The first character stop was around mile 1 where Pocahontas and Meeko were there to greet runners. The line was pretty long by the time so we just kept on going. We ran into some of our favorite "characters" at this point though - Kimberly and Gail from RunAllTheRaces.com. These ladies always have some awesome costumes, and today was no exception.
With the Princess 5K behind us, it was time to gear up for the Enchanted 10K! For this year's 10K we went with a Snow White theme (you can read more about it here). As we did the morning before, we arrived to the race site a "dark and early" and hung out with friends before heading over to the start corrals. I love each and every one of my friends, but I was most excited to see Sarah (Sparkly Runner) because I haven't seen her since the Pittsburgh Marathon in May....WAY TOO LONG! We got into our corral and waited for our turn to head to the start line. As corral A walked by everyone cheered for them which was really cool. There was about 10 minutes or so between the corrals starting (A-F) and before we knew it, it was our turn to take the 6.2 mile journey. Papa J decided to run his own race this time, so it was just Momma K and I together for the 10K. As you exit the Imagination Lot and head Epcot Center Drive for the first 3 miles or so, we were greeted by the crew from Frozen. Of course Elsa decided to "Let It Go" and make it snow on everyone, but at least she didn't make it as cold as she did last year! We ended up running into our friend Laurie and her daughter, Grace, from back home and race most of the first half of the race together. This part of the course was definitely crowded. Between a narrow road, thousands of runners starting at once, and it still being dark I must admit that it was a little unnerving at times. While Momma K and I practice proper run-walk etiquette and signal our walk breaks and stay to the right, there are always those that find it necessary to act "un-princess like" and shove people. Yep, I was shoved by a runner as I was all the way to the right of the road and she yelled unkind words as she did-so. Yes, it can be frustrating if people aren't following race etiquette such as walking 4 abreast in narrow spots, but shoving and yelling is not necessary. Anyways, I was not going to let her ruin my time that is for sure! The first character stop was around mile 1 where Pocahontas and Meeko were there to greet runners. The line was pretty long by the time so we just kept on going. We ran into some of our favorite "characters" at this point though - Kimberly and Gail from RunAllTheRaces.com. These ladies always have some awesome costumes, and today was no exception. As we entered into the backstage area of Epcot, there were some pretty interesting characters on hand to greet us. For some reason, they seemed upset about me giving Momma K and apple to eat...I don't understand why?!?! :) We entered World Showcase around mile 3 near Japan and was greeted by magnificent lighting and some pretty awesome volunteers at the water station. We made our way around World Showcase counterclockwise heading towards France. When you are dressed as Snow White and the witch, of course you have to stop in Snow White's country of Germany for a few fun photos, right? Country by country we made our way through Epcot. There seemed to be less characters in World Showcase this morning that there were for the 5K, but we did run into a few of Belle's friends while passing through France. We finally made it through International Gateway and headed towards the boardwalk around. At this point we were about 4.5 miles into the race. While you aren't in the parks for this part, it is still an awesome part of the course! There is so much course support during this mile (or so) stretch from people purposely coming out to chEAR, to unsuspecting resort guests just heading to grab a cup of coffee. Regards on their initial intentions, I am always down for free high fives and cheers along the way. Speaking of chEARleaders - I have the best around! Seriously. My friend from back home, Danielle, and her daughter were at Walt Disney World to run the 1/2 Marathon and came out to chEAR for the 10K runners. After stopping for a brief hello with these ladies, we made our way around the boardwalk and suddenly all the squeals were happening...loudly. The one and only Lauren was out to chEAR! I swear that Lauren is one of the most amazing people...ever! I will go ahead and apologize on behalf of both of us for anyone that we woke, startled, or injured their hearing as a result of our excitement to be reunited. After all of that was over, we continued our journey through Boardwalk and past the Swan & Dolphin hotel before heading towards Beach Club. Our level of ridiculousness was being amplified by the minute at this point. With less than a mile to run, we got photo happy for sure. I decided that I needed a snack and chose an apple....wrong choice (see below - haha). We ran into another friend from back home, Julia, and ended up running the last mile and a half with her. It is always a great time running with friends, so it was awesome to run a bit with Julia. I love the part where you are entering/existing the boardwalk because runners are high-fiving and cheering each other on. Now THAT is the way that a princess should act! As we started to enter in the final stretch in Epcot we ran into Sophia the First. Poor Sophia had no line waiting for a photo op, so we stopped and gave her some love. With a quick little backstage stretch before re-entering Epcot for a bit in World Showcase before the grand finale in Future World, we made our way through the last mile. As we rounded through Future World by The Seas with Nemo & Friends, we had some truly beautiful "creatures" out for a quick photo. I decided that in my next life I want to be a stilt walker ;-) We were almost there! With a beautiful sun-rise reflecting off of Spaceship Earth, we were about .2 mile away from the 2nd finish line of the weekend! Done and done! 2 races and 9.3 miles down, 1 race and 13.1 magical miles to go! It was such a wonderful morning of running with a number of friends along the way. Thank you to everyone who made this morning so special and magical! After the race we grabbed a quick bite to eat at the resort and freshened up before heading to Disney Springs for the We Run Social Meet-Up and Hollywood Studios for some dinner. Question of the Day: What is your favorite part of the Enchanted 10K course?
1 Comment
Ashley
3/3/2016 09:46:57 am
Did you guys miss the old hag from snow white? She was right after the mile one sign. That would of been the perfect photo op for you!
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BrandiI love to run and most importantly I love to have FUN while I run....I am the "Funner Runner" Feedspot's Top 100 Running Blogs
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