2014 was to be my return back do WDW Marathon Race Weekend, due to injuries sustained in late 2012, I had to cancel/defer my 2013 Goofy Challenge registration to 2014, then sub-sequently offered early registration/upgrade to the Inaugural Dopey Challenge was announced last March ...
2013 was a year of recovery and patience, and fortuntely, I had the support of my running crew (Jes, Marg, AndyM and Beth) ... I knew and accepted from the begininning that this Dopey Challenge would not necessarily be a time-based goal, but more of establishing some sort of comfortable pace with the main goal of finishing, as the year was more of a rebuild year of both running fitness and volume ... By November, I was back up to a marathon distance, having run the Hamilton Run2Hope Marathon with Jes, first time in 18 months, then it was just maintenance until the WDW Race Weekend .... Unfortunately, pretty well lost all of my training partners due to various reasons, like studies, vacations, and/or just time off to r&r, then the winter storms hit towards the end of November and well into December, which had forced me to stick it on the treadmill, in particular for my long run(s) leading up to race weekend ...
Day 1: Travel Day
Anyways, as race week approached, we were hit with a massive winter storm, well Toronto was, and the Pearson Airport was literally shutdown for 24-48 hours due to the ice storm and all flights arriving and leaving had been ultimately cancelled ... Yep, you guessed it, my Tuesday morning WestJet flight from Ottawa to Toronto to Orlando, had subsequently been cancelled with no ETA on when normal operations would restart ... And, for all intents and purposes, I should not have been been in Orlando in time to pick up my race kit, let alone to be participating in the Dopey Challenge, last Tuesday morning, when I was at the Ottawa Airport at 5:00am in the morning ... The shock and frustration on my face, when I arrived at the airport to hear that my flight had been cancelled and no idea when and/or any flights would be leaving via Toronto anytime soon, then, out of the blue, I receive a FB / BBM message from Marg, who read my FB posting about the cancellations and situation at the Pearson Airport, suggested that there may be a direct flight option with AC leaving at 9:45am to Orlando, then after a minute or so to collect my thoughts, asked her if there were any more seats available, and how much would it cost me .... She responded, yes and it would be $465 all incl., but then, by that time, the line up to two AC ticket counters was around a 2-3 hour wait .. oh gawd ... then she asked me to phone her and, while waiting in line, I provided her with my Passport and Credit Card information, and within 2 minutes, received my flight ticket information and told to head straight to the AC US entrance line ....
As it turned out, from what I heard afterwards, subsequently, all of the WestJet flights to Toronto was cancelled Tuesday and Wednesday from Ottawa and had I waited, as suggested by the WestJet staff at the airport, I would have still have been stuck in Ottawa and missed the Wednesday race kit pickup time ... And, the only reason that I was able to make it to Orlando via Air Canada, as they usually do not offer a direct flight, was that this happened to be a chartered flight, due to the weekend winter storm in Ottawa / Toronto, that had been delayed/cancelled on Monday afternoon, due to the fact that the Flight Crew had been stranded in Toronto ... So, due to these circumstances, and the power of social media (i.e. FB and BBM), I was fortunately, able to get a flight and arrive in Orlando, on schedule .... Again, without the assistance of Marg, being up at 5am and on FB last week, the Dopey Challenge for me, should not have been possible ...
Day 2: Race Expo
Wednesday was a day of patience, I tell ya ...woke up early and headed to the Expo to pick up my race kit and the 10K for Rob (Tori's DH) and figured it would a quick in and out ... as it should have been ... but, it's me we are talking about, right ... Received a PM from Tori last week, that Owen and Rob had seen the preview video of the new 2014 limited edition Run Disney New Balance Running Shoes and that Owen had his eyes set on the Mickey Mouse Sorcerer's shoe, and ask me if I wouldn't mind picking one up for him ... was informed that she only took perhaps 15-30 minutes last year at the Expo, so I said " No Problemos ..." did a bit of googling and noticed that in other Run Disney events last year, it took upwards of an hour to get a shoe ... so, figured that was not too bad, and planned accordingly ...
Apparently, with all the early PR and announcements about these new shoes, they really set up a mass Deman, as it turned out ... Tuesday evening Run Disney posted a "How to Get Run Disney NB Running Shoe" video that went viral, that I actually found posted on FB on Wednesday morning, telling everyone that they will have to go to the Champion Stadium as they entered WWoS, in order to register to make an appointment to buy a shoe later on in the day, when a sales person was available ... Sure, no problemos .... arrived there at 9:45am and waited in line, along with hundreds of others, as it turned out ... Anyways, about 2 hours later, I finally made it and registered my name, and was #762 on the wait list, and they were currently serving #398 at that point and eta was another 2+ hour or so ..... eeeks !! Figured that it would allow me sufficient amount of time to get the race kits and head off to the Expo to go shopping for some schwag and then pick up the shoes ... quick and easy, right ??
Of the previous 4 Run Disney Expos I have been to, this, by far, was the most efficient, as I was in and out within minutes, likely due to missing all the early line-ups, as I was in the shoe line up one for 2 hours...
... headed to the Expo, picked up some race souvenirs and other schwags, etc ... and just waiting patiently .... and, waiting ... and, waiting ... it was about 2pm by this time, and still no text message from the NB peeps, so wandered on down to check on the status and, they were still only service into the early #400's by this time ... so that averages like 40-50 customers per hour ... asked how much longer and told another 2-3 hours, as they are just swamped ... and, then I asked, by chance if they still had any Boys shoes in size 13, 13.5 or size 1 in stock, and was told, "Yes", so I opted stick it out and continue waiting for my turn .... Anyways, by around 5pm or so, about 7 hours after I arrived at WWoS, finally got called down and assitned a Salesperson ... Asked me what I wanted and told her, a kids size in either 13, 13.5 or boys size 1 and a men's 8.5 for me (figured I get one for myself, considering I waited all this long) ... and, then she paused and gave me that look about not sure if there is anything left in those sized, but would check anyways ... eeeks !!!! my heart just went thump when I heard that ... a few minutes later, she returned wtih a Boys size 1 (one of the last two in stock) wheww !!! and, the last men's 8.5, which happened to be the Mickey Mouse Sorcerer shoe, as well ... tried them on for size and then continued on to check-out ... perhaps, a total of 5 minutes for me ... So, yes, BBM'ed Tori with "Success" ... then finally got the heck out of dodge and headed back to my resort to call it a day ....Day 3 - Family and Friends 5K Run
Woke up early and arrived at the Race site around 4:30-5:00am or so, once I got my parking spot, etc... Walked around a bit, too, some photos and headed towards the corrals ... Felt good, weather was nice and mild and decided to run it at a comfortable tempo effort ... As the race start approached, the gun goes (err, horns) and we are off ... I quickly found my happy pace, for me, anyways, and then just started running ... wasn't really breathing hard, nor did my legs feel it, and actually had couple of photo ops on the course, so stopped and got some photos, then, suddenly, the finish line approaches ... The goal was 25 minutes and actual time was 22:30 ... oops, a wee bit faster then I had planned .... One down and three to go ... the weather was not the best the rest of the day with rain, etc, so just stayded in at the resort to r&r and get my morning nap, etc, and started to refuel and rehydrate, in preparation for the next day ....
Day 4 - Minnie Mouse 10K
This was to be the Inaugural Minnie Mouse 10K .... the race started at 5:30am, so got up around 2:30-3:00am or so, and arrived at the Epcot Parking Lot around 4am ... text'd Rob to let him know that I will be waiting for him at a certain spot before entering the race site and that I would be wearing my Superman costume, and should be easy to spot ...
.... Anyways, we hooked up just before 4:30am ... headed towards the staging area, hit the port-o-potties, then parted ways to our respective corrals ... It was a hot and humid day, already about 22c at 5:30am .. and, in my mind, perhaps, not the best idea, in hindsight, to be wearing a costume, eh !!! Anyways, the race starts, and my legs just wasn't feeling as light/loose as it was during the previous day's 5K event ... eventually, I did find my pace for the day, which I was able to hold, but did not waiver too much, in that 5:15 mpk range ... I do not recall, but only noticed, 2 or 3 photo ops on the course, if that and did stop for a couple of them ... and, during the second half of the race, did started to feel very hot and humid .... In the end, crossed the finish line in about 53:25, a wee bit ahead of my original 55 minute time goal ... As with yesterday, headed back to the resort to shower and change and take a morning nap ... then met up with Tori, Rob and Owen for lunch in the afternoon to hand off the Mickey Mouse Sorcerer's shoes to Owen ... Yep, he was one happy 5 (almost 6 year old) boy when he put them on ...Day 5 - Donald Duck Half Marathon
Woke up at about 2am or so, to get ready and head to Epcot and just hanging out at the Race Retreat .. with the weather so balmy this year, there wasn't really a need to pay the premium $$$ for the VIP treatment, but, did not regret it one bit, as it offered weather controlled conditions, yes, they had the a/c on at 3am, as it was in the high teen's by that time and humid outside ... as well as a number of port-o-potties, without having to wait in the huge line-ups outside, as well as pre-race breakfast, juices, etc ... The only disappointment, I felt, this year, as compared to previous years, was that the only photo-op made available inside the Race Retreat was with Mary Poppins and her side-kick along with the penguins .... Post race offered a hot breakfast, along with a souvenir socks/towel and access to a smalled rmt services and change facilities, etc ...
As for the race itself, this would be my 5th Donald Duck Half Marathon and pretty well found that the course no different than the past ... As with the 10K, only less than a handful of Character photo-ops on the course, but did take advantage of the opportunity when the occasion arose, as long it was only a 3-5 deep waiting line-up that is ... as it takes about 30-45 seconds per photo op, when you consider slowing down, stopping, handing camera to handler, having photo taken, grabbing camera from handler and then continuing on ... so, each extra person adds another 10-15 seonds per shot ...
As in the previous days, the fatigue of early wake up calls and running/racing, fatigue, both mentally and physically is starting to kick in ... as the legs was just not feeling it .. though, eventually, found a steady pace of about 5:30-5:40 ... Crossed the finish line in 1:57:53 ... also, a bit faster than I had planned, as it turns out with a 2 hour time goal ...
Day 6 - Mickey Mouse Marathon
Another 2am wake up call and arrived at Epcot and Race Retreat by 3:30am ... and, boy has fatigue set in ... I realized from early on that it would be more of an lsd effort, as I just did not feel any oomph in my legs nor my body, even before the race started ... and, revised my time goal for the day to be at a 4:30:00 marathon effort .... Started to head towards the staging area at 4:30am, yet takes about a half hour, as they actually allowed the runners to leaving accordingly, towards their corrals in some sort of logic this year, rather than in the past .. the fact that the weather was nice, allowed people head off rather than remain in the stage area to keep warm, as in the past .... At 5:30am, the race starts, fireworks go off ... every 2 minutes each Corral gets their own fireworks ...
As predicted, from the first step in the marathon, I knew it was to be a long day, as the legs just weren't moving as easily as I had hoped ... with the new course in it's second year, rather than running an 8k loop around Epcot, like in the half marathon, we head straight to the Magic Kingdom, running inside the Park and running through Cinderella's Castle, and stopped for a few photo ops ... Accepting this was not going to be a race day effort, I had already made the decision to take the opportunities as it comes up for photo ops on the course ...
running on the WDW Speedway was kinda cool, stopped a few times to take photos of some race / sports cars .. The Animal Kingdom, as compared to previous years, appeared to have very limited photo ops, and running through and in the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex was also nice ... before heading to Disney Studios, again, if memory serves me correctly, there was only one or two photo ops, but with the temperatures creeping up into the high teens/low twenties, sorta kinda not surprised ... The last 12-15K included a lot of walk breaks, as I was starting to just get plain old tired at that time, though the heat did not help, just wanted to keep hydrated and fuelled so that I could maintain the pace to the finish line, without cramping up on the legs and avoid the "Wall" so to speak ... after leaving Disney Studios, it was just 8K or so to go, along the Disney Yacht Club (??) and in and around Epcot towards the finish line ...There were several photo ops inside the final 1K or so inside of Epcot, and yes, I did manage to stop at all of them ...
as, in the end, the final time was never an issue for me this year in the marathon, rather than to enjoy the most of the experience ... ended up crossing the finish line in 4:43:46 .....Although, a year later, this was my 30th marathon in my 12th year since my first marathon in 2002 and how fitting this is to during the 2014 Inaugural Dopey Challenge ....
From what I have heard, registration opens for the 2015 WDW Marathon Race Weekend on April 22nd, and, yes, I plan to be there if possible, as I have some unresolved issues with this whole Dopey Challenge thing and, the new marathon course ... So, 2015, should be my year of Redemption ...
(Photos will follow)
