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Comments: This race was _not_ about time. My wife and I were running with friends doing their first half marathon who had never gone more than 7 miles and were very concerned about getting swept. We ran/walked with them for the first half of the race, keeping them motivated and encouraged. They got to the halfway point in under 2 hours, and I knew they could get to the finish without getting swept if they just walked at an 18 min/mile pace. My wife and I wanted to make sure we finished early enough to qualify for the Goofy Challenge, so headed off at a casual pace at the halfway point. We had enough time after the finish to get back to the finish line bleachers just in time to cheer our friends across the line in 3:58. We were thrilled for them. After meeting them in the finishing area we came back to the finish line just after the second-to-last group of runners came across, but the announcer was still saying there was an athlete on the course. After about 5 more minutes, there came the last finisher, an Achilles International runner making his way to the finish on a prosthetic leg, in obvious pain but with obvious determination. He got the loudest cheers I have ever heard at a running event, and I left the finish area with a lump in my throat! What would you do differently?: Despite the incredibly slow/easy pace, I felt very sore after this run, which concerned me for the marathon the next day. I'm not sure if I did "too much walking" or if the road camber made an impact. In spite of this, spending the first half of the race with our friends was well worth it! If anything, knowing they'd finish under 4 hours, I might have stuck with them the whole race!  Post race
Warm down: Lots of walking to get back to our hotel. What limited your ability to perform faster: Choosing to enjoy the event with slower friends! A fine excuse if there ever was one! Event comments: This race was incredibly well organized. The one complaint I have is the long walk from the starting area to the corrals. Plenty of water and first aid stations. The one food/cliffshot station had run out of food by the time we slowpokes passed, so if you're going to be very slow you need to bring your own nutrition. Last updated: 2011-11-30 12:00 AM
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United States
Walt Disney World Endurance Sports
50F / 10C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 20447/22421
Age Group = M40-44
Age Group Rank = 1618/1680
Pasta at Tony's Town Square for lunch, followed by a nice steak dinner at the Yachtsman. I've found I run the best on steak. :)
Woke up at about 2:45 Eastern time, having flown in from Pacific time 2 days earlier. A quick check of email showed my computer time was still the day before! Ugh. Rode disney transportation to the starting area and then walked what seemed like a mile to the starting corrals. We were running with friends doing their first half who wanted to be at the front of their corral so we left as early as possible. This meant standing around in the corrals a lot....