Disney 2009 Marathon Race Report

Warning! This is a Long Post. But I wanted to tell the whole story in one post. I’ve tried to put lots of pictures in to help out.

We got down to Orlando late Thursday Night. We checked into the hotel and got set up to go to the park on Friday. The first thing we did after check in was hit up Publix. The plan was to take our own food & drinks into the park for lunch and snacks.

Friday We meet up with my buddy Caleb who got us the hook up on some cheep tickets because he was in the military. We enjoyed the park with him and his family. If you have never meet Caleb you should he is a very nice guy and very crazy, as you can see.

We stayed at the park all day long. I was tired from all the walking and standing around that we did. At this point I was getting nervous because I knew I was not going to get much rest before the race. But I wasn't too worried about it because getting to see Sarah Jane have fun was worth it.

Saturday we got up early and went back to the Magic Kingdom. The plan was go early and leave and then come back to the park that night.

Going early we got to see a lot of the Princesses. Turns out we got to see them all by the time the week was over. Sarah Jane and Jay were loving it.

That after noon we ate a late lunch and went back to the hotel for me to get a nap. We wanted to stay late at the park and see the fire works. So I had to get a nap in. I was fine with staying up late because I knew that I wouldn't be able to go to sleep early even if I wanted to too.

But before the nap we went to the Race Expo at the Disney Wide World of Sports. At the Expo I got some new race gear and a Disney 2009 Marathon Shirt.

Sunday - Race Day

I woke up at 3:20 AM. Got showered & dressed. I ate a PB & J, banana, some Life cereal, & drink some Gatorade. I got Jay & Sarah Jane up and we left for Epcot. I don't think Sarah Jane has ever gotten up that early. I know that Jay was not happy about it being up before the sun but she never showed it. Both of them had smiles on and were ready to cheer me on.

We got to the check in for the race around 4:00 AM. There were people everywhere. We walked around lost for about 15 minutes. We asked around and I found out where I need to go and Jay found out where she could go to cheer me on. We picked a spot to meet up after the race and we parted ways.

I went to walk to the start of the race. I saw the Port-A-Potties and figured that I need to stop. Disney had put out 100's of them but there was Just One Problem, the line for them just about 25 deep. I was just glad that I wasn't in a tight.

After the long wait I made a long walk to the starting gate. I'm not sure how long it was but it seemed like about a mile or more. I was running the red route and in corral D. I didn't know until I got there but corral D was at the first corral on the Red Route. I was excited about being close to the start line but I kinda wanted to be near the back so that I didn't start off too fast. I wanted to be behind the crowed so that I would be force to go at a slower pace.

I sat in the my corral for about 40 minutes until the race started. Disney had loud music, and videos playing to keep you entertain. It was very nice. I made small talk with several of the runners near me.

It was a cool morning. I believe the temps were in the upper 50's at the start of the race and it warmed up to near 70 by the end of the race. The start was in the dark and the moon was full. I couldn't have made it any more picture perfect. I was pumped about running the marathon.

Mickey, Minnie, Donald, & Goofy gave the countdown to start the race. And we counted it down with them. Goofy it the switch and the fire works went off. It was crazy! I could feel the heat from the fire works on my face. If I wasn't wake before that I was then. The heat on my face got my adrenaline going and I took off!

The first 4 miles of the red loop were cool. People were lined up a long the road on the right side. I could see the runners on the Blue route and they were flying. They started about a .25 of mile back and were passing me.

After mile four the two routes joined up. Then we ran thru Epcot. As I passed the crowds of people and hearing the cow bells I couldn't help but pick up my pace. I want to run for 4 minutes and walk for one minute but it was hard to walk in front of all the spectators. I got some weird looks. I bet they thought that I wasn't going to make it because I was walking so early in the race.

My time for the first 5 miles were 46:55

I ran quickly thru Epcot and head out to the Magic Kingdom. The sun was coming up and I was feeling good. Disney had pace clocks put up at every mile. By mile 10 my split was 1:31:32. If I my math is right, that means that I had picked up my pace form mile 5 to mile 10. I knew I was going out way too fast but I didn't care. I was running hard and feelin' good and I just wanted to keep going.

Somewhere right before the Magic Kingdom between mile 7 & 10. I was feelin' good until this guy showed up. I was running hard and then I looked up and saw the guy in the pink tutu. I had read about him in Runners World and laughed because I would hate to be passed by The Guy in the Pink TuTu. He runs in all Pink. At Disney he had on pink shoes, pink socks, pink tights, pink tutu, and a pick wand. We he passed me the girl beside me said, "Hey you’re that Guy! You have made my race!"

I thought to myself great I got passed by the guy in pink. That’s Just Great! But there wasn't much I could do about it. He passed me and I just watched him run on.

Running in the Magic Kingdom was one of the highlights of the marathon. I ran down Main Street, thru Tomorrow Land, and towards the Castle. I the song on my shuffle was 'Viva La Vida' by Cold Play. I thought that was very appropriate. The crowd was loud inside the Magic Kingdom.

On the way to the Animal Kingdom I saw Capt. Jack on the Black Peal. That was very cool. I couldn’t quite hear what he was sayin’ but I bet it sound like a lot of Arrrggg!


I was drinking Power Aid at every water stop. They had water stops every mile on the course and they had lots of volunteers out. They would read your name off your Race BIB as they gave you a drink. It took me a few water stops to figure out how they knew my name.

I drank at every water stop. At first I didn’t think much of it. But from the halfway point on I had to stop about every other mile to pee. I think I peed behind every bush in Disney. There was no doubt that I was well hydrated. Even though I had to stop so much I kept on drinking because I figured I could stop for 30 seconds a few times or not get the calories from the Power Aide and I could walk back to the finish. I thought peeing would be the less of two evils.

At halfway point my split was 2:01:42. When I saw the clock I knew I was going out too hard. I was 11 minutes off my PR in a Half Marathon. I was noticing that my pace was slowing down a good bit. I just wondered how far off I would fall off the pace. It was somewhere after mile 13 that I saw the 4 hour pace group run by be me. I tried to keep up but it was no use.


Between the parks they had put up signs about every 50 yards. The signs were there to act as conversation starters and to help keep your mind off the fact that you still have a long way to go. Some examples of what the signs said were:

Why do kamikaze pilots where helmets?
Did you know that on average in the world 12 new born babies a day are given to the wrong mother?
If a goldfish is left in a dark room would it turn white?
On the other hand there is five fingers.



The Animal Kingdom was fun. I turned the corner to go in the park and they had donkeys and all kinds of birds of prey out. There were people dressed up playing hand drums. It made me feel like I was a Kenyan (at least in my mind). There was also a timing pad that we ran over with our timing chip and they were calling out our names as we passed by.

Between The Animal Kingdom & Disney Hollywood I was getting tired and going much slower. I was noticing the sun was heating things up. They had people taking our pictures at mile 20. I tried to wipe the sweat off my face and smile big for the camera but I was tired. Each mile seemed to be longer than the next. My split for mile 20 was 3:16:20.



Between these parks there were cheerleaders and bands lined up from the high schools. Some of the bands were marching bands, there were Gospel Singers, and other were rock bands. My favorite was the group that was just the drum line. If there wasn’t a band there was music coming from speakers. I could have just turned off the ipod and enjoyed the music that was provided.

At one point we had to run through a parking lot but to keep it from being so boring they had a thing called ‘Choose Your Grove’. Here you could go right or left and choose what kind of music that you wanted to listen to. If you went right the music would be Disco and if you ran to the right the music would be Heavy Metal. I went to the left because I like Rock and it was a few steps shorter.

When I got the Hollywood Disney they handed us chocolate. How cool. Hooray Chocolate! I was so excited that I got two pieces of Hersey Chocolate. By this point I’ve eaten 3 bananas, 2 gels, and a little chocolate bar.

In Hollywood DisneyI ran through a building where they made all of the costumes for all of the Disney charters. I saw one lady working on a dress for Snow White & someone else working on Mr. Incredible outfit. It was pretty neat.

Then I turned the corner and I was in Down Town New York. Crazy! It looked just NYC. I saw Broadway and the Empire States Building. It was nice to run through the streets of NYC because the tall building gave lot so shade.


From this point on the course was lined with people cheering us on. The parks had opened and the crows of spectators where growing. It was very nice to have them cheer you on because each step was getting harder and harder.

Between Hollywood Disney and the Finish Line at Epcot I ran by a lot of resorts that were on several different lakes. At some point we ran down boardwalks and over bridges on the way back into Epcot. Anytime we would run near a hotel or resort the crows would be bigger. I would see lots of signs and hear lots of Cow Bells. It was very cool.

In Epcot I was just trying to hang on. I was trying not to take walk because but I could hardly run. I would have to walk up any little hills. It seemed to take for ever. I kept thinking that the finish line was just around the next corner. From mile 23 on I only wanted to see that Big Golf Ball.

When I got made the last turn I could see the Grandstands and I did my best to run as hard as I could. I could feel the energy of the crowed as they cheered and yelled as all of the runners were coming in. I raised my arms as I finished and smiled. My chip time was 4:33:57. That is a new PR for me by over 10 minutes!!!

After the race was over I stumbled back to find my family. I wanted to go home and crash. I was hurting. Everything hurt. Everything. I was scared to take my shoes off because I didn’t know if my feet would be bleeding and if I would still have my toenails. Luckily my feet were in good shape. My body hurt so badly after the race. I remember why I didn’t want to do another marathon after I finished my first one.

But Now I can proudly say, “I’m a Multiple Marathon Finisher.”
This race will be one of the coolest that I will ever do. It is hard to top a race that starts off with fire works and gets better ever step of the way. I got see a lot Disney World that most people don’t get to see. Some of the Charters I saw on the run were Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, Alice In Wonderland, Stitch, Cinderella, The Step Mother & The Two Step Sisters, & The Mice, The Fairy Godmother, Caption Jack Sparrow on the Black Pearl, Marry Pop pins, Snow White and two dwarfs, Chip & Dale, The Pink & Red Power Ranger, The Army Men form Toy Story, Mr. & Mrs. Incredible.

I’m glad that I got to share the weekend with my family. It was a great time. I want to thank Jay & Sarah Jane for cheering me on. Not just on race day but everyday when I get done with a training run. They are always there waiting form me after a run with a warm smile.