Marathon Weekend 2020

[CDKG]

Anyone else here finish the marathon near the Balloon Ladies - around 12:40pm? I ask because I have NO - not a single one - finish line/chute photos. Not even the overhead ones of a big group of people. My bib was visible and I have a bunch from right before the finish chute. I'm beginning to wonder if while manually sorting through them, they found people down in them, as there were calls for medics all around as I was finishing, and decided not to post them. I would totally understand that decision - just wondering if others who finished around then are finding the same thing: no pics.

I finished at 12:36 and received my finish line photos. However, I am still missing my Pinocchio photos from the 10k...I have lots of strangers photos mixed in with mine, so I’m not surprised.

 

[PrincessV]

I finished then and I got three finish line photos. You didn’t happen to be dressed as Goofy, did you? If so I have an excellent finisher photo in my photo pass

Nope, not I! But thanks for the info! I'm very petite, so I imagine I was just lost in the crowd.

 

[princesspirateandrunner]

On day nine, I’m finally beginning to see the light at the end of the flu tunnel. How are the rest of you who caught the flu? I hope everyone is feeling better! This is a really bad bug!

 

[rteetz]

https://www.wdwinfo.com/walt-disney-world/recapping-the-2020-walt-disney-world-marathon-weekend/

 

[tiggerunner]

My marathon chip did not register, but my first 3 did. I contacted the timing co and rundisney and they asked a bunch of questions to find it. I didn’t run with anyone and I don’t time myself- I know, just hate being connected at these races. I will say that I had a ton of photos to send and after a week they came up with a time which I agree is where I should be. Thanks guys because I will now be added and will be official

 

[The Expert]

On day nine, I’m finally beginning to see the light at the end of the flu tunnel. How are the rest of you who caught the flu? I hope everyone is feeling better! This is a really bad bug!

Finally feeling almost normal. I was on a trip to NYC for work and it hit HARD while I was there. Yesterday I finally didn't feel exhausted, flew home last night and today I just have a little lingering congestion.

 

[PrincessV]

No flu for me, but one of the worst colds I've ever experienced. Basically the flu minus a fever. It's been 11 days and just starting to feel a bit better.

 

[momandmousefan]

My marathon chip did not register, but my first 3 did. I contacted the timing co and rundisney and they asked a bunch of questions to find it. I didn’t run with anyone and I don’t time myself- I know, just hate being connected at these races. I will say that I had a ton of photos to send and after a week they came up with a time which I agree is where I should be. Thanks guys because I will now be added and will be official

Did you happen to stay at Boardwalk? I think I might have met you in the elevator / laundry....I remember someone there talking about their chip not registering for the full.

 

[Neon Cactus]

On day nine, I’m finally beginning to see the light at the end of the flu tunnel. How are the rest of you who caught the flu? I hope everyone is feeling better! This is a really bad bug!

Glad you're feeling better. I haven't had the flu in years and it pretty much leveled me for a few days. Almost everything is gone now but the cough refuses to go away. I just remember ordering groceries so I wouldn't make people sick at the store and the delivery guy walked the wrong way and I ran down to the corner and got really winded. I said really, I ran a marathon six days ago and now I can't even make it to the corner?

 

[princesspirateandrunner]

Glad you're feeling better. I haven't had the flu in years and it pretty much leveled me for a few days. Almost everything is gone now but the cough refuses to go away. I just remember ordering groceries so I wouldn't make people sick at the store and the delivery guy walked the wrong way and I ran down to the corner and got really winded. I said really, I ran a marathon six days ago and now I can't even make it to the corner?

I’m right there with you. This is the sickest I’ve been in a long time. I’ve tried to do laundry and some basic things today, and I’m just exhausted. Running the marathon seems like a really long time ago already.

 

[Barca33Runner]

I’m also on the cold/flu list. Almost over it, but I’ve been forced to work through the whole thing because everyone else decided to go on vacation after I got back so I haven’t had a ton of opportunity to rest. Not sure I got the full flu but my sinuses have been killing me since I got back and it has spread to a cough and other issues. Hasn’t been fun.

 

[dobball23]

I amazingly enough have not had a cold or the flu. However, I have been in a post-Disney malaise over the past week. Just haven't felt like doing anything, and that is not like me. Hopefully this gets better soon! Maybe once I get back to running in a few days?

 

[KevM]

No cold/flu but I did get a sinus infection when I got home. Mucinex and sudafed have been my friends for the last week or so. Felt it coming in the night of the 14th and today is the first day I haven’t felt like I needed medication.

 

[Disney at Heart]

Yep, cough, sinus pressure, sneezing, weakness, but no fever. Can’t seem to shake it, but not bad enough to see my doctor. Treating with OTC meds. Ran 2.5 today and struggled, and thought, “What’s this? I can run 26.2!” Finally getting better though. Gotta go, need to blow my nose!

 

[Sleepless Knight]

So it took me about a week, but I finally caught up with this thread. Dopey #2 is in the books and I'm coming to terms with the fact that it might wind up being my final marathon and marathon weekend. Leaving the office for this long in January is challenging and I'm dealing with that now. As much as I may want to come back for Marathon Weekend 2021, I think it's not going to work out. And that's okay. I'm grateful that I was able to experience marathon weekend twice and run Dopey twice.

I took the 5K easy. The only photo stop was for Chip and Dale. I considered the Beast, but that 20-25 minute wait was not something that really interested me at all.

I also took the 10K easy. Spent the entire race chatting with a nice lady named Rochelle who was doing her first Dopey. I hope she finished. No photo stops aside from mile markers for me because I was in the last corral and the hustle and bustle in the corral had me starting barely ahead of the balloon ladies. For me that wasn't a huge deal because I know that my pace is sufficient to keep up with them if necessary and healthy. For anyone who ran Dopey or the 5K, I did see the lady who survived a hippo attack out with her dogs cheering runners on.

In what is a trend, I also took the half easy. But starting in Corral F gave me more cushion to stop for characters which I did. It was awesome to see Barbossa at the pirate stop so that was cool. Even though it was light by the time I got to the Magic Kingdom, it was still early enough that I could see the lights on the castle. It truly looks beautiful. Even as a firm Disneyland is the best theme park in the world person, I may love running up Main Street USA in the Magic Kingdom more than running through Main Street USA in Disneyland. It probably helps that Disney World allows spectators at that point which is a real energy boost. I ran my second slowest half marathon ever, which was fine with me. For a variety of reasons that I never fully figured out, I felt very worried heading into the marathon this year even though my training remained consistent. Those fears began to subside near the end of the half because I felt similar to how I did last year at the half. While the heat and humidity had me ready to be done, I could also tell that I was feeling plenty strong for the marathon.

And now to the marathon. That was a beast. From reading up on previous hot weather marathons including my first last year I told myself that it couldn't possibly be worse. Well, I was wrong. It was worse. Nevertheless, I still felt pretty strong. I took it easy and watched as pace groups passed me. I stayed with the 6:15 group for a mile or two, but was starting to feel it and decided that because of the heat and humidity, that was not the day to see just how long I could stay with them. So I continued to do my own thing, stopping for photos and characters if I felt like it. Speaking of characters, I strongly recommend to anyone who wants to make character stops during the races to sign up for @croach character text threads. In addition to being quite funny at times (loved the seven chipmunks from 2019) it also proved invaluable to a slower runner such as myself. It helped me evaluate what stops I could make in comparison with what characters were further along the course.

I stopped for a Sam Eagle selfie in Liberty Square. I had to buy the Sam Eagle runners are all weirdos shirt from Raw Threads, so that has to rank as one of my favorite race photo stops ever. As a huge fan of Sleeping Beauty, I had to stop for the Maleficent dragon float backstage in the Magic Kingdom. That was amazing and I'm very happy that Disney had a photographer there. While it may be resolved for most runners now as I'm a week or so late, I noticed that it took quite a few days for my character and castle photos to make it to PhotoPass. They did get there though. Around mile 13, I decided to go for the ice bag on my head trick that served me so well during the last 6 miles or so of last year's marathon. I don't know if I needed the ice bag on my head at that point, but it wound up working spectacularly. I feel like it helped me stay cooler and possibly delayed hitting the wall. I always run with a visor so that helps immensely.

I considered Everest in Animal Kingdom, but not knowing if they would let runners go through FastPass and wanting to possibly use time in my favor to get a photo with Belle (Beauty and the Beast is my second favorite animated movie) in Epcot, I made the decision to pass. And then shortly after mile 17, my knee went wonky. I don't know what exactly happened, but I felt something. I could tell immediately that this could become a major problem during the race if I did not manage it correctly. At this point, l just decided to continue doing my own thing, but taking more walk breaks if need be. Sometimes I would run from light post to light post and then walk to the next light post. Other times I walked longer. I just made sure to go slower on inclines or cambers and especially make sure I stepped on even pavement whenever possible. I just kept going. Along the way, I saw one of the military veterans running on titanium legs. Such a powerful and inspiring sight to see. Really puts things in perspective.

And then the course cut happened. Since I'm not very familiar with Disney World roads, I did not know that we had skipped Blizzard Beach until I heard people around me say that they had cut the course short. For a few minutes, this discouraged me. I wasn't worried about not collecting challenge medals if I held on to finish, but rather struggled with what meaning this held, if any. A couple things helped me make peace with it. First off, I realized that between the walk to the corral and then from corral F to the start, I had put in the miles to reach 26.2. Then my Star Wars brain decided that this was kind of like making the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs even though a parsec is a measure of distance. So I called it my Kessel Run Marathon and didn't worry about anything else. Anyone who says I didn't finish the marathon this year can say that. Maybe they're right, but the conditions were brutal out there. After talking with a lady in line for the finisher medal photo, my own FitBit showed 24.89 and I turned it off immediately after crossing the finish line. I didn't think to let it keep running until it actually hit 26.2, but since I couldn't see what distance it showed anyways it doesn't matter. I know that given what they shortened the course by and all the walking to the corrals and after the race, I have no doubt that I hit 26.2. I just did it slightly differently because of the heat.

I somehow managed to miss seeing people dropping like flies or in bad shape, but I did see an ambulance with sirens blaring on the way to Blizzard Beach shortly after I learned they cut the course. I do not fault runDisney. I think they made the best out a difficult situation and I truly wonder if part of the decision to cut the course where they did was influenced by the walk to the corral. In other words, did they cut the course at that point because they knew that anyone who finished would still reach 26.2 because of the extra walking?

But enough of that. I loved seeing all the Star Wars signs in DHS. The Boardwalk is always nice with the crowds and cheering people. We all know what Epcot means. This year I certainly felt less tired than last year. I'm sure some of it stems from cutting the course short. I also think that @DopeyBadger decision to reduce my mileage in training helped me feel fresher on race day. Because in spite of that heat, I hit the wall much later this year. Unlike WWOS last year, there was never a point this year that made me question my sanity. I found that my in reserve race mantras were not necessary this year. Once in Epcot, I was interested to see if Belle was still there. Knowing that World Showcase would be open to everyone, I understood that it may not happen. When I got to France, I saw that Belle was not there. But even better for me, Aurora was. I really could not believe it. And then it got even better when Belle came in, possibly to switch places with Aurora, but I got my picture with both of them. So I remain very excited and almost beside myself to know that I have a photo with my favorite title characters together from from 2 favorite animated movies.

Unlike last year, I did not need to stop for any non alcoholic smoothie in Morocco. I continued on knowing I would be finished soon and this whole experience would be in the books.

For a variety of reasons, I have decided that I only want to run a marathon at Walt Disney World. I would someday love to see what it feels like when it's not blazing hot and very humid. I also accept that because of the difficulties of taking that much time off work in January, I may well have run my final marathon. I simply do not know right now. But if that winds up to be the case, I can say that I got to have the experience twice. And I'm grateful for that. No one can ever take away from me the feeling of being able to get out there and finish Dopey two years in a row. Those conditions were difficult, and I want to say that I'm especially proud of any runner who made a difficult decision to either not start or withdraw from the race in order to be back for another day. This is a lot of fun, but not to the point of injury. And I'm also proud of anyone who did finish that day. This one will go be remembered for years to come. And we did it. One way or another.

Final note: I really enjoyed DATW. I do not drink alcohol. I was a bit concerned that might be awkward for me, but I wanted to meet fellow DISers so I showed up at DATW. And I found that you people are as great in person as you are here on the boards. I appreciate being welcomed into the Goof Troop and never being made to feel out of place for not imbibing. I enjoyed meeting @lhermiston , @Bree , @jennamfeo , @rteetz , @Keels , @neoncactus and anyone else who I can't remember right now or may not have mentioned earlier in this lengthy post.

About 18 months ago, I wondered if I was even capable of finishing a marathon. This community helped encourage, reassure, teach, and help me to cross that finish line.

 

[JulieODC]

Still trying to kick my cold too - bad cough, runny nose, mostly. Had to travel for work this week, so the long days and more plane time didn’t help!

 

[allaboutthemouse]

Another one here with a bad cold. Came down with it Tuesday after race...and it’s still here...

 

[SheHulk]

Another one here with a bad cold. Came down with it Tuesday after race...and it’s still here...

same . Hasn't stopped me from starting to run a little this week but it's annoying.

 

[lhermiston]

Final note: I really enjoyed DATW. I do not drink alcohol. I was a bit concerned that might be awkward for me, but I wanted to meet fellow DISers so I showed up at DATW. And I found that you people are as great in person as you are here on the boards. I appreciate being welcomed into the Goof Troop and never being made to feel out of place for not imbibing. I enjoyed meeting @lhermiston , @Bree , @jennamfeo , @rteetz , @Keels , @neoncactus and anyone else who I can't remember right now or may not have mentioned earlier in this lengthy post.

It was great to finally meet you, Keith. Thanks for joining in the festivities.

I haven’t learned much in my relatively brief running career, but I have learned to avoid terms like “last” or “never.” Don’t count yourself out just yet.

 

[PaDisneyCouple]

I'm on day 11 of the flu and finally feeling mostly normal. last time I ran was over a week ago (castaway cay 5k). I have not been able to think about running. Maybe tomorrow. I think the best thing was the Ketorolac injection that the doctor on the ship gave me. My fever started to come down a few hours later. She also gave me Tamiflu but it was the fourth day so I'm not sure how much it helped. I'm sure the fact that I got the vaccine meant less severity. Hopefully everyone starts feeling better soon!

Mrs PADC