Category Archives: RunDisney

runDisney Proof of Time – Fairytale Challenge 2018

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Sometimes the simplest things become inexplicably challenging!  So it was with supplying Proof-of-Time for the upcoming 2018 Fairy Tale Challenge (Enchanted 10K and Princess Half Marathon).

First let me explain why we even care about sending in a proof-of-time for these races.  Proof-of-time is used for corral placement in runDisney events.  The faster you are expected to finish, the earlier you are allowed to start.  Simple as that.

Reasons NOT to send in Proof-of-Time – You or someone you are running with wants their particular runDisney event to be their very FIRST race.  For a lot of people who are new to running, this simple fact gets them through all the training miles that lead up to the magical event(s).  If you want your first race to be an incredibly memorable one, you will not be disappointed.  Another reason you might not need proof-of-time is that you simply don’t care when you start the race.  I know lots of folks who schedule long post-race Disney vacations and race days are not spent park touring.  You’ve got all the time in the World to focus on the task at hand – not a bad thing at all.

Reasons TO send in Proof-of-Time – The most obvious one is that you’re an elite runner who has a chance to place in these events.  If that’s the case, you ROCK and I salute you!  Our reason for supplying proof-of-time is made up of much less than lofty race-winning dreams.  We want to get going as early as we can so we have as much of the day left as possible once the running is through.  We’ll still have a full day of park touring and dining plans once the race is over.  We only spend three or four days at Walt Disney World for these events and time is of the essence!  Yes, it’s exhausting, but we do it anyway.

Back to our proof-of-time for 2018.  Joseph and I like to run a 10K in October called the Grin and Bear It.  It’s a flat course, close to home, and the weather is usually cool and fall-like for the out-and-back course along a pretty lakefront.  We knew we could use our 2016 times for the 2017 Princess races, but on the outside chance that this year’s times would be better, we registered and ran it a couple of weeks ago.  What about Megan, you ask?  Unlike Joseph and I, Meg HAD to run a 10K before the November 14th deadline to have any proof-of-time at all.  She’s never run a 10K before and had already booked a weekend away that conflicted with the Grin and Bear It race.

So we found a 10K race on October 28th in Lake Charles, Louisiana for her to enter.  Not close to where we live, by any means, but close enough for a quick overnight trip.  I’d started coming down with something on Wednesday and by Friday I felt lousy enough to know I wouldn’t be running on Saturday.  No worries, though, Megan would go on without me and I’d be there to cheer her on.  We left Friday right after work and were on the road for the approximately 31/2 hour drive by 6:30 pm.  We’d booked a hotel room really close to the race start to maximize sleeping time and I’d picked up bananas and Cliff Bars for breakfast.

Everything was going great…GPS lady was talking us through directions.  We grabbed a quick dinner-to-go at Taco Bell in Alexandria and had just finished eating when we stopped at a red light, were sitting there for a minute waiting for the light to turn green and then BAM!  We were suddenly rear-ended.  HARD!  It was dark out and raining and there was no way I was getting out of the car to approach the stranger that had plowed into us.  Once we realized we were okay, I kept my eye on the driver through my rearview mirror while Megan called the police.

After talking to the dispatcher for a few minutes as they ran down their list of questions to ask, they requested that (since our car was drivable) we pull out of the intersection and off the road.  As I pulled forward to comply, the driver that hit us simply drove away.  Yup.  We were victims of a hit-and-run.  The police were perfectly nice and sympathetic.  Must have been a slow night in Alexandria as no less than three cruisers arrived on the scene.

Megan and I were unfortunately unable to get the full license plate number of the other driver, but based on what we did record, the police thought the other vehicle was a rental.  My only consolation is that it cannot possibly be undamaged so at least they’ll have to deal with the rental car agency over it.  I’m out my $500 deductible and Joseph and I will have to carpool while the repairs are being made.  In the grand scheme, this is no big deal.  We weren’t hurt, just shaken up (and really mad) for a few minutes.

As we do when faced with adversity, Megan and I shrugged it off and got back on the road.  We were settled down for the night quite a bit later than expected, but safe and sound and back on track.  We set three alarms for 5:15 am and called it a day.

Race morning dawned clear and crisp and perfectly calm – excellent running conditions!  Megan checked in at 6:40 and we sat in the car to keep warm until it was time for her to line up with the other runners for a 7:30 start.  I keep watching for my friend Karen who writes one of my favorite blogs.  I spotted her just before the race and she made me feel so much better – Megan wouldn’t be alone on the race course after all.

55-minutes into the race I started walking backwards along the course to find Megan and cheer her on.  I didn’t get far before I spotted Karen who was doing great (second female finisher)!  I walked on a little longer and there was Megan!  She looked comfortable and was running really fast!  I jumped on the course with her and ran along with her telling her what a great race she was having and how proud I was of her.  Megan’s final time for her very first 10K was 1:01:16.  She was happy and said she felt great.  Mission accomplished.

So, there you go.  Sometimes simple stuff gets complicated, but life’s like that…you can either deal with it or let it get you down.  As for me, I felt even worse as this week began and finally broke down and went to the doctor yesterday.  Next week’s Disney Sea-and-Land vacation is swiftly approaching and I want to be 100% by then.  Adventure is out there!

Are you a runDisney participant?  Do you send in proof-of-time?

runDisney – Star Wars Dark Side Half 2017

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“When you said challenge, I thought you meant running the two races.  I didn’t know the actual challenge was lack of sleep.” – Joseph Green in the starting corral for the Star Wars Half, 2017

runDisney – Star Wars Dark Side Half 2017

3:15 am.  Mickey Mouse called and said it was time to start the day just as the alarm on my phone (across the room) started to play its tune.  Is there an adjective to describe more-than-exhausted-less-than-dead?  Whatever that word is, Joseph and I were it.  We got ready in silence except for the few moments of panic when we couldn’t find Joseph’s race bib.  Crisis averted, we practically chugged our coffee as we made our last-minute preparations.  Matching shirts on, Cliff Bars and PowerAde in hand, playlists ready, we were out the door and headed to the bus stop once again by 3:50.  We could have actually walked to the starting area from our resort, but…seriously?  No.

We’d been the recipients of a little extra Disney magic the previous afternoon and had a surprise waiting for us in our room.  Fuel for our fight against the resistance!  Well, being secret rebels, we could not be swayed from our mission by PowerAde and granola bars, but we did appreciate the gesture and that PowerAde came in handy on race morning.

The bus was waiting for us once again and this time it was so crowded that by the time we picked up runners from Shades of Green, the aisle was packed and every seat was full for the short trip to the starting area.  For a few moments there on the dark bus I was asking myself exactly how I though I was going to be able to run 13.1 miles with zero energy, but then we arrived and I put on a happy face determined to use the fake-it-til-you-make-it philosophy.

We met up with Dave and Anne at the same spot as the previous morning – all of us a bit less cheerful and we forgot to pose for any pictures together.  Joseph was assigned to corral B and I to corral C for this race, but he moved back to start with me and we settled in to wait our turn to go.

The course this time would take us first to Animal Kingdom, then to Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and finally through Epcot to the finish line.  Like the day before, the first few miles alternated between pitch black and flood lights except as an added feature for the half, there were “lasers”.  Moving colored lights that, when they hit you, were instantly and completely blinding.  Luckily, we made our way without serious incident and started to notice signs we were nearing Animal Kingdom.

We entered the park near Kali River Rapids and made our way uphill towards Expedition Everest, passing monkeys and cheerful Cast Members as we went.  We barely had time to stop for a few quick selfies before we passed up DinoLand USA and were out on the road again.  At mile 8, volunteers were offering GU packets and, being a little picky about what I eat while running, I grabbed water and passed on the GU…I should not have done that.

Around mile 10 we arrived at the Studios and took the same route in and out, but there were more characters to see than there were for the 10K.  The Storm Troopers had a short line, so we waited for a picture with them.  One said, “Greeting Citizens”, we posed for the picture, and the other one said, “Move along”.  So we did.  Once again taking the walkway along the water towards the Boardwalk.

We got to run around the entire Boardwalk and that’s extra fun because quite a few people show up to cheer for runners and many of those fans hold funny signs.  Looking at the signs was how I spotted Tim and Bob from The Resort Loop Podcast and I was SO excited to see them, I stopped to speak to them and introduce Joseph, but forgot to take a picture.  Their show is great, you should give it a listen.

Before long, we were headed up the bridge to Epcot. This slight uphill felt monumental!  I was paying the price for not getting some carbs back on mile 8.  We’d taken a couple of short walk breaks between miles 9 and 10 and I knew we only had about a mile to go, but I needed just a minute of rest.  Joseph looked sad and I told him with a joking tone that while I knew I was a disappointment to him, I had 30 years on him and I was out of gas.  The very nice young lady running in front of me, having heard what I said, spun around and insisted, “You’re doing GREAT!”.  Then she reached into her pocket and handed me a “salted watermelon” flavored GU…which was the most delicious thing in the world to me at that exact moment.  I am still so grateful to this perfect stranger!  Like spinach for Popeye, that GU gave me a burst of energy and we immediately ran right on to the finish line.  Here’s a picture of us after I felt better:

For as tired as we were and as bad as we’d felt waiting for the race to start, we had an amazing time.  We also felt pretty great when we finished.  Overall, it was everything we’d hoped for (except enough sleep!).  We found Raymond and the three of us were enjoying cold recovery beverages (beer) and munching on some snacks when Anne and Dave joined us and we had fun comparing our experiences.  The weather was beautiful and we had the whole day ahead to enjoy being at Walt Disney World.

If I could change anything, we’d have gone to sleep earlier and I would have fueled better during the half.  I must add emphatically that having someone to run with increased my enjoyment of these events immensely!  Thank you, Joe!!!  I love you.

Here are the stats:

Finish Time:  2:35:28

Overall Place (We crossed the finish line exactly at the same time, but clocked 2 places different!)

  • Lisa: 5,196/16,311
  • Joseph: 5,194/16,311

Gender Place

  • Lisa:  1,965/8,800
  • Joseph:  3,231/7,511

Age Group Place

  • Lisa:  93/522
  • Joseph:  173/359

runDisney – Star Wars 10K 2017 Race Recap

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Race one of the Dark Side Challenge!  Having stayed up much too late eating at Narcoossee’s and watching Wishes from our table, I set the alarms to allow maximum sleep time while still allowing us enough time to get ready and walk to the event bus by 4:00 am.  I set my phone across the room with the alarm set for 3:15 am and placed a wake-up call for the same time.  The cheerful voice of Mickey Mouse on the phone would surely make getting up with less than five hours of sleep easier, right?

By 3:50 we were ready to go.  Star Wars-themed shirts, ear buds, phones, and race bibs in place, we told a sleepy Raymond goodbye and headed for the bus.  I’d brought along Cliff Bars for breakfast and we munched on those as we walked.  I’d expected to see other runners, but we were alone in the dark, making our way from the Villas at the Grand Floridian past the resort’s main entrance, past the park bus stop, and finally to the runDisney bus. We climbed aboard and found a big crowd of folks who were as tired and silent as we were.  The bus stopped for more runners at Shades of Green and then dropped us off in the pre-race assembly area.  It was probably about 4:20 by now and we could see some runners sprinting their warm-ups.  Yeah, we wouldn’t be sprinting at any point and felt no need to warm up any further than what we were already feeling from the humid morning air.  The temperature was around 70-degrees.

Runners are divided into two groups for entrance to the starting area – those with bags and those without.  We breezed on through the “without” entrance and I immediately started looking for my friends Dave and Anne.  In a sea of ten thousand runners, I couldn’t believe I spotted them almost right away.  We had only a few minutes to chat and snap a few pictures before the announcement was made for runners to begin making their way to the starting corrals.  Joseph and I wished them luck and made our way to corral A.  We had an hour to go before race-time.

runDisney does an excellent job of trying to keep you entertained while you wait.  With a stage and screen set up, live emcees alternated with Star Wars movie trailers and film clips.  Corral A is a bit of a double-edged sword.  You get to start the race first (after the wheel chair division), but you’re with the most serious runners, so there are a lot of people trying to squeeze to the very front of the crowd.  We found a relatively calm spot to wait and after the National Anthem, we were led to the starting line.  Every wave is sent off with a burst of fireworks!  All I could think about was how much the resort guests trying to sleep nearby must have been loving that!

We were off.  This was an entirely new race course and while we’d seen the course map, we didn’t really know what to expect.  At first there was a whole lot of nothing.  Pitch dark in places, we couldn’t even see our feet.  Then there would be flood lights before more darkness.  We saw a couple of character stops, but had agreed to save stopping for pictures for later in the race (if at all).  Because we had 13.1 miles to run the next day, we concentrated on keeping a comfortable pace and not pushing ourselves too hard.  That was actually more challenging than I thought it would be – hot, humid, nothing to look at in the dark, I could tell we were speeding up to get to the fun part.

At nearly four miles into the race, we finally reached Disney’s Hollywood Studios.  We entered from an area behind Tower of Terror and it struck me as a little eerie to see the Hollywood Tower Hotel but not hear any screaming.  Here’s where we got to see lots of Star Wars characters!  It was light enough out to enjoy running down Sunset and Hollywood Boulevards.  Coincidentally, my playlist hit the Star Wars theme song just as we got to this part of the race.

Next we took the walkway along the water towards the Boardwalk area.  This is a narrow sidewalk!  We were able to keep running, but there was quite a bit of congestion.  Dave and Anne told us later than when they reached this part of the course it was so crowded that no one was able to run at all.  Once we reached the end of this part, we ran through the Beach Club resort area and into Epcot. runDisney - Star Wars 10K Race Recap

At this point, we had reached the mile 5 marker.  We passed the U.K. and Canada pavilions, ran past Spaceship Earth, out into the parking lot and across the finish line.  We got our medals, drinks and snack boxes and headed to the post-race area where we found some nearly-empty bleachers to sit on while we cooled off and munched on our goodies.  Joseph and I both felt surprisingly good!  We were ready to get back to the Grand Floridian to clean up and get on with the fun of being at Walt Disney World!  One race down, one to go.RunDisney - Star Wars 10K Race Recap

Here are the race stats for those of you who like that stuff.  Yes, I held Joseph back, but he insisted that running a race together meant running it together and he didn’t care about his time.  I love that kid!

Finish Time:  1:04:53

Overall Place (We crossed the finish line exactly at the same time, but clocked 5 places different!)

  • Lisa: 1994/10,895
  • Joseph: 1999/10,895

Gender Place

  • Lisa:  577/5,888
  • Joseph:  1,421/5,007

Age Group Place

  • Lisa:  33/397
  • Joseph:  69/195

 

runDisney – Getting to the Dark Side

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Before I review the races in 2017’s Dark Side Challenge, I have to thank the people who got me there.  Having been a runner for nearly 20 years, I can say emphatically and honestly that I could never and would never have achieved what I have without the support of my family.  From the first step, Raymond has been my biggest fan and has done everything possible to help me succeed.  Primarily by believing in me most during the times when I had the least faith in my ability to go on.  He’s seen me through hundreds of training miles, two full marathons, 10 half marathons, more than 30 triathlons, countless local 5K and 10K races, two bicycle wrecks, and one trip to the hospital.  He custom built my dream bicycle, taped my injuries, calculated race times, studied course maps, endured countless hours of waiting on race courses, and produced magical words that kept me going when I needed it the most.  All that, and so much more.

runDisney – Getting to the Dark Side

Setting the example for Megan and Joseph, Raymond taught them the importance of supporting your loved ones’ efforts and they’ve risen to the standards he’s demonstrated throughout the years.  From cheering me on to dog- and house-sitting while we were away at races to finally running with me, I’m a proud and incredibly fortunate mom who cannot wait to see what the future holds for us.  runDisney - Getting to the Dark SideMuch mother/child bonding has gone on during long, hot runs in the Louisiana sun and I’ve gotten to know the adult version of my children – their dreams and plans – better for the miles we’ve struggled through together.  While we’re running, Raymond uses that time to ride his bicycle so win-win for the entire family.  Plus, all this training has meant that we all see each other every weekend and after putting in the miles, we’ve cooked up some delicious meals together.  Joseph’s girlfriend, Lyndsey, has even succumbed and started running with us (though I have it on good authority that the real draw for her may be the food).runDisney - Dark Side Challenge

Completing the Dark Side Challenge with Joseph was unbelievably fun, but we missed Megan (who selflessly stayed home with Junior).  I’m pleased to announce that next February, Megan will make her runDisney debut with Joseph and I when we take on the 2018 Fairy Tale Challenge.

Why did we choose the Princess races instead of returning for Star Wars?

I’ll be giving more detail on the Star Wars 10K and half-marathon over the next few days, but we may have completed our one-and-only Dark Side Challenge for a couple of reasons.  One:  The weather was unseasonably warm and humid.  February is a much less risky choice for good running weather.  Two:  Fewer people dressed up, there were fewer characters and photo ops on the race courses, and the general excitement and celebration that is evident everywhere during Princess Half Marathon weekend seemed to be lacking during the Star Wars events.

For Joseph’s first runDisney events, the Dark Side Challenge was perfect and he thought the races were well-organized and loved the characters and extra Disney magic along the way.  I’ll be curious to see how he feels about the Princess races and how they compare.  As for Megan – I’ve got her working on costume ideas for the three of us.  296 days to go…let’s get running!