It had arrived. Race Day. Brittany and I began the day dark and early, 5am at Coronado Springs Resort & Spa.
We donned our Race gear and drove over to Disney's Hollywood Studios where we were greeted by Minnie and Mickey - who were much more awake than we were. We hung out in the tent to stay warm - the morning air was nippy and to watch the costume contest.
Closer to the 7am start, we made our way out to the starting line and took a place in the 13 minute mile group. We began chatting with some other runners and explained it was our first race and we just wanted to finish. With good lucks said, Trey Wingo and Dana Jacobson from ESPN took the stage and said a few words. DeAngelo Williams from the Carolina Panthers was also on hand for the starting fireworks.It took us a good couple minutes to get a walk going being so far behind in the corral. It cleared up and spaced out pretty quickly as the track got wider. We started off a good jog, running behind the Studios parking lot and wove through, entering the studios backlot tour area as we crossed the 1 mile marker.
We ran though the backlot tour attraction, through the costume hall and stopped for the first water station. It was getting humid as the sun was rising in the sky!
Continuing on the race, we passed through Streets of America uphill, with many cast members cheering us on. The course wove though Star Tours then the 2 mile marker was located just passed the Indiana Jones attraction. We passed by the 50's Cafe as we entered the 2nd mile and followed the cones around the Sorcerer's Hat as Mulch, Sweat & Shears was rockin out some tunes! We ran up Hollywood Blvd and turned down Sunset Blvd, passing many cast members with the Tower Of Terror in our sights. We made a sharp left and passed by the Rockin' Rollercoaster and then were backstage for the next hydration station. We ran behind the Tower Of Terror and re-entered the park at the Fantasmic Show stage, taking the long down hill run (much appreciated) back to Sunset Blvd.
A few strides later were were back on Hollywood Blvd near the park entrance, waving at all the park guests awaiting the park opening as we made the final turn and were backstage approaching the 3 mile marker! I was relieved, at this point my tendonitis in my foot was really starting to hurt, but I sped up, determined to finish. When the final mile marker came into view we picked up speed and crossed the finish line stealing some high fives from The Miami Dolphins Cheerleaders & The Harlem Globetrotters. I crossed the finish line at 39 something, clock time. But my official time was 38:17, which was 2 minutes faster than my training time!
After we crossed the finish line we grabbed our medals and powerades and waiting in line for the photo op. As I was standing there I felt dizzy, having stopped running so abruptly. After the photo we walked it off a bit and ate our muffins, feeling better almost immediately.
Then we walked back to the Finish line festivities to grab photos with Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and some sports celebs! We got a shot with the Globetrotters, DeAngelo Williams from the Carolina Panthers and Greg Jennings from the GB Packers, just off his Superbowl win!
After the race, Brittany and I made our way to the studios entrance, medals on and entered the park for some celebratory shots with the Sorcerers hat, and by the ESPN Weekend Sign. We got many congrats from the cast members and "Magical Achievement" buttons that we wrote our official race time on!
By the time we had finished the photos, we headed back to Coronado to take showers and change before heading for our celebratory "ultimate guest" day in the parks. We vowed to wear our buttons and medals all day because we knew we would never actually wear them again. We even got our medals Pixie Dusted at the Magic Kingdom!
So that's my story from my first ever 5K, made even better by the magic of Disney! I can't wait to run my next Disney Race with Brittany!
