“A person should set his goals as early as he can and devote all his energy and talent to getting there. With enough effort, he may achieve it. Or he may find something that is even more rewarding. But in the end, no matter what the outcome, he will know he has been alive.” - Walt Disney

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Race Report: My First Marathon - Mickey 2012: Part 2

Part Two: The Race
Did you miss Part one: Pre-Race?  Check it out here.

BFFs dressed alike!
Did I mention that I'd be running "in costume?"  I wanted to make this race memorable, since I intended it to be my only marathon.  Leah with SparkleSkirts made my year when she announced late last fall that she was debuting her MinnieTech skirt - it was exactly what I'd been looking for - a running skirt that was both incredibly functional and FUN!  So I paired the skirt with a black tech top, my clip-on Minnie Ears, and a red and white polka dot hair ribbon for "the essence" of Minnie Mouse.  (And I'm not ashamed to admit that I was over the moon when I found out my bib was red - it would coordinate perfectly with my outfit!)  My one concern about the whole thing was the weather.  The forecast was calling for high 70's and sunny - not exactly the ideal conditions for a slow runner wearing a black top.  After contemplating switching to a white shirt, I decided that black was really the better look, and that
Waiting for the bus.
I'd just have to tough out the heat for the sake of my vanity.  After using iron-on red glitter letters to add my name to my shirt, my look was complete!  BFF Carrie decided to go with the same outfit, so we were matchy-matchy!

2 a.m. is a ridiculous time to set an alarm, but it's part of the process of running Disney.  We'd heard that traffic was pretty bad getting over to the runner's village before Donald the day before, so we wanted to be on the first bus - which was leaving at 3am.  Since we'd laid out all of our stuff the night before, getting out of bed and getting going was the hardest part of the early wake-up.  Once we'd done that, we were ready fairly fast, and on our way to the bus depot.