Hey there Main Streeters! We continue this week with Catie’s recap of her Dopey three-peat! Today, she tells us about the 10K. Enjoy!
The morning of the 10K was a bit of a dreary one. Mom and I had been watching the weather rather religiously to see what we should wear. We woke up to hear a nice steady rain coming down outside. Instead of getting down about it though, we just put on our music and decided to “Shake it Off,” quite literally. After our morning dance party warm-up, a pre-race room selfie, we grabbed our gear, our breakfast, and headed off to the start.
I had actually been watching the weather for multiple days leading up to us even leaving for Florida, so Mom and I had both packed our running rain jackets just in case. We also grabbed some old Mylar blankets we had lying around and packed them to come with us this trip.
We had a slight moment of panic when driving to the 10K start. We made our usual way from the hotel to EPCOT and upon nearing the entrance noticed a line of cones appearing to block the entrance. However, we soon realized they were just marking off all but one lane of traffic and we were still able to sneak in and get parked! Once we arrived at EPCOT and got parked (noting where we had parked this time I might add) we hung out in the car for a while and continued our dance party. We also began the great debate of running in our rain jackets. The rain had subsided for the time being and the radar showed that it didn’t look like it was going to be a complete down pour during the race. We ultimately decided against them because while they are great for keeping the rain off of us, they do get a little steamy. So, we wrapped up in our Mylar blankets and headed for the corrals.
We snapped a few more shots pre-race in the pre-race staging area and then made our ways to our separate corrals. Funny side note – Mom and I always pack hand warmers. I am notoriously always cold, we’re talking it can be 65 degrees outside and my boyfriend will remind me to grab my jacket so I don’t whine about how chilly I am. So, OF COURSE, Mom and I had to have our hand warmers on this dreary day. Well, while walking to the pre-race staging area, Mom all of a sudden began complaining about her hand being super-hot. Well, she pulled off her glove and her hand warmer had actually exploded in her glove. Luckily, we were able to wipe off a majority of the iron filings, but it took some of Disney’s complimentary Dasani water to finally get her hand completely clean.
After fixing this minor speed bump, Mom and I gave our usual good luck hug and kiss and made our ways to our separate corrals. I got settled into my corral, made some small talk with a few strangers, and then plopped my headphones in to get in the zone. At this point, the misting started to pick up slightly and become a steady rain. I actually enjoy running in the rain and luckily the weather wasn’t so miserably cold that I felt uncomfortable at the start. At this point, I was also super grateful that I had packed numerous pairs of running shoes knowing that the ones I was currently wearing would be completely soaked by the end of the race.
They began to loop our corral over to the start and with a “Runners, Set, Go!” we were off on the 10K. The route for this race mimics part of the 5K but does differ at the start. Instead of turning right after crossing under the start banner, the 10K has runners go to the left. You then make your way out of the EPCOT area via the parking attendant area, under the bridge that was supposed to have Elsa and company on top of it, but due to the rain, they were not out when I ran through. As you get to the end of the road where EPCOT entrance merges onto the main highway, they had a plane set up for you to snap a photo with a Tail Spin character, but again, they weren’t present during my time running by. This is also about mile one. Then the course takes you on a lovely 2 mile adventure on the highway. They try really hard to keep it entertaining by adding a character stop and putting up some big screens with the “ReMicks” on them, but it is still pretty much you running in the dark, on a road for 2 miles. (Re-Micks are remixes of popular songs and set to Disney cartoons – they’re actually pretty cute!) Since you do loop around the EPCOT parking lot, there are some spectators who come out and cheer you on. You eventually go up the last exit for Disney Resort areas and head back towards EPCOT. This is where you cross the 5K mark.
At this point in the race, my feet were soaked but I was having a blast. Once I cross the 5K mark, I know that means that a lot of park time and character spottings are in my future! They turn us in and we enter the park following the same course as the 5K. Entering in between Mexico and Norway, you make your way around World Showcase. The course then has you exit the park and work your way toward the Boardwalk area. I like this on dry days, but on a rainy day like the 10K, you really have to watch your footing and make sure you don’t slip on the wet wood. It’s really great though that the spectators will crowd around in front of the hotels on the boardwalk to cheer on the runners! They loop you up around Jelly Rolls and then turn you back down to run in front of the Beach & Yacht Club. Here there were more spectators that help push you up the small incline to head back in to EPCOT.
The course also differs from the 5K at this point as it has you enter the park beside Figment! You then loop around in front of The Land and The Sea again and make your way back through Future World and out to the finish line! Much praise and respect goes out to all the volunteers who stood out in the rain for hours for all of the athletes! Once I finished my run, I grabbed a fresh Mylar blanket and made my way into a gear check tent to stay warm and dry and wait on Mom.
The rain was still coming down pretty steadily when I finished, but I didn’t want to chance making a break for the car and miss seeing Mom after she had crossed. I chatted with some police officers who ran the race after working their night shift! I got the text alert that Mom had crossed the finish line and then I sent her a quick text to let her know where I was hiding out waiting on her to finish. We gave each other our congratulatory hugs and debated whether or not to risk waiting for a picture with Dopey. We took one look at the sky, realized we were both cold and wet, and voted to nix that idea for the day. We were grateful we had waited after the 5K.
We made our way back to the hotel to get warm but first we snapped a few more pictures to send off to our cheering crowd at home. We then grabbed our bling and made our way out into the parks to celebrate our 10K successes and to “loosen up our muscles” before the half, actually, who are we kidding. We just wanted to go mosey through Disney World together!
Thanks for that great recap Catie!!!!!
TMSM is very excited to publish the “Racing Disney” runDisney series by Addie Clark, Catie Neal and Tali McPike. Please keep an eye out for more of their amazing and informative articles! If you missed of the articles in this series make sure you check them athttps://www.themainstreetmouse.com/tag/racing-disney/
If you are planning on running in a runDisney event and have questions, or have participated and want to talk about your experiences make sure you visit our runDisney Forum at http://goo.gl/RLB5ka
Michele also contributes theme park news for Fox 35 Orlando 11pm news and on the radio on WDBO.
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