And even though I can't really eat the Wine & Dine food, I always have a fun time attending and taking lots of pictures!!
Nathan and my parents are also signed up for the half!
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I just signed up with early registration to run in Disney's Wine & Dine Half Marathon and Mickey's Jingle Jungle 5k! Woohoo! I am excited to be running the Wine & Dine half this year and experience the 5th Anniversary of the race! I also love night races and enjoyed my Tower Of Terror and Happy Haunted Trails double races last year!
And even though I can't really eat the Wine & Dine food, I always have a fun time attending and taking lots of pictures!! Nathan and my parents are also signed up for the half!
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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. After running to the port-o-potties 10 billion times (stupid nerves!), Heidi and I made our way to our corrals. I was in Corral J; she was in M. Our plan was for me to start off slow until she caught up with me. I did just that, and we met up at mile 5, right before entering the Magic Kingdom. Running through the Magic Kingdom during the marathon was just as magical as during the half, except we didn't stop for as many pictures. We did stop for the castle, though :) 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. Then came Rafiki. I love this picture so much! Expedition Everest. I didn't think that I would have time to ride Everest, so I passed for the chance to be able to take more pictures. It was a good choice, though maybe one day I will be fast enough to actually ride it during the race... 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. Finally, I finished. It was a slow, rough ending, but I made it over the finish line. Upright. In one piece. I was feeling good, except for my feet. 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???!!! Let me tell you this....Running through the Magic Kingdom is truly magical! Saturday morning brought the half marathon. I was dressed like my favorite character - Figment! The race started at the Epcot parking lot, then went down a looooooooong stretch of road before getting to the Transportation Center, then past the Contemporary Resort, into the Magic Kingdom, and then back down the loooooooooong stretch of road to Epcot. We entered into Magic Kingdom and ran down Main Street with lots of people cheering us on. The energy level was amazing! We then went through Tomorrowland were I saw Buzz. I ran THROUGH the castle, and of course I stopped for a picture! Then I ran past the train and said hi to the rail workers, who gave me a thumbs up! Running through MK was an awesome feeling, and I would recommend it to everyone! After exiting, though, and getting back on that loooooong stretch of road, I was lucky enough to join 2 other people for a while who kept me amused and motivated. Despite the long stretch of highway in the race, I had a blast. The energy level was high, there were spectators everywhere, and MK was pure magic. I'm glad that I had enough time to stop for pictures at the Mile Makers and a lot of the characters. Day 3 of Dopey is complete!
Friday morning brought another 3am wakeup call for the Inaugural Minnie 10k. This race took place on the roads outside of Epcot, Epcot, and the Boardwalk. Running on the road part was a little boring, but it got a lot better once we got to Epcot. I decided that I could keep pace enough (but still not fast) to stop for a few pictures. I saw Mushu in China, which was awesome because I haven't seen him before. I also got a picture with the Genie in Morocco. It was fun running through the International Gateway onto the Boardwalk. It was a weird feeling running on the wooden planks, but it was festively lit up and there were people cheering us on. It was especially funny when we ran by the hotels and runners started yelling for people to wake up! After the Boardwalk, we headed back to Epcot, and I passed by Spaceship Earth just as the sun was coming up. I went as Mike from Monsters University. I made the skirt myself, along with embroidering on the Oozma Kappa letters. My sister-in-law, Amanda, made me the awesome hat :)
Thursday morning was the Disney Family Fun Run Pluto 5k. I was up by 3am, after only 4 hours of sleep, and on on the bus to Epcot where I stood around for a long time before it was time to start. I was there so early that I easily got a picture in front of the Marathon backdrop. I was in Corral B for both the 5k and 10k. It was mostly Dopey people in these first two corrals (from what I saw). This race took us through Epcot, through the World Showcase, and around some behind-the-scenes areas. I was very nervous about my pace. I didn't want to go too fast that I would make myself tired, but didn't want to go too slow. As this was the first of my races of the weekend, I wasn't too sure what to do, and so I did not stop for many pictures. The lines were very long :( It was awesome running through the World Showcase in the dark. Everything was lit up and it was so pretty and magical :) My "I Run 4" buddy, Lydia suggested that I dress as Merida for one of my races, so that was the inspiration for my 5k costume. I ordered the Merida shirt from zazzle.com and had put on the back "I Run 4 Lydia!". I got some comments along the way from other people who have running buddies, and those that just liked my outfit. After my race, I got my medal, met up with my Virginia friend, Leanne, and saw Chip and Dale before heading back to the hotel. This was a fun first race in the Dopey Challenge. The Pluto medal is so cute :)
I went to the expo Thursday morning after the 5k race, and after I ate breakfast at the Art of Animation. First stop was to get my runDisney Marathon Weekend Dooney & Burke purse!! I found one with Dopey right in the middle on both the front and the back!!! The expo was awesome. It was crowded so it took a while to see everything, but it was so much fun browsing all the great products. I went to the KT Tape booth and they taped me up really good. Above are all of my race shirts, plus two "I Did It" shirts, and a shirt from the DC Rock 'N Roll Marathon that Heidi and I signed up for. I also got a runDisney green vinylmation, Dopey Magnet, most of the race pins, some socks, a Dopey Headband, a Dopey Magnet, and my runDisney Marathon Dooney & Burke Purse. I spent a lot of money, but I am glad with all of my purchases!!!!
I leave for Florida Wednesday night to run in the Inaugural Dopey Challenge: 5k, 10k, Half, Full. I anticipate coming home with sore legs and 8 medals! 6 will be from the Dopey Challenge, and 2 will be from Digital Running Club.
Above is my costume for the Full Marathon. I may be adding a visor, depending on what I find at the expo. I am in the middle of finishing my costumes, packing, and getting nervous! You may not hear from me until after I get home next Monday, but I will try to post something if I am able! You can also sign up to track me as I run - in real time! Wish me luck! After the race, everyone was lining the streets by sitting on the curbs and resting from the long race. There were people everywhere. By the time that our legs were rested and stretched enough, my sister and I went to go on Tower of Terror. The line was about 30 minutes long, but it seemed like an eternity because we were so sore. The ride, though, seemed extra amazing with extra air and drops. Loved it. I would have ridden it again, but the line was still long.
We all then headed to Toy Story Mania, where the line was about 20 minutes long. Not too bad for this favorite ride, but by the time was finished, my legs were so exhausted that I needed to go home (also because we had to be at the airport by 7am...) Nathan had purchased a separate ticket into the Villian's Bash because he did not run the 10-miler. He entered at 10pm, after we started running. He went on Toy Story Mania, and then waited for us to finish. He was not overly impressed with the amount of Villains available for pictures, and neither was I after the race. We noticed the Ugly Stepsisters when we were alking around, but did not see much else. As he was at the "party" for over 2 hours by himself, he did not feel like continuing to ride rides by himself and felt like it was a waste of money for him to attend. I was not overall impressed with the Bash because the lines were still long for tired feet, it was pretty crowded in the streets, and the lack of villains. I'm sure glad that we stopped for pictures during the race... Also, Hollywood was not decorated spookily, nor were there any other special incentives for being at the party. A better bet would be to get tickets to Mickey's Not-so-Scary Party, because I heard there were much more Villains and excitement there. This race was a blast even though it was my first night race and I was already exhausted! From not really getting any sleep the 2 nights prior, to running the 5k that morning, and walking around Magic Kingdom that afternoon, I knew things were going to be interesting. But it all worked out! Marty, Heidi, and I decided to dress up as characters from Peter Pan. I was Mr. Smee, Marty was Hook, and Heidi was the Croc. We got to ESPN around 6:45 and got on the shuttle to Hollywood Studios. Upon arrival, we waited in line to get our picture taken with the logo, and then found a spot to sit and wait. The race didn't start until 10pm, and we didn't have to be in our corrals until 9:15. There was a lot of energy while we were waiting. A lot of people were sitting around relaxing, but there were still a lot of people up and dancing to the DJ. I don't know how they had all of that energy to waste! After a trip to the port-o-potties (ridiculous lines...), we got into Corral E. A little before 10, they led us to the start line by corral. It was a lot of standing, and a lot of walking to the start before even the race began. Once all the corrals were lined up, we were released every 2 minutes to begin. And we were off! We ran to the first on-ramp, and it was so hard to run on because the surface was not even. It is painful for one leg to be running higher than the other! So we walked up the ramp and came to the Witch: We decided we were going to try and run most of the way between characters, with a few intervals thrown in when they were far enough apart. Jack and Sally were located just after the turn around from Animal Kingdom. While we were waiting in line we saw the balloon ladies and pick-up vans on the other side of the street. We started to get a bit nervous, and as soon as we finished with our picture, we booked it and ran ran ran! After Jack and Sally we decided only to stop for the characters that we really wanted to see. We skipped over Hook and the Queen of Hearts. We got to the ESPN trail around mile 5. It was so crowded that we had to walk that entire portion. There was just no way we could run. Once we go to the baseball field (with the scary loud Tesla coil), we could get back to our running. Of course we stopped for the Big, Bad Wolf because there was no line! We made it back to Hollywood and entered through the back near the Stunt Show. We saw Mike from Monsters, Inc. and ran through the costume area. We ran by Toy Story Mania and stopped to say hi to Lotso. He was very pleasant to us. I guess he wasn't feeling very villain-ish that night. Again, at this point there was no line. The last mile was a bit tough because everyone was super tired. It was after 1am. It was fitting that Hades was right before the finish line. Super appropriate. The race ended backstage at Fantasmic. There was such a long walk to get to the front of the park to where bag check and the "party" was (more on that later). I don't know why the finish was so far away!!!
All in all it was a great race. The weather wasn't terrible, the entertainment was great, and the company awesome! Thanks Heidi and Marty for running with me!!! We got to ESPN bright and early, about 6:30 a.m. The fields were already bustling with people, even the sun was barely even thinking about rising. Nathan and I took some pictures while waiting for Madre and Marty to meet us. The race began with the Headless Horseman and Mickey. Unfortunately, from where I was standing, I could not see what was going on :( and thus could get no pictures. The race started at 7:30 with Corral A. Being in Corral E, we didn't start until almost 8. There was a lot of standing around in our tightly squeezed corrals, but then, we were off! I decided that since I was running the 10-miler later that evening that I was going to take the 5k pretty easy and stop for all of the pictures with characters. Nathan and Madre ran ahead of me to finish the race on their own. Most of the race was on a trail through the woods. It was mostly dirt and sand. The last part of the race went on the track, before a bit of grass, and we finished on the sidewalk. I pretty much jogged between all of the character spots, but at times it was a bit too crowded and I had to walk. A lot of weaving around people was happening, but I attribute a big part of this to being in the last corral. All-in-all this was a pretty fun race. I liked the characters that were on the course because they aren't ones you ever really see, and didn't so much mind the trail. AND it's always fun to dress up in costume!
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