Disney Dopey Challenge 2020

Disney Dopey Challenge 2020

One year ago today, I completed my third marathon, which happened to also be my first Disney Dopey Challenge! (Little did I know that my 2020 racing days were numbered). I am very thankful to be able to say that I “raced” each of my distances last year. Those four distances may have all been in the same week and all personal worsts on the clock, but at least those races happened in person! End blog post. HA!

Just to be clear and transparent, let it be known that Shawn (whom I had served papers to and have since dismissed) ran the Dopey Challenge, as well. Talk about an interesting dynamic for the week.

Day One/Expo Day:

We flew down to Walt Disney World on Wednesday morning to be able to hit the Expo for our race bibs. The Expo was full of energy and excitement for the weekend ahead! We grabbed our special Dopey gear along with some extra goodies, of course. I may have thrown a mini pity party when they did not accept my previous marathon time and had me starting in the finale corral. Before we left, it was fixed! We tried to rest our legs a little bit in the afternoon and not go crazy at the parks (this was a hard feat for this Disney-loving Gal). We did venture out to grab dinner with a view at the Top of the World Lounge. If you get the chance, the hummus and veggies are divine! Bedtime came super early because we knew the alarm was going to be EARLY (as in middle of the night).

Day Two/5K (54:15):

Speaking of middle-of-the-night…we were awake, dressed, and ready to walk out the door at 3:18am. We took the Disney shuttle bus over to Epcot where the starting area was located. I had NEVER seen so many people walking together toward a start line. We joined in the masses and made our way through security. Inside, we were able to find some of my running friends from Mason and snap a pre race photo. I will add, it was a chilly morning and we were all COLD! This will come back to bite us later.

The start line was a lot of fun! There were a ton of amazing, creative costumes the runners were sporting. The 5K definitely brings out the most over the top costumes. My 5K outfit was “running Jessie” from Toy Story. Yep, I wore normal running clothes each day, but tried to relate the outfits to Disney characters (usually a red headed character).

The 5K flew by! It looped around the Epcot countries, which were beautifully lit up for us. We went into this weekend with the goal of taking as many character photos as possible and not being swept up by the balloon people. I am not going to lie, the Dopey Challenge is a very expensive four days of racing. We were determined to get every dollar’s worth. The 5K greeted us with Geppetto, the Beast, and one of the three caballeros. Race number one was complete before we knew it.

We collected our first medal and got back to the room to grab a quick shower. Then, we were off to Magic Kingdom for a delicious breakfast at Be Our Guest restaurant. It was a perfect location with the endless refills of hot chocolate! Remember, we were COLD. We rode some of our favorite rides at Magic Kingdom during the morning hours. For a late lunch, we enjoyed Tony’s Town Square Restaurant outside on the patio. Do not judge, but the rest of the day, we spent at our room with our feet up.

Day Three/10K (1:19:20):

We learned the most important lesson from day one of racing; we could sleep an extra 30 minutes and still make it with plenty of time. We were ready to roll out at 3:40am for the 10K. Another lesson we took with us into day two of racing was to bring our mylar blanket from the 5K to wrap around us while we waited in the corrals. The corrals are HUGE. Each corral releases runners in a ton of different intervals. A major plus for these Disney races is that every single sectioned start gets their very own fireworks display!

The 10K was another loop around the Epcot countries with a bonus section out on the Boardwalk. Along the way we saw Pinocchio, Abu, Surfing Donald, and Surfing Goofy (who we skipped because the line was OUTRAGEOUS). I was in Merida colors (Brave). I wanted to bring a bow and arrow to carry, but even toy-like weapons were not permitted through security. Race number two was complete!

Post race, we grabbed our photo with Dopey and then busted it back to our room. We packed everything up (as we were switching to a larger room for our soon arriving company), had a HUGE blow up fight (sorry hotel neighbors), and then greeted our children and my parents with big smiles on our faces (because that is what parents do). Suck it up, buttercup.

We were immediately on our way to Hollywood Studios for the day. After six hours of enjoying the park, everyone was ready to call it a day. Now that we were in the two bedroom villa, we had a full kitchen. A full kitchen meant I was going to make my favorite pre race meal…eggs, toast, and fruit. The rest of the evening was chill time with the kiddos.

Day Four/Half Marathon (2:54:06)/Kid Races:

Half marathon day really felt like a marathon day! 3:34am was the ready-to-go hotel room selfie. By now, we felt like starting line/corral pros. Instead of the A/B corrals, we were back in corral C for the longer two distances. I reused my Ariel outfit from the 2019 half marathon. Flounder got to come along for the miles again. The half marathon is a magical one! The “race” takes you down Main Street USA while it is still dark outside. The views and atmosphere are dreamy! Running through Magic Kingdom was a highlight of the weekend for me!

The Disney Half Marathon has tons of character spots along the way. There are characters on the roads, in parking lots, in Magic Kingdom, at the back lot of Epcot, etc. I think we hit up 90% of them. There were a few characters that we had snapped pictures with during the previous year half marathon, so we chose to skip those this go around. Here are some we were able to encounter in 2020: toy soldiers from the Christmas parade, Lilo, Stitch, Queen of Hearts, Liberty Minnie (awesome sauce), Chicken Little, Daisy Duck, Surfing Goofy, Lightening McQueen and Mater, Jack Sparrow, Pluto, and a different el caballero. Oh, and did I mention, a photo spot in front of a lit up Cinderella’s castle with no one in the background?!?!?

The Half Marathon course runs on the road outside of the Grand Floridian. That meant right around mile seven, we were able to see half of our crew cheering us on. The other half were not up and moving quite yet.

Post race was another chance to see Dopey (I was determined to fully document this experience) before hopping on the bus back to the hotel. Out our bus window, we saw runners still doing their thing on the other side of the road. Once we were back, cleaned up, and had breakfast in us… it was our turn to be cheerleaders!

Half Marathon day during the Disney Marathon Weekend is also the kids’ race day! Both boys raced the 200m dash, like the previous year. It was N’s last year of eligability to race at this distance. He was pumped to take first place in his heat. C was equally excited to race his heart out. I was smart and made sure the two of them were in separate heats to prevent any arguing about it the rest of the day.

With four medals hanging around our necks, we were off to Epcot for lunch. We did not have reservations, but luckily grabbed a seat at the Garden Gill to fill our hangry tummies. We enjoyed the Epcot rides with the boys for four hours before calling it a day. Shawn and I headed back to the hotel for snacks in our room (5:45pm), prepare for marathon morning (6:01pm), and to PUT OUR FEET UP (6:25pm). Grandma and Grandpa kept the boys at Epcot for the nighttime fireworks. A HUGE KUDDOS goes out to my parents for helping us pull this adventure off. There is no way we would have been able to do this without their help.

Day Five/Marathon (5:20:31):

Marathon day was all about having fun and soaking up all of the Disney magic! Along with that, to stay hydrated and finish the Dopey Challenge.

We knew it was going to be pretty miserable race conditions when Disney was sending out race emails alerting “Weather Advisory. We are expecting warm weather and high humidity during the Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend…” If you have followed my running for any time frame at all, you know I do NOT run well in heat and humidity. The good news was that I was not chasing any kind of time goal. The only thing we had to worry about was crossing the finish line in time to make it to our 2:00 lunch reservation in Magic Kingdom. Slow and steady was the motto for our 26.2 miles.

The Marathon starts a half hour earlier than all the other races. I assume this is to allow the parks 30 extra minutes to get runners through and opened in time for other visitors. This meant that my pre race selfie was back to a 3:14am timestamp. We were in the runner’s village and had located my MRTT (Moms Run This Town) friends by 4:09am. They were running their very first marathon together in Toy Story theme. We all walked back to the corrals (yes, it is a long walk to corrals for the two longer distance days).

We arrived to Corral C at 4:43am. Perfect! 17 minutes until race time. Except, the traffic was so backed up that they kept stalling. The biggest concern about the delay was less time running before the sun was up and the heat to come later on. I mean, we were not even wearing throw away clothes prior to the start, it was already that warm. I would be lying if I said we were not antsy. My Garmin watch has a start time of 5:28am (scheduled 5:00am start time for Corral A). Relieved to finally cross that start line, we were off on an absolutely magical adventure!

Not far up the road, we joined the somewhat lengthy line (which a lot of people were bypassing) to snap a picture with Tinkerbelle and her sister, Periwinkle. Other characters who gave us a little break throughout the morning include: Judy Bunny and Nick Fox, Penelope, the Incredibles and Frozo, White Rabbit, Buzz Lightyear, Sebastian, Jessie, Jafar, the Haunted Mansion attendants (grave diggers), formal Donald and Daisy Duck, Flick and Princess Atta, Country Jamboree Bears, Football Goofy, Malificent’s Dragon (from the Magic Kingdom parade), Charles Muntz and a second character from the movie Up, Safari Mickey, Kevin, Minnie, Olaf, Ballerina Hippo, Sleeping Beauty and Belle, and Max. The earlier characters seemed to have the longer lines. As the “race” went on, the lines were fairly quick to move through. Those mini breaks were quite perfect for catching our breath and refueling.

About refueling, the plan was to hydrate, hydrate, hydrate! I am writing this on the year anniversary of the marathon. I will be honest, I do not remember when I took my gels or how many I took along the course. I DO remember my water intake though! I started the marathon with both of my Nathan handheld water bottles full of Propel. Double fisting was a must. I made sure I had both of those empty by the time we were coming out of Magic Kingdom.

Being the type A person that I am, I had laid out a packed bag for my parents to bring out to our pit stop. Also, there was a list of what to grab from the refrigerator. The pit stop was the same location as the day before, right outside our Grand Floridian resort. However, on Marathon day it fell later in the course, which worked out in our favor. Since we had our phones with us, we were able to communicate with them where we were on the course. I clearly remember talking to my mom, through my watch, as we ran out the back side of Magic Kingdom.

Around mile 12.5, we hit our refueling station. I had packed two plastic water bottles from a previous 5K goody bag. We both refilled our larger Nathan bottles, handed over the smaller ones, and replaced those with the throw away bottles. Once again, we were double fisting with two full water bottles. At the same pit stop, we snacked on a banana, grabbed our extra gels, and took the pre sliced (thank you, Mom) oranges to eat during the next mile or so. This pit stop came with extra sweetness in hugs, smiles and encouragement from our kiddos.

I know I tossed my empty throw away bottle inside Animal Kingdom as we waited to get a picture with Kevin (Up). This was around mile 17. I had my full, large Nathan to get me through the final stretch. Of course, there was water to drink all along the course, as well. History has proven that my body needs the extra electrolytes in Propel to prevent cramping.

The best thing we did grab along the course was the free sponge!!! Thankfully, another runner had informed us about this special treat the day before. He advised us to hold on to it for longer than just the sponge station. Lord, bless this man! I took his advice and around mile 19 I humbly accepted a soaking cold sponge from a kind volunteer. I cannot explain what this sponge meant, but it was a glorious gift. We immediately rang out the refreshing water over our heads to cool off anything it touched. By now, the sun was up and we were running straight down a road for awhile. I did try to duck over to the side at any sighting of a passing tree and two seconds of shade it could provide (red head problems…come to think about it, we did apply sunscreen at our family pit stop, too). At each passing water station, I did exactly what, my new favorite fellow runner, had said to do and had the volunteers pour water onto my sponge. I repeated the drenching of my head and neck over the next several miles.

Up until mile 23, we had been solid in running from character spot to the next character spot. As we approached mile 23, again in another stretch of sunny open road, we took our first walk break. I gave Shawn exactly 30 seconds on the watch before I made him run again! “C’mon! I see the next characters up ahead! You can do it”! It was the ballerina hippos from Fantasmic.

Side note: In all of the pictures you will see Shawn running behind me. That is not because he is slower than me. We were pretty equal on speed. But it was him humbly letting me fully enjoy the experience (and knowing I am easily irritated if he is going too fast or too slow at any given time).

After running through Hollywood Studios, I was still feeling good. Over the next three miles, I ran ahead (Yeah, this would not have flied had it been the other way around. I can admit that). I kept looking back to try to keep him in sight and make sure he was okay. Eventually, I could not see him, but knew that we were so close to the finish that he would make it!

At mile 24.5, I was blessed with two smiling, familiar faces! Two MRTT members who had raced the half marathon the day before were chilling in the shade on the Boardwalk. They had stuck around to cheer me on (even though the other three MRTT first time marathoners had already passed through). Feeling their encouragement gave me such a burst of energy!

Crossing the finish line of my first Dopey Challenge was everything I had imagined, plus more! I looked back and did not see Shawn. The volunteers definitely have you keep moving forward. I immediately walked to the first aid station and stood in front of the giant rotating fan. A kind volunteer brought me a bag of ice, not to put on my body, but to eat! I waited there for a few minutes until Shawn came through. I shared my bag of ice and we mosied over to the Gatorade.

We received our coveted marathon ears and bling. As we walked through the final medal station, a volunteer collapsed right beside us. After running for over five hours, Shawn turned and immediately went into doctor mode until the race paramedics arrived. We grabbed our pre boxed treats and bananas, made our way to the Dopey photo line, and tried to accept what our bodies had just accomplished (one of us adjusted to this acceptance better than the other. hehe)…48.6 miles over four days of “races”. While we waited to see Dopey, we heard word that because of the heat, the course had been shortened for people still out running. We were SO thankful we were able to complete all of the miles in our challenge!

Remember that 2:00 reservation? At 12:40pm, I sat down in the room and pulled off my sock to reveal what I had feared for the last eight miles or so. I broke the golden rule of racing. For the first time, I ran in those super cute Minnie Mouse socks. The outfit was worth it, though. One hour later, I was sitting on the patio of The Crystal Palace, sandwiched between my two boys!

After a much deserved buffet, we lived it up at Magic Kingdom. We took the dreamed about pictures in front of Cinderella’s castle with all of our hard earned medals. We rode as much as we could. We ate ice cream! We stayed for the fireworks. And we walked out of the park at 8:28pm.

It was worth every penny!

But wait! The story does not end there…

Day Six/Day Seven:

We boarded a big boat called The Dream to continue the Disney fun!

Day Eight/5K/5k:

We once again, slid on our running shoes and got dressed for The Castaway Cay 5K Challenge. We were off the boat and on Castaway Cay at 6:18am (It was like sleeping in). We took this 5K jog EAAAAAASY! I went for an Anna color scheme in my final attire. Timon was out on the course for us to greet. We finished, got our medals, and booked it back to the boat.

At the boat, we picked up the rest of our crew, walked to the second 5K start line, and walked another 5K alongside my momma! Our job for the last 3.1 miles of this entire adventure was to pay it back! We got to encourage someone else to go big or go home!

To some people, 54.8 miles is the challenge…to others, it is 3.1. We are all chasing after our own dreams no matter how small or big those may seem!

Writing this one year later is very humbling. Currently a slow, eight mile “long run” seems difficult. 2020 may have been a gloomy year, but at least we have the Disney Marathon Weekend Dopey Challenge 2020 as a bright spot to look back on. Keep wishing upon those stars…they will align again real soon!

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