Doug's Disney Half Marathon/Marathon/Goofy Race Report

Doug Delzell

Got up early Friday morning and headed down to Epcot to run the Buzz and Woody with friends 5K with my sister in law Brenda Hall and my niece Allison. This was by far the largest 5K crowd I have ever seen and a good chance to loosen up my legs with an easy run. It was great to see my niece cross the finish line and experience running with such a huge crowd cheering you on.

After the race we went back and ate breakfast with the rest of the family and friends that had made the trip down for the run and then headed out to enjoy some fun and play at the Islands of Adventure theme park. After having a blast at the park we went back to the house we rented and headed to be to get some rest before Saturdays Half Marathon.

Before I knew it the alarm went off and I was up and soon ready to run the Half marathon. This race was going to be special as I was running the half with a friend of mine from work who was running his very first half marathon and I was also blessed to be able to join friend and teammate Kristi Gott on her run as well. The weather was perfect for running and all of the excitement of Disney sure did not disappoint either.

Standing in the corral (once we finally found Kristi in the crowd among thousands of others who decided to wear Mickey Mouse ears.) you could see so many faces that showed the excitement and anticipation of the day's event. Soon the time had come and the countdown began... 5,4,3,2,1 then the celebration began with fireworks going off to start the race. The miles and pace were enjoyable. Looking at the faces of both Kristi and my friend Harrison made the run most enjoyable for me. Harrison ran the race with a huge smile on his face as he ran in amazement of all of the people running and cheering, while Kristi enjoyed her Disney run experience while dressing in her cute Disney tutu and mouse ears and having her picture made with Captain Jack Sparrow.

We met up with teammates Chad Rutledge and Lisa Hobart on the course about mile 8 and laughed and cutup together for most of the last half of the race. The last mile was especially great as I was able to see Kristi push hard to beat out a couple of runners who we targeted to push us the last mile. It was great to see her work hard and be rewarded with the victory!

After the race we all headed out for lunch and then met up again for dinner at T-Rex which was a neat experience while we loaded up our nutrition for the marathon in the morning. We had a great time with food and friends and then off to get to bed early and rise again to meet the marathon challenge.

After sleeping like a baby I woke up about 3am and made some peanut butter toast and drank a little bit of PowerAide and then we got in the car and headed back to Epcot and the start of the race. I met up with Chad Rutledge and Chris Gott and we headed to the coral to await the start of one of the funnest marathon races around. I was excited to be running with Chris on his first ever marathon as well as have a running partner for the whole 26.2 miles. Soon the countdown began and then all of the fireworks went off to start the race and we were off and running.

The miles seemed to click away so fast as the run was absolutely nothing but fun. Chris and I talked strategy in our pace as well as small talk about Disney facts (Chris know all there is to know if you have any questions) and of course anything else that entered our mind for those few hours. It was amazing how well we felt on the run because Chris had not been able to get in a long run past 14 miles.

The miles continued to click away and we remained at a steady 9:00 pace all the way through mile 19 when Chris asked what would it take to finish at four hours or less. I checked my watch and we needed to complete the last 7.2 miles at an 8:00 minute pace. I told Chris the pace we would need and that he should expect a lot of pain as well those last few miles and asked if he really wanted to go for four hours? He said "Let's give it a shot, I feel good" so we bumped knuckles at took off at an increased pace.

It felt great as we passed so many runners. Up the hill was mile 20, then we passed mile 21 on an out and back route, then mile 22 we came up upon the 4 hour pace group where Chris joined in and I kept pushing to make sure we beat the 4 hour mark. All went well until mile 25 when I noticed I was struggling to keep the pace. My knees began to feel the pain of the increased pace. Soon was mile 26 and I looked at my watch and knew I had 4 minutes to make it to beat the mark. I ended up crossing the finish line at 3:58:24 while Chris crossed at 4:01 which was a beast of a time for his first marathon!

This was the best weekend of running in my entire life! Great team, great friends and great times!!!!! I can't wait till next year as now my wife Donna is going to give the half marathon a shot! YES! I can't wait!!!!