Happy 2011 High Cloud family!! Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and an even better “offseason” (emphasis on “off” for me!). I am positive that this year is going to prove to be an AMAZING year for all of us and I’m truly looking forward to working/training with the High Cloud Dream Team.
To get things started and kick the year off right, fellow High Clouder, Hillary Peabody and I traveled down to Orlando, FL for the 2011 Disney Marathon. Held annually, this year’s Marathon Weekend took place January 7-9 and remains one of the more popular and family-oriented marathons in the world. The weekend consisted of not only a 26.2 mile run but also a number of different racing options to include a Kid’s 5K race, Half-marathon, or for those so emboldened: the Goofy Challenge. As an added bonus, marathon finishers are offered a free 1-day entry into any of the parks on the Monday following the marathon weekend. If you are planning on doing this race next year, this is definitely something that you should take advantage of.
We left DC Saturday morning and after a quick two-hour flight, arrived in Orlando. Soon after we proceeded directly to packet pickup at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex. We were both there for the marathon, but after talking to a number of competitors, many had been planning on participating in the Goofy Challenge. For those of you who are unfamiliar, the Goofy Challenge is comprised of running the Half-marathon (13.1 mi) and then the Full marathon (26.2 mi) the next day! I’ll have to admit that we were both a little jealous and will probably be planning to do this race next year just for that! Who’s with us? Any takers?...
This was definitely a race of firsts for me. For one thing, getting up at 3AM to run a marathon at 0530 was certainly new. I usually consider myself a morning person but getting up at 3AM was pushing it. We got to the marshalling area about an hour before start time and checked in our bags. The weather was forecasted to get up to a high of 60 degrees later in the day. In the morning however, I don’t think it was higher than 40 degrees. Needless to say that the High Cloud arm warmers we had on hand saved the day for us (Thanks Adriana/Matt!). The start line was about a half mile down the road which was perfect to warm us up prior to the race.
While we were down in Orlando, we met up with a few mutual running friends. One athlete, Jeff Aslen, decided to join us both on the run. Jeff, an amazing running athlete in his own right, had come down to participate in the Goofy Challenge and had run the Half-marathon the previous day. As the gun and fireworks went off to signal the start, all three of us ran stride for stride throughout the marathon amongst the 12,000 plus participants.
Our intention for running was primarily to have fun and really enjoy this “race” This was not going to be a PR for us by any means but we certainly had a great time whether it was stopping to take pictures with the Disney characters, meeting the running legend Jeff Galloway, taking in the sites and sounds of the Disney parks, or even riding a roller coaster in the middle of the race (yes, a ROLLER COASTER!). For me, running through the theme parks also brought up an air of nostalgia as I remembered all the times that my parents had taken me to Disney as a kid. Even though it’s been years since I’ve been here, one can still a “feel the magic” of Disney throughout all the parks and crowd supporters. Other runners also got into the spirit too by wearing their very own running style Disney costumes! It was so amazing that I caught myself running with a smile on my face the entire way.
Though it was early in the season, our trip down to Orlando for the Disney Marathon was one of the more memorable and enjoyable times I’ve had running an endurance event. While some people billed this as a “race,” for others this seemed to also be another way of revisiting those childhood days and to feel the wonderment of Disney Magic.
If you haven’t decided yet, mark your calendars folks because it sure is going to be on the top of my list... only this time we’re gonna get “Goofy.”
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