Walt Disney World Marathon - RunMarathon

Well, by now I was right in the zone for the run/walk. I was a tiny bit worried about running two days in a row, as I have not done that since probably pre-IMMOO. So I had no idea how it would hold up. I did have faith that my fitness was in a good place at least cardio wise and figured I could always walk a little longer if need be.

I had decided after the half to stick to the same exact pattern and take as many photos with the characters as possible especially since I was running in costume. Red shorts with big yellow buttons and Mickey ears wearing the sorcerer's pointy hat.

Everything went very well with my run/walk with very little soreness in my foot except for the first mile or so...but very few characters until about mile 9 or so. Which was a great time to see them, since I kept having to pass the 3:35 pace group who would then surge past me during my walk segments. It was nice to have company, but hard to navigate the passes during the run! So at the Magic Kingdom, I stopped at every photo opp and let them go ahead. Didn't see them again until mile 21-22 on the out and back as they were on the way in. There was one other runner in a pink tutu named Carla who was doing the same exact thing with the photos, but not run/walking, so I was tag teaming her until I turned on the jets at mile 24.5.

Between MK and the out and back there were periods where my stomach started to ache a little bit. Water every 15'. I did gu at 45, 1:30ish, but waited until 2:25 to get the third one in until tummy stopped aching. Was it that darn Voodoo chicken??? I doubted it, probably I was going a bit too hard for my fitness at that point. Oh, well, water and slowing helped a little so went with that and was happy when it stopped bugging me. This was somewhere out on the back roads before hitting Animal Kingdom...which by the way was super fun to run through!!!

I was very happy to enter Hollywood studios as this meant we were getting to the home stretch at mile 23 and the crowds were raucous! I passed a lot of walkers at this point. Lots of people cramping, the weather was getting a bit warmer. It was awesome to have my last little walk break and run strong to the amazing Gospel choir that signaled a quarter mile left and to know that I would be finishing this marathon without that crazy calf cramping that I have had at my previous two marathons and also to have preserved my recovering heel!

Bonus was high fiving Minnie at the finish line!

Nada. Loved it all!

Same, picked up medal(s), finisher's photo, food, drink, bus to hotel! Ice bath and then had lunch...headed to the pool for some sun and relaxation. Monday we spent 12 hours out at Magic Kingdom, Epcot and back to MK for the parade and fireworks. What a whirlwind of a weekend!


Recovering heel and photos. Zero speed work since last summer. Zero back to back runs to preserve heel. Last two months, run mileage was 84 and then 91. That being said, not sure we would have done too much different as this was definitely a just for fun race.

Having this injury was in retrospect a blessing for me. It was very freeing to not be gunning for another PR, and it was good for my soul to learn patience, treat my body with kindness, and know that I could still perform at a high level given my current fitness. And come out of the weekend with my foot feeling better than I did going in. Which is the best bonus of all!


Terrific experience and definitely one that I would do again. Disney puts on a great event...expensive but worth it for the memories.