Running the Mouse.

This year (2009) saw my return to Disney World for what amounts to a kick in the groin for my struggling race career.  Career, in fact, isn't really the right term to use, considering that I've not kept up with my training.  But a set of shiny new metals, peer pressure, and a touch of insanity made me step in line with a dozen other friends for a chance to run with the "Mouse".  It was not just any race -- it was the 39.3 mile Goofy Challenge.  (The Donald Half Marathon on Saturday and the Mickey Full Marathon on Sunday.)

The trick with racing (for me) is that -- following my first marathon -- I have this crazy capacity to accept that almost anything is possible.  This affliction must infect most marathoners.  That's the only explanation I have for how my friends keep "upping the ante".  "Let's do the Wenachee duathlon," they say.  "Let's sign up and train for the 200 mile Seattle to Portland bicycle tour," their mouth virtually foaming as the words cross their lips.  Running, cycling, relays, duathlons, triathlons, ultra-marathons, and, finally, iron man.  That's how you end up at Disney World in January for a 39.3 mile race over two days. (Point of clarification: I have not done a relay, triathlon, ultra-marathon, or iron man.  Although I have joined a couple relay teams, none of my teams have won the lottery for the premier local relay, Hood to Coast (yet).  I don't have any interest in a triathlon or iron man, but am giving some thought to the Tahoe ultra-marathon.)

I'm not a fast runner right now, but I can complete the race.  I can get those metals.  I do get bragging rights.  Let's be honest: anybody that can complete a marathon is doing something that only a tiny fraction of the world's population can accomplish.  Of course, that isn't a legitimate excuse for why I don't train as much as I should.  I know that I need to do some life reprioritization if I want to become a better athlete.  Back to the race, though.

Orlando, for those of you that don't know, is in a different time zone than Seattle.  2:45 AM on Saturday morning in Orlando is 11:45 PM the day before in Seattle, and that's exactly when our alarm went off to get up for the race.  We had to get dressed and prepped and on the bus to the staging area at that ungodly hour.  The start gun (in this case, fireworks) went off at 5:50 AM.  All of this while keeping in mind that we had to do the same thing the next day for a race that is twice the distance.  But I was in really good spirits.  Why?  For one simple reason: no rain.  You see, I can tolerate a lot of discomfort related to these stupid feats of endurance, but rain is my Kryptonite.  It destroys me.  Friends are seriously cautious about running marathons that I plan to run, because of my track record related to rain during the race.  Not just any rain, but torrential downpours.  But this time was different.  We had beautiful weather.  The temperature was perfect.  They sky was clear.  The almost full moon was bright in the sky and only just fell below the horizon when I crossed the finish line that first morning.  All this while running through the Disney World parks.

The next day was a little more difficult.  It seemed a little colder in the morning, and there were almost twice as many runners (> 20,000).  I'd mentally prepped myself for a long, slow race (which it was).  What more can I say?  We had such a great time, and the metals made it all worth the effort (for me). Oh,...and Melissa ran the full marathon in a little over 4 hours!  Now that's what I call Goofy.

For those geeks reading this post, I've got Google Earth files for the 2009 Disney World Half Marathon and the 2009 Disney World Full Marathon.  They were created through MotionBased from the routes recorded by my Garmin Forerunner 305.