Walt Disney World Marathon
Me and my sister Heidi before the marathon.
Sunday morning (err…night…hmm…) brought my last 3am wakeup call for the Dopey Challenge. Heidi had crashed in my room the night before, so we would be ready to catch the bus. For the marathon, I was dressed as Orange Bird. A lot of people who aren’t Florida locals (or obsessed people who go do MK all the time), don’t know who Orange Bird is. The Orange Bird is a character created by Disney for the Florida Citrus Commission as a mascot and is a character at Magic Kingdom’s Adventureland at the Sunshine Tree Terrace located near the Enchanted Tiki Room. Heidi was Minnie Mouse-themed.
Once we got out of the Magic Kingdom, I lost track of Heidi. She was on a roll, and I just couldn’t keep up. The bottom of my feet hurt so much!!!The trek to Animal Kingdom was a bit long – through the speedway and past the sanitation plant…yuck, it smelled!But once at Animal Kingdom, my hopes picked up because all the character lines were short! Right outside the park they had some live animals – pigs, birds, etc.
I loved the banana stop. It gave me enough energy to keep moving!I ended up having to stop at medical to cover my feet in Biofreeze. It felt good to take my shoes of momentarily, but I don’t think the freeze worked. My feet still hurt so much! I need to find a good pair of shoes…..And let me tell you, I hated running through Wide World of Sports during the marathon. It just felt like we were there FOREVER, just winding around field and field, and building….blah…Probably because it was towards the end and I knew that as soon as I was out of there, it would just be Hollywood and Epcot in my way before finishing.
As soon as I got my medals, my shoes came off! I tumbled to the massage tent and got a 10-minute foot rub. It slightly helped, and I was able to collect my belongings from bag check and make it to find my husband. I then hobbled over to the engraving tent and got my marathon medal engraved with my time: 6:56:44. Not fast, not at all. BUT! It was under the required 16 minute pace! And that is all that matters! My total time of being Dopey is 12 hours, 37 minutes, 53 seconds!The Dopey Challenge was AWESOME!!! I would recommend it to everyone who is looking for a fun challenge. As long as you train for it, you will be able to do it. This was my first ever marathon!I met a lot of awesome people online in various Dopey/runDisney groups, as well as face-to-face at races and meetups. #wangnation #teamwang
My first marathon was a great experience, but now I think I might be spoiled…how fun can another marathon be without all the fun stops and pictures to take???!!!
Want to read more about Marathon Weekend?
Marathon Weekend Expo
Pluto’s 5k
Minnie 10k
Donald’s Half Marathon
Mickey’s Marathon
9 Responses
[…] have only recently-ish (2012) started to run. But I have completed 7 half marathons, 1 full marathon, multi-day challenges, and lots of other […]
[…] I decided to dress festively because it was my birthday (well, really, I just like to dress festively at races…) so I wore my new Fantasia Sparkle Skirt, which is so colorful! I paired it up with a bright orange shirt, compression sleeves, and my Orange Bird hat that I wore for my first marathon! […]
[…] For August I completed 62.31 running miles. I am less than 1 mile less than from the month of January when I ran the Dopey Challenge. […]
[…] While there was not much to look at on the streets of Anaheim, there were some groups of performers. We passed hula dancers (aren’t this girls so cute?), hispanic dancers, marching bands, and more. It certainly did help keep the momentum going for us runners to see people out cheering us along. There was also about a mile of old cars lining the streets (but I did not stop for pictures) with the owners cheering us along. It was neat and reminded me a bit of running around the driving track and seeing the cars during the Disney World Marathon. […]
[…] Monsters, Inc we saw Rafiki! I love Rafiki and remember taking one of my favorite pictures of the Walt Disney World Marathon with him, so I just had to stop and say hi. He saw us and started dancing around, so we had a mini […]
[…] miles! The weekend started off easy with a 5k, but then progressed to a 10k, half marathon, and a full marathon. Lots of running, plus lots of Disney magic, and little time spent in the parks made this an […]
[…] The 4th race of Dopey was my first Marathon. I was very nervous, as my longest training run was 19 miles, but I knew that I would finish it no matter what! I was completely exhausted by the time I reached Animal Kingdom (about 13 miles), but I kept trekking on. This race was cool because it hit all four parks, Wide World of Sports, lots of backstage parts of the World, and lots of roads in between. It was hard, painful, and so very worth it. I’m not sure if I would be mentally ready for a marathon that WASN’T Disney. All the characters, entertainment, and awesome crowd support really helped when I was having a hard time. Regardless, I finished the race in just under 7 hours – and met the goal time of under a 16 minute mile! Click here to read more about my first marathon experience! […]
[…] Orange Bird. I am recycling this outfit from my Disney Marathon in […]
[…] up if needed. There has been many times that I have been taped at Disney Runs, including for the Dopey Challenge. Be careful, though, sometimes the lines are super long because everyone wants to get taped! I am […]