Walt Disney World Marathon - Run

I was feeling a little sore from the 1/2 the day before so I knew this race was going to hurt towards the end and I was mentally prepared to walk at the end. My plan was to follow a run 10/walk 1 program, and walk the water stops.

And the race begins...
The first couple miles were very crowded, as expected, so we were below our pace which was fine. After the first mile I realized I was going to have to go to the bathroom. "Great" I thought, I hope this doesn't keep up all day. (I've had bathroom issues in years past) By mile 3 we were in Epcot and I saw a real bathroom so I stopped, I was willing to wait a minute or two in line, I was happy it wasn't a porta potty. I came out, put on all my crap-running with an iPod, race belt, snot rag, and throwaways, and we finally got back on our way. Running in Epcot, through the tunnel of Christmas lights and around the tree was breathtaking. "Go Aaron! Way to go!" yells the crowd. Somewhere around here Aaron made his first smart-ass comment of the day, congratulating me because my Garmin kept mile splits without me having to clock them myself. Let the easy run with a friend, chatting and smack talk begin.

The theme of the day was my large behind and general cluelessness. It started out innocently enough with a joke about my butt about every mile, maybe a little more than that. We were having a pretty good time, going at what should have been an easy pace, but my legs were feeling heavy at mile 6. Not good. Around here at a water stop Aaron tells me to get moving and because I'm not thats why my ass is so fat. Insert a general GFY retort. A lady looks at me and asks "Why are you running with him?" Her tone implies that she knows he might be joking but she wasn't sure. I assure her its really funny and he doesn't verbally abuse me and is just trying to keep me going. Still moving along...It was still dark out, there is heavy fog and I was still cold. I had on a long sleeve shirt, my ear warmers and gloves even at mile 9 when we approached the Contemporary Resort where the monorail rides though. We couldn't see the top of the building the fog was so thick. The conversation drifted to my trouble with taking gels, gu's, or any like substance during a race. (insert big-ass joke here) Aaron suggests and describes Cliff Shot Bloks to me (gels in a gummi candy form!) and they sound awesome. Before we even got to the resort, there is a pack of Shot Bloks on the ground!! They are Cran Raspberry, so good, nothing like taking a gel! "I wish I would have thought about getting those before the race," I say, "those are great!" He then tells me that the Strawberry ones are good and the lemon-lime are tolerable. "Humm...I'd like to try those," Well not even a mile later...Lemon-lime!! Ok, this is just too funny. Aaron says he wished he brought his camera and I remember: my cell phone! "I have my phone!! Chippy made me bring my phone!" Excellent. I reinact eating food off the ground, but then proceed to actually eat the Shot Blok. (Insert several minutes of fat jokes here). I didn't want to waste the Bloks, they'll keep me from having to use my Cranks and risk getting queasy.

We enter the Kingdom. "GO AARON! Run Forrest!" more crowds yell. I told Aaron that I'd be on the lookout for a guy I met in the airport that works for ASI, he said he'd be taking pictures at the big hat. I had no idea what this was, but we were on the lookout. The Kindgom was awesome, there were so many spectators! At the water stop on the way out I stopped for my first packet of Tylenol and my 2nd or 3rd Biofreeze application on my thighs. This is getting fun. I tell Aaron I need to go to the bathroom and since we're walking now is a good time. "I'm not getting in a porta potty, I'll wait for a clearing in the trees," Make my way into the brush, Aaron thinks hes waiting by the road blocking me but I tell him when I'm done that he just drew more attention to us. Oh well, I have no shame anyway.

We approach mile 11 and I stop to stretch. The crowds keep shouting "AARON!" We are still in awe that I have my phone and it becomes a mission to catalog the race. I guess making fun of my butt wasn't enough fun for the day so picture taking it is. We keep an eye out for funny photo ops, and we find a gaggle of Army boys! Flag, girl, boys, perfect. "No Aaron I will NOT ask them if I can hump their legs! NO!" "But come on! It'll be fun! Think of the picture!" "N.O." He settles for a regular picture. We are on our way. Approaching mile 12 more runners comment on our Texas shorts, there were many other Texas runners in the race. Not long after, one of my favorite Texas songs comes on-Bowling for Soup, I start singing, or what I thought was singing along. Aaron tells me I am in fact just yelling and to share. Trying to share an iPod while running doesn't really work but we tried.

Right before mile 13 I tell Aaron I'm going to take an extended walk break (he knew I was done, I wasn't sure yet) I need about a mile to just walk (insert butt joke here), go to the bathroom (again), eat and rest (insert butt joke), and get more Biofreeze. I'm really not feeling good. I tried to jog a little at 14, and didn't make it that far. We just start walking and talking and talking to people around us. "Thanks for carrying the flag," they say to Aaron. "HEY TEXAS! WHO HOO! GO AARON!" they yell.

Miles 14-16...walking and walking. I stop for a photo op with the "Critter Crossing" sign while we were in a wooded area-reminded me of the swamps-and a "Bear Crossing" sign in honor of BT's very own expert. The camera was delayed, so my ass looked even larger than it really is so several more minutes of jokes from Flag Boy insued. By this time he is known as "Flag Boy." I am really not feeling good at this point. It was not all fun and jokes, but they did keep my mind off the pain. I was not walking in a normal fashion. My forward motion is not what one would actually call walking. I was struggling to keep up at a decent pace (for walking) but I wasn't tired. My legs just wouldn't move. More Tylenol. More Biofreeze.

"Hey, you're not...no...do you run races in Dallas? May I ask, did you do the Turkey Trot?" a lady asks Flag Boy, very embarrassed. I laugh hysterically. "Yes, Yes I did do the Dallas Turkey Trot," Aaron says proudly. Aaron made her weekend. "CAN I TAKE A PICTURE WITH YOU? Oh my god! MY FRIENDS ARE NOT GOING TO BELIVE THAT I MET AND TALKED TO THE SPEEDO GUY! Ohhh...Thank you for that. THEY ARE GOING TO BE SO JEALOUS!!! Seriously, thank you for wearing that speedo, you have no idea...really...thank YOU" She could not contain herself, I almost pee'd myself laughing so hard. This lady was very entertaining and stayed with us for over a mile. She was a little confused as to why Aaron was walking and not racing but he just pointed to me hobbling along. Yes, it was I who was barely managing a walk, but he loved the attention.

Mile 17 water and aid station stop: I tell Aaron again to go ahead. "There is no way I'm going any faster than this crawl. Please go ahead, save yourself!!" He refused to leave, I'd been telling him to since mile 12. "What and miss the only opportunity I'll ever have to make fun of a girl's fat ass? I don't think so." I said ok, but this is how its going to be the whole race. He grabs some Gu, I get water, gatorade and we move on to the aid station. More Biofreeze. This stuff is awesome, I ask them if I can buy the industrial size jugs of it anywhere. I get distracted in my application and talking then decide to rub my nose....WARNING! Do not get biofreeze in your nose!! DO NOT GET BIOFREEZE in your nose! A minute or two of frantic wiping and nose blowing and I think my sinuses are going to explode, and were on our way again...I start looking for a place to go to the bathroom.

We enter Animal Kingdom. I tell Aaron the hills are really bothering my legs, I am in the worst amount of pain imagineable. But there aren't hills. The undulations in the road and the little walkway bridges feel like moutains. "GO AARON!! WAY TO GO!!" I look at Aaron, "Who is this Aaron person and how can he be going the same pace as us? Why do they keep shouting Aaron?" I honestly had no idea since I had not seen anyone with "aaron" on their shirt. A little bit later he starts laughing, "turn your number around." I turn my number around, it was on my back the whole race and Aarons was on his front (I was never in front of Aaron so I wouldn't have seen it), our names are on the bib numbers!! I had wondered for about 18 miles how come everyone was cheering the name Aaron. I stop for the bathroom again not soon after.

The sun started to come out and the weather was actually starting to feel good. Yes, it took almost 19 miles for me to warm up. I contimplate taking off my long sleeve shirt but decide against it since its so late in the race. I am still carrying my earwarmer too. We are on part of the course that we were on at the beginning. There are throwaways littering the ground. I walk past a black and knit hat with stripes. Humm...thats kinda cute I think. I don't feel like stopping and picking it up so I keep moving. A couple minutes later...the matching scarf!! I pick this up for sure. I put it on, smile happily, so cute! Aaron laughs and I say I wish I would have picked up the hat. "lets go back and get it he says--Its not like we're in a hurry! LOL!" "I am not walking backwards, I gotta finish!" More fat ass jokes. Aaron sprints off, he goes and gets the hat, I keep hobbling. Excellent. Flag boy runs more than 26.2 miles today.

We've seen the inflatable sumo wrestler guy a couple times and Aaron wants me to take a picture with him. " But he's your twin!" I do not want to. I don't want to stop anymore I say. We pass a couple water stops, a local Hash House stop "Go Aaron!" We laugh. They're handing out Goldfish-one of my favorite snacks! "Can I have the whole bag?" The guy says no and just gives me a handful. Not long after we see a busted open Gu pack on the ground. Aaron's turn! He starts to eat, well pretend to eat it off the ground. A medic rides by on a bike (no it wasn't a roadie or a good one, I looked) and says "I can't even help you guys. Ya'll are having way too much fun." I can only imagine what Flag Boy licking Gu off the ground with a gimpy picture taker covered in clothes looked like to the observer. More fat jokes.

Alright, time to get serious. I'm in a lot of pain, I'm not tired, but my legs just won't move. Thankfully my knees aren't hurting. Aaron says I have to speed it up or we'll be pushing over 7 hours. No way I tell him, thats not possible. "Oh yes it is" he says, especially with my bathroom breaks. Ok, I'll try to 'power walk' and we speed up...don't let my choice in words fool you to think that I'm actually walking fast...Not soon after (and another biofreeze and candy stop too-gummy bears!) we see sumo guy again! He's walking backwards towards us. Ok, this is a sign, about the 5th time we've seen him. More fat jokes here. I give in, ok, I'll take a picture with the guy! We can't stop laughing, Aaron especially since I am feeling up the guys inflatable boob and he doesn't even know it. Classic.

We enter MGM about mile 22 on a red carpet and tons of people. This was fun. Soon after we see silver foil all over the ground...Hershey's Kisses! More Food! I was never hungry during this race. We scooped up handfuls and put them in Aarons tri top pocket which was bulging at this point. Aaron was out of thing to make me laugh about and kept wanting to give me a piggy back ride for a camera person. I finally gave in, it was the least I could do to entertain him since he had done such a good job for me. As he put me down the camera man was laughing and it was the guy I had met on the plane! How funny! We chatted for a bit then I was on my way...had to hurry.

Mile 24. It was rough at this point. We were out of fun stuff to do and joke about, it was gut-it-out time. I knew I would finish, that was never a question, it was 'how painful can this be' time. WAIT!! An unopend huge Snickers bar! Aarons favorite! Classic. This made us laugh for about 5 mintues. (not long enough)

We stroll through the Boardwalk, there are tons of people sitting in the grass, they looked comfortable. I was embarrassed to be going so slow but I probably really looked injured so thats was ok. This was some deep soul searching time for me, but I choose to do this to myself so I have to deal with it. We come across the beach, there are beach chairs. "Lets sit on the beach" Aaron says. I reply "think the water is cold enough and I can take my ice bath now?" It was tempting. I tell him its a real possibility I won't be able to get out of that chair. We sit for a minute, got our picture taken and enjoyed the moment because we were almost done.

We made the last mile around the lake at Epcot where we had been 4 other times this weekend. I knew exactly how far we had to go. It was the longest mile ever.

The finish came into sight and I mustered as much of a "run" as possible. It was nothing close because I couldn't bend my legs but it was faster than we'd been walking.

6:48.

Not be injured so I can train! But other than that, nothing. I had a great time.

Got my medals, I earned that Goofy medal darn it! and went straight to the medical tent. Biofreezed and iced up then found Chippy and Jess for pics.


My fat ass. Laughing so much.


This was the best marathon I've ever done and the most painful. I wouldn't trade it for the world.

As I look back on this race (2 months later) I realize how great Aaron was to stay with me the whole race. He was doing such a great job keeping my mind off my pain that I didn't realize at the time how bad of shape I was in and how much worse it would have been had he left me. I hope to return the favor to a friend (or anonymous racer) when they are in need.

I plan on doing the Goofy Challenge again next year.