Day 3: DisneyGroom’s #DopeyChallenge Weekend. #WDW10K Done- 9.3 Down and 39.3 to Go!

3:00 A.M is too early!

3:00 A.M is too early!

3:00 A.M is too early!

Just a quick fair word of warning.  As mileage increases and sleep hours decrease, the quality of my writing is likely to suffer.  I hope the humor still manages to make it across. However, it is likely that more grammar errors will appear.  

DisneyBride ran the 10k today.  So we figured our costumes should work with each other.  I feel pretty safe saying we were the only Wall-e and Eve.   

Again there were no pre-race characters and no Mickey to start the race.  I always found Mickey starting the race to be a really nice touch.  I hope that it reappears in the future.  

The mood in the corral seemed much more upbeat today.  I am waiting to see if everyone still has big smiles Sunday morning.  With so many familiar faces from the day before, it almost had the feel of a local race.  Everyone chatting about the previous race and catching up.  

I am a fan of the 10k course.  While some may find the first three miles boring, being out on the road allowed everyone to spread out before entering the park.  Other than coming off the start line, I did not experience any bottlenecks.  

Today’s Photos

A few blog readers found me. They wanted to be in one of my amazing selfies.

Averi

Kristina

Mile Markers

Character Stop Photobombs

MUSHU (in China)

SARGE!

On Course runDisney Tease- Don’t put a car on the course.  Don’t remind us that there are easier ways of getting around. 

This was actually a fancy tricked out DJ booth.

Just After the Finish Line

The awesome Volunteer that gave me my medal!

Post Race with Minnie and Daisy

After crossing the finish line, the Dopey wrist bracelet process was far more efficient today.  The area was much larger and there were plenty of volunteers waiting to mark the 5K bracelet and give you one for the 10K.  This was leaps and bounds better than yesterday.  

The line for post race food and drinks were also far less crowded today.   I’m not sure if runDisney made a few changes on the fly, or if the extra 3.1 miles allowed for a smoother finish line area.  Unfortunately, runDisney continues to ignore my suggestion for post race Tonga Toast.  Also, does anyone else find the single, tiny wet nap in the food box hilarious?  No wet nap is cleaning a sweaty post race runner.

Takeaways

I did much better with pacing today.

I  still don’t like zig-zagging around people.  It makes the race seem much longer.

I  still like passing people.  It is not something I get to do often.  

I should have greased up the nips.  The costume on top of the shirt cause more chafing than anticipated.  

Picture lines were still pretty bad since I was way back in corral E for the 5K and 10K. You might remember the issue I had with Track Shack. They didn't apply my Proof of Time when I submitted it last year and they placed me in Corral P (the LAST one). Runner relations corrected my corral to J. (I had a tentative promise from them in December that they would do this at the expo.) But they only did the change with the bib for the Half and the Full. My 5K and 10K bibs remained in E (the last corral for those events).

I started the race feeling pretty tired.  By mile three I was feeling pretty great.  Volunteering at the expo yesterday was probably not the best idea.  

I am feeling really good again today.  Let’s hope this keeps up with another 3:00am wake-up call.

DisneyBride will also be posting a recap of her 10K.  We saw each other once on course - but started in different corrals and did not get to run together.


Stay tuned for tomorrow's recap of the Half. I have a feeling tomorrow is when the action really begins.

-DisneyGroom


My 2014 Walt Disney World Weekend Recaps:
Day 5: DisneyGroom's #DopeyChallenge Weekend: Marathon
Day 4: DisneyGroom’s #DopeyChallenge Weekend: Half Marathon
Day 3: DisneyGroom’s #DopeyChallenge Weekend: Inaugural 10K
Day 2: DisneyGroom’s #Dopey Challenge Weekend: The Family Fun Run 5K
Day 1: DisneyGroom's #DopeyChallenge Weekend: Expo

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Day 2: DisneyGroom’s #Dopey Challenge Weekend- #DisneyFunRun5K 3.1 down and 45.5 to go!

I hate getting up early.  

I hate getting up early.  

I hate getting up early.

The alarm went off at 3:30am.  Surprisingly, I managed to remove myself from the bed.  Taking my “wake-up” shower, getting dressed, and eating my pre-run breakfast all went pretty quickly.

We managed to catch the first bus at 4:15am.  It was not the Death Star I was hoping for, but it did a great job of getting us to the start.  

This is the 1st runDisney event that I have run that did not have any pre-race characters, and wasn’t started by Mickey himself.  

I did manage to run into Russ (@RussRunsAbita), so he got the 1st awesome selfie.  Hopefully there are many more to come.  

I piled into Corral E and waited for the start.  I am a solidly middle of the pack runner, but I now have more appreciation for those at the back of the pack.  Soooooo many runners ahead of you and the lines for all the characters seemed longer than the line for Toy Story Mania.  So I took a page out of my sister-in-law's book and photo-bombed Dopey.  

Again, notice how awesome my selfies are.  

I did manage to get a couple of good photos along the way.  

Michelle from the Mickey Miles Podcast

This woman Wins for Best Spectator Sign Ever

Mile Markers

Buzz Lightyear- (Sid Busch) If I can’t run as a Space Ranger, I’ll get my photo with one

Spaceship Earth- Still not the Death Star

Phone Booth- DisneyBride and I did that at last years Family Fun Run 5K, so I had to keep the tradition going

Some random dude FISHING in the EPCOT World Showcase Lagoon!

Volunteer that gave me my medal

Finish Line Character photo with Pluto- Recognizing my greatness

The course did seem less crowded than in the past.  They seemed to allowed more time to pass between corrals.  This was helpful.  It was not the wall to wall people that I was afraid of.  The first tenth of a mile and the last two tenths were the only areas that seemed to back up.  

After crossing the finish line I ran into Erin @Lovedisneyrun of For the Love of Disney Running.  She gets the honor of being featured in a selfie.  

The line to pick up your Dopey band stretched on for what seemed like forever.  The line did move very quickly, however a wider path may have allowed runners to notice the stream of volunteers waiting to band everyone and allowed the first couple of volunteers to breathe.  I imagine this will be much easier with the upcoming races as we will have more time to spread out and finish at different times.  

I grabbed a Powerade, a water, and my box (still hoping for post race Tonga toast) and headed to catch up with DisneyBride.  

Back at the resort - DisneyBride got breakfast and magnanimously gave me her bacon. That is love.

Takeaways

I did head out of the gate too fast.  I did remember to slow it back down at about mile 1.  

I don’t like zig-zagging around people.  It makes the race seem much longer.

I do like passing people.  It is not something I get to do often.  

I am feeling pretty good.  Let’s hope this keeps up.

I am heading to volunteer at the expo.  (Most likely packet pickup.) I will tweet my location.  Feel free to come by.  See you tomorrow at the 10K.

-@Disney_Groom

My 2014 Walt Disney World Weekend Recaps:
Day 5: DisneyGroom's #DopeyChallenge Weekend: Marathon
Day 4: DisneyGroom’s #DopeyChallenge Weekend: Half Marathon
Day 3: DisneyGroom’s #DopeyChallenge Weekend: Inaugural 10K
Day 2: DisneyGroom’s #Dopey Challenge Weekend: The Family Fun Run 5K
Day 1: DisneyGroom's #DopeyChallenge Weekend: Expo

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Day 1: DisneyGroom's #DopeyChallenge Weekend: Expo

We have arrived! The 2014 runDisney Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend has officially begun.

Our day started off entirely too early - getting on the road by 6am.  However over the next couple of days, a 5:30am wake up would be luxuriously sleeping in by comparison.  Leaving frigid Tallahassee, we headed south for warmer climates.  Four short hours later, we arrived at the ESPN Wide World of Sports.

The expo began at 10am and we were got there about 10:20.  The line for the runDisney New Balance shoes had already formed hours ago.  We took one look at it and said, No Thanks.

This was where the line began for the shoes!

Entering the expo the first thing that I noticed was that this one seemed to be much better organized that previous runDisney expos.  I headed straight to HP FieldHouse get my bib.  Then, I needed to go to runner relations to get an error fixed and I was concerned that runner relations would be a zoo.  I got my bib and took this amazing selfie.  The volunteer didn’t seem to be too into the idea of being in a pic and it shows.    

With my bib in hand, I intended to run straight to runner relations.

However, there was no line for shirt pick-up.  You read that right, a Disney expo with no line to pick-up your shirt.  Feel free to pause for a second to let the shock dissipate.  The Dopey Challengers were able to get their 10K, Half, Marathon, Goofy, and Dopey race shirts all at once. They were pre-bagged together according to size. You may notice I didn't include the 5K shirt in this list. That's because that one required a trip to the Jostens Center, a separate building.

My trip to runner relations went really well.  Track Shack, the company that organizes the runDisney events had a snafu with my proof of time. It was submitted last October - well ahead of schedule. But I only discovered the issue when I saw my bib number and the corral assignments. I had been placed in the very LAST corral. So, I had exchanged emails and phone calls with Trackshack. At least they provided me with a very non-committal letter alluding to a 'possibility' that they may change my corral on race weekend.  

Walking up to runner relations I see an employee in a Florida State Seminoles jacket.  I hope that he is the person to help me out.  As luck has it, he was.  After a couple of minutes talking about the game (GO NOLES!!!) and about our respective tenures at the institution, he gets to business.  I provided him with my correspondence and another copy of my proof of time, and he gets everything straightened out.   Feeling much better I continue on with the expo.

Bib was updated from Corral P to Corral J.  MUCH BETTER! 

Relieved that I am no longer in the last corral for the half and full, I head to the pick up my 5K shirt and get my “I Did It” shirt.  I still can’t figure out why they couldn’t put the 5K shirt in the same bag as the other 5 shirts.  I hope that with future runDisney Challenges all the shirts are picked up at the same location.  Again, there was no line. Pause to collect yourself.  

The runDisney merchandise booth was full of stuff for each of the races.  I got pins for each of the races, a car magnet, a window cling, and my I Did It shirt.   As crowded as the shopping area was, the line to pay moved quickly.    

We spent some time checking out the vendors.  We made a special stop at the ArmPocket booth (more on this to come in the near future - keep an eye out). 

 We also stopped by the New Balance booth to check out the new runDisney kicks. I really don’t think that I’ll be picking up a pair. I'm not the biggest fan of the Sorceror Mickey shoe, and I quite like my new ASICS and HOKA One Ones that Santa brought me.  

I did however see the new race weekend specific shoe inserts and shoe lace charms and may have started laughing out loud.  I have joked about how I feel about these before, but after seeing the price, I laughed even harder.  Forty dollars for shoe inserts and charms.  I know that Disney commands a premium,  but this is ridiculous.  Since you probably think that I am joking, check out the pictures below.    

Before leaving, we decided to take in one of the speakers  We always mean to listen to one of the speaker panels, but never seem to have the time.  This time, we did.  The presentation was “Train Your Brain”, presented by Cigna.  

We happened to sit in front of Amanda from the WDW Alone blog.  She and I spent a couple of minutes talking about Dopey and the Space Coast Marathon.  Sorry, Amanda that you didn't get to take an amazing selfie with me.  

Following the expo we went 'off property' to the Cheesecake Factory for Disney Bride’s belated birthday meal.  It is also the last time I will be dining out until Sunday.  

On the way back, we stopped and picked up some items to eat for all my meals from tonight Wednesday night through Sunday (Marathon day) morning.  I wanted all my food to be very boring and familiar, and it is. In case you are wondering how to fuel up like me and be a Dopey champion, here ya go.

 

My Dopey Challenger Menu:

Breakfast: Peanut butter on whole grain toast

Snack: trail mix

Lunch: meal replacement shakes

Snack: canned beets

Dinner: ham sandwiches - maybe a little mustard for excitement

I know. I know. It sounds terribly dull. But Sunday night and Monday morning there will be celebratory meals. And lest you start to pity DisneyBride, don't. She, being unfettered by Dopey, will be abandoning me to enjoy all her usual favorite WDW establishments this week. Taunting me, no doubt.

Other race preparations include:

All the costumes for each race are hanging in their own bag- and our shoes for the weekend are laid out.

I will provide updates following each race.  I will also attempt to tweet from the course, so don’t forget to follow me on twitter (@Disney_Groom).  If you see me on the course, make sure to yell out. At tomorrow's 5K - look for Darth Vader - that will be me. I know several of you have said you were going to be volunteering or spectating, comment below with the location and I’ll try to keep and eye out for you.   Perhaps you too can appear in an amazing DisneyGroom selfie.

~DisneyGroom

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#runDisney #WDWMarathon Countdown: 0 days

THIS IS IT! Countdown over. We head out tomorrow at O'Dark thirty, bound for Walt Disney World.

Soon we will be joining thousands of BRFs (Best runDisney Friends) for all kinds of running, shopping, eating, and parkhopping action.

Those of you with bad weather and flight delays, this is heartbreaking. I'm not originally from Florida, but from Washington DC - and ugh, I remember how awful the weather could get: planes being grounded, icy highways.  All I can say is: do your best to stay safe.  Mickey will be waiting - whenever and however you do arrive.

North Florida has also been bitterly cold, emphasis on bitterly.  My trail half marathon last Saturday, I awoke to freezing temperatures. Yes, 31 degrees.  I did finish, but I never felt warm enough - my limbs and muscles seized up tight and it was awful, the toughest run/walk... mostly crawl of my life.  I may do a recap after Marathon weekend, once the trauma has passed.

But now we turn to this weekend.  We've loved reading these last few months about everyone's growing excitement.  And we hope to meet many of you!   Keep a lookout over the weekend for DisneyGroom.  At the expo and at the various fan group meetups, he is the tall guy wearing a black baseball cap that says GROOM on it.  If you see him, wish him luck on Dopey.

I have an easier job this week:  cheering at 5K, running the 10K, volunteering at the Half, spectating the Full --- and just having a great time!

I plan to hit the expo and pick up a buddy for this guy!  My 2013 Vinylmation runDisney Mickey is ready to be joined by his new 2014 Mickey pal.

Mickey is sporting mini-medals from 2013 WDW Marathon, Princess, Tower of Terror, and Wine & Dine weekends
These are all the runDisney weekends we attended in 2013

And we have dining reservations, meetups with friends, and even a few off-property activities planned, including a special dinner for my belated birthday (it was January 1).

We've not blogged much lately, but we do post a lot of facebook and twitter updates.  Between the holidays, being busy with work, and preparing for this weekend, the time slipped away from us.  DisneyGroom has said he will be posting daily updates this weekend, so please be sure to follow and encourage him: 

https://twitter.com/Disney_Groom

https://www.facebook.com/RunningHappilyEverAfter, 

and right here on this blog. 

I've been hard at work on costumes and the final piece of my EVE costume came together today, so I can relax at last.

I'm also super busy at work wrapping up some end of year stuff.  Unfortunately I have to take a laptop with me this week and do some work remotely while on my Race-cation.  So that is a bit sad.. but there is a flip side.  This way I make sure we get back to our resorts early and DisneyGroom gets plenty of rest between his Dopey events.

Now, back to prepping! Lots to do. Lots to do.

Run Happily! and I'll see you all tomorrow!

~DisneyBride

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