2 a.m. - one FINAL time. The running isn't the exhausting part. It truly is the lack of sufficient sleep so many nights in a row that's truly exhausting. Just can't do that any more. Driving to and parking at Epcot was painless today, having learned my lesson with that one sign the previous day.
This day was being planned for months with everything that the four of us (Laura, Jacque, Robert, and me) were planning on accomplishing during the marathon, beyond the mileage. I was set to do several things that I've never managed to do before during a race, and accomplished the vast majority of them.
One last pre-race meet-up before heading out to the corral.
We got a prime spot in the corral. Basically one row back from the actual first row of runners. Great view of the start line before Roll Disney headed out.
Yes, it was definitely a little chilly. I had shed my mylar maybe a couple of minutes before this photo.
As always, fireworks at the start. Our corral quickly made its way up to the start line seconds after Roll Disney headed out. The energy, as always, was palpable.
The plan from the get-go waas for Laura and I to peel out as fast as possible to get to the first photo stop - yet again at approximately .25 miles (even though the list that we saw in advance pegged it at 0.01 miles away -- no chance!).
Apparently, that plan was not well enough communicated with Jacque in advance. She was a bit out of breath when she and Robert arrived at the stop a bit after us.
By the time we arrived for the second photo stop (at approximately .8 miles), she advised us that she would not be able to continue at this pace. We made sure she knew that the plan was only to hit these two stops so quickly, strictly to get ahead of the curve for the lines for the photo stops -- we were going to pull back to an average of about 9 minutes per mile (inclusive of the stops) from here on out.
We got to the Army man a bit before Jacque and Robert, and had sufficient time to take a selfie before their arrival. Then, in the confusion after their arrival, Robert inadvertently wound up blocking Laura in the larger group photo, and we didn't realize that he was arranging for another shot when the two of us took off again to keep pace.
After our brief stop with the Jammitors, we exited backstage of EPCOT again and made our way along the opposite side of the road than the start corrals -- the last couple of corrals were still waiting to be set off!
Given the logistics, we continued running on a parallel portion of the roadway than the starting corrals, and the median is where some photo stops were set up. Originally we figured we could pass up the next photo stop that was in the median, because it should have been a repeat of Belle. As we got close, we recognized that Belle had already swapped out with Pocahontas, so we got to the back of the brief line before setting out again. No Character Left Behind!
That motto was disappointingly short-lived. As we approached this obvious photo stop, we asked the C how long it would be before Oogie Boogie would be back for photos -- 6 minutes. (!) Ugh! With everything we just did to get in front of the curve for photo lines, it was a fast, unanimous vote to take a photo without Oogie Boogie -- we just couldn't spare all those gains.
Robert and I wound up drifting ahead a little bit prior to our next photo stops.
No idea who the additional person in our photo is. Believe he's one of Jacque's large circle of costume group friends who was there at the same time - we offered him to jump into our photo (rather than waiting a few people/groups further back), and he accepted.
We finally arrived at Magic Kingdom right before Mile 10 - which was smack dab in the middle of Main Street USA.
For some reason, most of the usual photo stops available in Magic Kingdom just weren't available. Tomorrowland usually has Buzz and/or Stitch, and Fantasyland has any of the Tweedles, Alice, or the Queen of Hearts. Often we may even have one of the lesser characters from Tangled. This time, from the time we entered Magic Kingdom through the time we took our Castle photo, only Beast was available -- and easily overlooked, too, since he was on the bridge leading to Be Our Guest, rather than directly on the route.
We were rerouted compared to normal to turn left before Country Bears, through the breezeway there and into Adventureland -- we NEVER run there during the marathon. Alas, they didn't do much to take advantage of the new location. They had Jack Sparrow (who used to be at about Mile 3 in front of a pirate ship) but no other characters that relate to anything in this land. Quite disappointing.
Nearly as soon as it started, we were in the backstage area exiting Magic Kingdom. Where previously we would have as many as 10 photo stops in the short distance covered within MK, this year we had only THREE characters. Come on! Well, Laura and I decided to take one last photo before being fully out of there -- with whatever this backdrop/float was supposed to be. No Backdrop Left Behind!
Now, on toward Animal Kingdom. During the water stop we had just passed, we found out that Jacque was being affected by some dehydration. We definitely needed to keep an eye on her to make sure that she was doing well. While she was apologetic multiple times during the remainder of the race, we kept on assuring her that she had nothing to apologize for - we've all had physical reactions to something on a race day.
Yes, even before we arrived here at Mile 12, we knew that we were a bit behind schedule. By this point in time, we were running closer to 10 minutes per mile, rather than 9. So, given the clock time, odds are we would be arriving at Everest about 15-20 minutes after our desired timing at rope drop. We had no idea what to expect for the line. While we noted it, we didn't worry about. Let's continue enjoying the run and all our stops.
AK usually has multiple animals out alongside the course. This time around, there was only the one available for us to pet. And, of course, it gave us its best angle for the photo.
And, confusingly enough, we had the above stop at the 30km marker noting the 30th anniversary of the marathon at the 27km mark -- because it was directly opposite the side of the street that was the actual 30km mark but that had less space available for the display to be placed.
Finally, we arrived inside of the confines of Animal Kingdom. Yet again, there were fewer characters available inside the park compared to previous years. First up, though, we had to get photos with the major on-course landmarks.
And then the moment I've been waiting for 12 years (2 Goofy + 10 Dopey) for -- riding Everest during the marathon. I've always been through Animal Kingdom before it opens up. This year, they opened at 7:30am, so it was ideally timed.
We got off Everest moments before the snack stand/bar directly next to it opened. Now, looking at this photo, I'm mildly regretting the fact that I didn't get a snack - say a Mickey pretzel - to have all the more epic a photo. Alas, Robert set off rather than have the snack stop.
Once the beer and Mickey bar were finished, we set back off, quickly exiting AK. Astonishing that there were zero character photos inside AK, where we used to have at least 5 characters available.
While we may have technically still been within the greater confines of Animal Kingdom by the time we saw Timon (who is usually inside the park), we were backstage, just about to exit the backstage area, even.
At this point, Robert slowly broke away from the group, because his plans within Disney Hollywood Studios were vastly different than what Laura, Jacque, and I had set to do, so he needed some of the extra time that he was going to use prior to our brunch reservation.
We were ever so close to Summer Winterland and the most anoying part of the course in recent years -- the parking lot to Blizzard Beach. As we understand it, this statue of Black Pete is not in this location typically. We definitely had to take a selfie there.
The highlight of the Blizzard Beach parking lot? Donald Duck!
Prior to our meeting some of his relatives shortly after we made the turn outside of Blizzard Beach.
Next up... Hollywood Studios! At the top of the brief yet steep hill that marked our entry "on-stage" into DHS, there were CMs there with Dove dark chocolate. HEAVEN! Three pieces? Yes, please!
Unfortunately, the only thing we could avail ourselves of at Tower of Terror was a brief photo with the bellhops. The Standby Line was 95 minutes long (!), and we didn't even attempt to ask if we could go in via the Lightning Lane -- which we later found out was being allowed, at least on occasion. Next up, Rock 'n Rollercoaster. We went into the single rider line and got VIP treatment that allowed us to bypass the pre-race show. It turned into a walk-on!
Surprisingly enough, I wound up being placed into the stretch limo with Ian.
Upon leaving RnR, we checked one more time what the wait was for ToT. Still far too long to attempt. (After all, by now it was after 9am and we had a 10:05am reservation one mile away at Trattoria al Forno.)
So, we rejoined the course briefly before running between two of the PhotoPass photographers tents and off course again to get to Alien Swirling Saucers (ASS).
That lady in red certainly had to be wondering what the hell we were doing running at speed straight ahead, when we should have been turning left there to continue on course.
On our way into Toy Story Land, we took a gander at how long Toy Story Mania was. Unfortunately, it was showing 35 minutes at that point. Damn. I really wanted to get onto that with someone else, to try to uncover some of the higher scoring sections that I've never managed to get to since I always ride it solo. Oh well, all that was left available to us was to ride ASS.
Well, we had plenty of time left for a few more photos before heading off to Boardwalk, though not enough time for another ride.
We made it with a few minutes to spare, and knew that Abu was just at the other end of the Boardwalk, so we took advantage of getting a photo with him right before making the brief U-turn to get back to our reservation.
I checked in on Robert's behalf so that we could get in the process of getting our table. Within a couple of minutes of Robert arriving, we wound up getting called to be seated.
Trattoria al Forno -- the Sunrise Breakfast Pizza is GREAT! Highly recommended.
About 40 minutes after being seated, we were all finished, paid, and headed on out. Yet again, we split up for two (ultimately three) different EPCOT plans. While Robert had plans re: Remy and Cosmic Rewind, the rest of us planned to kick things off by attending the first performance for the day by Voices of Liberty, with only one character stop available to us in between (having already done Abu).
They invited us - and the rest of the audience not already sitting on the floor in front of them - to enjoy the best acoustics at the edge of that central circle. They were floored when I replied that the three of us were still running the marathon.
Their last song was dedicated, at least in part, to us.
By the time we left the performance, we were about 30-35 minutes ahead of the Balloon Ladies.
And given how late it was and how long the park had already been open, it was unclear if there were photo stops that were originally available for the marathon that had closed up. There were no characters available in EPCOT other than Jafar. So, we had to make do with some other CMs. And looking at the wiat time for Frozen, we didn't have enough time left to be able to ride.
However, we knew there would be zero wait in Mexico. Three Caballeros is always a walk-on. But first, we had to climb a pyramid.
Having finished the relaxing and cool boat road, and struggled to exit from the boat, Laura and Jacque split off to ride Cosmic Encounter while I went to Mission Space and Test Track.
While my original intent was to go on Mission Space Orange, that line was 35 minutes long, whereas Green was a walk-on. So, despite having multiple reasons why I wanted to do Orange during the marathon, I couldn't take that time.
Wow. While there were some changes in the original plan, I wound up getting onto 6 rides during the marathon, 3 more than I've ever done before. And I've never done any rides in Animal Kingdom or EPCOT before. Sweet!
I was less than a mile from the finish of the race. Alas, I didn't have the presence of mind to look for a place to buy a Mickey pretzel or Mickey bar before exiting to the backstage area. I really did want to have one of those for the finish line photo.
In short order, I arrived at Mile 26: the Hallelujah choir.
What a sound! And, while it's subtle with the camerawork near the end of the clip, you can tell by the groan that I was playing along with the one line ("down on one knee"). Good thing I had little left to go.
Dopey was not one of the post-race photos available -- very annoying, since I wanted to have my Perfect Dopey photo with all my medals with Dopey. Oh well. I managed to get an I Did It photo with Laura and Jacque (who finished about 2 minutes after me) and Robert (who we waited an extra 10-15 minutes for... worrying about whether he was swept by the Balloon Ladies).
Finally, after relaxing in the hotel room and "becoming human" again post-race, I met up one lat time with Laura at the Polite Pig in Disney Springs for a reasonably quiet/relaxed dinner, and then dessert at Ghirardelli. Mmmm...
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