Disney. The name brings to mind images of Mickey and Minnie. Cinderella. Snow White. Goofy. Little Mermaid. Mulan. Classic Disney memories.
I have some vague memories of my childhood Disney trips with my family. We took the traditional path and flew down to Orlando a few times. Then there’s that one time that we went all out and decided to drive down from New Jersey to Florida. It took around two days. We stayed overnight in a town in North Carolina. My parents had some grit to take a road trip with three kids. I admire them for this and Disney is not cheap for a family trip.
My last family trip to Disney was as a teenager though. I was 17 and clearly had grown out of my prior fascination with Disney, princesses and princes. But at the same time, it was fun to wear the label of an older, more “responsible” sister. I was a teenager, practically an adult, read to enter my senior year of high school. I was too old for Disney but I had to go. There was no way my parents would leave me home alone or with friends. We also had no immediate family living in New Jersey so staying with relatives wasn’t an option. So that was years ago.
Now to now. Or a more recent time. Last February (2017) my friend Cecilia convinced me to sign up for the Walt Disney Marathon 2018 weekend. The weekend consists of a 5K (3.1 mile run), 10K, half marathon and full marathon. Many runners go all out and sign up for all four events which is fondly referred to as the Dopey Challenge. Yes, they run all four races. That’s a total of 48.6 miles spread across four consecutive days. Since I was dealing with some injuries at the time, I was super conservative and decided to only sign up for the Minnie Mouse 10K. I had never done Disney, I had no idea where I could be in a year. So I had to play it somewhat safe. Yes, I could have signed up for the 5K but who flies down to Disney World for just a 5K? I wanted a memorable challenge even if I had to walk most of it. If it ended up being my comeback run, I wanted a memorable comeback. It was not easy but I sure did achieve my goal.
Now to the actual weekend in January 2018. In New Jersey, we were dealing with a major cold front that started after Christmas and lasted into the new year. I luckily managed to escape an impending snow storm in NJ and made it to Orlando without any delays or drama. My flight was brimming with runners all set to take on Disney with their running shoes. It reminded me of my Iceland runcation in 2016 when I met and spoke with a older couple about running and racing on the plane. Now to Disney itself. The Disney Springs area (formally known as downtown Disney) was full of marathon weekend and running specific signs and banners. I loved it. It made me super stoked and excited.
After the holidays and new year, running was the hottest thing in town. There were some remnants of the holiday season but marathon weekend fever had certainly taken over. Too bad the weather didn’t match up with all the fever. It’s usually good running weather in Orlando in January. Mild, not too hot nor too cold but this year the entire east coast was dealing with an extreme cold front. I escaped a crazy snowstorm up in NJ. Remember that? It was cold in Orlando. Down jacket, gloves, beanie hat kind of cold and that too during the daytime when it was sunny outside.
Our 10K was scheduled to begin at 5.30AM, well before the sun would rise. I got up bright and early around
3.30AM to shower, get my running gear on and to look a little presentable for the photos. Running can be a little glamorous at times since you have photographers scattered throughout the course. As for the weather forecast. It was expected to be freezing cold. And it sure was. The bad about road races is that you have to get to the start well ahead of the start time. And depending on your corral, you can be standing around for 30-45 minutes in less than optimal cold weather attire before you start running. Your body tries to keep itself warm in the freezing cold and eventually reaches a point when it can’t anymore. My friend joked about us dying from hypothermia. At some point, it seemed quite likely. Imagine that for a happy ending in Disney World?!
By the time I crossed the start line and started running, I couldn’t feel my toes anymore. My fingers were really cold too.
My toes and fingers started to warm up again around mile 2. The first half of the course was mainly highway running with some minor hills and ups and downs but nothing too crazy like the Harlem Hills in Central Park. Highway running isn’t the most fun but it was dark outside which made it surreal at times. There were also some Disney characters along the course (with long lines for a photo-op which I skipped) and some interesting audio based mile markers. So I can’t say I wasn’t entertained when running on the highways of Orlando at 5.30AM in the morning. I tried to take it all in and enjoy so I stopped for photos. Stopped to just stand and watch the videos. This was Disney and no one races for time in Disney. It’s all about the magical experience.
The second half of the race enters Epcot Theme Park and I had to say, seeing the park lite up at night in a variety of colors was so EPIC. It DID make me feel like a kid again. I had a new spring in my run and I felt like I could run forever. Such a fair cry from where I was a year ago when I could barely run a mile without some pain. At times, it was hard to make out which part of the park I was in but it didn’t matter. We ran around the water, on bridges. It felt like I was a world away. Seeing the lights, hearing the music and sounds was worth making the trip down to Orlando. It was worth getting up early for. Worth every bit. The most breathtaking moment was seeing the iconic Epcot Spaceship Earth lite up in purple. I wish I had a photo of it for my memory but alas I do not. I forgot to purchase the professional photos but you only have 45 days. This means I need to sign up and do this event again in the future. For the photo memories:) But I do have a photo of my finish with various Disney characters.
I ended the race losing a bit of stamina since my longest run had been just 4.5 miles before the 10K. But the emotion of finishing hurled me forward to cross the finish line. I was ecstatic. It meant the world to me. I felt as if my dreams were coming true and they were. I just completed a comeback race in the most magical place on earth.
It was indeed a very freezing Frozen run.
I hope to come back next year in 2019 for a different challenge of 13.1 miles.