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Since January 1, I’ve been living and breathing running (or so it feels). Not only have I been writing the “On the Run” series for the Health & Beauty section of What’s Up? Magazines (Check out Parts One, Two, and Three, as well as this month’s “Off to the Races”), I’ve also been training for my own half-marathon, Disney World’s Star Wars Rival Run. The training process was full of roadblocks, but in the end, I crossed the finish line.
Overcoming Obstacles
Training for a long race, such as a half or full marathon, is time-consuming and, at times, painful. In mid-March, a sudden bout of foot pain—it mimicked the symptoms of plantar fasciitis but was never diagnosed—left me limping and worried that I wouldn’t be able to get back on track. A week of rest and lots of time rolling the bottom of my foot across a lacrosse ball helped, though, and I was on the road again. That is, until a sudden and increasing ache in my side about two weeks before the race had me questioning it all again. I reached out to a doctor, who sent me straight into my primary care physician’s office for a diagnosis that I never expected: shingles, a virus that caused excruciating pain on my left side and, in my case, left me totally exhausted.
With this, my mindset had to be revised. No longer was this half-marathon about thriving but simply about trying my best to not get caught by the balloon ladies (The folks carrying balloons that bring up the rear of the race and maintain the 16-minute-mile required pace). Thankfully, despite an extreme slowdown during the last few miles, I never got close to being swept off the race course.
The Morning of the Race
RunDisney races start early. It makes sense if you think about it—the roads need to be reopened as soon as possible, and the parks should be mostly cleared out by the time they open at 9 a.m. However, a 5:30 a.m. gun time means that you’re up and getting out the door at 3 a.m.
RunDisney does what it can to keep runners-to-be entertained, but the truth is that we spent a lot of time waiting—first in a line for the bathroom, then in a line to take a picture with Darth Vader, and then in our respective corrals (My husband, a speedster, was in Corral C; I was in Corral F; my friend, who registered less than 48 hours beforehand, was in Corral H). Although the race technically began at 5:30 a.m., the slow release of corrals means I didn’t cross the start line until after 6 a.m.
The Course
The Star Wars Rival Run Half-Marathon begins in the parking lot of the Magic Kingdom—but, unfortunately, that’s the one park that you never get to step foot in during the race. (Reportedly, Disney’s full marathons include a run up Main Street to Cinderella’s Castle.) Runners immediately leave the property for a back-roads run, but it’s anything but boring. Disney does an amazing job keeping things interesting by character photo ops as early as a half-mile in (Rey was the first to appear), as well as light and sound effects.
Around mile 4, we entered Disney’s Animal Kingdom to run through the Mouse’s version of Africa, then the newest land, Pandora—the World of Avatar, and finally, Dinoland USA before exiting a little over a mile later.
It was there that the long slog—and, with it, the temptation to call it quits—began. Miles 5.5 to 10 took place entirely on a highway, and by this time, the sun had come up, so it was hot, bright, and humid. There were a few jumbo screens along the route that played the Star Wars films, but my mental state wasn’t in a place where that had any effect.
It’s no surprise that I thanked the stars when we crossed into Disney’s Hollywood Studios at mile 10, which also happens to be the last mile I had trained up to before being diagnosed with shingles. The park was about to open, so employees lined the race course to cheer us on, which made a significant contribution to my morale. From there, we bounded through Disney’s Boardwalk and, finally, along Epcot’s World Pavilions to the parking lot and that sweet, sweet finish line.
The Takeaway
RunDisney events command a high price tag—trust me, a number of people balked when I said I had actually paid nearly $200 for the privilege of running 13.1 miles. However, for those who enjoy road races, it’s worth the experience at least once. For me, it might be worth the experience twice—I have my eye on RunDisney’s Food & Wine half-marathon sometime in the future.
