Disney Marathon 2014 Recap

Oh Disney Marathon, why do you tempt thee?

The Disney Marathon was my first marathon last year in 2013.  It was a fun race, if you can ever say running 26.2 miles is fun.  We stopped for pictures, took walk breaks, and enjoyed the scenery.  The course is not my favorite because of the different terrains, twists, turns, slanted streets and overpasses. This race, marks my 3rd marathon.

This year I had a time goal in mind.  I wanted to finish the marathon in under 5 hours.  If I did, it would be a 25+ minute PR for me.

I headed to Orlando on Saturday with my fellow runners and MBs (marathon bitches).  We picked up our race packets and browsed the expo at the Wild World of Sports.



Marie, Chrissy, Carly - marathon runners

Michelle, Marie, Chrissy, Carly, Maribel and Faith - runners and MBs

After the expo, we went to Downtown Disney for lunch and shopping where we met up with two more friends, Daffodil and Mica, who were volunteering at a water stop the next day.  I love these ladies!  We always have a great time together!

3:00am came much too early for this night owl. But I got up and got ready to run my 3rd marathon. We found the signs our MBs made for us.

We got to the start area at 4:00am and had plenty of time to spare since the race didn't start until 5:30am.

Marie and I, in our Minnie costumes, decided to try and stay together during the race, unless one of us was hurt or needed to take more time for the race.  We ran a similar pace and trained together so it was a good match.



Mile 8 on the Disney Speedway

This was a tough race for me because I just wasn't feeling the run.  Runners have good running days and bad running days.  It's never a good thing when a bad running day falls on race day.  On this day, I was ready to be done at mile 10 which is unlike me.  The half marathon's 13.1 miles is my favorite distance and I wasn't even there yet.  About this time, my feet started to hurt and I felt blisters forming on the bottom of my toes.  Another anomaly, as I usually don't get blisters on my toes.

We pushed through and I felt better after we reached mile 16, knowing we only had 10 miles left.

It was so nice seeing Daffodil and Mica volunteering at the mile 18.3 water stop!  At this point, Marie and I were both feeling various pains. My left knee was hurting and Marie's hips were bothering her.  We knew we'd see friends at this water stop so it was something to look forward to.



Mile 18.3 water stop with volunteer Daffodil

Then we saw our MBs at mile 19 inside the baseball field at the Wild World of Sports.  We stopped for a quick picture but quickly got on our way.  Starting back up from a stop or walk was hardest on my knee.



Mile 19 in the Wild World of Sports baseball field

As we left the Wild World of Sports with only 6.2 miles left, I told Marie we could make the under 5 hours goal if we kept going at the same pace.  Unfortunately, Marie's hip pain was too much and she had to take some walk breaks.  I decided to push on ahead and try to meet my goal of finishing under 5 hours.

I was exhausted and my pace was getting slower and slower but I knew I would be so close to 5 hours and I really wanted it, so I pushed!  There was no sprint left in me at the end but I made it to the finish line in 4:57:56!




Done and looking swollen!

Our friend Carly came in at 4:10 and Marie came in at 5:03.

I had a fun race and even more fun with friends! I did end up with 3 huge blisters on my toes.  UGH

Div Place: 483/1650
Gender Place: 2488/9697
Overall Place: 6768/19198
5 mile split: 51:36
10 mile split: 1:45:01
Half split: 2:23:49
20 mile split: 3:48:10

Chip Finish time: 4:57:56

That's a 27+ minute PR over the Clearwater Marathon last year.

Have you even run a Disney race?