Walt Disney World Half Marathon

On Saturday, January 9, 2009 I completed my first Disney half marathon. This was an absolutely amazing experience!

The day started very early with a wake-up call at 2:00am. By 3:00am I was waiting for the bus at Pop Century to take me to the start located in the parking lot at Epcot. It was definitely a cool morning for Florida with temps in the 40's. I was amazed at how many people, the lights and the music playing for 3:30am.

As I arrived I proceeded to the R reunion tent to meet up with fellow http://www.disneyrunning.com/ members. Wait....let me get that right. I met up with them at the "Arrrrrr" tent! It was great getting to meet and talk with the members. The excitement was starting to build for the race. At 4:30am they made an announcement to make our way to the staging area. Once in the staging area you quickly realized it was porta potty heaven. I took everyone's advice and got in line. Soon after, we started to head to the starting line. I was walking over there with a fellow Disney Running member and it seemed as though we walked at least a mile to get to the starting corrals.

I was in Corral B and I was able to get right to the front. The 80's music was blarring and it was amazing to see all of the costumes people were wearing. Plenty of fairy costumes and one guy I saw dressed as Peter Pan. The anticpation for the start was definitely there. I could not wait for the countdown. The last song I remember them play was Dancing Queen from Abba. Talk about a song to have in your head for a race.

As Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy counted down from 10 to 1, I started to get goose bumps knowing the time had finally arrived. As the start arrived fireworks were shot into the air and a roar went up for the crowd.

The first few miles seemed to just fly by. Everyone was just getting themselves into a grove and looking to finally warm up. As we made our way down World Drive the monorail zoomed by taking spectators from Epcot to the Magic Kingdom.

The crowds at the Transportation and Ticket Center were amazing. There were people 4-5 deep on both sides. That was definitely an adrenaline boost!

As we made our way to the Contemporary results we came upon the steepest hill on the course, which was just before mile 5. Supprising there were no backups on the hill as everyone was running. At this point I was running with the 2:15 pace group.

No we are approaching the highlight of the entire course. Even though it was still dark out, Space Mountain and Cinderella's Castle never looked better. We entered the Magic Kingdom via the cast member entrance which is on the backside of Main Street. At this point I was now able to see the lights on the buildings as we entered Main Street. Making the right-hand turn on Main Street was simple awesome. Hearing the crowd and then seeing the castle was awesome. My mother was going to try and find a place on Main Street so I began to scan the crowd to find her. Just before making the right-hand turn towards Tommorow Land I spotted her. She was able to get a quick photo of me as I passed.

Once in Tomorrow Land we made a left-hand turn towards Fantasy Land. Here I was able to stop and take a picture with the Mad Hatter and Alice in Wonderland.

It was now time to head towards the highlight of race - running through the castle. Approaching the castle the trumpets were playing and everyone was cheering loudly. The photographers were all over the place. It seemed to go by so quickly as I was in Frontier Land before I knew it.

Prior to the water stop near mile 7, I stopped and took a picture with Captain Jack Sparrow and his mates. Amazing how much Jack looked and sounded like Johnny Depp.

As we made our towards the Grand Floridian, the crowds were sparse. Right around the entrance to the Floridian, there were plenty of spectators. Did not matter who you were or what pace you were running, they were cheering you on.

Things were calm from this point until making the final turn to head towards the parking lots at Epcot. Just over a mile to go when I entered the Epcot lots. Plenty of crowd support just past the 12 mile marker sign.

As we entered Epcot I remembered taking a video and saying I was 12.4 miles into the race. I was passing Spaceship Earth at the time heading towards the Seven Seas Lagoon for the turnaround point. After making the turn and heading away from Spaceship Earth you arrive at Disney's last surpirse with a gospel choir singing.

You are now in the last tenth of a mile and you see the grandstand and the finish line. The final kick of adrenaline sets in and pushes you to the finish.

I had a PR of 2:23:35 and I could not have been happier. What a great experience. Here is to the 2010 event.