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Walt Disney World Half Marathon - RunHalf Marathon


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Orlando, Florida
United States
Walt Disney World Endurance Sports
65F / 18C
Sunny
Total Time = 1h 55m 48s
Overall Rank = 1825/23,126
Age Group = M45-49
Age Group Rank = 180/1251
Pre-race routine:

Got up about 2:30 after about 4.5 hours of sleep to catch the bus at about 3:30 to get to the start. Ate a bagel and banana at the hotel and then ate another banana & shot bloks at race site.
Event warmup:

I figured the 5k fun run I did the day before was enough of a warm up. That and all the walking you do to get to the start line (walk from buses to bag drop and then good 20 min. walk to starting corrals
Run
  • 1h 55m 48s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 08m 50s  min/mile
Comments:

Plan was to take this at an easy pace to save some for the marathon the next day. I wanted to go sub 2 hours (my PR is 1:42) but beyond that I didn't care much. I started in the second of 8 corrals. Having never been in a race this big, I didn't realize that there was a big difference between the front of the corral (2 hourish pace) and back of corral, where I started. This meant that I spent the first couple miles going way slower than I wanted until the road got wider and I could do some passing. I then just settled into a relaxed pace. I enjoyed looking at the characters on the side of the road and listening to the marching bands. As I approached one of the bands at about mile 5, I started to move toward the right side of the road to shout out my appreciation to the band members, a lady who was weaving in and out to move ahead, rudely shouted out 'don't cut me off!' For some reason this really irritated me (I know its supposed to be the happiest place on earth) So I thought to myself, fine how about I pass you and leave you behind, then we won't have a problem. So that is what I did. I increased my pace from around 9 m/m to around 8 m/m. Then I relaxed again. About this time we went into Magic Kindom and ran down main street. This was really cool with the street lined with spectators and the castle all lit up (it was still dark). As we looped back around, we ran through the castle and then could get a picture in front of it. I decided to stop for a picture, which took all of about 20 seconds. We worked our way through the rest of park and then headed out onto a service road. I just locked into a steady, training pace pace. I kept hydrating alternating between two bottles on my fuel belt and the aid stations. I know some people say the parts outside parks are boring, but I never felt that. First, I like the peace and quiet and there was always something going on with characters or aid station or crowd support along the course (some of it volunteers) About mile 10 the sun was coming up. We could see across the way the last waves heading out on mile 3 or so. As I finished it out, I was feeling really good so I decided to treat myself to pick it up for the last few miles. Still not my normal 1/2 mary pace, but picked up to mid 8's. Headed through Epcot and through the finish. Was quite happy because I behaved myself and held back most of the race, but still finished under 2 hours.
What would you do differently?:

Really not much. With doing the marathon the next day, I hit the plan just about perfect. Ok I might start at front of corral to help beat the initial traffic a bit.
Post race
Warm down:

Walked around a bit, ate some food, got on the bus and dipped my legs in the pool once I got back to resort. After breakfast, headed over to Animal Kingdom for about 4 hours of walking.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

doing a marathon the next day.

Event comments:

Nobody does it like Disney.




Last updated: 2012-10-29 12:00 AM
Running
01:55:48 | 13.1 miles | 08m 50s  min/mile
Age Group: 180/1251
Overall: 1825/23,126
Performance: Good
Course: Start in Epcot parking lot and roads to Magic Kingdom, down main street, through tomorrow land through castle, then liberty square and out to road back to Epcot.
Keeping cool Average Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
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: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 5

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2013-01-23 8:58 AM

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Subject: Walt Disney World Half Marathon
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