Walt Disney World Half Marathon :: Pre-Race Report

In effort to avoid a huge crowd at the Expo, like Marathon Chris I headed to Disney's Wide World of Sports on Thursday night.

The line for packet pick up wasn't too bad. I was second in line and I quickly had my race number. I was disappointed to see that I was in Corral B. Last year I was in Corral A and I assumed based on my time from last year that I again would be in Corral A. To make sure I was in the right place, I waited in line at Runner Realtions.

The woman who was at "the window" said that there was little she could do for me without proof of time. I tried to explain to her that my 2:13 time from last year led me to believe that I did not need proof this year. Luckily, someone from the local running store who happened to be at the De Leon Springs Half Marathon was working in the adjecent booth. I had spoken to her Sunday morning.

I underdtand that the lady who was helping me was simply following the rules, but I really wanted and felt like I should rightfully be in Corral A. I asked this lady if the woman next to her would vouch for my time in the race on Sunday if she could please move me into Corral A. She agreed and thank goodness, my new friend, said that based on my result from Sunday I could move to Corral A. A sticker was placed on my race number and that was that!



Friday night, after work, my family and I headed out to Walt Disney World. We decided to eat before we got there. Last year we ate at the Pop Century resort, and while the food was okay, it just wasn't what I wanted. We talked about heading South of Disney property to a restaurant on Highway 192. However, we decided to stop at the new Winter Garden Village. We went to Uno's and I decided on the Chicago Classic, which is a deep dish pizza with sausage, sauce and cheese. I have been a big believer in sausage before a race. I don't know if it actually helps or not, but it seems to make me feel pretty good the next day.

We checked into Pop Century around 7:30 PM - there was no line, which was nice. Last year I waited for nearly 45 minutes when we arrived at 5:30 PM.

I was feeling tired, so as soon as we got the room I began getting settled and preparing forthe morning. I got everything laid out and ready to go so it would be a quick process to get out the door in the morning.



I decided that I couldn't keep my eyes open for another minute. My husband took the kids to the arcade at the hotel and they played games and were silly for quite some time. They returned to the room at 10:45 PM and while I had been asleep, it was never a deep sleep. I woke up when they came in and we said our good-nights and I was again asleep.

I had a wake-up call, the room alarm clock and my BlackBerry alarm set for 3:05. The wake-up call came first and I was able to shut the other alarms off before I woke my entire family.

I was out the door at 3:30 AM and walked to the waiting bus that drove us to the EPCOT parking lot / staging area. Even with all of the people there it was a little lonely by myself. I had a trash bag with me which I sat on as I watched a live band play. I wondered if they had been up all night...

I waited in line for the port-a-potty and then headed toward the starting line. When I arrived in the corral area it was 4:53 AM. With still more than an hour to wait, I sat in Corral A on my throw away $4 thermal shirt (I had a pink skort on and I didn't want to get dirty). I met a woman from Tampa and we chatted for about forty minutes to pass the time.

Waiting might possibly be the hardest part of the race.

Race Report to follow