Wine and Dine Half Marathon Weekend: Part 3- Half Marathon
Sunday: Half Marathon
Yet another early wakeup (3:30 this time) to get to the half marathon on time. We met Corey and Bethany near their room before heading to the shuttle. We made it to the shuttle and Corey realized he forgot his gels and was about to go get them when the bus started to move. We had enough to cover him at least a little. Then he realized he didn't have his knee brace. This was a way worse situation since there was no way to help him and he hadn't run long distances without the brace. He was just going to have to do his best and hope his knee held out. We got there with plenty of time, but the character lines were long and we would be pushing making it to the pictures before 5am so we decided to skip it. We went back to the porta potties and the corrals. Dad and I were in the second to last corral and Corey and Bethany were in the last corral (they didn't submit official times so they were stuck in the back). Dad and I decided they were both faster than us so we went to our corral instead of starting together. We needed the extra few minutes to make it so we all finished around the same time. It was a long wait, but there is nothing you can do about it. It was helpful my brother was wearing a neon hat and is tall because I was able to keep track of where he was until my race started.
This race again starts with fireworks for each wave, but they are bigger for the half. After waiting for a long time and already having tired legs, it was time to run. My goal was to pace dad at a 12 minute mile for the race. He had been training hard and we were going for a PR this time. The first 4 miles are pretty boring on the back roads. The highlight for this area is passing the water sanitation plant. Disney does add some screens to play movies to bring a little excitement and have a few characters posted along the route, but it is a semi boring beginning. Oh and Corey caught us and passed us easily. He ran with us for about 30 seconds until I pushed him onwards. It was a nice distraction from the road. Finally, we reached Animal Kingdom. I thought I had run the same course in April for the Star Wars half, but I was pleasantly surprised to discover that we ran a different route through Animal Kingdom and we went through Pandora! Running through a park is a fun distraction. Dad and I had to get a quick pic with the Tree of Life to document that we ran through Animal Kingdom (we already have pictures in front of the castle and Spaceship Earth).
Then it was back to the roads and onto Hollywood Studios. I did appreciate that we had to run the same overpass to get the Hollywood Studios that we ran the previous day. Dad had called the hill easy and that he could easily handle it. He wasn't very happy to see it this time and amazingly it is a lot harder when your legs are tired and you have been pushing yourself. We made it up the overpass with the Toy Story Army man motivating us to keep running. Dad had also decided to take pictures with the mile markers starting at mile 8 since that was the furthest he had run without stopping. He really was rocking this run! We entered Hollywood Studios to find the park had just opened. I hesitated for a second to decide if it was worth jumping in line to ride the Tower of Terror. I really thought about it, but decided it would be hard to keep running after the ride, not to mention it would render Dad's PR impossible. So instead we took a quick selfie to prove we ran through Hollywood Studios and kept running. I loved running by the people entering the park for the day. They looked at us like we were crazy, but most cheered us on and smiled.
The last few miles of a half marathon are always the hardest. Dad was starting to feel the miles, but he was still pushing on. We added a few short walk breaks, but nothing very long. These walk breaks gave me a chance to check my phone and see how Corey and Bethany were doing. Both looked good, but Corey's time started to struggle at the end, which I assumed was his knee acting up. We were also on track with our pace for Dad's PR. We ran through the Boardwalk and entered Epcot in the back of the park. We just had to run a majority of the world and out the entrance to finish the race. It was a long 1.2 miles through the park, but Dad did great and I for the sake of getting him to smile, I kept repeating "Just around the corner", but then added how many corners I thought were left. I have found that the best way to push through when you are tired and want to stop is to distract yourself from the pain and try to smile. We finally did round the last corner and were able to finish our third half marathon together and get Dad a PR! His knees were sore, but overall, the race went well and I was so proud of him. We were able to meet up with Corey and Bethany finished just a few minutes after us. Corey's knees did struggle from mile 8 on and I guarantee he won't forget his braces next time. Bethany had a great race and stopped for a picture with the penguins from Mary Poppins, which was perfect to go with her shirt.
Lessons learned from the Wine and Dine Disney races:
Yet another early wakeup (3:30 this time) to get to the half marathon on time. We met Corey and Bethany near their room before heading to the shuttle. We made it to the shuttle and Corey realized he forgot his gels and was about to go get them when the bus started to move. We had enough to cover him at least a little. Then he realized he didn't have his knee brace. This was a way worse situation since there was no way to help him and he hadn't run long distances without the brace. He was just going to have to do his best and hope his knee held out. We got there with plenty of time, but the character lines were long and we would be pushing making it to the pictures before 5am so we decided to skip it. We went back to the porta potties and the corrals. Dad and I were in the second to last corral and Corey and Bethany were in the last corral (they didn't submit official times so they were stuck in the back). Dad and I decided they were both faster than us so we went to our corral instead of starting together. We needed the extra few minutes to make it so we all finished around the same time. It was a long wait, but there is nothing you can do about it. It was helpful my brother was wearing a neon hat and is tall because I was able to keep track of where he was until my race started.
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| The half took us through Animal Kingdom (passing the sanitation area), Hollywood Studios, and Epcot. |
This race again starts with fireworks for each wave, but they are bigger for the half. After waiting for a long time and already having tired legs, it was time to run. My goal was to pace dad at a 12 minute mile for the race. He had been training hard and we were going for a PR this time. The first 4 miles are pretty boring on the back roads. The highlight for this area is passing the water sanitation plant. Disney does add some screens to play movies to bring a little excitement and have a few characters posted along the route, but it is a semi boring beginning. Oh and Corey caught us and passed us easily. He ran with us for about 30 seconds until I pushed him onwards. It was a nice distraction from the road. Finally, we reached Animal Kingdom. I thought I had run the same course in April for the Star Wars half, but I was pleasantly surprised to discover that we ran a different route through Animal Kingdom and we went through Pandora! Running through a park is a fun distraction. Dad and I had to get a quick pic with the Tree of Life to document that we ran through Animal Kingdom (we already have pictures in front of the castle and Spaceship Earth).
Then it was back to the roads and onto Hollywood Studios. I did appreciate that we had to run the same overpass to get the Hollywood Studios that we ran the previous day. Dad had called the hill easy and that he could easily handle it. He wasn't very happy to see it this time and amazingly it is a lot harder when your legs are tired and you have been pushing yourself. We made it up the overpass with the Toy Story Army man motivating us to keep running. Dad had also decided to take pictures with the mile markers starting at mile 8 since that was the furthest he had run without stopping. He really was rocking this run! We entered Hollywood Studios to find the park had just opened. I hesitated for a second to decide if it was worth jumping in line to ride the Tower of Terror. I really thought about it, but decided it would be hard to keep running after the ride, not to mention it would render Dad's PR impossible. So instead we took a quick selfie to prove we ran through Hollywood Studios and kept running. I loved running by the people entering the park for the day. They looked at us like we were crazy, but most cheered us on and smiled.
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| That isn't our race time, just so you know. |
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| We have now run through all 4 Disney World parks! |
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| Running down Sunset Boulevard |
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| And then down Hollywood Boulevard and out of the park |
The last few miles of a half marathon are always the hardest. Dad was starting to feel the miles, but he was still pushing on. We added a few short walk breaks, but nothing very long. These walk breaks gave me a chance to check my phone and see how Corey and Bethany were doing. Both looked good, but Corey's time started to struggle at the end, which I assumed was his knee acting up. We were also on track with our pace for Dad's PR. We ran through the Boardwalk and entered Epcot in the back of the park. We just had to run a majority of the world and out the entrance to finish the race. It was a long 1.2 miles through the park, but Dad did great and I for the sake of getting him to smile, I kept repeating "Just around the corner", but then added how many corners I thought were left. I have found that the best way to push through when you are tired and want to stop is to distract yourself from the pain and try to smile. We finally did round the last corner and were able to finish our third half marathon together and get Dad a PR! His knees were sore, but overall, the race went well and I was so proud of him. We were able to meet up with Corey and Bethany finished just a few minutes after us. Corey's knees did struggle from mile 8 on and I guarantee he won't forget his braces next time. Bethany had a great race and stopped for a picture with the penguins from Mary Poppins, which was perfect to go with her shirt.
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| So much fun! |
Lessons learned from the Wine and Dine Disney races:
- Lay out everything at home before packing to ensure you have everything and then do the same the night before the race so you don't forget anything (gels and knee braces included)
- Corey and Bethany are great at posing for pictures during the race. Mom, Dad and I are good at it, but not at the level of Corey and Bethany.
- Running through the Avatar area of Animal Kingdom is awesome
- Standing for hours before a half marathon is exhausting
- Make sure to submit an official time to get in earlier corrals
- If you want a picture with a character before the race, get in line by 4am
- Have fun and enjoy the race!
- So proud of my family and now need to convince them to do another
- Oh and do the wine and dine half marathon if you want to do a Disney half marathon. You get free entrance into Epcot at 8pm that night! See next post for more details on that fun.