YIKES!  That makes me realize just how far a marathon really is.  Now I’m nervous!

Runners to Race Around the “High Banks’’ and “Bases’’ As Part of 20^th Anniversary Walt Disney World Marathon Course

2013 Disney Marathon route to go through baseball stadium and speedway; course tweaks build on list of new 2013 enhancements

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – (May 16, 2012) – Runners in the 20^th anniversary Walt Disney World Marathon in 2013 will have the unique experience of running along a speedway and through a baseball stadium – in addition to Disney’s four theme parks – as part the latest enhancements designed to celebrate the event’s two decades of existence.

The 2013 Disney Marathon course will again start at Epcot. But runners will go through the Magic Kingdom and then, for the first time ever, run through the high-banked Walt Disney World Speedway where stock cars, Indy cars and exotic supercars typically roar around the one-mile tri-oval track. And later the course will take runners to ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex and through the complex’s Champion Stadium, a major-league style ballpark that’s the Atlanta Braves’ annual spring training home.

“Running through the speedway and the ballpark should provide quite a thrill for the runners,’’ said veteran race director Jon Hughes. “These very creative enhancements should make for a pretty memorable 20^th anniversary marathon that people will probably be talking about for 20 more years.’’

The marathon’s commemorative route changes add to the new enhancements recently announced, including enhanced entertainment along Mile 20, a specially-designed 20^th anniversary Mickey Mouse medal and a new post-race party at Downtown Disney.

In addition to the 26.2-mile marathon, the Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend presented by Cigna (Jan. 10-13) will feature events for the entire family such as Kids’ Races throughout the weekend, including the Mickey Mile, a Family Fun Run 5K on Friday, the Half Marathon on Saturday and the Marathon on Sunday.  There is also Goofy’s Race and a Half Challenge which involves running the Half Marathon and the full Marathon – 39.3 miles!  The Health and Fitness Expo runs throughout the weekend at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex and features the latest in running technology and fashion, as well as renowned running experts like Jeff Galloway, the official training consultant for runDIsney.

Runners can register at www.rundisney.com.  Runners can register early to get the best price.  Below is pricing and the schedule of events for the 2013 Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend presented by Cigna.

About runDisney

runDisney is a series of events providing runners unique opportunities to run various distances through Disney theme parks.  Race participants earn Disney-themed medals, experience legendary Disney entertainment and guest service and ultimately celebrate their accomplishments with a Disney vacation.  The original event in the series, the Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend presented by Cigna, takes place in January followed by the Disney Princess Half Marathon Weekend in February, The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror 10-Miler in September and the Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon Weekend in November.  Disneyland hosts the Tinker Bell Half Marathon Weekend in January and the Disneyland Half Marathon in September during Labor Day Weekend.  More than 100,000 running enthusiasts participate in runDisney events each year. For more information, visit runDisney.com and follow us on Facebook (runDisney) and Twitter @DisneySports.

This weekend, I ran the Frederick Half Marathon in Frederick, MD.  This race was part of a dual bonus bling challenge.  Run Iron Girl and Fredrick and get the Titanium Girl medal.  Run Frederick and Baltimore (in the fall) and get the Maryland Double medal.

Clearly, I couldn’t say no.  Actually, I was already registered for both Iron Girl and Frederick when Titanium Girl was announced, so it was a medal for nothing!  Except for being crazy and being willing to run two halfs within 7 days.

But onto the race itself.  Having just run a race the week before, I definitely had something to compare it to.  And I would say that Frederick was a much better race.  Corrigan Sports puts on incredible races, so I’m not surprised.

The course was awesome.  Not flat by any means, but the course support was incredible.  Lots of water stops and lots and lots of community support.  It was great to see that sort of support after the editorial in the Frederick newspaper earlier that week trashing the runners for “blocking” people from attending church.  There were tons of people out cheering and lots of kids handing out candy, water and fruit.  It was great to see.  (If only someone had been out there with a hose spraying the runners…)

Kim and I ran together after losing Jen early on (speedy girl) and losing, then catching, then losing Monica, and we just took it easy with a 1:1 pace.  She had been on her feet the day before and I was recovering from a killer cold (note – running a half marathon does not speed recovery) so we just went out to have fun.  We chatted most of the way and finished in a surprising 3:03.  Not bad for a race when we weren’t “trying.”

Expo was tiny, as is to be expected, but the race premium is awesome.  Instead of the standard t-shirt, the premium for this race changes every year and this year it was a zip up jacket!  It’s thick sweatshirt material, embroidered with the race logo and absolutely awesome.  I’m slowly getting to the point where I can outfit myself entirely in race gear.

I will definitely be back for this race.  Iron Girl remains questionable (partly due to the course, which is just too hilly to be enjoyable), but the crowd support at Frederick just makes this race incredible.

Okay, so the hills weren’t a surprise.  I don’t know that the elevation chart was ever made public, but anyone who knows the area knew it would be a hilly race.  I just didn’t think about how giant some of the hills were going to be.  We didn’t even attempt to run up them, just walked as quickly as possible.

But let’s go back to the beginning.  This was an inaugural race, though a race being put on by a very well organized group.  So I expected some hiccups, but in general, things went pretty smoothly.

Packet pickup was easy, but one frustrating part was that we were told that all packets had to be picked up in person – no one could pick up a packet for someone else.  At the pickup, we all had to have wristbands put on our wrists so that we could prove no one was running with someone else’s bibs.  However, when I showed up, there was someone picking up 14 bibs!  (This may have been a charity deal, I suppose.)  And the lovely pink wristbands?  They were never checked.  Mine didn’t bother me, but I know some people found them very irritating.

Race morning, the parking was plentiful, but the porta-potties were not.   Lines were long and not very organized, though everyone was quite polite.  One complaint I saw was that there was only one potty stop on the course for those who missed the stop at the beginning.  Again, no problem for me, but I can’t imagine having to try to find a place to “go.”  I’m sure this will be fixed next year.

The race itself was nice – pretty course, but hilly.  There were some spots where I felt like we were shoved off to one little side of the road with cars passing by way too close and way too fast.  It would have been nice to have the whole lane in which to run.  It was to the point where we could basically run single file and that was it.  Not ideal in a race situation.

The finish line was tiny, but there was a nice little finisher’s village with food and drink.  The medals are pretty and we got a sterling silver bracelet as well to celebrate this inaugural race.

Will I be back?  I don’t know.  I didn’t dislike the race and can’t really complain about it, but it’s a hilly course during a time of year where there are a lot of races.  This might get skipped next year (unless they do the Titanium Girl bonus bling with Frederick again – that will get me here in a heartbeat).

Caveat – they bill this race as flat.  It is not flat.  There are some sizeable hills.  But they aren’t lying when they call it scenic.  It is an absolutely gorgeous course.  And the course support is amazing.  I have never seen so much food on a race course. There were water and Gatorade stops every two miles and at each stop, there were Powerbars or Gu.  I only picked up a Gu (and pocketed it for a later run), but I was impressed to see that much fuel out there.

The cheering squads were quite impressive.  The volunteers were clearly excited to be out there, and it makes it a lot of fun to run.

Post-race support was also great.  Lots of snack options, and the race premiums?  A shirt AND a really nice gym bag.  Can’t complain there.

This race is definitely slower-runner friendly.  I ran with two wonderful friends and we treated it as a training run (as we have two half marathons in the next 3 weeks), and even stopped for a few minutes when one of the ladies got a nosebleed.  We were near the back of the pack but still had great support.   There were also some walkers in the race, and I think the last group of finishers crossed the finish line around 2:50.  That’s what I call a great race!  A race that supports its winners as well as the people who are just out there to finish.

If it works out, I will definitely be back next year.

New Elements Await Runners as 20^th Anniversary Walt Disney World Marathon Registration Opens

2013 Disney Marathon to feature new commemorative medal, new post-race party and enhanced entertainment; Race expected to be a sellout

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – (Apr. 10, 2012) – Runners competing in the 20^th anniversary Walt Disney World Marathon – registration opens today – will experience several unique features, including a special 20^th anniversary medal, new entertainment elements and a new post-race party.

To mark two decades of the Walt Disney World Marathon, the 2013 marathon, which anchors the Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend presented by Cigna, will have enhanced entertainment at Mile Marker 20 to celebrate the 20^th anniversary. And the finishers will take home a specially-designed 20^th anniversary Mickey Mouse medal, plus they can celebrate their achievement at a new post-race party at Downtown Disney.

The marathon weekend, which is expected to draw a sellout field of more than 20,000 for the 26.2-mile marathon, is Jan. 10-13 and will again feature Kids’ Races throughout the weekend, including the Mickey Mile, a Family Fun Run 5K on Friday, the Half Marathon on Saturday and the Marathon on Sunday.  There is also Goofy’s Race and a Half Challenge which involves running the Half Marathon and the full Marathon – 39.3 miles!  The Health and Fitness Expo runs throughout the weekend at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex and features the latest in running technology and fashion, as well as renowned running experts like Jeff Galloway, the official training consultant for runDIsney.

Runners can register at www.rundisney.com.  There is reduced pricing for early registrants.  Below is pricing and the schedule of events for the 2013 Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend presented by Cigna.

About runDisney

runDisney is a series of events providing runners unique opportunities to run various distances through Disney theme parks.  Race participants earn Disney-themed medals, experience legendary Disney entertainment and guest service and ultimately celebrate their accomplishments with a Disney vacation.  The original event in the series, the Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend presented by CIGNA, takes place in January followed by the Disney Princess Half Marathon Weekend in February, The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror 10-Miler in September and the Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon Weekend in November.  Disneyland hosts the Tinker Bell Half Marathon Weekend in January and the Disneyland Half Marathon in September during Labor Day Weekend.  More than 100,000 running enthusiasts participate in runDisney events each year. For more information, visit runDisney.com and follow us on Facebook (runDisney) and Twitter @DisneySports.

And I did it.

I signed up for my first marathon.

And now I am terrified.

It was funny, actually.  As I was filling out the form, my heart was racing.  What in the world am I doing?  Can I actually do this?

After all the testing I underwent with my weird heart and having to slow down my running permanently, I said that I would never do a marathon, that I was destined to be a half marathoner.   But then I talked to some friends.  Friends who said “We want to get the 20th Anniversary Medal.”  Friends who plan to run nice and slow, with a 1:1 run/walk pattern.  Friends who just want to finish under 7 hours and who believe that if one person has to give up on the run and just walk, then everyone walks.

And I thought “I can do this.”  If my heart rate gets too high, I can just walk.  These friends understand what I go through and that I have to make sure that my heart rate stays in check.  They don’t make fun of me for my slow speed.  And they will be there with me every step of the way.

So maybe I can do this.  I have to admit, no matter how this goes, I don’t see myself signing up for any marathons other than Disney.  But I’m very excited at the thought of finishing my first marathon hand in hand with wonderful friends.

My next race is technically 4/14, but it’s a ten miler that I’m mostly using for training.  After that, I have Katie‘s wedding shower race (IronGirl Columbia) followed the next weekend by the Frederick Half.  With another set of back-to-back halfs, I don’t plan to all-out race IronGirl (sorry Kim!)  so I can prevent injury before Frederick.  Frederick is hilly, but if I can get some speedwork in, I might try to use those hills to my advantage and push my time.

After this past weekend’s race, I know that I need to step up my training and also get in some cross training.  Today is Wednesday and it’s the first day that I’m not sore.  That’s saying something.  Some of the leg soreness was likely due to the camber of the road, and there’s not a lot that can be done about that.  But my glutes were sore, and weirdly, so were my pecs and abs.  What does that mean?  More cross-training is definitely needed.

My weight training has definitely fallen off.  I injured my wrist doing who knows what and haven’t picked up the weights since.  I also need to get back on my bike.  I may hop on the bike tonight (it’s still in the trainer) and use that to shake out my legs before leaping back into running this weekend.

I need to get myself back into a good training regimen.

AWESOME race.  I was so excited to finally get to Virginia Beach this year.  I was actually registered for this race last year, but deferred because race weekend was the best weekend for me to move from my apartment to my house.  So for an extra $30, I deferred to this year, and I’m so glad I did.

I headed down to the race with Jen, Katie, and Lauren, and once there, we met up with a number of other friends, making this an amazing race weekend.  It’s always fun to race with friends, even if you don’t end up actually running together.

Katie did the Dolphin Challenge, so she ran the 8K on Saturday (as well as the half on Sunday).  So we all headed out to cheer for her.  While there were corrals based on time, I think there were some issues with the corrals, because while many of the corrals started out running, Katie’s was definitely filled with walkers.  Kind of a bummer, but she had a half on her plate for the next day.

We stayed and watched the kids races.  There was a one mile kids race as well as a “final mile.”  Those kids ran 25 miles over the past months and then did the final part of their marathon that morning.  There were so many kids!  Lots of green hair, lots of parents running with their kids, lots of costumes.  It looked like a lot of fun, and it was fun to get to cheer for them.  We got lots of little high fives.

Sunday morning was race morning.  The half started at 7 and the full at 8:30, leaving plenty of time to prevent the slow half marathoners from causing trouble for the fast marathoners.  I was just excited that I would finish the race before the first marathoner.  That typically doesn’t happen for me with combined halfs and fulls!

Once again, there were corralling issues.  There were 7 corrals for the half, and I was in corral 6, which I believe was finish times from 2:30-2:54.  My PR was 2:49:20, and I was hoping to pull off another PR on this very flat course, so I was in the right corral.  Plenty of people were not.  Again, I am a super walker friendly person.  I encourage walkers to participate in races.  It doesn’t matter if you run, walk, or crawl (or cycle, I suppose) across that finish line – we all cover the same distance.  That said, it’s really hard to start out and have walkers in front of you.  It’s just lack of knowledge of race etiquette, I think.  So walkers, remember to be out of the way of faster people who may be behind you.  I saw an opening at the very beginning and I bolted through it.

I made myself a pace band for this race that would get me in at 2:49 and getting me a new PR.  Mile 1, I was well under pace, thanks to having to bolt around walkers.  But then I started to get slower.  I needed to keep a 12:54 pace (I run/walk).  I started with a 1:45/1 pattern, but dropped to a 1:30/1 pattern that felt great.  But I had to push those early miles.  My splits were pretty good.

1 – 12:44
2 – 13:01
3 – 12:52
4 – 13:00
5 – 13:06 (it was here I began to question the PR)
6 – 12:43 (and then I kicked it into gear)
7 – 12:37
8 – 12:43
9 – 12:43
10 – 12:51
11 – 12:41
12 – 12:41
13 – 12:47

And my finish time was officially 2:48:33.  A new PR!  Hooray!

It was a hard fought PR.  My last PR felt easy.  I was well trained and had been doing solid speedwork, but also getting a lot of rest.  I wanted this PR, but I hadn’t been keeping up with my training.  And I felt it.  I fought for every mile.  I deserve the time and I’m proud of it, but two days later, I’m still sore.  But I learned my lesson.  If I train properly, I can whittle away at that time.  I would like to see a 2:45 someday.  With my heart rate issues, I’m never going to be fast, and I don’t know that a 2:30 is ever in the cards.  But I still like seeing improvement.

I saw Monica on the course, and when I finished, Laura was hanging out by the bananas, waiting for us.  I met up with her, willed my legs to not cramp up (I could feel it coming and quickly downed some Gatorade and pretzels), and waited for Katie and Jen to come in.  They looked great at the finish!  After the race, we also met up with Suzanne and Monica and then headed back to cheer Lauren to her full marathon finish.  I know she didn’t have the greatest race, but she looked spectacular!

We headed back, showered, and made it back outside to see Janice and David finish.  Janice spotted me and I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone so excited to see me.  It was great to see them run their way to new PRs.  And they introduced us to our new friend Sandy.

All in all, a great race filled with great friends.  This is why I run.

This was the 40th Anniversary of the race, and the organizers set out to make it awesome.  This race always features a finisher’s item, usually a hat, but for the anniversary, we got hats and sweatshirts.  And, of course, a medal.  That doubles as a bottle opener.  Awesome.

First off, the name “trail” is a misnomer – the race is on a trail, but it’s a paved trail.  No rocks and roots and things to jump over.

This is a small race, held on the B&A Trail.  It’s a half and a full that start together.  For those who remember the crowds during the Annapolis Half, specifically during the part on the B&A Trail, that isn’t a concern here.   This race has a cap of 1000 runners (for the half and full combined).  I believe the Annapolis Half had over 5000 runners.

This race has the feel of a small town race, but the organization of a big race.  The half fee was $50, and for that you get a great premium (this year it was track pants!), a well organized chip-timed race with great water stops, and more post-race food than you can imagine, including hot pizza that just keeps coming.

The race is a tune-up for the Navy Marathon team, so if you’re young, this might not be an award winning course for you.  This year, the Korean Marathon team also showed up (and I loved the sign at the split between the half and the full written in Korean).  The race also has a lot of 50 Staters (people who want to run a full or half in every state) because it’s such a friendly race.  So there were quite a few Marathon Maniacs out on the course.

But don’t let that fool you – this race is also very slow runner friendly.  The full has a 6 hour time limit, but if you’re worried about that, there’s an official start an hour early – you just can’t win any awards with an early start.  Because the half and full finish together, that means the half also has a 6 hour time limit.  Definitely friendly for the slower runners.  And the race organizer is always sure that there is plenty of food left for the slow runners.

We took this race nice and easy, since three of us had run Princess the week before.  We just set out to run a casual 1:1 walk/run pattern and chat the whole way.  The course is flat save for one hill at the turnaround – but the benefit of an out and back means that what goes up must come down.  Even with a stop to chat with some friends who came out to cheer, we finished almost 11 minutes faster than last week – and finished feeling strong.  Not a bad way to race at all!

I highly recommend this race.  The volunteers are amazing, and the water/food stops are always so cheerful.  There are friendly faces all along the course, and the crazy teenagers making up dances always make me laugh.   It can be a chilly time of year, but before the race, you can wait inside the high school cafeteria, so no worries about freezing in a corral.  And there is a medal and hot pizza waiting for you at the finish.  What more could you want?