Walt Disney World Marathon - RunMarathon

Fireworks signaled the race start and flames came shooting out of the start chute. The race started at 6am, was pitch dark, really humid (near 100%), and in the mid-60’s. I don’t perform well in the heat and 60-70 degrees could be a problem since I’m not acclimated to these temps (my last 20mi run was in freezing rain). I felt really comfortable though and ran slightly ahead of the 3:20 group to get the cooling effects of the air. The aid stations were spaced far apart in the earlier part of the race, so I decided to wear my waist pack that held a bottle of sport drink. I went through my bottle fairly quickly and kept taking in sports drink at every aid station (also water at every other aid station).

The halfway point came by and the pace group was ahead of schedule at 1:39. It was definitely easier for me mentally to run with the pace group. I still felt good but HR was creeping up. At mile 15, I dropped the pace a bit to get HR down. A mile later, I picked it back up a little and got back into rhythm. I quickly looked around to see if I can hook up with anyone since there’s no chance I can catch the 3:20 group. I passed a girl in a Minnie Mouse outfit wearing the 3:20 pace group bib on her back. I called out to her “are you coming Minnie?” She came up and thanked me. Apparently, she was starting to fade but got her second wind when I called her.

I’m glad I found a running buddy. Miles 16 onward was rough and I needed all the help I can get. Minnie Mouse was looking to qualify for NY so she knew what she was doing. She was awesome at pacing us and keeping the positive energy going. We got to mile 20 so we said to ourselves we only had a 10k to go. Well, that mental game was short lived for me. I was starting to cramp and I was in a lot of pain. Minnie gave me a salt tablet and I hung on until Mile 22 but quickly faded. She kept on and I threw in a few walks through aid stations. It helped but I was really hurting. The goal was 3:20 but I knew going in it was aggressive (my first marathon last year was 3:50). At this point, breaking 3:30 was doable so I focused on that. I started doing the math in my head. Keep it under a 9:00 mile and I’m good to go. I was a wreck but kept going at a sustainable pace. Apparently my math was wrong or I was running over a 9:00. With 800m to go I heard a stampede behind me, it was the 3:30 group! I and several others around me took off. I’ve never dug so deep before but I came through the finish chute at 3:29:25. Mission accomplished.


Taken in more salt during the earlier part of the race, drank more fluids.

After crossing the finish chute, my entire lower body tightened up. I limped through and saw Minnie Mouse waiting to see if I had survived. She came through at 3:23 so I lost 6 minutes in the last 4 miles. I looked like a wreck while she looked like she had just run a 10k.

I grabbed some drinks/food and went to the photo area where I saw a guy wearing a Tri-Donkey top. It was a BT’er, cool! He also looked pretty fresh and he had done the Goofy! Looks like I have some work to do to improve!


Run endurance. My 16wk program had me running 3x a week. Next time, I should increase to 4-5x a week with maybe only 3 20-milers.


The race was amazing. Running through Disney World’s parks was cool, but to be honest, I was so focused on running that I unfortunately didn’t take it all in (especially in the second half). I thought the various start groups was a great idea. With the various corrals, it wasn’t crowded at all during the earlier parts of the race. I had read that this course is pancake flat, but those man-made hills (bridges, overpasses, etc) were killer. I don’t plan to run another marathon for at least a few years, but I’d definitely consider returning to Disney.