This post is part two of my recap of the 2019 Walt Disney World Marathon weekend, for which I headed to Florida with my friends Mike, Jennie, and Jude. To read part one of the recap, which is about our first day in the parks and the race expo, click here.
Like every RunDisney event, the 2019 Half Marathon started with an early morning. A 5:30 a.m. race start meant a 3 a.m. alarm, and as much as I love RunDisney, I certainly do not love the early mornings that they require. But they are a necessary evil, made worth it by the fun that is to be had. We planned to be on the bus by 3:30, when the race guide suggested runners be on their way by.
We had set our outfits and race bags up the night before, so it was thought free preparations in morning, that way we wouldn’t forget any race day essentials. We did the best we could to get ready quietly (and if you know me, you KNOW this is not a skill I possess), and were out the door about 15 minutes before the 3:30 cutoff. It was a little chilly the morning of the race, but nothing compared to the freezing temperatures that runners dealt with during the 2017 marathon weekend. Mike brought along an old sweatshirt as a throwaway later, and I had a heat sheet stored in the bag I was planning to check, for when I had to remove my jacket.
It was a quick walk to the bus stop, and lucky for us we were able to get right onto the bus without a wait. I dozed in my seat as the bus took us to the Epcot parking lot, where we would start our 13.1 mile journey.
As is standard at any RunDisney event, there was a sea of runners dressed up as various Disney characters as we stepped off the bus, and we joined the masses as they made their way towards the start area. Walking through the parking lot we got a quick peek at spaceship earth, illuminated in the pre-dawn hours, and a reminder of the sight we would see just before the finish line. Both Mike and I had bags that we were planning to check, so we had to wait to have them scanned by security before we could enter the area, but the very populated line moved along quickly. When we got into the race staging area, we headed towards the DJ setup, and found a spot behind the bleachers to plop ourselves while we ate our breakfast. We had picked up the runner boxes that all star movies was selling, so we had bagels to eat from there, and I had brought along a Kind Breakfast Bar as well. Once we were finished eating, I organized the stuff in my bag into two piles - the stuff that I would need during the race, and the stuff that I was going to check during the race. I threw my jacket into the check bag, and although it wasn’t too cold, opted to bring the heat sheet I had packed into the corral with me.
We headed towards the bag check, and the green army man was stationed in front of the bag check trucks to encourage the runners to start moving towards their corrals. In previous years, bag check was in large white tents, but this time they had Fed-Ex trucks in place to collect our belongings. Mike and I had to split up, since our last names were assigned to different trucks, but were quickly reunited on the other side. We decided to make a porter potty stop before we headed to the corrals, and it was very dark in those toilets! Since it was still dark out, there was no sun to illuminate into the porter potties, and the parking lot light poles weren’t quite illuminating things enough.
Next step was to make our way into the corrals, and it was about a mile walk to get there. They had a DJ along the way, and photo pass photographers to take photos for anyone that wanted to stop and pose. We still had some time before the race when we got to the corral, so we found a spot that wasn’t too close to the speakers, and started stretching while we waited. Mike found a highschool friend in the same corral to us, and had a quick reunion as we waited. We made sure to each take a Gu before we got going, and I took a precautionary inhaler puff. Soon enough the announcers had Donald on the stage, and the countdown was on to the start time. Since we were in corral D, we got to watch a few sets of fireworks go off as the corrals ahead of us got moving.
At last, it was our turn to start, and with a Disney amount of excitement and fanfare, we crossed the start line as fireworks went off. Jennie and Jude were our official cheer squad for the day, and shortly after we had left for the start area, they got up and made their way to the start line, which would be the first of their four planned cheer spots. We texted them as we started, and Mike had the bright idea to shine his cell phone flash towards the spectators, who were across the street from the runners, so they would be able to spot us, and when we saw two people jumping up and down with excitement, we knew they had spotted us. As we ran towards magic kingdom, they hopped on a monorail to head towards the ticket and transportation center.
For me, the highlight of the first leg of the run, which consists of the highway between the start and magic kingdom, is getting to run under the Magic Kingdom entrance sign. There is just something magical about getting up close and personal to a sign that normally you only get to drive under, especially in the dark, it just looks magical!
There were a few characters on the highway as we made our way towards Magic Kingdom, including Lightening McQueen and Mater, some leading villains - the Evil Queen, Maleficent, and the Queen of hearts, and Wreck it Ralph with Vanellope. They also had a DJ, and a few High School bands playing to keep us entertained along the way. Soon enough we had reached the ticket and transportation center, where Jennie and Jude were waiting to cheer us on. We managed to spot them quick enough, and ran in for quick hugs before we were on our way. They were planning to walk over to the Polynesian, while we made our way into the Magic Kingdom. The next time we saw them we would be more than half way through our journey!
The bus stops were all lit up as we ran through the station, and they had big blow up lights set up to lead us into the Magic Kingdom through the main entrance. We had managed to make it to the park before the sun came up, so when we got to main street we could see the castle beautifully lit up in the distance, still covered in its holiday lights. Mike played to the cheering spectators that lined the road, interacting with their signs and even hitting a power up boost that one held and zooming off.
We then entered tomorrow land, where they had Mike with Sully and a Buzz Lightyear character stop. We decided not to get photos, and kept moving instead. The white rabbit was out neat the tea cups, and the evil step sisters held their usual spot just before the castle. We ran through the castle, and then stopped to get our photo taken in front - and to our dismay, that castle photo never did make its way into our race photos.
From there the course took us though liberty square and into frontier land, where we made a pit stop to get a photo with Woody and Bullseye, since they are Jude’s favorite characters, and we wanted to get a photo taken to show him. Then as quickly as it had begun, our time in Magic Kingdom came to an end, as we left the park through a back stage exit, and got to run by some festival of fantasy parade floats on our way out.
The park exit lead us to cone alley, a stretch of highway known for squeezing runners into a more narrow than preferred run way. At one point Mike and I both got a chill as the air froze momentarily, a event that is still a mystery to both of us. We sang along to the disney and pop songs that they had playing, as the sun finally began to climb into the sky.
As we got to the resorts that are nearby, they had Chip and Dale out with Clarice, and a group of Grooms near the grand Floridian. Just after mile 7 we approached the Polynesian, and spotted our cheer squad once more. We couldn’t believe how fast the miles were slipping by. For our second strech of highway, we passed by Mr. Incredible, and then after passing mile marker 9, which featured a photo of Anna and Elsa and played let it go, Mike serenaded me with his own rendition of Let it Go.
Mile 10 had a highway ramp that the green army man was positioned on, and as we ran by he shouted to Mike - “Keep going Lilo, you have me in stitches!” and Mike was very happy that he had recognized his costume. In what felt like the blink of an eye, we were entering Epcot, and stopped for a photo with Doug, Carl, and Russell from “Up” as we headed in. There was a DJ playing as we entered the park near the imagination pavilion, running by Journey into the Imagination, then onto Space Ship earth. Just a few more turns, and less than a half mile, and our race would be finished.
They had a gospel choir out singing as we approached mile 13, which of course featured Donald Duck, and then we turned the corner and could see our destination: The finish line! We crossed it with joy, and collected our metals - Mike was officially a half marathoner. We walked through the finish line chute, collecting cooling towels, power-aide, and of course, the coveted runDisney snack box.
After getting our finishers photos and collecting our bags, we found Jude and Jennie in the parking lot - they had made it there in time to watch us cross the finish line, even though Mike and I had not successfully spotted them as we ran through.
After hanging out in the Epcot parking lot for a few minutes, we headed into the park to get on a few rides, since Epcot was just opening for the day, and the lines would be relatively short. We managed to get on the Frozen ride, and soarin, then grabbed breakfast before hitting a few more rides. We had fastpasses in Hollywood Studios in the afternoon, so eventually we boarded the bus that would take us back to the resort for showers and naps, and after resting up for a bit, made our way into Hollywood Studios for another day of fun, and to celebrate completing the race.
After we had finished off all of our fastpasses I decided to head back to the room before everyone else, as I was pooped from a busy day, and had a big day ahead of me - my 5th marathon, and day 2 of the Goofy Challenge!
