So I like to push my limits in life and I love Disney, so the Goofy Challenge seemed to fit perfectly. The Goofy Challenge is a half marathon on Saturday and a full marathon on Sunday all through Disney parks. Now to make me look less crazy, I could have done the Dopey Challenge which adds a 5k and 10k on Thursday and Friday. So Goofy doesn't seem that bad.
I was planning on doing this January 2015 with my friend Amanda, but knee surgery in November made that impossible. So I deferred to 2016 and convinced my dad to do the half with me again. Then I found out that my triathlon team, Team Z, was also doing this for a team race. I had about 100 teammates down there racing, which is always fun.
Dad and I had done the half 3 years ago and learned some lessons:
- Parks the day before the race is exhausting.
- Dad can't sprint through the Magic Kingdom.
- The start is way too early!
- Going to the park after the race is also rough.
So we planned this trip using our lessons and decided to skip the parks. I went to the parks in February 2015 so I figured I could pass this trip. This would save our legs for the races. My family has done Disney so much in my lifetime, but we rarely take the time to enjoy the delicious foods offered throughout Disney. So we took advantage and ate at some wonderful restaurants during the weekend and rested up. Sadly, I didn't see my Team Z teammates much but I loved the weekend with my parents.
Thursday:
We flew down early to ensure we had time for the expo on Friday and to give us a day of relaxation. I also remembered that cheap flights are not always worth it if there is a layover. We all made it to Orlando successfully and used the Magical Express to get to the All Star resorts. We enjoyed our "fancy" dinner that night at Jiko located at Animal Kingdom Lodge. We got there early to explore the resort, which is beautiful! The dinner was also wonderful (steak and mac n cheese). After dinner, we were able to try night vision goggles to watch the animals in the field. We were all so impressed how well these worked and how much your eyes were drawn to the rabbits playing right near us.
Friday:
We hit the expo first thing that morning to beat the crowds. The expo is nice and we took our time walking around exploring the different items available. We found some wonderful ice wraps that we all needed and I got some new shoes. We then headed to the Grand Floridian to explore and have lunch at the Grand Floridian Café. I have taken the monorail through here often but I never actually looked around. It is a beautiful resort, but I don't think I could spend $600 a night to stay here. I will be returning though because the Grand Floridian Café was amazing. We all had a great sandwich and finished with a wonderful dessert sampler. We thought the food was some of the best sandwiches we have had and all of it was actually reasonably priced. Then back to the hotel for some rest before heading to Disney Springs (previously Downtown Disney) for dinner at the pub. Dad and I had this years before and we loved the food, so it made sense to return to get the delicious shepherds pie. We sat inside near the stage and got to watch the Irish dancers all night. It was an early dinner so we could get home and ready for bed since we were waking up at 3 to get to the race.
Saturday:
Ok finally race day! We were up at 3 to get ready and catch the shuttle over at 3:30. We had plenty of time once at the race site so we jumped in line for a character picture with Chip and Dale. It is a huge dance party starting at 3 in the morning. It is definitely a strange experience but so much fun. Dad and I went to say hi to the Team Z crew and then took the half mile walk to the corrals. Dad wasn't able to submit an official time for a race to get a better corral because of an injury but luckily we were able to convince a race official to let him up a bit so we could do our 11 minute miles.
If you haven't done a Disney race, it is an experience. Each corral starts with fireworks. There are characters about every mile (although the lines can be super long). You run through the Magic Kingdom and a small portion of Epcot for the half. People are dressed in costumes of all types. Basically there isn't a boring moment, which makes it so much more enjoyable. We had the goal of around 11 minute miles and my goal was to keep Dad on track this time. We did pretty well at the pacing and his knees held out til about mile 11.5. We didn't plan on stopping for pictures unless the lines were short since stopping to wait isn't easy on knees. I am so proud of my dad for pushing through and minimizing his walk breaks. His knees did great til about mile 11.5 so I tried to keep pushing him to walk faster/jog so we could break our time from three years ago. I am happy to report that we beat our time by 1 minute and dad was able to walk post-race. We had a lot of fun and I might be able to convince him to join me again in a few years (or less).
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| Chip and Dale! I absolutely love this picture! |
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| Pre-race photo |
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| Entering the Magic Kingdom (parking lot) |
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| Where dreams come true |
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| Beautiful Castle |
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| The Frozen crew on the Castle cheering us on. |
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| Long line so this worked |
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| We did it! |
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| Try another one soon dad? |
Post race was enjoying a relaxing time at the pool and going over to the Wilderness Lodge for dinner at Whispering Canyon Café. Again, it was a wonderful resort to explore. I am always amazed at how well Disney hits their themes. Dinner was also an experience. Whispering Canyon is a loud restaurant based on the Wild Wild West and the waiters get into it. If you want ketchup, your whole table yells at the restaurant for some and everyone with extra ketchup delivers them to your table. The waiters make fun of you. It was hilarious. Now it was me and my parents, so we didn't get as much interaction since we didn't have any kids with us. I want to return here sometime for the all you can eat option because it looked wonderful and my mom's chocolate shake was so good. Sadly, I had a marathon the next morning so I did limit myself in how much I ate, but I enjoyed the meatloaf. Definitely returning here sometime! Now it was back to the hotel and back to sleep...wonderful 3:30 wake up.
Sunday;
Marathon day! I tried to sneak out to let my parents sleep, but sadly I woke them up. In the process, I forgot my salt tabs which would bite me later. I met my friend Amanda and we took off for the shuttles. Two early mornings in a row without much sleep at night is very hard. I really wanted to continue sleeping, but 26.2 miles came first. We yet again met up with the Team Z crew for a picture and took off for the corrals. I had fun hanging out with Amanda and Cat pre-race. More fireworks and we were off. I split from Amanda pretty quickly and focused on keeping a decent pace. The course is the same as the half for 8 miles so I knew where I was going. I had one big problem though, it was hot (well it was over 70 degrees). I had been training in 30 degree weather so my body didn't handle the heat well. I was sweating by mile 2 and knew it would be a long race (especially since I forgot my salt). I was happy to see some different characters on the route but didn't stop until around mile 7 for a picture. I love running through the Magic Kingdom. I get there while it is still dark and Main Street is lit up and the Castle was decorated as the frozen castle. The street is lined with people cheering and it really is motivating. I used the restroom near the Carousel which was empty and clean and kept running. I stopped for a picture with Mary Poppins near Grand Floridian since the line was short.
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| Pre race with Amanda |
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| So beautiful |
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| Another Castle shot |
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| Mary Poppins |
By mile 9, I was feeling the heat. I really don't do well running in heat and I know that. I was really hoping it was gonna be in the 50s for the race, but that didn't work out. I was drinking water at every stop but I was still lacking salt. We hit Animal Kingdom around mile 11/12 and I was already struggling. I stopped for another picture with Briar Bear and realized my phone wasn't taking good pictures because I was sweating too much on it. So I didn't stop for other pictures since they were all blurry. Animal Kingdom was fun though since they had some animals out for pictures and petting. If I were 30 minutes later, I would have gone on Expedition Everest, but I was there before the ride was open and I didn't want to wait. It did make me want to go back and visit Animal Kingdom on my next trip.
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| Blurry Tree of Life |
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| And this is when I gave up on photos |
Next up was Wide World of Sports and this was by far my darkest spot. I was cramping really badly and the route was boring. We ran several miles to get to the complex and then ran way too many miles in the complex. I give Disney credit though because they had Donald, Goofy, and Mickey here. I got in line for a picture with Donald, but he needed a ten minute break which I was not gonna wait for. I was definitely walking more than running by this point and it hurt. I just wanted to be done but I wasn't even at 20 miles.
After Wide World of Sports, you have a few more miles (boring) before you get to Disney Hollywood Studios. I realized at this point that running and walking hurt so I just started to jog. I really enjoyed running through Hollywood Studios. I wish I had the energy to go on a ride, but there were none on the route and I really didn't have it in me anyway. I was able to run through most of this park without walking and it dropped you near the Boardwalk. I can't remember the last time I went to the Boardwalk so I enjoyed taking in what was there and the people cheering. I also knew the rest of the course really well since we ran through the World and out through the front of Epcot to the finish. I really wish my phone was working better since there were so many characters in this area and very small lines, but I thought it was a waste of time since the photo would be blurry. I was also amazed how many people went and got a beer to drink while walking their last mile. I gave them credit for finishing with style.
I was so happy to see my parents as I exited Epcot and went for the finish line. I gave Minnie a high five and crossed the finish line with a smile on my face. I can't say I enjoyed the race, but I did finish with a smile and accomplished Goofy on my third try (knee surgeries ruined the first two tries). I grabbed two ice bags for my cramped legs and met my family. We went back to the hotel where I finally took a nap (even though Amanda and Ryan were hanging out in the room). Ryan and Amanda flew back home while my parents and I watched the football game and went to Disney Springs for the Team Z happy hour at the bowling alley. Those nachos really hit the spot for me. It was great seeing all my teammates and watching the Packers beat the Redskins. Sadly, I didn't have the appetite for a Ghirardelli sundae but oh well.
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| Cross Goofy Challenge off the bucket list |
Would I do Goofy again? No! If I do another crazy Challenge, I will do Dopey just to cross that off my bucket list, but that won't be soon. I really don't enjoy marathons, especially when I run it alone. Will I do Disney races again? Of course! I love Disney and running so I will keep going back. The races are early and expensive but they are fun. How often do you get to run through Cinderella's caste?
Hoping to do both Star Wars weekends in 2017 and then will probably take a break. I do love Disney though and can't say enough good about these weekends. Oh yeah, three fun medals aren't bad either!
