Finishing Last

I’m trying to be positive in my blogging, but lately, I’ve seen so much anger and hatred around the blogosphere and on Facebook and other forum sites, and it’s getting hard to ignore. It’s really frustrating. I’m not naive, nor am I looking at the world through rose-colored glasses, but it’s just starting to get very frustrating to see the vitriol spewed from behind computer screens.

I suppose that part of it is just the general anonymity of the internet (though it always surprises me when people use their real Facebook accounts to post things – that links to so many places, especially when you’re posting in a public group. I’m sure your boss or your children would love to see the awful things that you say about strangers). But that doesn’t make it any less wrong.

I have seen two things lately about the runDisney Princess Half that really frustrated me.

The first had to do with two separate marriage proposals that happened during the race. Both happened in the vicinity of Cinderella Castle, and both were completely unexpected by the now brides-to-be. Their stories are different for sure, but in essence, they were pulled off the course by their boyfriends, who dropped to one knee and proposed. Incredibly sweet, especially since at least one of them was running with the ring box the whole way, likely worried about dropping it!

One of the girls posted her photo of the proposal in a group on Facebook because she wanted to share her moment. The photo was wonderful. And the majority of people congratulated her. And then there was the person who scolded her. By proposing during a race, her husband-to-be had created a crowd. He had caused a serious slowdown on the course, and that wasn’t fair to the other runners. It had put a big damper on this woman’s race.

Really.

Really??

A woman getting proposed to ruined your race? Who are you?

First off, the couple was off the course. If people stopped to look, well, it happens. Also, all runDisney races slow up as you run through the Castle because everyone wants to get that perfect photo. It’s probably worst at Princess, but it’s not good at any race. So be it. And people are going to stop to look at anything along the side of the course, be it a proposal or someone falling over with a sprained ankle. It happens.

Second, this is a once in a lifetime moment for these women! For the rest of us runners, it’s just another race in a list of hopefully many! I think that we should stop being so self-centered and spend a bit more time thinking about those around us. So what if my race was a bit slower than normal? If I got slowed up because of a marriage proposal, I can’t complain about that!

The second issue is actually related to two races – Tinker Bell Half out in California and the Princess Half. At Tinker Bell, the last finisher was a woman named Jenna Boyd. She was profiled on the Disney Parks blog, and they did a little YouTube video on her finish. She powered through and I’m very impressed with her (I’m always impressed with the last finishers).

She was also at Princess, and was invited to speak before the race. She was proud of her finish and had been training and was looking forward to the race. And we cheered for her.

After the race, as we were walking back to the Monorail, we saw the last finishers coming in. And there, right in front of the security vehicles, was Jenna Boyd. She looked great, and she wasn’t alone. There were a few people around her, some who looked like they were struggling a lot more than she was. If I had to guess, I would say that she intentionally placed herself in that spot so that she would be the last finisher. While she got a lot of attention for being the last finisher, a good portion of that attention was admittedly negative, and a lot of people don’t want to be the last finisher.

[Edited to add: I don’t think I was clear about my thoughts on Jenna placing herself in the back.  My initial reaction – and still my general thought – was that she put herself there to give the others just in front of her an advantage.  She likely had a good inkling that she wasn’t going to get swept, so by putting herself at the back, she “protected” those just in front of her, some of whom appeared to be struggling quite a bit.  I saw it as a generous move on her part.]

I’m also going to make a guess that Disney wasn’t going to sweep Jenna, after all the PR about her finish at Tink. Their race, their decision. So by putting herself as far back as possible, she helped prevent others from getting swept. In theory, anyway.

Does that mean that no one got swept during the race? Absolutely not. I heard many stories of runners getting swept. Was it fair that Jenna didn’t get swept? Well, if she was behind the people that got swept, then no. But if she managed to stay in front of the “balloon people,” as many call the sweepers at Disney, then she was fine.

On Facebook, some people went and looked up her time (note – who does that? Just worry about yourself.). According to the race results, her chip time and the gun time were the same, which would mean that she started at the very front.  Or it would mean that there was something wrong with her chip and it didn’t register at the start of the race.  This happened to a couple of people I know.  Also, someone commented that she started in A and as she ran past, she saw Jenna on the sidelines cheering, which indicates that she didn’t start at the very front – and that proves that her chip time shouldn’t equal her gun time.

But what does it matter?

Well, some people think that she was given an unfair advantage.  Other people had to start in the “appropriate” corrals and ended up getting swept because they were too slow.  Why did she get an advantage?

First off, as my mom likes to say, Life Isn’t Fair.

And she got an advantage because she’s part of Disney’s story.  She’s a mini-celeb, at least for these races, and celebrities get perks.  So be it.  That’s life.

I don’t know if anyone got swept in front of her.  I can’t imagine how that would have worked, seeing as the sweeper busses bring up the back, but there might be something I’m missing.  I just don’t know.   (Also, check out DisneyBride’s post about this.  She’s got some first hand experience.)

Instead of being angry and bitter towards this woman, who did nothing wrong but try to complete a race when the odds were against her (and then said yes when Disney wanted to profile her and tell her story), we should celebrate the fact that she and many others tried.  They took a risk.  Some finished.  Some didn’t.  And I hope that those who didn’t take the time to train and try again next year.

I don’t understand the point in being angry and bitter towards other people.  You can celebrate other people’s accomplishments, but if you don’t care to do that, then just worry about yourself.  Don’t put others down to make yourself feel better.  Anger and hatred never solved any problems.