Race Report: Disney Half Marathon Jan 8, 2011

Let me just say this race was my FAVORITE part of the Orlando trip. The weather could not have been better. It was about 54 degrees at the start of the race and almost 70 by the time we finished. And since we didn't spend any time at Disney this year, this was our only glimpse in the parks during the trip.

Mostly though, it was sharing the event with Ryan, the self-proclaimed nonrunner. The day of the race was also his 29th birthday. Running is something I love and enjoy so much and to see Ryan run a half-marathon...let's just say I've been beaming with pride ever since.

So, since every race report needs a bit of a play-by-play, here we go:

We had a strategy. To jog 3 miles/walk 1 mile. This method helps to prevent fatiguing too easily and prevent injury. This was going to be key to our success since this was Ryan's longest distance ever, and my longest distance since my stress fracture. We were able to stick with this strategy more or less. There were some areas where the course narrowed and was so crowded that we had to stop and walk before it was time, and there were some areas where we took advantage of more room and ran longer than 3 minutes.

Around mile 4-5 we were running through a great cheering section and one guy yelled, "Keep goin' guys, you're doing great! The pain goes away!" I laughed and tucked that motto away for later.

By the time we reached the Magic Kingdom, we were still feeling strong. We took some pictures, and thanks to my trusty Garmin, I saw that we were at about 1 hour 20 minutes at the 10k split. Slow, yes, but on track to finish in under 3 hours which was Ryan's first half-marathon goal.

We pushed along and about a half mile after the castle, I thought, I want to see how the castle picture turned out. I pulled out the camera and looked. There was the picture I took of Ryan in front of the castle, but the picture he "took" of me...nonexistent.

"Ryan, the picture of me isn't there!"

"It took, didn't it?"

"No!" I shoved the camera over to him, proving that the picture did not exist. "I wanted a picture in front of the castle," I pouted...and continued to pout for about the next mile when I finally decided to get over it and not let it ruin the rest of the race. We stopped around mile 8 for a couple more photos. This time, Ryan hit the review button before we started running again...just to make sure.

By mile 10, Ryan's pace had started to slow a good bit. By mile 11.5, he hit a wall. "Screw it," he said and started to walk. "I tried, but it's just not gonna happen."

I looked at my watch, knowing that if we didn't jog this last mile, we wouldn't make it in under 3 hours. "You've got this, Ryan. We just have one more mile. Just like one lap around the park at home. You do it all the time!"

"My ankle hurts."

The words I heard around mile 4 came to mind, "The pain goes away! Come on, it's only temporary...you can do it!"

With that, he started jogging again. We jogged the last mile through Epcot, and when the finish line was in sight, we had barely over a minute to make it in under 3 hours. "Do you see it honey!?! We're gonna make it!" I cheered.

Ryan grinned with happiness and probably down-right relief.

We made it across the finish line in 2:59:55, just barely meeting the goal, but we did it! My hip remained intact, Ryan crossed the finish line upright, and we had done it together.

I am so proud of this guy! This is where we took pictures of each other in front of the castle. The picture of me didn't take.

Here's the view looking up, just as we were about to run through the castle.

Here we are approaching the castle. I grabbed one of the race volunteers to take this snapshot.

Squinting in the sun after the race...medals in hand!

After an nice shower and just before we hit the road for a 9-hour drive.

Ryan, me, Bobby, and Ryan's cousin, Cammy.



I think Ryan has finally caught the running bug. He says he wants to do the FULL marathon next year, which will fall on his 30th birthday. His ankle remained sore for a couple days, but guess what...

The pain went away.