07 Minnie Marathon Weekend Race Reports(and pics)

[ultramm]

We woke up at 5:00 to get ready for the Go Red for Women 5K held at Downtown Disney. Disney doesn't offer transportation for the race(like the Goofy) some we took a cab ride at 6:55 am. It was only 5 min and $10. We went over to the stagging area and met some of our new WISH friends. Treated us like we have known them our whole lived(even though we just met them).

We lined up at 7:20 in the Red running area. The countdown began and we were off. As were were going along I checked my Garmin 205 and the pace showed 13:30. This had to be wrong as I haven't walked this fast since my Achilles tear and 2 surgeries over the last 6 years. As we meandered through DTD over to SSR, we came across mile marker one. The guy called out times and it was like 13:40. I guess my Garmin wasn't lying! We went along SSR , along the golf course, and the tree villas. Mile marker 2 came and the time was called out 27 minutes. We were on pace. We continued to work hard to see what was going on. We went along the canal towards OKW, turned away along the golf course back to West End of DTD. Past the Mickey head golf cart and mile marker 3. And along with the theme of the day in KY, "down the stretch they come". We finished at 41:46 Garmin time for a 13:29 pace. Linda and I went to get our medal, water, bagels, bananas, and more after the race. Better food than after the Goofy the last 2 years! We went over and met with other WISH'ers who had finished and watch those behind us. A great day, great race time, and race friends. The race course was a nice change from the roads of the Goofy's.

See lots of race photos on my website for a more play by play.

15K report to come.......

[PoohsPal]

Way to go Robert!!!

Here's my report:
Thank goodness Cam had her lists. I don't know what happened to me Sunday morning, but I must have left my brain elsewhere this weekend. I washed my fanny pack, but forgot to put the clips for the water bottles back on. SO, from Saturday night to Sunday morning, I whined about having to put the bottles in my pack. With all my whining about my bottles, you would have thought that I would have remembered to fill them before the final reading of Cam's list. I was just not there in mind.

OK, so off to the start. After my practice drive with Martha Saturday :innocent:, I had no problem finding AK Sunday morning. We found a WISH spot and somehow others WISHers had no problem finding us. ;)

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Then it was time to mosey to the start. One of teh DJs has to go!!!!!! She said that when she was at the marathon and was surprised to find “that it was not just fit people who run the marathon." Then, she went on to explain the corrals and noted that 12 to 15 mpm was a "leisurely pace". Grrrr... That comment made me want to drag her butt out on the pavement with me!!!! I dare anyone to show me an "unfit" person who can do a half or full marathon!!! :mad: And who can do a 15 mpm walk fo r9 miles and call it leaisurely!

OK, Minnie showed up and that was cool. It all seemed so small compared to marathon. It was slightly cooler than I expected at race time, but VERY humid. We had the countdown and the fireworks went off.

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Remembered to start my Garmin as we crossed the line. However, I went to turn on the backlight a little later and turned it off. :( Took a while to find itself again....
Did you know that the AK parking lot is about a half mile long and a half mile wide? A mile mostly in a parking lot is a long way. We passed a bunch of WISHers, though and that was cool. Before the race, Martha and I agreed that we would not go faster than a 10:15. We did get to 10:10s at a couple points and I reigned Martha in.

We did the 2 over passes at about 10:20s. :O Wow, it's nice to do those when you're not dead. However, that may have been a bit much for me.

The best part of the race for me was the out and back. :O Can you believe it???? We saw a ton of WISHers on that stretch and it was really cool! Huge kudos to cheerleader Matt! We had not even met him yet, but his cheers from across the way were great!!!!

Then we went up the ramp. That was tough and my leg started to hurt in the upper thigh. I was thrilled that it had stayed pain free for so long, but knew that it typically does not get better from there. The heat started to get me too and I just started to lose it. I'm thinking that my missed runs over the last month and the heat just took there toll. Martha really is a machine. SO, when we were approaching the 5 mile mark and I was not keeping our 10:30 pace any more, I made her leave. She was looking too strong and had worked too hard for me to hold her back. She took some convincing, but thankfully she went on and got her PR!!!! Big apologies to Martha for challenging her to a 10:30 and having her do it, while I could not. I'd like to think that I would have been ok without my booty/nerve issues and maybe if it had been cooler.

Anyway, I was on my own. This was new for me, but I did ok. I did some calcs in my head and realized that I could do a 10:52 and still get my 10:30 ave. However, that was not in the cards either.

[PoohsPal]

The lack of spectators, made it tough. There were only a few princesses in MGM even. Not a lot of entertainment.

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b352/PoohsPal/Minnie%2007/e998e171.jpg

However, after I left MGM, I decided that I was just going to enjoy the course.

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There were hot air balloons (at least 7) and that was very cool. One was even a smiley face!

As for the boardwalk being crowded, well, it was spread out for me and seemed empty with out spectators. There was the cutest little girl waving and smiling as we crossed towards the Swolphin, though. here daddy was telling her to keep waving. Kudos to her for making me smile and to her dad for encouraging that. It means so much to have people making you smile on the course.

I crossed into Epcot and took a few pics. It was nice to have energy to lift my camera for a change! Then, I started to see topiaries!
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It suddenly dawned on me that I was in Epcot for F&G!!!!
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Woo hoo!!!!! The camera stated going and next thing I knew I was doing a 10:30 again. Didn’t last for long, though. I had a great time taking pics and seeing all the beautiful flowers, that was amazing! Next things I knew, I was past the ball. But wait. Where’s the choir??? OMG, they weren't there. ;)

Finally, I could see the finish. Boy did it look empty. (Note to self, a race that's about 1/7th the number of runners, does not draw as big of a crowd.) BUT, I saw Mickey & Minnie!!!!!!!! I was all by myself for the finish and the way they were staggered, it looked like I could high five them both!!!! So, I hit Mickey, turn to Minnie and she's blowing kisses at me!!!!! TO coin a phrase from Denny, How cool is that? ;) High fived Minnie and then met up with Martha and Bill. I had passed him on and off up until just after mile 5. I think we were driving him nuts. :p

We got some food and drinks and made our way back to the finish to cheer. The big glob of lime was sooo cool!!! I think the announcers even mentioned our crew. I loved watching the WISHers as we started to cheer! I also loved staying to the end for the DLFer.
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Her smile speaks volumes. I know it took more courage for her to get out there than any elite, even at that leisurely pace. :p
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