Walt Disney World Marathon - RunMarathon


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Orlando, Florida
United States
Disney
40F / 4C
Overcast
Total Time = 4h 17m 29s
Overall Rank = 3294/13522
Age Group = 40-44
Age Group Rank = 458/1273
Pre-race routine:

Similar to what I did for the half on Saturday, but woke up a bit later. I now fully understood that there's plenty of time and that the written race materials are designed to try to get people there early. I wasn't falling for it for the marathon and I got up at 3:30 instead of 2am. I didn't drink anything to try to avoid the need to urinate on the run. Ate some mixed fruit and made my way to the monorail at 4:15ish.
Event warmup:

Just walked to the corrals and jumped around a bit in place before the start. It was COLD. I'm not used to 40 degree running. I didn't wear the windbreaker because the day before it was a bit too much. For this day, I DID need it and didn't have it. Oh well.
Run
  • 4h 17m 29s
  • 26.2 miles
  • 09m 50s  min/mile
Comments:

I started in corral D, the 4th wave after the weelchair group. After the 1st wave, each next wave is walked up to the start line and then counted down to their respective start. There's lots of motivational music before and fireworks at the "go". With 17000 or so runners, my guess is that each wave must have had around 2000 or so runners. It was certainly a crowded start. It would be difficult to hold a pace faster than 9min/mi at the start in this corral. One would need to be in corral A to get a good start faster than that or perhaps get right to the front of the corral I was in. My primary goal was to finish the course with no injuries. Secondary was to get under 4 hours. I was successful with the primary. Regarding the secondary, I held the right pace up through the halfway mark, but realized by that point that I couldn't hold that pace for another half. I just didn't have it in me. So, I decided to forget that goal and just enjoy the event. First, I took a bathroom break at mile 15 (more for comfort than necessity), then stopped a few times to take some character photos. I also started walking through the water stations more and more as the miles went by. By the end, I was walking 30 seconds or so through each water station. As I neared the finish line, I could clearly hear the crowds, the music, and the announcer. When the finish becomes visible, I could see the spectator grandstands full of people cheering. There was a gospel choir singing enthusiastically. I finished with a huge sense of accomplishment over having completed the Goofy Challenge. I finished 175 out of 503 of other male runners in my age group who did the Goofy Challenge.
What would you do differently?:

Wear more layers of clothing and some gloves. I was very cold with the temps at 40 degrees. Hands were pretty numb. Also, hydrate a bit less in these temp conditons to avoid the need for a bathroom break. I was drinking 3 mouthfulls of Powerade every 10 min. Maybe I could have spaced it out longer or taken in a bit less.
Post race
Warm down:

Walk around for 10 or 15 minutes after the race. Eat, drink fluids incl my Endurox mix that I left in my bag check.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Having run the Half on Saturday.

Event comments:

Good race. Crowded at the start. Lots of water stations and volunteers.


Profile Album


Last updated: 2010-01-24 12:00 AM
Running
04:17:29 | 26.2 miles | 09m 50s  min/mile
Age Group: 458/1273
Overall: 3294/13522
Performance: Good
Gender Place 2399 / 7255 5 Mile 46:44, 10 Mile 1:32:14, Half Split 2:01:22, 20 Mile 3:09:51
Course: Start at Epcot, go to Magic Kingdom, down to Animial Kingdom, over to Hollywood Studios, then back to Epcot. A mostly flat course with entertainment at just about every mile, if not more. I can't remember everything, but there were DJ's, High School bands, a choir, a guitarist, several Disney character photo opps, recorded music (Sweet Caroline). Through the parks there were rows and rows of spectators cheering and high-fiving the runners. There were lots and lots of employees also cheering on the runners. It's an endless stream of supporters throughout the course. There were beverage stations at almost every mile and 12 or so first aid stations along the course offering biofreeze, vaseline, etc. Overall race organzation was incredible.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Too much
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 5
Physical exertion [1-5] 5
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 4