2006 Disney World Goofy Challenge Race Report
Disney World Goofy Weekend
Orlando, Florida

Saturday, January 7 & Sunday, January 8, 2006

***   Pre-Report Warnings   ***

There are going to be a number of people mentioned in this report, mostly family, as there were eight in our traveling party alone.  My wife Renate, sister-in-law Mary Ivy, and next door neighbor and good friend Jeanne were going to walk Saturday’s half marathon while I ran it.  My brothers Jeff (going for his second marathon finish) and Morgan (going for his fifth) were joining me for Sunday’s full marathon.  Roger, another brother and Mary Ivy’s husband, and Dave, Jeanne’s husband, were along as Sherpas.  Dave had also signed up for Monday’s Epcot Shuffle, an event that will get it’s own section at the end.

Two other names will pop up on several occasions.  Joe and Shelia are part of an Internet triathlon community I belong to.  We started exchanging emails back in November (partly at the instigation of Rick from the same list) and eventually included Joe’s wife and a friend of his in our banter.

Anybody that’s ever come across one of my past race reports knows that I tend to the wordy end of things.  I don’t imagine this to be any different.  Feel free to break it up into several days if eye strain is a possibility.  The Action Sports International pictures have tinyurl links to the official race pictures.  As with anything involving computers and the Internet and my typing, the links may or may not work.  (If you print this out to read as hardcopy, I’d bet against the links working if you poke them.)

I will admit that a boatload of this verbosity will have no meaning to, nor bearing on the majority of the reading public, nor the reading private for that matter.  I write these memories mostly for myself.  I’m glad others like to come along for the ride.  Or, at least they say they do.  But it’s my scrapbook.  Something for me to look back on when I’m old and grey.  Well, maybe old and grey and slow.  May that day never come.  I also use these things as reference and I know I’m going to do this again.  In 2009, for sure.  Maybe sooner.

Renate had such a good time that she said we could do Disney annually for awhile.  We had been going to Lake Placid in July since 2001, but that’s not going to happen for the next few years, if ever.  So, maybe a return trip to Orlando as soon as 2007.  I’m not sure though.  I’ll have to get back to her.

Click on the link to jump directly to the Half Marathon Report or the Full Marathon Report.

***   Preamble   ***

I ran the 2005 version of the Disney Marathon on January 9, 2005 and did pretty well, managing to finish 1st in my age group (and getting a big ol’ honkin’ Mickey on a block of wood) and 14th overall.  Reading about the race in the Orlando Sentinel the next morning something caught my eye.  Normally Disney had a half marathon that started at the same time as the full and finished a couple of miles outside of the Magic Kingdom.  It was entertaining to see runners peel off and head towards that finish line while I, and others, still had another half to travel before finishing back at Epcot where both races started.  Well, according to the Monday morning paper, Disney was going to split the two races, holding the half on Saturday and the full on Sunday.  Hot damn, I thought, there’s something for me to do.  It wasn’t immediately identified as “The Goofy Challenge.”  That designation came later, but I didn’t care what they called it, I was going to do it.  First I had to clear it with Renate.  (She had left Orlando super bright and early Monday morning to get to Baltimore for a SunGard event so she wasn’t around when I read the paper.)  It wasn’t all that difficult to convince Renate that the Disney Double was right up my alley.  In fact, she decided that she would compete in the half marathon.  Hot damn.  Something unique on the race calendar to start the 2006 season.  Which I decided later would be the year of ultra running.  But more on that later.

By the time all was said and signed up for, we had four participants for the Saturday half marathon and three for the Sunday full marathon.  Jeanne, our neighbor and good friend, along with Mary Ivy, our sister-in-law would accompany Renate during the half while I was running ahead.  Two brothers, Jeff and Morgan, would join me in the full.  Another brother, Mary Ivy’s husband Roger, and Jeanne’s husband Dave would spectate and provide Sherpa skills.  Lots of contributions to the Disney coffers coming from a simple reading of the Monday morning paper.

But, there were still a bunch of events to get through in 2005.  I had kind of decided that 2005 would be a low-key year.  I would compete, but mostly for fun.  I had put a tremendous amount of physical and mental effort into 2003 and 2004, trying to win Kona spots and shooting for a top five Ironman Lake Placid age group finish.  I achieved those 2004 goals and I just didn’t think I wanted to put all that into 2005.  So, I would do a couple of triathlons and then move on.  On to what, I wasn’t entirely sure, but I was leaning towards doing ultra marathons in 2006.  Starting off with the Disney Double, now officially known as Goofy’s Race and a Half Challenge, would be a good way to start.

Although I actually started in March of 2005, doing a 50 km trail run in the Susquehanna State Park in Maryland.  I had fun and thought it would be neat to go even further.  So, that’s what I’ll do for 2006.  (The end goal is a 100 mile run in either Arkansas or Kansas in October.)

I did do my two tri’s for 2005, the Blackwater Eagleman half Ironman race in June and Ironman Lake Placid in July.  I did alright, about as well as I could expect to do with my relaxed state of training.  As well as my mental state of mind that was a result of me announcing my retirement from triathlon.  (Unless, of course, I sign up for St. Croix.)  I also did a 177 mile bike ride, appropriately called the Nightmare Ride, in August.  I didn’t do much training the week after the bike ride and I did absolutely nothing the week after that.

***   Training for Goofy’s Race and a Half Challenge   ***

On August 29, 2005, I started training for Goofy’s Race and a Half Challenge.  I had stopped working with my coach, Don Fink, after Lake Placid.  Partly to save a few bucks, partly to do what I wanted to do as I wanted to do it.  I had a vague overall plan and I would concrete out the running for a couple of weeks at a time.  Then I would backfill with swimming, biking, weights, stretching, and yoga.  I think Renate was a little concerned that I would just run, but I knew I would do the other things.  As a bit of injury prevention (massive knocking on wood) as well still calling myself a triathlete.  For whatever that’s worth.  The presidency of the Downingtown At Dawn Triathlon Club (DADTC) if nothing else.

I had designated the Goofy Challenge to be an A++ set of races.  I wanted to finish top five in my age group for each race.  I figured that would give me a good shot at top five overall for the Goofy Challenge.  (Disney decided that the Goofy Challenge wasn’t actually a race and, as such, would not merit awards.  I don’t think they expected the 3000 participants they got.)  So, I tried to set up my training with those goals in mind.

The time frame I was dealing with, starting on August 29, 2005 and ending on January 8, 2006 was 19 weeks.  The first couple or three weeks were just to get back into the swing of things.  At the end of the third week I ran the Philadelphia Distance Run (along with my brother Jeff).  That’s a half marathon and I did ok.  It was a bit warm and I still wasn’t up to shape.  Still, I was hoping for a couple of minutes faster.  But the real hurdle was the next day.  It was my first effort at back to back long runs.  The day after the PDR I went out and ran 20 miles.  I didn’t care about pace, I just wanted to see what it felt like.  It wasn’t bad, although there was one point, about 7.5 miles in, when I thought “what the hell am I doing?”  Fortunately, that feeling went away fairly quickly and I was able to finish the run.

I would go on to repeat that adventure with another half marathon at the end of week five and a ten mile run at the end of week seven, both times doing a 20 mile run the next day.  It got a bit easier, physically and mentally, each time.

Week eight was a bit of a mini-taper week because at the end of week nine I did the Marine Corps Marathon with Jeff and Morgan.  I was about 30 seconds off my marathon PR, but I really wasn’t happy with how I did at the end.  Over the next couple of days I did quite a bit of analysis of my past marathon performances.  What the number crunching told me was that my history was to really fade for the last 10k of the marathon.  Paces were usually pretty consistent and steady for the first 20 miles of the race, but would go all to hell for the last 6.2 miles.  Looking just at my last six marathons, with an average time of 2:48:56 (which includes a 2:55:52 suffer fest at Boston in 2004) shows an average pace of 6:19.4 per mile for the first 20 miles while the average pace jumps up to 6:50.6 per mile for the last 6.2 miles.  (What can I say?  I’m an ex-computer engineer who was thinking about becoming a math teacher.)

Anyway, I took those numbers and ran with them, so to speak.  My past long training runs would peak somewhere around 21 miles.  Was it a coincidence that I faded about that point in the marathon?  I wasn’t sure, but I figured I had to change something.  After all, there’s a definition of insanity that says it’s “doing the same thing time after time and expecting different results.”  So, I decided to do some “over” distance running.  At the worst it would help prepare me for the year of the ultra.  At the best it would help me for the Goofy marathon.

So, starting with week 12, I did long runs of 22, 26, 30, 26, 30, and 20, each time doing a 14.5 or 15.5 mile run the day before.  I wasn’t overly concerned with pace for the long runs (I did include some time at a hard pace for the day before run starting in week 13).  Mostly I tried to stay easy aerobic.  Mostly I just wanted to go long.

I also wanted to bump up my overall mileage.  So I decreased the swimming and biking to bare minimums and increased the running.  Again starting with week 12 I had total run mile weeks of 73, 81, 85, 92, 101, and 75 miles.  I made sure to keep the two weight sessions per week along with the two stretching sessions and the one yoga session I was doing.  I am a big believer in that type of thing for helping with injury prevention.  (More knocking on wood.  At this point in time, I’m fond of saying, when people ask how I’m doing, that I feel good . . . except for my knuckles.  And then I knock on wood some more.)

Is all this going to help?  I’m writing this section during weeks 18 and 19, taper weeks with the Goofy Challenge taking place at the end of week 19, so only time will tell.  I am extremely happy that I never completely blew off a scheduled workout.  I may have time-shifted things, but I got everything done that I planned to do.  And, though I’m a little beat up heading into the taper, I’m feeling pretty good.  Massive knocking on wood.  I’m going to lose a big toenail, but that’s just collateral damage.  An early December snowstorm made for a bit more treadmill running than I would have desired, including one of my 26 mile runs.  And I ended up doing more of my interval workouts on the treadmill as much for safety’s sake as anything.  I think I probably get a harder, more controlled workout doing the intervals on the treadmill.  I wonder how it actually equates to running them on the roads (not being much of a track man).

I came very close to the overtraining edge, maybe even just crossing it.  For seven weeks, starting with week 10, I increased my weekly running mileage.  I knew that was pushing the envelope a little, but I also knew that, with week 17, I would be dropping down.  I was a little snappish for a few days, but, fortunately, that dissipated.  Renate may have been traveling at the time which was good.

For what it’s worth, I averaged 14.6 hours of workouts per week for the 19 weeks (including race week), peaking at 19.2 hours for week 16.  Not including the Goofy races, I did five races, ranging from a 10k to the Marine Corps Marathon.  (Twice I ran with Bob Mina and he amazed himself with his times.  Of course, with the birth of daughter Katie earlier, I think he was amazed that he was semi-functioning, let alone running.)

Here's a graph of my 19 weeks of Goofiness:
The Misc. category is made up of stretching and yoga sessions.  If anybody wants weekly breakdown by numbers, or any more detail on workouts, let me know.
***   Pre-Race [Packing (Wednesday), Travel & Expo (Thursday), Day Before (Friday)]   ***

Packing for this adventure was a pain in the rear.  Two of this . . . Two of that . . . Two of the other thing . . . Two odds . . . Two evens . . .  It was kind of like the Noah’s Ark of packing for races.  Except I didn’t have to worry about the male and female versions of things (just the right and left).  Speaking of twos, originally I wasn’t planning on two pair of shoes.  It was after a discussion with Joe that I figured it was better not to run in the same shoes for two days of racing, especially since I wear light weight racing flats.  Renate didn’t even bat an eye when I told her that I had to buy another pair of shoes.  I have a particular model that I’ve been wearing for years that has worked for me.  Unfortunately, there was an “upgrade” so I couldn’t get the exact same thing.  Fortunately I was able to get in a few runs in the new shoes and they were basically identical to the old version.  And did I mention two sets of throwaway sweats?  The weather weenies were calling for unseasonably cold temps for the weekend.  As opposed to last year’s unseasonably warm weather.  Plus nutrition for two races.  Still, it wasn’t as bad as packing for an Ironman and I was able to get everything into carryon luggage.

Jeff, the oldest of the five Noone brothers (There’s a sister towards the bottom, but we don’t talk about her much.  Just kidding Val.) had been in upstate New York visiting my parents for Christmas.  He works for the US government down in DC so he gets plenty of vacation, courtesy of our tax dollars.  Anyway, he drove down to my house, about 45 minutes west of Philadelphia, Wednesday afternoon.  He was going to fly down to Orlando with Renate and me (as well as Roger and Mary Ivy who live about 45 minutes north of Philadelphia) Thursday morning.

Did I mention that I don’t travel well.  I’m not really sure why, but I don’t.  I’m fine once I get to where I’m going, I just don’t enjoy the journey part.  And I had also managed to catch Renate’s cold, so I’m feeling less than perfect and that just improves that sitting on an airplane thing.  But, Renate was able to upgrade the two of us and Mary Ivy was able to upgrade herself and Roger, leaving Jeff in the back with the unwashed, and all that made it a better plane ride.

It was an uneventful flight and we made it to Orlando.  Disney has started a bus service from the airport to their resorts, calling it Disney’s Magical Express.  Well, it wasn’t.  Magical, I mean.  We waited for a long time.  And then we waited some more.  Finally we left our line and were heading out to find a couple of cabs.  The Disney weenies didn’t like anybody leaving their lines and, pretty much, lassoed us and told us our bus would be right here.  And it sort of was.  But, while on the bus, I called Morgan (who was coming down the next day) not to bother with the Magical Express.  He should take a cab over to the resort.  As opposed to the lady who got to the line right as the bus was boarding and thought the whole process was great.

We get to the resort, Disney’s BoardWalk Inn, and our room wasn’t ready.  We were ahead of check in time and, since Dave and Jeanne were staying at the same place and they were already checked in, it wasn’t much of a problem.  We stopped in to Dave and Jeanne’s room, had a pint of Guinness, left our bags there, and headed over to the expo.  (Dave and Jeanne flew into Tampa because of family gyrations, post-race weekend, and rented a car and drove to Orlando.  That turned out to be very fortuitous as will be shown later, but it also meant that they could stop at a store “off property” and pick up food and stuff.  Guinness wasn’t even on the list, but Dave was up on what a good Sherpa should do.)

Dave and Jeanne drive over to the expo, held at Disney’s Wide World of Sports complex.  Jeff, Roger, Mary Ivy, Renate, and I take the Disney Expo bus.

At the expo, it took a bit longer for me to get registered than it should have.  Renate, Jeanne, Mary Ivy, Jeff, and Roger (picking up Morgan’s stuff) were waiting for me.  Actually, Jeff had gone in ahead while the rest of us waited for Dave and Jeanne to park the car.  Finally, I got my two chips and my two bib numbers and we all went downstairs to get our t-shirts, of which I got two (seeing as how I was doing two races).  We didn’t bother with the expo proper, but went over to the Disney souvenir tent and spent a few dollars there.  I picked up a hat and a coffee mug for the Goofy Challenge.  I didn’t like the t-shirts they had, one of which said “I can’t believe I did it.”  Hell, I wouldn’t have entered if I didn’t think I could do it.  And that was pretty much it.

We went over to the Wide World of Sports Café for a late lunch/early dinner where I washed down my burger and fries with a couple pints of lager.  My cold wasn’t too bad and, since I don’t usually sleep well the night before I travel, I was hoping the beer would be a bit of a sleep aid.  (I ended up taking a shot of Nyquil, as well, just to be sure.)

And, then it was back on the Disney Expo bus to see if our room was ready.  And it was.  And we got there and had a lovely view of the . . . parking lot.  Plus we were on the first floor.  Although it really turned out not to matter once we settled in.  And that was kind of it for Thursday.

Friday was a bit of a just kill time type of day.  Roger and Jeff went to one of the Boardwalk restaurants for breakfast.  Renate, Mary Ivy, and Jeanne went over to the Grand Floridian for a morning of spa’ing.  Dave had arranged for a professional bass fisherman (in the bright, shiny boat, Tim, with patches and logos all over his shirt) to take him fishing until after lunch.  I munched on a blueberry muffin and caught up on e-mail.

Mid-morning I did an easy three mile run.  Ended up finding that the 24 mile mark of the marathon was right outside the hotel.  Mostly ran on the walkway between our hotel and the MGM Studios Disney park.  Did a few pickups.  Legs felt good.

Friday lunch was at the Brew Pub.  I started out wearing shorts, but ran back to the room to put on a pair of long pants.  (I didn’t enter that little run into my log.)  Had another burger and a beer.  Really just wanted something simple, just to get some food in my stomach.

When we finished lunch, I sent Jeff went out for a run and I did some stretching.  Then Morgan showed up and Team Noone was all present and accounted for.

Spaghetti for dinner.  All eight of us spread out in the room.  Then kind of early to bed.  Tomorrow was the start of a pretty goofy adventure for me, and a long walk for the girls.

Disney World Half Marathon
Saturday, January 7, 2006

Originally, when Renate booked rooms at the BoardWalk Inn in Disney, we thought we’d be able to walk directly to the race gathering point.  After a reconnaissance walk on Friday, Renate found that we wouldn’t be able to get through Epcot to get to the parking lot.  No big, hairy deal.  We’d just take the bus over and things would be fine.  I knew from past races that if you get the first bus, the one that leaves at 3 am, there are no problems.  I don’t know what made me decide on leaving the rooms at 3:15 am.

I woke up a little before my 2:15 am alarm and do what I have to do.  Renate gets up shortly thereafter.  Now, I’m not a morning person on a good day and on race day, I’m even worse.  Renate is a morning person and she normally hits the ground sunny side up.  This morning, she was infinitely more bright eyed and puppy like, grinning from ear to ear.  She did not appear to have any pre-race jitters and this was her first major event as a competitor.  Fortunately, neither of us had an impact on the other’s mood.

We get to the bus stop and there are a handful of people waiting.  Not too many.  We wait some more.  More people show up.  We wait some more.  More people.  But no bus.  It’s about 3:30 am.  The Disney weenie says that we’re the fifth stop of a five stop loop.  There’s already more people than can fit on a bus.  The Disney weenie has no idea what’s going on. 		        

And, this is where Dave earned his Sherpa Rookie of the Weekend Award.  As I mentioned earlier, he and Jeanne had rented a car for the weekend because of extraneous family obligations.  Since Jeff and Morgan were sleeping in, he thought he could squeeze all six of us into the car and drive over to Epcot.  So, we abandon the bus stop and walk to the car.  It’s a very quick drive to Epcot and we pull right in.

Now, for the next problem.  How can you have eight million porta-potties with no toilet paper?  It was time for me to do what I needed to do so I walked over to the little boxes.  I open the door and look and no paper.  I try the next one.  And the next one.  And the next one.  It’s probably an exaggeration, but I’m sure I checked into ten little boxes before I found one that was properly equipped.  At least if a quarter roll can be properly equipped.  It was for me.  And this is around 4 am.  Before most of humanity has arrived at the race gathering site.

Fortunately, that was the last of any real pre-race administrative issues.  Now all I can do is stand in the cold parking lot.  (Morgan likes to say, “Don’t go with Steve.  He likes to get there early enough to help them set up.”)  Dave and Roger head over to the concession tent for some coffee.  There’s a huge line.  I guess that should be “long” line.  And only two servers.  Dave didn’t think the container of coffee was going to last very long.  They didn’t bother standing in line (or “on” line for you New Yorkers).

We had originally set up camp at the M-P family reunion tent in the parking lot and we’re there for a little while.  All of a sudden a whole herd of people appeared and some guy started working with a microphone.  It was the pre-race religious ceremony.  (They called it EPIC, for Ecumenical Pre-Marathon Interfaith Celebration.) Now, I don’t have anything against religion.  For others.  Even though I wear St. Stephen and St. Sebastian medals around my neck, I’m not into anything organized.  So, we pack our bongos and move over to the Q-R tent.

I’m not sure I mentioned the cold, yet.  It’s COLD here in Disney.  I really thought the Mouse would have better control of such things.  I had brought along the long sleeved running shirt that I had packed (at the last minute, by the way).  I didn’t put it on back at the hotel because I was still planning on running with just the sleeveless shirt.  But, I opted to go with the more is better route.  Especially for the half, which I was planning on finishing well before an overheating issue would arise.  So, I took off my jacket, my throwaway long sleeve shirt, and my sleeveless shirt.  Then I put on my long sleeve running shirt, my sleeveless shirt, my throwaway shirt, and my jacket.  And I looked around for more clothing.  By the way, not only is it COLD, it’s pretty WINDY.  Which for everybody but Dave (who doesn’t believe in wind chill) makes it COLDER.

Soon enough, the time came for me to say goodbye to the girls and to wish them luck.  I was checking in a bag of post-race clothing so I wouldn’t have to worry about trying to find Roger, who was probably still going to be in the Magic Kingdom waiting for the girls anyway.  But that meant that I had to wade through a bunch of people packing their check in bags right at the table.

Finally beginning the long walk to the actual starting line.  A brief stop in the woods along the way.  And then into my corral.  I knew, with my aggressive goal of sub 1:20 and a top-five age group finish, that I wanted to start as close to the front as I could.  I was early enough that I could get right up to the front of the corral and as soon as the barrier was dropped, I could get right behind the elites (of which I should be one, but I won’t beat that horse today).

When I take off my long sleeve throwaway shirt I hear someone call “Steve” and, by reflex, turn around.  Some guy I don’t know is talking to me.  Bingo!  The light goes on.  This must be Joe.  We had a couple of phone calls the past couple of days, but had never actually met.  He noticed the blue shirt that was now visible and called out.  That was great.  Unfortunately, we only got a very brief conversation in before the race was to start.  We wished each other luck and agreed to try and get together afterwards.

The countdown starts.  The fireworks go off.  The gun goes off.  Thousands of runners go off.  Well, those of us at the front, anyway.  I was a little more aggressive than might have been necessary, but I didn’t want to get bogged down.  One guy in particular didn’t care for my hand on his elbow letting him know I was there.  My plan was to “race” this race, not worrying about saving something for the full marathon the next day.  I’d deal with tomorrow tomorrow.

The first mile, because of the congestion, is pretty much always a bit on the slow side.  My goal required 6:05s.  My first mile was 6:21 (actually 6:17 when I subtract the four seconds it took to cross the start line) which I was sort of ok with.  I figured if I could do the first several miles in the 6:05 to 6:10 range I’d be fine.

By the way, of the 13.1 miles of this course, only about 1.5 miles have any real “Disney” value.  Maybe three quarters of a mile through the Magic Kingdom between 5 and 6 and another three quarters through Epcot between 12 and 13.  The rest is on highways and byways and service roads.  There were smatterings of spectators and Disney characters and staff.  Maybe there were actually more, but since I was “racing the sunrise” most of my run was spent in total to semi-darkness. 		         I’m about four seconds from the front of the line in this picture.
(I don’t see me either.)

Photo by Action Sports International

Now, back to the run.  The first mile was over and done with.  I knew there was plenty of time to pick up the time I was “behind” schedule.  The second mile was a 6:09.  I felt good, I felt comfortable.  Let’s goose the accelerator and see what happens.  5:57, 5:54, 5:56.  Hot damn!  This is great!  We cross over a timing mat around five miles that, it turns out, isn’t being used by the half marathon.  It’s the ten mile mat for the full.  Fortunately, they had it activated so we could hear beeps as our chips went over it.  I’m sure it would have messed me up had I gone over and not heard a beep.

I really had no idea as to how many other runners were in my general vicinity.  It’s about 6:30 am and still very dark.  There’s man-made light, but not a whole lot of it.  Though soon we’re into the brightness of the Magic Kingdom and running up Main Street.  (“Down Main Street after midnight with a brand new pack of cigs.  A fresh one hanging from his lips, a beer between his legs.  He’s drivin’ to the river, meets with all his friends.  The road goes on forever and the party never ends.”)  Lots and lots of spectators.  I don’t recall hearing or seeing Roger or Dave.  (For all I know they’re still driving around Disney.  No wait, that was the return trip back to Epcot.)  From Main Street we bear right to Tomorrowland then to Fantasyland and into Cinderella’s Castle.

The walkway out of the castle is a bit of a downhill ramp.  But it’s not all down.  It goes down for a bit then goes flat.  Down a little more then flat again.  It’s dark, you can’t see to begin with, and, the coup de grace as it were, official race photographers, lots of them, are interspersed along the walkway shooting their flashes into our eyes.  So, not only can’t we see, we’re now blind.  It’s semi-ok if the terrain is consistent, but we’re running down and all of a sudden we hit a flat spot.  I almost face-planted once.  The guy next to me and I yelled at the photographers.

Running Down Main Street Leaving Cinderella's Castle

Photo by Action Sports International
Photo by Action Sports International
Photo by Action Sports International

So, that was Cinderella’s Castle.  From there it’s into Liberty Square and on to Frontierland before leaving the park via some side road.

And out onto the darkish Floridian Way.  I had missed the six mile mark somewhere in Frontierland, probably from still being flashed, so I was very interested in seeing the seven mile banner.  I hit the split button on my watch and see 11:59.  Bummer.  Somewhere in there I lost my string of sub-6:00 miles.  It was just a mild bummer, though.  I was feeling great.  It was starting to get light enough to see.  Not that I was any more aware of my surroundings.  But, I was more than halfway through.  I started imagining where I was on my home six mile loop.

Miles eight, nine, and ten were 5:55, 5:52, and 5:58.  And I was still feeling great.  Somewhere in the 8.5 to 9 mile section those of us heading back home started sharing the road with those still heading out in their 2.5 to 3 mile section.  There are lots and lots of people heading out.  I mean lots and lots.  Those of us heading back have pretty much spaced out.  (I mean with gaps between us, not mentally out of it.  Though that may have been the case, as well.)  Renate and I had wondered if she’d be through her section before I came into mine.  Based on the number of people I saw, and that fact that the front of what I saw were joggers, I figured Mary Ivy, Renate, and Jeanne would be somewhere in there.

I heard Mary Ivy, but never saw her.  A few minutes later I heard, and then saw, Jeanne and Renate.  I was pretty focused, but I heard Renate yell “I love you.”  (And then she ate her ice cream cone.  That’s a bit that will only be of note to Lesley Cens-McDowell.  I just wanted to “name drop” Lesley’s name.  The rest of you can just bleep over it.)  That was probably right after the nine mile banner.  Shortly before the 10 mile banner we go under an overpass, then up the up ramp (a Disney “hill”) to the overpass.  While on the up ramp, I glance back to see what’s back there.  I spy, with my eye, the first girl.  I recognize by the uniform that she’s part of that elite Hanson team out of Michigan.  She appears to be about 30 seconds behind me.  I figure I’ll run steady and see what happens.  5:57 for mile 11.  Two to go.  Right before the mile 12 banner we’re in a bit of a parking lot.  An animated pre-recorded voice keeps repeating “caution . . . sharp turn ahead . . . caution . . . sharp turn ahead . . . caution . . . sharp turn ahead . . .”  I was glad to make the turn, not all that sharp, and leave the voice behind.  Now, we’re just about into Epcot.  There are lots of spectators around.  Mile 12 is 5:59.  One and a bit to go.

We run across the bridge into the World Showcase, around a big Christmas tree that I never noticed, and back across the bridge into Epcot proper.  While on the back part, I glance over and see the girl.  She might be a little closer.  I decide, at this point, that I don’t want to be “chicked” like I was at the Marine Corps Marathon last October where the first place girl passed me in the last tenth of a mile.  I try to shift into top gear.  Unfortunately there’s less than half a gear left.  And the internal engine starts combusting and the internals want to come out.  Fortunately, for all the spectators in the area, there’s nothing but heaves.  Mile 13 was 5:55.  See what I mean about that lack of an extra gear.  Only a tenth of a mile to go.  Roughly 35 seconds.  No guts, no glory.  I tolerate the heaves and beat the girl across the line.  Final tenth in 34 seconds.  Fortunately, again, no guts.

I ended up with a 1:18:22 (chip time), beating the girl by 11 seconds.  (Insert Tim Taylor “arrr . . . arrr . . . arrr” noises here.)  That put me 24th overall and 5th in my age group (though I got the fourth place award since first in the age group got the overall masters award).  I, obviously, didn’t know my place until later in the day, but, upon finishing, I was reasonably sure I was top five in my age group.  I knew at best I was second because, as I’m approaching the finish line, I hear the announcer announce that “George Altieri from Clermont is crossing the line.”  It’s a name I recognize from triathlon and I know he’s in my age group. 		         I’m pretty sure this is heading out towards the Christmas tree that I never saw.

Photo by Action Sports International
Finish Line Pictures.  (The third one is a good shot of me trying to keep breakfast aboard.  Used Pop Tarts anyone?)

Photo by Action Sports International
Photo by Action Sports International
Photo by Action Sports International

But, back to me.  I cross the line and stop and do the bend over and heave a couple more times before I figure I’m safe to move on.  I get my Mylar blanket, help the chip removal team remove my chip, check in at the Goofy tent and get my orange wrist band replaced by a blue one (there were two others in the tent when I got there and one that showed up when I was there, so I figured I was right around 3rd or 4th from the Goofy perspective), picked up my Donald medal, got my picture taken with my Donald medal.  I grabbed a bottle of water, looked at the food, decided I didn’t want any, went and got my bag of pre-race checked in clothes, went into a porta-potty to change, then wandered out in search of Sherpas.

I was pretty much freezing at this point, mostly because I had forgotten to put an extra cap in my clothes bag.  And, even though the sun is shining, it’s still blowing mightily and it’s still COLD in Disney.  Roger had a hat in the back pack, but I was reasonably sure he was somewhere near Magic Kingdom.  I knew Morgan and Jeff were planning on coming down to the finish area so I punched in Morgan’s cell.  Apparently, they had gone to the M-P meeting area like they were supposed to, but I had taken so long in the porta-potty (changing, not doing normal stuff, since it was out of the wind and it was warm) that they had headed back to the actual finish line.  They turned around and met me back at the big stage.  First thing I said to Morgan was “gimme your hat.”  It wasn’t a question, either.  Then we went over to the concession stand and Morgan bought me a cup of coffee. 		         I’m still not sure about breakfast and you can see me holding the orange band in my left hand with the blue band on my right wrist.  Why I’m pointing all this out is beyond me.

Photo by Action Sports International

With the hat and the hot coffee, things started to look up.  I figured we still had close to 1.5 hours before Renate and Jeanne would finish.  Mary Ivy was on a pace a few minutes faster.  Morgan called Roger to find out where he and Dave were.  I was hoping to get my walk around shoes from the backpack so I could change out of the racing flats.  Roger told Morgan that they were driving around trying to get back into Epcot.  He didn’t know when they’d get back, but he knew he had to be around to see his wife cross the finish line.  So, Morgan, Jeff, and I started walking over to the finish line.

On the way, Morgan earned his Sherpa stripes, pouring, most of, my endurox recovery powder into a water bottle then adding water.  We got to a parking lot behind the main bleachers and just hung out.  It was out of the wind and it was in the sun.  It was fairly pretty comfortable.  I’m doing some gentle stretching.  We’re talking a little about the race.  I mentioned that I didn’t think it was all that cold while I was actually running.  The wind was a pain, and I was glad I had the long sleeved shirt on, as well as gloves and a hat, but it wasn’t ever so bad that I wished for more clothing.  Jeff, on the other hand, said he was going to wear every stitch of clothing he brought down for the full marathon tomorrow.

Eventually Roger and Dave find us.  I open the backpack to get out my shoes.  I find a couple pair of gloves.  I give one pair to Morgan, the other to Jeff.  Jeff yells at me because he thought I had been holding the gloves all along and was just giving them to him now.  Morgan and I just roll our eyes.  The five of us walk over to the finish line bleachers.  Roger goes in and finds a spot.  Dave, Morgan, Jeff, and I decide to head to the bleachers near the 13 mile banner.  There’s more room there.  Along the way, I speak to Joe on the phone (we chat a little about the race and agree to try and meet up tomorrow morning in the corral) and lose Morgan and Dave.  I find them again (cell phones really come in handy) and we settle down to wait.

We see Mary Ivy go by and we yell and scream and cheer.  She pretends not to know us.  A few minutes later Renate and Jeanne come into view.  We yell and scream and cheer and stomp our feet and carry on.  They said, later, that the only one they heard was Morgan.  (“He has such a manly voice” they say.)  We leave the bleachers to head to the M-P family reunion tent.  It’s been a long morning.  I’ve spent way too much time on my feet.  I’m getting pretty hungry.  But those are very minor inconveniences.  My favorite person in the universe has just completed the Disney Half Marathon.  In a very respectable 3:00:00 flat (the text message had 2:59:59) which was her goal.  Way back last January when we signed up for the weekend, she had a goal of just finishing.  She didn’t want to get scooped.  She (mostly along with Jeanne) trained very diligently, adding a mile to her long walk every month.  And she did a few 5k’s and found that walking a little faster wasn’t too bad.  And it was even possible to do a little easy running on the down hills and flats.  So, three hours became the stretch goal.  And, she did it.  I want to give her a hug.  I’m so very proud of her.

We hang around chatting a bit.  The girls are glowing.  It’d be nice to find some Disney characters for pictures, but they appear to be on squirreled away in their trailers on break.  I’m kind of happy to wait, but it’s really time to head back to the hotel and start some serious recovery.  Dave and Jeanne went back via car, while Jeff, Morgan, Roger, Mary Ivy, Renate, and I took the bus back.  And the buses seemed to be running very smoothly for the return trip.  Not sure how things ever worked out for the morning. 		        
Photo by Action Sports International

We get back and I decide I want to eat before bathing.  I wanted breakfast food, not lunch, and we were borderline time-wise.  Jeff, Roger, Morgan, and I went over to Spoodles for an all you can eat affair.  Mary Ivy and Renate went to shower and would join us after.  I’m not sure where Dave and Jeanne were.

Recovery food consisted of eggs, bacon, sausage, French toast, potatoes.  Then more eggs, bacon, and potatoes.  Along with juice and coffee.  I probably could have done with another round of eggs and potatoes, but I wanted to soak my legs.

So, I went back to the room and threw a bunch of ice into a tub of cold water.  And sat down in it and, well, froze.  And, since it was a spa tub, I turned on the jets so I had cold water blasting around things.  After a couple of minutes everything went numb.  I made it through 20 minutes.  And, seriously, I think that was one of the better things as far as recovery went.  I followed the bath with a hot shower.  Then mostly just sat around watching TV.  I was randomly munching on potato chips, but not really eating a whole lot.  I putzed around a little bit getting everything together for another round of Disney running.  I did my 30 minute stretching routine, which felt very good.  Surprisingly, I wasn’t feeling massively beat up.  Another spaghetti dinner was scheduled for 5:30 pm.

We ate while watching a football playoff game.  Somebody was playing somebody else.  I just wanted to eat and then think about bed.  Whereas Friday night’s dinner was for all eight of us, only Renate, Jeff, Morgan, and I ate Saturday night’s spaghetti.  Roger and Mary Ivy went to the brew pub for dinner and Dave and Jeanne went somewhere as well.  I put the game on the TV in the bedroom and laid down to watch.  After a few minutes, when I realized I didn’t really care who was playing, much less who was winning, I turned if off.

Disney World Marathon
Saturday, January 8, 2006

Saturday night’s sleep was kind of an off and on thing, but I probably got about five hours.  Plenty.  Like Saturday morning, I woke before the alarm went off.  And began to get ready for round two.  Renate gets up a bit later.  She’s not quite as bubbly as she was yesterday, but she’s still light years brighter than I.  (I know, I know, light years is a measure of distance, not luminescence.  You get the point.)  Roger and Mary Ivy are awake and we hear stirring from the next room meaning at least one of the Jeff and Morgan dynamic duo is up and about.  Everything progress smoothly.  Renate wants the three Noone runners to pose for pictures.  (I always like to have the pictures afterwards, but I don’t like to pose for them beforehand.)  Turns out all three of us are wearing yellow for the marathon.  Everybody is ready to go.  We leave the room on schedule.

We had all agreed that we were going to leave the room at 2:45 am so that we would be on the 3:00 am bus.  I know I’m anal in that regard, but I’d much rather be sitting for extra time at the race site, than fretting about getting there.  Plus, Dave and Jeanne weren’t joining us until the end, so we didn’t have a car if the buses were screwed up.  Fortunately Renate, Roger, and Mary Ivy understand by now, and Jeff and Morgan would do what they were told. 		        

So we get to the bus stop and there’s not one, not two, but three buses waiting for us.  Famine or feast, I guess.  We climb aboard the first bus and find that the heat is set to broil.  We get off, some faster than others, and stand around outside the bus.  People walk up and we tell them it’s ok to get on, but it’s very hot.  Most stand around with us, but some get on.  And pretty much get right back off.  I ask the driver if she can turn the heat off.

And then we start talking with the Disney weenie.  The same Disney weenie who was there yesterday morning.  He said that, on Saturday, there were buses waiting at the first stop until they were almost full and then heading out on their five stop loop.  Of course they were totally full before they even got near our stop, so they headed directly over to Epcot.  There was one Goofy lady we were talking with and she said that she didn’t even get on a bus until after 4:00 am Saturday morning.  And there were still lots of people waiting to get on.  I’m really glad Dave was there with his rental car.  I owe him a beer.

And then I thought I heard the Disney weenie saying that we wouldn’t be leaving Sunday morning until all three buses were full.  They were basically traveling as a convoy.  That made absolutely no sense to me, so I must have heard wrong.  Anyway, a little after 3:00 am, our bus is about two thirds full and we head off to Epcot.  (The other thing the transportation people did was have buses assigned to each resort, instead of making several stops.)  And it was as painless as it should have been.  We get to the staging area around 3:30 am.  Now, of course there are about 1.5 hours to kill before heading over to our assigned corrals, but at least we could walk to them from here.

And, there was plenty of toilet paper in the porta-potties.  We had brought a couple of rolls from the hotel, just in case.  And we knew from the morning before to go to the Q-R tent to avoid any Sunday morning religion.  And Renate and Roger went directly to the concession stand for some coffee.  Who says a bunch of people stupid enough to get up before 2:30 am two days in a row can’t learn. 		        

Anyway, things were fine.  My stomach was mildly upset and I was semi-concerned, but I figured as soon as I started with my pre-race Pop Tarts things would be fine.  My quads were a little beat up, but, as far as muscle soreness went, my lower calf muscles were the most pained.  I was questioning whether it was a good idea to run another race in light weight racing flats.  I pondered wearing my walking around shoes, which were my most recently retired training shoes, so they weren’t all that old.  But, I put the second pair of racing flats on and did a little spin around the parking lot and felt, surprisingly, pretty good.

I did the same routine I did Saturday morning with putting on the long sleeve running shirt.  I didn’t think it was as cold as Saturday.  (Monday’s paper disagreed, saying Sunday was the coldest morning of the winter.  But there was absolutely no wind, so it didn’t feel as bad.)  In retrospect, I think I could have gotten away without the long sleeve shirt, but I also didn’t overheat as the race went on.  I did opt against wearing a hat for Sunday.

Jeff got bored and went out to his corral.  Shortly thereafter Morgan and I headed in that direction.  There was a staggered start to the marathon.  Half the people were running the first 3.x miles on the “red” course and the other half would run on the “blue” course.  The two groups would merge together at 3.x miles.  I was on the blue course and Morgan was on the red, so we headed off in our separate directions to our corrals.  The way the Disney folks set it up, the elites were at the front of the red course and the fastest of the riff-raff, Corral A, were at the front of the blue course.  That was me.  Fast riff-raff.  Then the corrals alternated, as far as anticipated finish time, between red and blue.  Morgan got to line up right behind the elites.  Jeff was in the corral right behind mine.

It didn’t take too long for the people in the corral to want to head over to the woods.  I had originally gone to the right side of the corral, but noticed that the road pinched at the start and I wasn’t sure how that would work.  So I moved over to the left side.  But that put me right were the exit was to go to the men’s (and women’s) room.  Most people would leave, do their stuff, then come back and move away from the very front of the corral.  A fairly large number would come back into the corral and just stop right there.  I know most of these were late arrivals and they didn’t want to start at the back of the corral, but, geeze, don’t be so rude.  I think there were 2000 runners per corral, so when I’m number 102 and I look down and see number 1850 you know there’s a whole lot of WTF going through my head.  I guess I just figured that those guys would run like scared rabbits and set a PR for the first 100 meters of a marathon.  I didn’t waste a whole lot of mental energy on them.  I also kept my long sleeve throwaway shirt on for as long as possible.  You could tell the Goofy runners by the blue stripe on the bibs and I really didn’t want any conversation.  I was pretty solidly focused, standing in the corral just waiting.

It was a good set up and it was bad.  I knew I wasn’t going out at world record pace, so it was probably good that I didn’t have a bunch of elites in front of me.  On the other hand, based on bib numbers, I was the second fastest in my corral.  I knew there were others that would be faster and I also knew there would be others that would shoot out at the start.  I really wasn’t too worried.  My goal was still to do a sub 2:50 with a top five age group finish.  I figured I’d try and run 6:25s and see what happened.

The countdown goes down, the fireworks go up, the gun goes off, and the runners go on.  It was a relatively peaceful start.  The rudies that had jumped in front sprinted off like they were trying to catch a gazelle.  I’d try and avoid them when they crashed later.  I managed a 6:16 for the first mile (again, subtracting to allow for chip vs. gun times gives me a 6:14).  Kind of surprising.  I didn’t think I was out that fast.  Second mile was 6:39.  Now, I’m a little confused.  I figure miss-markings, but I’d really like to get a handle on my pace.  I’m going with mile one being a little short, and that puts me at about 6:27 pace.

I am surprised at how good I feel, but I’m really just taking this race one mile at a time.  And, to a degree, in five mile blocks.  I don’t look any further down the road than the next mile.  (That’s figuratively speaking.  My look-ahead window is actually very small.)  As good as I feel physically, relatively speaking, I’m more surprised at how sharp I am mentally.  Totally and completely focused.  One thing I’m aware of, as we run on the blue course is that we don’t get to go across the bridge from Epcot into the World Showcase.  I know from past runnings that this is all lit up this time of the morning and it’s just a spectacular sight.  And I don’t pay any attention to sights as I’m running so that must tell you something. 		         I’m not actually in this start photo.  My group is near that
bridge and bright light in the back right.
Photo by Action Sports International

For us blue runners, we go on the backside of Epcot and enter where that same pre-recorded animated voice from yesterday is telling us “caution . . . sharp turn ahead . . . caution . . . sharp turn ahead . . . caution . . . sharp turn ahead . . .”  I wonder if the voice went all night.  We’re into the World Showcase part of Epcot.

And quickly enough we go through a few countries of the World Showcase and exit onto some service road.  I just happen to glance up and I see the three mile banner and clock.  That was a 6:16.  I decide to do my math more on five mile intervals then individual miles.  At 6:25 pace, five miles will be 32:05.  Ok, that’s easy enough to work with.

Partway through the third mile, the blue and red courses merge.  There’s just a small smattering of runners on each, so the merge is peaceful and civilized.  (I wonder what it was like for those in later corrals.)  A little further and we’re running on the exact same ground we started the race on.  Wow, isn’t this exciting.  Mile 4 is 6:15.  I’m still feeling very good.  I’m still taking it one mile at a time.

About halfway into mile 5 (which is up a little overpass “hill”) we are on the half marathon course from yesterday.  It’s déjà vu all over again.  I know that there’s really nothing to deal with until we get to the Magic Kingdom, which will be right after mile 10 for the marathon.  I just try to maintain focus and consistency.  Taking a cup or two of water at each aid station and taking a hit of gel every four to five miles.  It’s dark.  And it’s cold, but it’s not COLD.  There’s absolutely no wind.  In fact, it’s just about perfect weather for a marathon.  The long sleeve shirt is nice, but I could have run without it.  I don’t regret not wearing a hat.  Mile 5 was 6:25, a little bit slower than the earlier two miles.  Not really sure why.  That gave me a 31:51 for the five mile block, about 15 seconds ahead of pace.

(There’s another little speaker at the five mile mark with a pre-recorded voice.  It’s the race announcer telling us to settle in and enjoy the day.  He mentioned that he’d talk to us again around Wide World of Sports, about mile 20.  Now, I’m not sure the little map in the race booklet actually agrees with the course as we ran it.  I vaguely remember hearing this little voice and dealing with the overpass “hill” while we were doing our blue course mile 1 to mile 2 stretch.  I remember thinking it unfair that we had two times on this “hill” and the reds only had one since they got to go under the overpass.)

I was constantly taking stock of how I was feeling.  My quads were sore, and had been right from the get go.  There was no problem with my calf muscles.  My feet felt good.  This really wasn’t all that bad.  This early in the race, I had no negative thoughts whatsoever.  I wasn’t waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Not much to miles six through ten, with splits of 6:19, 6:17, 6:24, 6:19, 6:19.  Pretty damn consistent.  A five mile split of 31:38, making it ten miles in 1:03:29, forty seconds ahead of 6:25 pace.  (As a note, I hit the split button on my watch each mile and, with the background light, was able to read it.  But, there were also big clocks at each mile and those were the ones I used for each five mile interval while I was running.  So, while running, I would have called the first five miles 31:50 and the ten mile split 1:03:30, and done the math based on those numbers.  I didn’t do the exact second thing until I “downloaded” all the info from my watch.)

At some point in the six, seven, eight mile range, a guy catches me and we run together.  We chat briefly.  He’s running his first ever marathon.  He’s shooting to break three hours.  I tell him I’m going for 2:50.  I suggest that he might be a little quick at this point.  He says he’s feeling good.  He probably mutters something else in his mind about this old dude questioning his strategy.  He moves on ahead.  I let him go.  Later on I think who am I to pour water on someone’s fire.  He really might be as fast as he thinks he is.  I resolve to keep my suggestions to myself in the future.  (By the way, I passed him at about the 14 mile mark.  I kept my mouth shut.)

I cross over the ten mile mat and get the reassuring beep.  Good, my chip is still attached.  And, shortly, I’m running up Main Street, just like I did before.  Renate, Mary Ivy, and Roger are here somewhere.  I can’t say for sure that I heard them.  Lots and lots of spectators.  It’s really a good little bit of running.  And, unlike yesterday, it’s dawnish so it’s light enough to see everything.

Which makes me wonder how the hell I went off course.  We go trotting up Main Street and then make a right into Tomorrowland.  From Tomorrowland we make a left and head towards Fantasyland.  Only, I didn’t make the left.  I kept going straight towards Space Mountain.  (I’ll tell Rachel and Ryan, Morgan’s kids, that I wanted to be first in line.)  Now, there are plenty of yellow cones out marking the course.  But, apparently I ran right between two of them and didn’t even notice.  I look up and don’t see anything resembling course markers.  I look back over my shoulder.  There’s a guy making the left turn waving to me.  I hit the brakes and backtrack.  In my defense . . .  Heck, there’s no defense.  I just had a massive brain cramp.  I’m upset with myself, but not overly so.  I don’t know how much time I lost, I’ll do a calculation at the mile marker.  If I see it, since the upcoming mile marker is the one I missed yesterday.

I fall in a bit behind the waver.  I don’t make any attempt to sprint and make up the lost time.  No sense in that.  We go through the castle.  More flash photography on the down ramp leaving the castle.  Fortunately it’s light enough that the flash doesn’t blind like it did the day before.  I also remember what to expect with the downs, then the flats, on the ramp.

Leaving Cinderella’s Castle (In the first one, I appear to be ‘blinded by the light.’)

Photo by Action Sports International
Photo by Action Sports International
Photo by Action Sports International

Now, it’s into Liberty Square followed by Frontierland.  I know the 11 mile banner is here somewhere.  I’m keeping a sharp eye out for it.  As well as trying to stay on course.  Finally I see it and hit the split button on my watch.  6:43.  Alright, that means my little foray towards Space Mountain cost me about 20 seconds.  Not the end of the world.  Unless I lose my age group by 19 seconds.

We’re done with the Magic Kingdom.  Next bit of Disney excitement isn’t until the Animal Kingdom after mile 16.  A couple of miles on Floridian Way, mile 12 in 6:22 and mile 13 in 6:17.  We cross over a timing mat for the halfway point.  I glance at my watch, but don’t recall what I saw.  (Later, looking at the results showed I did the first half in 1:23:35.)  I knew I was still looking at breaking 2:50.  There was an increase in soreness with my quads.  But not too bad.  They kind of felt like they would at about the 20 mile mark of a normal marathon.  I was still taking things one mile at a time.  I was still very focused.  (I will admit I took a couple of posted notes a little personally.  Friends expressing concern, legitimately, that maybe I went too fast yesterday, not saving anything for today.  That was extra fuel for me and I poured a little into the tank about this point.)

We bear right onto Bear Island Road.  Mile 14 is 6:17 and mile 15 is also 6:17.  That’s 31:56 for this five mile block.  The big clock says 1:35:25, though I probably extrapolate to 1:35:30.  I’m 45 seconds ahead of 6:25 pace.  I can still do math.  In this section, since leaving Magic Kingdom, there are smatterings of spectators, Disney characters, and other entertainment.  Runners are fairly spread out and it feels almost like a long Sunday run back home.  Also, somewhere before Animal Kingdom, I had tossed my right glove.  I pretty much always reach for water with my right hand and the resulting sloshing had soaked my glove.  My hand was starting to freeze and I decided I’d be better off with a cold hand than a cold, wet hand.  So, I peeled it off and dropped it at an aid station and went running along with just a left glove.

Mile 16 is kind of on the outskirts of the Animal Kingdom.  6:22.  Miles 17 and 18 are through the Animal Kingdom.  (Some might notice the one glove on, one glove off style of dress in the two pictures to the right.)  A bit twisty and turny and some deviations in running surface.  A few Disney people cheering.  No real opportunities to go off course.  Splits of 6:22 and 6:23.  Not real happy with the little up tick though I’m still under 6:25 pace.

Now, I’m on the last eight miles of my normal long run loop.  I’ll visualize where I am.  I roughly know the mile marks.  I’ll count them off.  Let’s go home.  I also know that, after seeing the clock at 19 miles, I’ll start attaching people to each mile.  (I learned this tactic from Dr. Jones.  I don’t know if he thought of it himself, but I’ll let him pass the credit up if he wants.)  There are seven others in my traveling party.  Hopefully that’ll get me through the last seven miles of the race.  I also know that from 20 to 21 it’s an out and back so I’ll get to see who’s in front and then who’s behind me.  But, let me tell you, miles 19, 20, 21, and 22 are some of the most god-awful miles.  On concrete highways.  Nothing of value to see.  I resolve, again, to be mentally strong.  I toss my left glove at the water stop between 18 and 19.  It’s warm enough that I don’t need it.

It’s after leaving Animal Kingdom that I revisit all the miles I ran in training.  The over distance runs of 26 and 30 miles.  The big weeks of 90 and 100 miles.  I tell myself that this is why I did all that training.  Let’s not let it go to waste.  Mile 19 is 6:11.  Woo hoo!  That was a good one.

Ok, Jeanne, mile 20 is yours.  Let’s give it a go.  Still on the concrete highways, Osceola Parkway to be exact (how’s that Morgan?).  6:18.  Thanks, Jeanne.  That’s 31:36 for the 16 to 20 mile block (turns out to be the fastest five mile block of the day) and 2:07:01 for 20 miles.  I can run a 42 minute 10k and still break 2:50.  I know my marathon PR is 2:46 and change.  I don’t remember, at this point, what the change is.  Doesn’t matter.  I don’t think I’ll get there.

I start to see runners heading in on the back section of this part.  I don’t bother counting, but I am looking for blue Goofy stripes on the bibs.  I don’t see any, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t miss one.  It’s Dave’s mile.  Around the turnaround.  Now I get to see who is behind me.  Again, I mostly focus on Goofy stripes.  There’s one guy.  Looks to be about a minute behind.  And another a bit behind him.  I punch my watch at the mile 21 banner.  Holy rusted metal, Batman!  6:08.  Probably a marathon PR for mile 21. 		         Animal Kingdom:  Expedition Everest
Photo by Action Sports International

Animal Kingdom:  Dinoland
Photo by Action Sports International

I’ve got five miles to go.  At home I would have made the turn from Iron Bridge Road onto Nantmeal Road.  It’s Jeff’s mile.  Take me to Nantmeal Village and then hand off to Morgan.  Take the ramp from Osceola Parkway onto World Drive, exchange one concrete highway for another.  Blizzard Beach is off to the left somewhere.  I don’t notice it.  MGM Studios, our next Disney section, is off to the right.  I don’t notice it, either.  There’s Jeff’s banner, mile 22.  6:19.  I guess Dave took a little more than he should have.  Still, I’m running better at this stage of a marathon than I’ve ever done before.

Up the on ramp to Buena Vista Drive.  Tough “hill” at this stage of the weekend.  Then a right into the MGM Studios park.  There’s a red carpet spread out for us to run down.  I opt to stay on the concrete.  The carpet is smooth, but not totally so.  I don’t think I’d have a problem, but the last thing I want to do is catch a ripple and face plant on the red carpet.  The 23rd mile is Morgan’s.  I figure he’s at about 14 or 15 about this time.  Glad I’m not back there with him.

Running through MGM.  I’m oblivious to my surroundings.  I am totally and completely focused on running.  I hurt, but it’s a good hurt.  I’m running very well.  It’s not the downward spiral I’m used to at this point in a marathon.  I am totally and completely enjoying myself.  Even though I’m not smiling.  I try to acknowledge the Disney people as they yell encouragement, but my energy is going towards running, not waving.  There’s the banner and the clock.  Punch the watch, 6:23 (c’mon, we’re going in the wrong direction), and keep going.

Now, it’s up to Roger for mile 24.  I know the marker is pretty much right outside my hotel room.  I saw it during my Friday morning loosen up run.  I don’t have my room key, but I wouldn’t stop at 24 anyway.  Now, if it was 18 that might have made it more of a challenge to keep going.  I leave MGM and noodle along a walkway next to a little river-type body of water.  Random spectators.  I toss my empty gel flask at the aid station, while grabbing a couple of cups of water.  6:11 at 24.  Good job, Roger.  Way to get things back on track.

Now, for mile 25, Mary Ivy’s mile, it’s along the Boardwalk.  Past the Swan & Dolphin, past the Yacht Club, past the Beach Club.  Up a little bridge and into Epcot, the backside of the United Kingdom.  Holy guacamole, Batman!  There’s Jeanne and Dave hooting and hollering and carrying on.  Completely surprised the #@$% out of me.  Up a little bridge into France.  (I don’t recall exactly which side of the bridge the mile 25 banner was on.)  Mile 25.  6:55.  What, the . . .  (I went back and looked at this mile split for the two previous times I did the Disney marathon and saw that it was a whacked out split each time.  So, it’s not Mary Ivy’s fault.  Maybe it’s the running on the boardwalk.)

Anyway, the five mile block was 31:56 and the clock said 2:38:57 for 25 miles.  You know Steve (I said to myself), there’s an outside chance to break 2:47 if you work a little for this last 1.2 miles.  I had eight minutes to go, that’s about 6:30 pace.  And, it’s Renate’s mile.  I thought back to everything she did to get ready for her race and how hard she worked and how happy she was.  Let me do the same with this last mile.

Spin around the World Showcase.  I briefly thought about the return trip Monday afternoon.  At a much more leisurely pace.  Sampling the beers of the world.  Ah, beer . . .  Then I snapped back to the present.  I was vaguely aware of cheering Disneyites, both workers and visitors.  Get to the big Christmas tree right before crossing the bridge into Epcot.  (Good thing we saw this tree Monday morning.  Renate and Mary Ivy had been talking about it and I didn’t see it Saturday when I ran right around it, nor on Sunday when I made a right turn at it.)  Dave and Jeanne are here, as well.  Jeanne’s yelling at me to “pick it up!”  Sorry, Jeanne, they’re as picked up as they’re going to get. 		         I’m pretty sure this is from MGM.
Mostly because I don’t have either glove on
but I still have my gel flask.
Photo by Action Sports International

This is probably the World Showcase
since I no longer have a gel flask.
Photo by Action Sports International

Across the bridge into Epcot.  Then out.  There’s 26.  Ok, sweetie, what do we have?  6:28.  Good.  Now, it’s my two tenths.  I don’t really think anything.  There’s a guy within reach.  He looks like he might be in my age group.  I catch and pass him.  He doesn’t like that.  He starts sprinting.  I have nothing.  I let him go.  No matter.  There’s the finish line.  The big clocks, two of them, show 2:46:4x.  At Marine Corps in October there were also two clocks and I ran down the middle.  As a result, there’s no clock in my finish line picture.  I remember this and aim for the clock on the right.

And, then, I’m done.  Clock time of 2:46:46.  Chip time of 2:44:44.  A PR by five seconds, though I didn’t know this until I got back home and looked at past race results.  I also managed to negative split the race, for the first time in my marathon career.  I did the first half in 1:23:35 and the second half in 1:23:09.

Finish Line Pictures

Photo by Action Sports International
Photo by Action Sports International
Photo by Action Sports International


Photo by Action Sports International 		       I repeat Saturday’s process.  I get my Mylar blanket, get my chip removed, get my Mickey medal, get my picture taken with my Mickey medal, get a bottle of PowerAde, skip the food.  All along I’m asking where the Goofy tent is.  I want my Goofy medal.  Everybody keeps saying to go up ahead.  I’m shuffling along.  Finally, I see it and I walk in.  They tell me I’m their first customer.  That’s nice to hear.  I have my choice of Goofy medals.  I’ll take that one, thank you very much.  Walk out of the tent feeling very happy and a little beat up.  I get my picture taken with my medals (and it’s a really bad picture).

Then I shuffle out to the parking lot to find Renate.  And, hot damn, there are the main Disney characters.  Renate has her medal from yesterday and she puts it on.  She gives her camera to some Disney person and he takes our picture with Goofy, Minnie, Daisy, and Donald.  Renate then gives me her medal and takes a picture of me with the same characters and me with three medals.  We were very fortunate in our timing because pretty much when we were done all the animals went on break. 		      
Photo by Action Sports International

   
Post-marathon character pictures.

So, we wander over to the M-P family reunion tent so I can change out of my wet clothes.  Jeff and Morgan were still out on the course.  Jeff and I had a little bet.  If I beat him by more than an hour he’d have to buy me a case of beer.  If not, I’d buy him a case of Mt. Dew (Jeff doesn’t drink).  I had already lost a case when he broke four hours at Marine Corps.

When we get to the M-P tent there’s the guy who beat me at the end.  Turns out he’s in the age group below me.  He’s also Canadian, but I didn’t hold that against him.

Soon enough I’m changed and functioning.  I inhale a coke that Renate had thoughtfully picked up.  We start to head over to the finish line bleachers to meet up with Roger and Mary Ivy and wait for Jeff and Morgan.  We get there and stand in the stands (after all, they’re not called “sits” – I’m sure some comedian has already thought of that).  We had 20 mile splits for both of them (I forgot to mention that there was a 20 mile mat) so we had some rough idea of when to expect them.  At that point Morgan was about 30 minutes behind Jeff.


Photo by Action Sports International
Photo by Action Sports International
Eventually they made it in.  Jeff with a chip time of 3:51:27 (I won my case of beer) and Morgan with a chip time of 4:24:54.  But their races are for their reports, so I’ll, mercifully, start to bring this thing in for a landing.



***   Marathon Afterthoughts   ***

We’re sitting around in the parking lot before we head off to the corrals.  There are trash boxes scattered around.  We notice that some boxes are emblazoned with the word “CLOTHING.”  This is another example of a good idea gone south.  For a couple of reasons.  I can’t imagine anybody paying attention to what was written on the box.  You have trash, you see a box that looks like a trash box, you’ll put your trash in the box.  You might or might not see any words on the box, but they don’t register.  So, both CLOTHING and blank boxes become trash boxes.  The other thing with having CLOTHING boxes in that location, is that nobody is going to be discarding any clothing until right before the race starts.  So, the CLOTHING boxes should have been located at the corrals.

And, I told you that, to tell you this.  Roger, Mary Ivy, Jeff, and I are hanging in the parking lot, at the M-P family reunion tent, waiting for Morgan and Renate.  There’s a lady right over there talking to Ralph.  A couple of people stop to ask if she’s ok and she nods yes, and goes back to her box.  Come to think of it, I don’t know if the box said BARF on it or not.  (I write this basically for Vincent.  To see if he reads this far.)

There was a bit of fog and mist scattered around the course.  There was one point where I’m running through a fog bank with a group of spectators and/or Disney workers off to the side.  I comment to them about the nice use of the fog machine.  I’m not sure how clearly it came out since my face was frozen and I couldn’t really move my mouth in a coherent fashion.

Not all that many of the bands were performing when I went past.  Mostly just seemed to be a bunch of high school kids sitting in lawn chairs totally and completely bundled up.  Weenie Floridians!  Some of the drum groups were up and beating on things and there were other clumps of enthusiastic entertainment type people, but, for the most part, not so much.

Somewhere, I’m guessing near the 22 mile aid station or the 24 mile aid station, a Hash club had set up a beer distribution table.  I didn’t notice it, not that I’d have partaken.  It probably wasn’t open, anyway.  And I don’t know if any of this is true.  I thought I heard it, my ears tend to perk up when beer is mentioned, but I don’t want to get anybody in trouble with Disney.  So, forget you read any of this unless it can be verified by an outside source. 		        
Renate took this picture.  I think it’s of the
Grand Floridian Resort from the monorail.

I’m a fan of shoe mojo.  I’ll put various stuffed creatures in my shoes for luck.  Lately it’s been a dragon in one shoe (recognizing the Downingtown At Dawn Dragons) and a Pegasus in the other (hoping the wings would help me fly).  I’ve been stagnating with my marathon results so I opted to leave them at home.  While I was out on a little walk Friday afternoon, I stopped into the Disney General Store and picked up a stuffed Daisy Duck for Renate.  (Do you know how hard it is to find anything Daisy, even in Disney?)  Renate then went out and picked up little stuffed Donald, Mickey, and Goofy creatures on key chains and put them in my shoes.  She even got them in the correct shoes, putting Donald in the half marathon shoes and the other two in the full marathon shoes.  I don’t think the mojo will go to other races.  I think I’ll save them for the next time I’m challenging for Goofy.

I might have mentioned it before, but it was so long ago I’m sure everyone has forgotten, but I was totally and completely focused on one foot in front of the other.  I don’t know that I’ve ever been so much into this zone.  I knew where I was (well, except for that episode in Tomorrowland) and I was semi-aware of my surroundings, but it was just foot step to foot step, mile to mile, five mile block to five mile block.  I felt the soreness in my quads that was getting progressively more pronounced.  But, I embraced the pain.  This was what I had trained for.  This was actually a good pain.

I guess one of the things that I’m happiest with, other than the obvious, is that I think the results of the two races validate the aggressive training program I had set up for myself.  I am extremely fortunate in lots of ways.  First and foremost is being gainfully unemployed.  (Actually, first and foremost is my beautiful and supportive wife, Renate.)  I have the time to train.  But, as much, I have the time to recover.  I’m also blessed in that my body seems to be able to handle the work.  (Massive knocking on wood.)  But, still, I have the discipline to schedule the workouts, then do the workouts.  The 19 week training block was one of the more solid periods I’ve gone through in my racing career, possibly only equaled by the period leading up to Ironman Lake Placid in 2004 where I was totally focused to getting on stage at the awards banquet, knowing that would qualify me for Kona (thanks, again, to Don for that).

***   Post-Marathon (Sunday)   ***

We make it back to the hotel uneventfully.  Renate had picked up some bacon and eggs, so we didn’t have to worry about rushing to a restaurant.  (There were lots and lots of people on the walkway at the 24 mile mark.  People that still had a couple of miles to go.  Renate had a co-worker somewhere on the way.  Renate cooked, ate, then went out to cheer for her friend.  Looking at the results the next day it appeared that her friend didn’t make the cutoff to get into Epcot.  That’s too bad.  But, when back at work, Renate heard that Julianne was allowed to continue and received a medal.  She just wasn’t listed as an official finisher.)  Food, showers, and it’s time to go find a bar.  Renate, Roger, and Mary Ivy were going parking, to the MGM Studios, I think.  Jeff was going to hang in the room and watch the game on TV there.  Morgan and I went in search of beer.

First stop was the ESPN Entertainment Zone.  There was a line waiting to get in.  (I believe I had checked the results on-line, looking to see how I did in the Goofy Challenge.  Mine was the only name in the top-25 of each race.  So, I was pretty sure I had "won" the Goofy Challenge, but, I’m a paranoid pessimist, so I didn’t really believe it.  Later, that evening, I began to regret not checking a little further.  Someone that finished in the next 25 of one of the races could have been far enough ahead of me in the other to have a lower cumulative time.  Either way, I didn’t really consider myself the winner and I wasn’t going to brag about it.)  I didn’t think winning the Goofy Challenge would get me to the head of the line.  Morgan and I made a u-turn and headed to Plan B, the Brew Pub back near the hotel.

There was only one empty seat at the bar and, upon closer inspection, some guy was letting his hat sit there, saying he had a friend on the way.  No problem.  Off in search of Plan C.  Hey, I know.  Let’s go sit at the pool bar, Flying Horse Libations.  A couple of empty seats, a TV, and a semi-decent selection of beer.  Let’s celebrate.

I had noticed from a little blurb in the Orlando paper that Kyle Petty, NASCAR driver – car #45, was running in the marathon.  While we’re sitting at the bar, Morgan realizes that, because he finished ahead of Kyle (#4545 for the race), he can say that he beat Kyle Petty in a race.  He also keeps asking if he can tell others who I am.  I tell him no.  There’s nothing to tell.  I go off to the men’s room and when I come back the two guys next to us offer me congratulations for being the big Goofy.  I accept and glare at Morgan.  He mumbles that he was just trying to score a couple of beers.

We’re heading to Downtown Disney for the Awards Ceremony, leaving the hotel at 4:00 pm.  I knew, from the on-line results, that I was 4th in my age group in yesterday’s half and 2nd in my age group in today’s full.  A couple of slabs of wood were in my future.  I was curious if the Disney people would recognize the top finishers in the Goofy Challenge, but I wasn’t hopeful.  I was also going to meet up with Sheila down there, and possibly Joe, though I hadn’t heard anything from him.


Here’s a picture of Team Noone, all bling’d out, before heading to the awards ceremony
(and, no, we did not wear our medals other than for pictures.)
From right to left:  my youngest brother Morgan, my wife Renate, me, my sister-in-law Mary Ivy, and my oldest brother Jeff.
An extra brother, Mary Ivy’s husband Roger, fourth in line to the Noone throne, is taking the picture.

We’re at Downtown Disney, walking towards the stage.  I get a call on my cell.  It’s Sheila, wondering if I’ve made it down yet.  I see her standing there.  I say, into my phone, “MARCO.”  She says “POLO” and looks around.  Then she sees me.  We hug and exchange congratulations.  I first met Sheila in Kona in 2004.  She’s very colorful and fun.  I was looking forward to a beer or two.  Unfortunately, the awards were just getting started so we only got to chat for a few minutes.  She did recognize that I had been celebrating for a while.

It was hard to tell, but it sounded like Renate, Mary Ivy, and I would have placed if Team Noone had been entered in the half marathon as a team.  I think we would have been in the masters coed division.  I looked on the Disney web site to see if team results were listed anywhere, but I couldn’t find anything.  It would be interesting to see if Sheila, Joe, and I would have placed as a marathon team.  There wasn’t a whole lot of publicity about the team aspect of the weekend.  I wonder if there was a Goofy team challenge.  Oops.  There weren’t any individual Goofy awards so there sure as shoot wouldn’t be any team awards.

Morgan bought me a couple of beers while the awards were going on.  Then, when everything is done, he goes up to the stage and asks the announcer guy about the awards for the Goofy Challenge.  The guy gives the company line about it just being a challenge and the Goofy medal is reward enough.  There’s a smattering of grumbling in the crowd, but that’s that.  The eight of us head over to Raglan’s Pub for dinner.  And a couple pints of Guinness.

While walking around, Renate and Jeanne comment about how sore their legs feel.  Much worse than after their 13 mile training walks.  I point out that the majority of the Disney course is on concrete, which is significantly harder than asphalt.  The girls ask Dave, who builds roads for a living, if it’s true.  Fortunately, Dave knows his stuff and confirms what I said.  Others have said that they thought the camber, the sideways slope, of the roads was quite severe in a lot of places.  That would also contribute to soreness.  I don’t recall it being an issue.

We get back to the hotel.  Morgan, Roger, and I head over to the hotel bar.  It’s pretty lame.  Not even a TV.  We stand up to leave, Roger and I without paying for our pints of Guinness.  Hold on there, Cowboys.  I thought the barkeep had taken the money from Morgan’s pile.  Roger pays for our beer and we escape over to the ESPN Zone for another round or two.  No line.  We walk right in and find three seats at the bar.  Settle down and watch sports on all the TVs.  Split a huge bucket of wings.  When three guys pull up next to us and get all excited about the golf match on one of the TVs we decide to call it a day.  After all, tomorrow is another big one.  Round three of Steve’s personal Disney challenge.

(to be continued . . .)

Thanks, everybody, for reading.  Hope you had a good time.

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