I finished my first marathon! I did the Disney World marathon on Sunday, 1/11/09, with Shelly and Aqeel. It was a lot of fun. Painful, but fun. :p
The run began with a bang, with fireworks. After winding through Epcot center, the run proceeded to the Magic Kingdom. We got to run out from under the castle. The run then winded through Animal Kingdom, made a short side trip to the Wide World of Sports, before going through Hollywood Studios and ending in Epcot. One of the best part was going by the costuming department in Hollywood Studios, in my opinion.
I really wish I had brought a camera with me on the run. All along the run characters like Goofy, Donald, and Mickey, showed up at various intervals. People lines up to take pictures with them. There were also people dressed up in costume running. There were many Disney employees lining the route cheering us on at the beginning, who were replaced by spectators as the day wore on.
I didn't have a finish time in mind, but I was trying to maintain a 11 or 12 minute pace. When it looked like I could break 5 hours around mile 18, I made that my goal. I finished with a time of 4:38:15, a 10:46 pace. I pushed really hard for the last three miles and flew through the last mile. I guess that meant I was holding back and could have ran faster earlier. :p There were many water, food, and aid stations available. I ate everything and didn't hit the wall at all. My hamstrings did tighten up between miles 18 and 22, and I had to use Biofreeze and stop to stretch. Aqeel hit the wall at mile 18 unfortunately and couldn't accomplish his 4 hour goal. Shelly did pretty well despite not having had the chance to train and doesn't know how to feel about that. ^_^
Lastly, there is apparently something called the Goofy Challenge here, which is to run the half-marathon on Saturday and then the marathon on Sunday. Crazy... This event is also really popular and fills up fast. Apparently the sign up for next year begins on Monday! O_o
The run began with a bang, with fireworks. After winding through Epcot center, the run proceeded to the Magic Kingdom. We got to run out from under the castle. The run then winded through Animal Kingdom, made a short side trip to the Wide World of Sports, before going through Hollywood Studios and ending in Epcot. One of the best part was going by the costuming department in Hollywood Studios, in my opinion.
I really wish I had brought a camera with me on the run. All along the run characters like Goofy, Donald, and Mickey, showed up at various intervals. People lines up to take pictures with them. There were also people dressed up in costume running. There were many Disney employees lining the route cheering us on at the beginning, who were replaced by spectators as the day wore on.
I didn't have a finish time in mind, but I was trying to maintain a 11 or 12 minute pace. When it looked like I could break 5 hours around mile 18, I made that my goal. I finished with a time of 4:38:15, a 10:46 pace. I pushed really hard for the last three miles and flew through the last mile. I guess that meant I was holding back and could have ran faster earlier. :p There were many water, food, and aid stations available. I ate everything and didn't hit the wall at all. My hamstrings did tighten up between miles 18 and 22, and I had to use Biofreeze and stop to stretch. Aqeel hit the wall at mile 18 unfortunately and couldn't accomplish his 4 hour goal. Shelly did pretty well despite not having had the chance to train and doesn't know how to feel about that. ^_^
Lastly, there is apparently something called the Goofy Challenge here, which is to run the half-marathon on Saturday and then the marathon on Sunday. Crazy... This event is also really popular and fills up fast. Apparently the sign up for next year begins on Monday! O_o
2 comments:
Wow! Awesome... I hope to join your ranks soon enough. :)
Really? You're gunning all the way for the marathon?
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