so with that, we checked our carry ons with Bell Services and hopped the bus to WWoS for the expo.

Mixed experiences there...I was surprised at how long of a walk it was from the bus drop off to the expo area, but we made it there and the signage made it easy to find the building for packet pickup. Once there though, it was a bit difficult to find the lower area for Goofy packet pickup, one of the helpful volunteers pointed us to packet pickup for half and full marathon, but not the separate area for Goofy/Dopey runners. I knew we had to go downstairs to pick it up, so we found our own way to a set of stairs, walked down and ended up finding it from there.

After reading the horror stories I was shocked at how much of a breeze pickup went. There was no one in line at all for the Goofy registration, and before I knew it had my bib, and was pointed towards shirt pickup. Had the first of the magic from the volunteers there, as I had originally signed up and put XXL for shirt choices, but after losing a bunch of weight, really needed XL (or possibly L)...and luckily for me the volunteer that I spoke to at shirt pickup was always "screwing things up" (in his words) and wouldn't you know it, he "accidentally" came back with an XL package so I wouldn't have to head over to shirt size swapping...nice! Chatted with him and his daughter for a few minutes, then off to the expo floor proper for a bit of shopping.

What can I say about the expo portion??? It was a freaking zoo, and didn't really enjoy the experience at all. I knew what I wanted to see/pick up (CEP booth for some quad compression sleeves not easily acquired here in Canada, runDisney booth to see what other swag was available) but really didn't have a chance to look around at anything, since it was not an environment that made for a relaxing browsing experience...and with two runs the last thing I wanted was to be on my feet for several hours...so back to the hotel.

Timed things perfectly, we got back to our rooms finally being ready and also the bathing beauties just finishing up from the pool. Grabbed our bags from Bell Services and off to the rooms....to find out lo and behold my oldest daughter managed to lose her MagicBand after only 3 1/2 hours... luckily it was just mis-placed in her sister's backpack, but we didn't find it until after it had been deactivated with the front desk (really easy and quick process btw).

Decided to take the boat up to Riverside to poke around up there a bit and have dinner up there. I was on a pasta mission, and after the HORRIBLE pasta I had at POFQ, was over the moon with the amazing pasta at Riverside. Not sure if the POFQ was gluten free or what its deal was...but the two times I had it the pasta was the exact same consistency.... BAD! Luckily Riverside was just what the doctor ordered for a yummy dinner before my first run...but man was it hard to sit there with so many yummy looking dinners being consumed and NOT participating myself. Stuck to decently sized portions, and only water/sport drink...NOT fun :P

Finished dinner and decided to have a nice stroll back to POFQ, the kids were going to watch the movie under the stars while I got all my gear ready for the race the next day. Counted out my gels (actually got a favourite from Gu when I tweeted a photo of all the gels I brought for the weekend... was neat!) getting everything laid out and ready for the next (early) morning, so I wouldn't need to rush around. E-load for my fuel belt (my energy drink of choice, developed up here in Canada and is AMAZING), with e-Mend for immediate post-run recovery (same company...GREAT stuff). Loaded the fuel belt and got ready for an early bed time.

Was in bed by 8:30ish (everyone was pretty tired from the early morning wake up to travel to the airport, etc, so no one complained about being in bed that early, but had to curse Illuminations for waking me up...we were in building 4, closest to the bus stops and could hear the fireworks through the walls. Was nice the rest of the trip...but made it hard to go to sleep for those early wake up mornings Luckily I actually drifted off and actually got a few hours sleep... the 2:00 wake up call would come soon enough.....

Tim

[Tim Sullivan]

So as I mentioned in the last message, my wakeup was set for a 2:00 wake up call...with a 2:05, 2:10, 2:15 and 2:20 alarm set on my iPhone as well. Suffice to say I didn't want to oversleep and miss my first race! Luckily/oddly enough, I woke up at 1:52, cancelled the wake up call, shut off the alarms and hopped in the shower.

My plan was to be out the door at at the bus stops for the first shuttle over at 3:00, as I had heard before horror stories of long waits for the buses I wanted to make sure I had as few stresses as possible...I'd much rather sit waiting at the corral, rather than sitting waiting and worrying for a bus. My darling wife was nice enough to agree to accompany me over so she could help me find where I needed to go, and so she could also carry my cane back with her so I wouldn't need to bag check/toss it at the corral.

Bus went smoothly, we were on the bus and on the way, and man was I excited! Got to the drop off area and walked into the excitement of race morning. So many runners, and man, so many pumped up volunteers! Was AMAZING to be involved with that atmosphere. runDisney/Track Shack was nice enough to help organize running guides for me, so I was instructed to meet my guide at 4:00 at the Athletes with Disabilities tent. Was greeted by a really friendly volunteer that told me to make myself at home, they were going to take all disabled athletes out ahead of the rest of the crowd, and that we'd be leaving at 4:30.

Shortly after arriving, this amazing young lady came up to me and asked, "Are you Tim?" Lo and behold, it was my guide Cheryl. We said our hellos, I bid my wife a goodbye (who was going to try to head back to the resort and get the cheering section to meet up at the finish line) and was left to chat with Cheryl while we waited for our time to step off for the corrals. We passed the time chatting about exactly how we were going to go about her guiding me, how we would get it done, handle water stops etc. With the business stuff out of the way, we were then off for the walk to the corrals.

I'm not sure how the bulk of runners is shunted to the corrals, but we were taken on a route that actually took us through a forest and we actually came out onto the course about 100 - 200 metres ahead of the actual starting line. We were told to wait at the start, they were going to send off the wheelchair athletes, then we'd go off after them (there was a large group of ambulatory athletes with disabilities in addition to me). That plan quickly changed, we were told to head back to our corral...aw nuts!!!

I loved the energy of the corrals and of the races! So many people, the music, some all smiles, some nervous...was a great atmosphere. I was getting really pumped and excited, and before long 5:30 was there and the first corrals were sent off!

My plan for the half marathon was to take it easy, to not really push the run at all, since I still had that full marathon to run on Sunday. Pace was going to be kept nice and slow so I could use it as a learning opportunity of what did (and didn't) work, using this as a bit of a dress rehearsal for the marathon. I wanted to make sure I was saving my energies for that, as not only was I running the Goofy Challenge, but also wanted to qualify for the Boston Marathon. I know, lofty ambitions for someone's first marathon effort

The weather for the morning was really humid and threatened rain a couple times, but luckily the rain held out...although the humidity was ever present. Was finally my corral's time to start and after the fireworks, lingered at the back of the pack of the corral, letting them all get out front and crossed the start line about 5:45ish...and I was off!

The first few miles of the half were interesting. I had never run with Cheryl before, never actually had run with a guide actually, so it was a great learning experience for both of us, and was a great opportunity to do that. Cheryl was a great guide, constantly chatting about what "we" were seeing along the route (as I'm night blind in addition to no peripheral vision, I didn't see much of the dark part of the course). I don't know if Cheryl had any experience with people with visual disabilities, but she was awesome, and we made a great team. I know Disney well enough, and had studied the course map enough that I could talk about what was coming up, turns etc so Cheryl could get ready for where she would need to take me.

We quickly worked out a system for running, dealing with slower traffic in front, and the water stops. Cheryl was very "hands on" when it came to leading me...we had an elastic cord tether between us so I could "feel" just how close (or not) we were getting, but Cheryl would reach over and lead me left. I ended up doing things a little differently on Sunday, but more on that later!

I thought there was a decent amount of entertainment along the first part of the course...Captain Jack/POTC at about Mile 1 (with huge line of course), and they even had a stock car and Lambo from the Richard Petty Driving experience by the race track...so that was neat.

By far though the most magical experience was running up Main Street. I had been looking forward to this for a year, ever since I decided to run, and it did not disappoint. I must have had the biggest, stupidest grin on my face, it was an amazing way to head up towards the castle...and was over way too soon!

The run continued on really well, sun finally came up after passing the GF/Poly, Cheryl and I settling in to the less interesting part of the run. Felt really strong and light on my feet, although the humidity made me keep my pace a little slower than I had anticipated. It was really hard to not push the pace faster, but I really wanted to make sure I was good for the next day.

The only part of the run that I found was a bit less magical was the run through Epcot. It is such a short trip through Future World, basically up the right side of the ball and the middle of Future World, do a 180 degree turn, and back down again. The only part I found overly magical was the run towards Spaceship Earth...and then was treated to something I wasn't expecting...the Gospel Choir from the full was there on the half! I didn't remember reading about this, so it was a nice surprise, and a great way to give the kick to the finish.

Made that turn into the final straightaway, and crossed the finish in 2:26:16. Great strong and easy run, felt more like one of my long slow runs in training than an actual half marathon, which was exactly what I was hoping for..save those legs for the next day!

Got that half medal placed around my neck, headed through to get my Goofy wristband (to show that I had completed the half) and then met up again with my wife and family. Said my last goodbyes to Cheryl and then made the LONG trip back to the hotel...

Tim

[shazza]

Great start to your report. I'm amazed at people running a marathon, let alone doing the half as well!

[Amy L]

Yay, you have started your TR Tim!! Congrats on the great finish and time for the half!! You rocked that race! It sounds like you had an awesome race with a wonderful running guide. I was so happy to read that after all you went through to be assigned someone. I had no idea this was your very first half/full. Very impressive that you chose to run Goofy! Can't wait to read more!

[Tim Sullivan]

Remembering a couple more things from the half as well. One being the constant humour that Cheryl and I found with my using the metric kms on my watch, with her and the race using miles. It seemed like my watch was constantly going off (about every 6:50) which made our progress seem way faster. Cheryl was joking that she LOVED getting so many progress notifications, and joked that she might have to switch to KMs for her training.

The other funny thing that gave me some pause for the marathon on Sunday was that my guide for the Marathon, Jeff, is widely known in the Orlando area running community, and has quite the reputation of being an intense and driven runner. We're talking a 3:08 marathoner. He's the guy that shows up at the gym that opens at 5am at 4am, runs for an hour, THEN does his hour workout, THEN goes to work. Cheryl would constantly check with me about how I felt, how the pace was, etc...she would joke (possibly only half joke) that if I used myself up on Saturday, that Jeff would kill her if I blew up on Sunday :P. So I didn't know what exactly to expect when I met Jeff on Sunday.

Tim

[Tim Sullivan]

Successful race in the books, medal around my neck, now time to head back to the hotel for some R and R, maybe pool time...shower and some stretching and roller time...I was looking forward to it! Unfortunately, my family commented on the long lines of buses trying to make their way into the Epcot lot, and how bad the traffic was due to the road closures, so they were looking for an alternate route back to POFQ....could we take the Monorail to get away from Epcot? Travel brain leaps into gear....and we start the most roundabout route back to the hotel :P

First stop, Monorail to TTC. I LOVE the monorail, I have ever since I was a kid, my Dad had a fascination that he passed on to me, so I had no problems with this. I figure we will take the monorail to the TTC, transfer to the MK train, then POFQ bus "home". All was rosy until we were pulling into the TTC and the family expressed concern at the traffic snarl still happening due to the road closures on World Drive (I finished while there were still some on World Drive, which was still closed). That, coupled with the long line of people for the MK monorail (it was almost 9am by this point) and this plan was looking like a bad one....

...until planning brain leapt into gear once more. I suggest taking the ferry, rather than monorail, which I usually find to be less busy, then since no one wanted to sit in a bus in traffic to POFQ, we could then take the WL boat from MK, then transfer to a DTD bus, then either bus or boat to POFQ from there (figuring that since WL is east of all the closures it would probably be less affected. Not the most direct route, I know...but it was a beautiful morning, we had no where to be, so why the heck not?

So onto the ferry we went, it finally gave me the chance to slip into my compression sleeves for my calves and thighs...LOVE LOVE LOVE CEP stuff, it really helps with the recovery. Transfer to the WL boat, everything is smooth sailing so far. Once we get to WL, we hit another slight snag...no buses to DTD! Last audible of the day was taking a bus to DHS, then the resort bus from there. Was a bit roundabout, but no one really minded, and we got back in time to greet my parents, who were just checking in for their weekend stay to cheer me on for the full (they are about 45 mins away during the winter).

During this trip back I started to get a really tight right calf....never really had anything like this before, which caused me a bit of concern for the race the next day. I wasn't too worried, as I hoped some decent stretching, coupled with a lot of rolling would work out whatever kinks I had developed. Rolling with my Tiger Tail and the CEP calf sleeves definitely loosened it up and made it feel better as well.

Lunch was once again the horrible spaghetti from the POFQ food court, cementing in my brain it wasn't a one day thing, but whatever bad pasta choice Disney had made. Carbs are carbs though, and I'm not that picky of an eater, so in it went, and down to the pool we go. A nice fun relaxing afternoon lounging, rolling, chatting and swimming (for the kids at least) was a nice way to unwind and refocus for Sunday.

Dinner we headed back to Riverside to show my parents the resort, I also wanted to do the create your own pasta for dinner again, and once again was NOT disappointed! I did get a chuckle out of just how busy the line was for the pasta, with the other stations in the food court pretty barren, pretty much everyone in the pasta line in some sort of race shirt Gee, wonder why pasta is so popular

Great meal, and once again a stroll back to FQ to keep the legs loose. Back to the room, more rolling and get the gear ready for Sunday's epic. Once again in bed before 9...but illuminations once again made sure that I wasn't asleep before then One more early wake up for the marathon....

Tim

[disney_duke]

Yay!!
I arrived at the Expo the same day as you. Yes, the bib pick up area can be confusing. And they switch it up sometimes too. Some years, Goofy is upstairs - in fact last year, Goofy was upstairs. But with Dopey runners too, I think they put that all downstairs. I'm guessing on that Wednesday, bib pick up was much busier for the Dopey runners!

I guess I forget how chaotic the actual Expo appears to first timers. I'm so used to it now, I know where to go, I just briskly walk around all the shoppers. Actually, I've seen it worse than I did on that Friday. Sometimes it's like a traffic jam and you're literally stuck in people traffic. But I was able to walk right through this time, just dodging others here and there. And for the first time this year, they had some vendors outdoors at the baseball field too. I didn't stop there though.

Isn't that create your pasta delicious?! Yum. I totally agree too, there's just something different about that place vs. the rest of the food courts' pastas. And gigantic portions too.

I'm so glad that getting your guide(s) worked out so well. Even if it seemed like such a last minute effort, they came through in the end. The way you walked to the corrals is the "old" way they used to have the runners go. My first race in 2008 we walked that way. It's a much shorter distance. I don't know why they switched it to the current way.

What a great run you had too! I'm glad you studied the course so you knew what you were "seeing" while you were out there. And I'm assuming you didn't trip on the speed bump. (caution runners, speed bump ahead) That run up Main St. is always amazing, but way too short! I finally got smart last year and stopped to get a picture of myself on Main St. Duh.

I was totally looking for you at the finish, but completely missed you. I almost yelled out your name to a guy I thought may have been you. You didn't have a flashing light on your hat did you? By the time I saw him though, he was well on his way toward the Goofy tent. Oh well.

You know, taking such a long convoluted route back to your hotel isn't a terrible thing. You had the compression on, and you kept moving/walking. This is excellent for recovery. Very smart on your part actually! Glad you got the calf tightness fixed as well.

Ok, sorry to ramble.... great start to your trip!!!

[Tim Sullivan]

The Expo wasn't wall to wall people when we were there in the afternoon...near to it, but we could still get around somewhat, but with being visually impaired, it's hard to look at things when I can't stand back and get the "big picture". And I love my wife to death, but she was hating the crowds and was just ready to leave, so not wanting to hold her up< I figured get what I need, and get out of there

The build your own pasta is one of the best deals on property...if we weren't on the dining plan my wife and I could have easily split one between us...and my wife did that a couple times with my one daughter actually (though I think daughter ended up eating more shrimp than pasta hehe)

The guides were awesome people, really glad that Track Shack came through finally...though in speaking to Jeff, he had offered to guide someone a couple times, but even as of the beginning of December was told, "we're good, no guides needed" then got the call if he was still available. Not sure where the disconnect in communications was, but if I didn't seek out alternate forms of getting a hold of runDisney/Track Shack, I would have had to guide myself. Turns out Jeff actually runs with the race director as well...he was a very interesting guy to chat with, that's for sure!

The run was really good, and I can't believe I forgot the part about how I missed out on seeing you at the finish! Was looking for you, but with so many people going every which way...it just wasn't happening The half though was the perfect warmup for the marathon on Sunday, especially running with someone as laid back as Cheryl, who put no pressure on at all.

You do make a good point on the long route back as well, allowed me to walk/unwind the legs a bit.... but did the calf get better? Gee...only the marathon report will tell......

Tim

[Tim Sullivan]

So they say running the Goofy challenge isn't really like running two races, but more like three...and after my experience, that's for sure the truth!

Yet another early wake up, wake up call for 2:00, four different iPhone alarms...and yet once again, I woke up just before the wake up call, so cancelled that, and hopped in the shower to help wake up. Routine was a bit different this morning, my wife was going to stay back in the room and get the kids and rest of family up and out the door, my Dad (who was flying home that morning) was going to take me over to the start to meet Jeff, my Sunday guide. All my gear was ready to go, pre prepared much like for the half, so I was out the door by 2:50.

One decision I had to make was, do I run in my calf sleeves for the marathon? I don't run with compression sleeves on, I've read the studies that are inconclusive as to whether they work DURING your run, all studies point to their assistance AFTER the run...but my calf was still a bit tight...so do I wear them, just in case? Calf, while tight, felt pretty good, so I opted not to.

First slight snag of the morning...the bus driver of the shuttle we were taking was busy asking directions from another driver of how to get where we were going.... ugh, NOT what I wanted to hear! Especially since I had a problem with my chip timing from the day before, I didn't register going across the finish timing mat, so wanted to make sure I was good for the marathon that day, so wanted time to stop by runner information tent. Luckily the guy sitting in the front row literally gave turn by turn directions of where the guy needed to go, and we got there without incident...though maybe taking a bit longer than we should.

Off the bus and stroll into the starting area with my Dad. He thought it was really neat the huge setup they had, and was very interested with the sniffer dogs they had checking all the garbages, boxes and everything else around in the area. My wife and I didn't notice that the day before, but then again my Dad is a former police officer, and currently looks after the security operations of a major University...so no wonder he noticed that stuff

Find my way to Runner Info, sending Jeff (my guide) a quick text to let him know that I'm here, but going to runner info. While standing in line Jeff manages to find me and introduces himself, talk to the lady at runner information who, after checking my chip says everything should be fine, not to worry even if it does completely fail they can track me down by the photos, don't worry and have a great run....sounds good, I won't worry, and off to the Athletes with Disabilities area to wait for our time to go out to the corrals.

Had a great time chatting with Jeff, getting to know him, talking about how the run went the day before, what worked for Cheryl and I, would I do anything different, how we'd handle water/fuelling stops etc. It was nice chatting with him, as intense and scary as Cheryl made him seem the day before, I found him exactly as I was hoping...focused and driven, while being really nice about it Corral time came, and off we went.

Need to add a small Rock Star moment I had here though, as we were getting ready to head out, one of the volunteers walks up to me and asks, "Are you Tim? From the Mickey Miles Podcast?" Turns out she is a faithful listener to the podcast, I was interviewed in December for the "Inspiration Week" they were having. They talked to me about my being blind and running, the lady had heard my story and thought it was amazing. Was kind of a cool moment, and a GREAT way to start off my marathon morning

This morning was much cooler than the half was...weather wise it looked like a perfect day to run a marathon, no humidity, heat was going to stay pretty low, I was excited...just what I needed to run a Boston Qualifying time. My big goal for the weekend, not only finishing my first half and full, but I was also wanting to score a Boston Marathon qualifying time. Boston has pretty strict time goals that you have to hit, one of the things that I'm "lucky" to have being a disabled athlete is a pretty reasonable time goal of 5:00...able bodied runners in my age bracket would need a time under 3:10...so while there are few benefits to my disability, running Boston is one opportunity that few runners get to take, this is something I definitely wanted to make sure I was able to do!

As we were waiting in the corral Jeff checked in to see how I felt physically after running the half the day before. We had been texting back and forth the previous day, so he knew that it was a nice easy run but also my concerns on my calf. When we had talked previously, I had mentioned that my goal was to run the marathon in 4:15-4:30, with a BHAG of sub 4:00 if the stars aligned the angels sang (and Jeff carried me on his back partway hehe). Told him that with my calf, I knew that sub 4:00 was out, I didn't want to push it and DNF the race, but was still feeling good about my 4:15-4:30 goal, so that was the pace Jeff would set.

Worked our way up to the start line, I know runDisney/Track Shack have been running the past few Disney races a little different, smaller corrals and less time between corrals. Obviously I hadn't had any experience before hand, but felt the system they have now works really good far starting, and while there were parts of the course that were busy, a lot of the congestion that I had read about in years past didn't seem to be there. It is almost a constant slow walk as the waves are sent off, then it was our turn off I went on my first Marathon!!!

Jeff started out with a really brisk pace, much faster than what I had run the day before, but still something that was well within my wheelhouse, and we made really great time through the first few miles, though our guiding system changed up a bit from what Cheryl and I did. Still used the tether so I knew we were close enough to one another, but the one difference is when the course got tight, or Jeff would need to guide me a little more through the course we would close up and I'd touch his elbow/arm with the outside of my hand so I could "feel" all his movements...and if it was really tight he would tell me to take his elbow (the common way the blind are usually led by sighted guides). I actually thought this worked much better, not that the system with Cheryl was a bad one, but this way felt more natural and I think would have been easier on Cheryl if we had done this as well.

About three or four miles into the run, I had my first sign that things weren't going to go as planned. That calf that I had mentioned? It started to let me know that it was going to play a bigger role in the day's events than I was hoping, and I let Jeff know that. Told him that, while the pace we were keeping was one that was still comfortable for me NOW, if I keep this up, I don't know if my calf will let me. It was still good, and I wanted to keep it that way. "No problem!" said Jeff, "Still lots of time to hit your time goal"

Once again, running through MK was amazing. I was really looking forward to this part, as my whole family was going to be there cheering me on, I was really hoping to see them... or at least hear them, as it was too dark for me to see much of anything other than the lights as we ran. Unfortunately, we didn't make a concrete plan on WHERE they were going to stand (which I'd imagine is hard to do on Main Street), nor did they have any signs to help Jeff find them, so we ran up Main Street, always looking for people that might be my peeps, but never saw them Bummer, I was just hoping they saw me.

Continued through MK, trip through the castle was even smoother than with the half, the elbow touch technique really helping here, and out we went for the trip past the GF and the Poly, and out to the race track...and here is where my "nightmare" scenario #1 reared its ugly head....

As we were running out of the MK it was starting to get light, I got another sign from my body. "Uh...Jeff? I'll need to stop and go to the bathroom the next time we pass the port-a-johns..." "No problem," says Jeff, "if you'd like, there are some trees to the side of the road, its pretty secluded, if you just want to stop there..." Nope...without going into the details, I needed that port-a-john. This is something I had worried about in training, the last thing I wanted to have happen is a bio break affect my time...but I had little choice, but to get it over with as fast as possible...which I did

The run around the race track was pretty neat, Jeff and I are both into cars, so it was neat to see the selection they had, but we were soon out and onto the long road to the AK..

One thing I do have to say is how neat the camaraderie between runners on the route is. Sure, you get a lot of the intense type that are just pushing their way forward, but we had a great time talking to, and joking with runners that we were passing, along with runners passing us. We did get a lot of comments, the two of us running together, with lots of runners being encouraged/amazed at a blind runner attempting the marathon... although many thought it was "cute" that Jeff and I were tied together, and that we didn't want to lose each other.... yes, for VERY good reason When I'd let them know that I was blind, and that he was my guide, they quickly got it and were on the "way to go" crowd .

Uneventful run for the next several miles, body still felt great, calf was behaving itself and happy with the pace we were keeping and we were making great time to AK. It was a funny run through the park though, I didn't realize exactly when we got "on stage" from running from the backstage area until we were running past EE and I heard a train. Laughed to myself that I didn't notice...and got ready because one of my highlights of the run was soon to come!

Our very own Disney Duke was volunteering at the water stop just after AK, and as I missed her in the finishing area the day before, I was really hoping to see here there. As we were running through I was looking for someone fitting her description, and thanks to some very specific wardrobe choices Tanya pointed out, was able to spot her and started waving, hoping to get her attention, which I did! Got that, "What's this nut waving at....oh, wait, I bet that's Tim!!" look from her and ran through with a smile.

Jeff wondered who I was waving at, I told him it was one of my friends from online who was volunteering at the races. "How did you know what she looked like...had you guys met before?" Jeff asks.

"No, I just looked for the Mickey Ears she was wearing."

"Tim, how the HELL did you spot someone with Mickey ears...every second person is wearing Mickey ears"

"Aaaahhh, but Jeff, she was the only one at that Water Stop...I was playing the odds hehe" Both thought it was humorous that I was able to spot Tanya, and both agreed it was pretty cool that she travelled so far just to volunteer, not even to run any of the races. It was also nice for my morale too, as I ended up never actually seeing my family along the route, so getting that "friendly face" really helped!

And with that, we leave the AK area, and were on the way to the part of the run that I hated the most...the run to and through the WWoS....

Tim

[shazza]

Suspense ...

[disney_duke]

Suspense, indeed!

Great start to marathon Sunday! Glad Jeff turned out to be just as great as Cheryl. That's a relief.

The camaraderie of the runners is fantastic! It's one of the reasons I continue to do runDisney (as if I need more). I've done only 2 local Half's, and more than enough 5K's, and the runDisney atmosphere - while actually running - is like no other.

Awww, I'm so sad you didn't see your family! Yeah, MK Main Street is a crazy hodge podge of spectators. Unless you're extremely familiar with the landmarks there and knew exactly where to look for them, it'd be very difficult to spot your family. Did you ever find out - did they at least get to see you?

And I'm so glad you called my name at the water stop! I know you're a fast runner, so I was thinking of you right away. But then it got sooo busy and crowded - it was all I could do to just make sure I always had cups of water in my hands and try not to get soaking wet! You came through in quite a crowd too. Quite impressive that you spotted me. I'm glad I wore those Mickey Ears!

I know the rest of the course... it's not pretty for quite some time. Looking forward to hearing your impression of it! And then I'll tell you the way it used to be....

Edited to add - I also meant to say that's so sweet of you to say that I was a friendly face for you and boost your morale for the time being. I wished I could have given you a hug or at least a high five!!

[kadterp]

Hi Im late to the party but Im here!!! Im loving your report and started clapping my hands when I read that you saw Tanya! Yay!! So glad to hear that it worked out for you with your guides. And honestly can I say Im jealous? I want a guide for my next race! Can I trade in my husband for one? He yells at me too much when we race lol. Either way, Im loving this report and cant wait to read more!

[Tim Sullivan]

Glad you guys are enjoying the recap. I MIGHT get this moved to the trip report forum...I've been toying with the idea off and on...so we will see where it ends up

GREAT experience with the guides...Jeff, the marathon guide was a great asset to have...I can't wait to get to writing the next chapter of the marathon, as it was by far the most.... interesting... portion of the run for me.

I should have mentioned that my family DID in fact see me, both at Main Street and at the Finish (gee...getting ahead of myself maybe?/ hehe) but for some reason AT&T played havoc with the texting I was TRYING to do with my phone. No data, since roaming fees are STUPID expensive with my Canadian carrier, so that meant that I was getting texts from my wife AFTER I had finished the race about where they were waiting for me AT the finish... delivered out of order...it was horrible. I've got a couple plans to help mitigate those issues in future races, but it was definitely frustrating!

More to come soon...

Tim

[Cam22]

You are doing incredibly well with the races, Tim! I admire anyone willingly to run that far.

[Amy L]

It looks like your Marathon start is going really well and you have another great guide too! So neat that you and Tanya got to see each other. Sorry the texting got so mixed up with your family, that must have been frustrating!

I used to only wear my compression sleeves post racing too. Then one day I decided to try them during a race and and had great results both during and after. Now I wear them during any race over 10k.

Looking forward to the next update.