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Walt Disney World Marathon 2010 Instead of writing a race report, I will try to tell a good story…Everything began on my 10 Th wedding anniversary, when my wife, who is aware of my passion for the marathon distance, signed me up in the WDW Marathon 2010 just 3 weeks before the race; I was surprised even more, when I read the note that accompanied the entry form, where she made an analogy about the journey of running a marathon and our marriage. At this time I just had a 7 miles run in 4 months and gained about 15 pounds of weight, but I was very excited about the race because it could help me to cover the Florida state and I could be running in Disney “Where the Dreams Comes True”. I knew that running the race without training was a crazy thing to do. A week later, on Christmas day I received from my wife a second gift, a round trip ticket from New Orleans to Orlando for the marathon weekend, it made me feel nervous, happy, anxious, all together…so I realized there were no way back…I must run the race. I decided to “prepare” for the race. So, I ran a 12 miles on December 27, a 14 miler on January 3 rd and a 5 miles in the cold with Jim Coll. The “D” day came up, with a freeziing weather forecast, but that news didn't stop me…in the end I am a runner and I can handle that. I drove to New Orleans on Friday and stayed at my friend's house (Ervin and Lizette Muñoz), they woke me up early…then fed me and took me to the airport (I got the VIP treatment from my friends). I arrive at the expo with plenty of time to pick-up my number and shirt, buy me some energy gels and some other things. Also, I was able to share some time with friends from Honduras and Mexico who would be running the marathon…they invite me to run with them, but I was obligated to turn down the invitation when they told me they would be running 6 – 7 minutes per mile. Later on that Saturday I went to the “Olive Garden” for a carbo-loading dinner; The place was packed with runners of all ages…there were no tables, so I sat at the bar (amazing, first time ever I order a lemonade ) and had a good and generous plate of Pasta with all the fixings…maybe too much. Then went back to the hotel to prepare all my gear for the race. The forecast for Sundays race start was 27 F. but feels like 14 F. I prepared with two layers of clothes, gloves and all the necessary. I went to bed about 8:00 after playing with my facebook and cellphone. OMG!!! The Alarm sounded @ 3:00 a.m. but I was ready in 30 minutes and arrived to the place about 4:00 a.m. since the temp was freezing cold, I stayed in the car until 4:30 trying to keep warm; when I got out of the car I couldn't breath well, so I improvised, by covering my nose and mouth with a with a shirt. We had to walk 20 minutes to the start line, I thought “What I am doing?” This is crazy being to be here…but I looked around and noticed I was not alone, more that 15,000 runners were in the same place…that made me feel better. THE RACE began at 5:40 a.m. sharp with a lot of fireworks and music, the excitement warmed the entire environment; since it was still dark the artificial lights made the run safe. My strategy for this marathon was run slowly, have fun and get my medal. I began with a 10 minutes pace thinking I would finish in 4:30 hours; we ran around and inside of Epcot center, but at mile 9 I had a long technical stop in the bathroom; By now time wasn't a factor for me in this race I decided to just have fun and finish…which is exactly what I did. Beginning from mile 10 I took a picture with Disney characters every mile, and because get in line is a “must” in Disney World I had to get in line every time they take a picture of me. This allowed me to rest, relax and enjoy the run, having breaks of 5 minutes or more every time. During that time and for the rest of the race I was fulfilled with a happiness feeling, I felt I was a kid again, not having pain, not feeling tired, and enjoying the course through the places the way the runners do. The course was mostly flat with some hills and bridges overpass, they had plenty of water and Gatorade , lot of aid stations, porta potties, etc. all the logistics for a high level marathon. I ran through Epcot Center, Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom and Walt Disney Resorts. It was the first time that I don't want to get to the finish line. I finished my 15 state marathon in 5:20 hours, my worst time ever, but it was worthy every minute of it. I earned my medal, my shirt and my black ears J Conclusion…IF you want to run this Marathon…don't pay attention to the time, and enjoy the run as much as you can. You will never regret it. |
