Lasting Memories
I just finished the Disney Wine & Dine Half-Marathon on Saturday night and for those unfamiliar, the race started at 10PM and I finished shortly before midnight. There also was lots of time to wait as there were 11,000 participants, shuttle busses to take runners to the starting line, needing to line up in a corral 45 minutes before the start, and then there was a couple hours of post race activities at the finish line. In that time, as I look back now, I met some of the most incredible people in those few hours.
I was not in a great mood on Saturday and I left home on Friday leaving my family to attend to a flooded basement due to a 10 inch rainfall. I also was just trying to kill the day resting as much as I can and that was boring being that I was in the Walt Disney World Resort and not wanting to waste energy by walking around the parks. By the time I met the people I met I was reminded that that life should be lived each day as if it were your last. At my age you really think about that more than I did when I was younger. I felt bad that I was moping around all day for most of Saturday afternoon. These people and the atmosphere of the event picked me up higher than I have ever been before.
First I met a guy from Chicago and a girl from Texas waiting in line for the bus to the starting line. It was a fairly long wait and we all were telling jokes. Next the girl behind me waiting for the bus sat down beside me once we got on the bus. Abigail was her name and she was from Missouri and never did a half marathon before. I gave her my best advice on the ride over and told her the biggest mistake she could make was to wait to pee too late. It takes 30 minutes to get to pee at one of those big races. She was grateful. I made that mistake once before.
Next while I was waiting to get lassoed into the corral I met Vera, her husband, and Jessica. Vera is a 68 year old charming woman who is a colon cancer survivor. She has run 10 races in 2010 and she won the race for her age group by 20 minutes. She said they got all of the cancer and she has a clean bill of health. I was chatting with Vera’s husband about a race he is helping to organize for March 2011 in Ft. Myers, FL. to help raise money for colon cancer research and awareness called "Get Your Rear In Gear". As we were discussing cancer I met Jessica, from Tampa, who just found out last week her dad had brain cancer. She seemed like a strong girl and told me that with not even a quiver in her voice. I will be praying for both of these families.
At the starting line I found a curb to sit down and try to get the tightness out of my back from standing so much. There I met Darrell. He is a teacher from Connecticut whose son has worked for Disney for 10 years. We talked about strategy for this race, he had run in the parks before and I hadn’t so his words were taken seriously and proved to be very accurate. He told me how tight the turns were and that the parks were pretty narrow for 11,000 people and would slow us down he thought. He mentioned his goal and it seemed real close to mine. He seemed like such a happy person, just like 99% of everyone else there that evening. That was the icing on the cake and I could not believe I was ever in a bad mood that day, or ever for that matter. Why should I be?
We hit the road to pyrotechnics and the 13.1 miles were filled with happy music, Disney characters, Disney employees, and finally on the last mile, the resort guests at Boardwalk, Yacht, and Beach Club were packed three deep at least along the course screaming encouragement. It was no wonder my very last mile was my fastest. The finish line was just outside of the EPCOT back entrance and they shuffled us off to get medals and pictures taken. I finished in 1 hour, 54 minutes, and 23 seconds, nowhere near my best ever but great for me for that night and the course. I measured my heart rate along the way and I had never run that long with a heart rate that fast and I was hoping I didn’t burn out. My pace was a dozen or so seconds per mile slower than I had hoped but I had to adjust to the weather conditions. Due to the adrenaline I never did bonk like a lot of people did.
After the race they gave us a recovery goodie bag and drinks and gave us two coupons for a free sip of wine or beer and sample food at the wine and food festival where we finished. I mingled around, looking for a place to change out of my soaking wet clothes. I saw Vera and her husband at the finish line party. A 68 year old lady, she was sad she only did the race in 2 hours and 20 minutes! It was a hard course with all of the turns and the fact that the dew point was at least 65 degrees (to me any dew point over 59 degrees is tough on my endurance and forces me to slow down). I chose to grab a bite to eat at the American pavilion where I tried some bison chili. It was very spicy but very good. I also sampled some ravioli from Italy. I needed a place to put my stuff down so that I could eat and there was one stand up table that two ladies were at so I went over and asked them if they mind if I put my bag down and eat my food there. They were very nice and said they were from Michigan and did the relay half marathon where one person did 5 miles and the other did 8.1. I could have stood there all night and talked, they treated me like I had been their friend for many years. They, like most runners I have met, own a great sense of humor. My muscles started tightening up and I was having some pain in my lower back from standing so long before the race that I couldn’t take it any more. The atmosphere all evening was unbelievable. I wish I could have bottle that feeling up and saved it forever.
Guess what? I will remember that evening forever. I met some of the nicest people ever all in about a 6 hour time frame and got to run in the one place I had always dreamed of running. I thank them all for lifting me up that evening just by being who they were. I have a much more positive opinion of human beings now.
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