Life’s A Beach, And Then You Run: A 2012 Marathon Weekend Trip Report!

Hello friends! Welcome to the story of my Marathon Weekend.

The Cast (the only picture of the 3 of us from the entire weekend):

That would be mom (Kriss), my brother (Craig, aka Princes Craiggy, 25) and me (Shannon, 27).

This was my 6th trip to WDW, and 3rd trip in the last 12 months…lucky me! :sohappy:

Past trips include…

August 1995 (All-Star Sports)
May 2009 (Honeymoon at Boardwalk Inn)
November 2009 (Boardwalk Inn)
February 2011 (Princess Half Marathon/Port Orleans Riverside)
June 2011 (Split-stay: Animal Kingdom Lodge and Boardwalk Villas)

There’s not really much to say in regards to how this trip came to be…basically before the Princess Half in 2011, Princess Craiggy and I agreed that if we made it out of the half alive, we’d sign up for the 2012 Marathon. And here we are! Yay! :sohappy:

 

[crystalight33]

Here’s what I did get…a Marathon Mickey plush (which the monster pup definitely thought was a souvenir for him…nice try, buddy!):

I love it!!! What a great souvenir! The monster didn't try to de-plush it did he? I really like the "I did it" shirt. When I got the one for the princess half, I thought it was a little cheesy, but I wear it ALL the time! Best purchase of the race .

 

[Ariel484]

I definitely think those credits should be used for a Disney trip! That's what they were purchased for after all! Will is owed a trip!

Yes, since I've been home I've definitely been picking up that he wants to go back! It will all depend on his health, but I'm crossing my fingers that a short Tower of Terror 10-miler trip will happen!

Those pics of Beach Club has me feeling homesick.

Nice recap of the pre-marathon procedure - I can't wait to hear about the race!

Soon soon soon! :sohappy:

Wow, it was empty! You are right, last year was a madhouse!!!

I LOVED that ad!! One of my favorites!

I love all of the souvenirs and your t-shirts!!

Yay!! I am loving your report already and getting excited to read more!!

Long story short...I need to change my siggy because our travel plans have significantly changed, but...there's a good chance I might get a chance to run the Disneyland Half this year! I hope!

Melanee!! I'm sorry you won't make it to WDW this year, but how exciting would it be to run the Disneyland Half?! If you do it you must tell us every detail, since I'm not sure I'll ever get to run in Disneyland! :sohappy:

We bought The Stick at the expo last year! It does work too! It hurts like hell doing it after the marathon, but I think that is why we were still able to walk later that evening! Great purchase!

The way I talk about that thing probably makes people think I work for the company or something...I LOVE it. I have a foam roller that I got about a year ago and The Stick is, in my opinion, so much better. I agree with you, it hurts like hell when you use it, but it really does help recovery a lot.

Yay yay this is an awesome TR so far!
Props to you girl for being able to run a full marathon! Can't wait to read about race day and the rest of your stay!
I have 1 question: What kind of camera did you use on this trip?

Thanks LeCellier.Lover! :sohappy: I'm hoping to get to the (extrememly long and detailed) race portion of the report soon.

For all of the pictures I posted so far I used a Canon Xsi with either the kit lens (18-55mm) or the prime 50mm/1.8 lens. I carried a point-and-shoot camera during the race - a Canon PowerShot SD1300 IS. :wave:

I love all the merch you saw/picked up. The tech shirt with the park logos on the sleeve is SWEET! And I must say, seeing those medals is a fantastic way to get that "I can totally do this" confidence boost.

I remember your Princess Half report and seeing the pics of the madhouse that was the registration pick-up-area-thingy. Very nice to see that you had some time to browse without feeling claustrophobic.

Race report time is drawing near!

I got so ridiculously excited when I saw the park logos on the sleeve of the tech shirt...I just love the little details! And Disney just has the BEST race medals, in my opinion. They seem like they're pretty big and heavy (good quality) and I love that they have the date and other details on the ribbons.

Claustrophobia is the perfect way to describe my experience at the Princess Half Expo. It was really nice to be able to take my time this year.

I love it!!! What a great souvenir! The monster didn't try to de-plush it did he? I really like the "I did it" shirt. When I got the one for the princess half, I thought it was a little cheesy, but I wear it ALL the time! Best purchase of the race .

When I showed Marathon Mickey to Will the monster kept trying to jump up and steal him! So Mickey is tucked safely away with some other plushes I have.

YES, that's exactly the terminology I was trying to come up with for those "I did it" shirts...a little cheesy. But when I was in the airport on my way home from the 2011 Princess Half I saw a bunch of other people wearing them and really regretted not getting one, so I knew I would this year. And I really like it!

 

[Ariel484]

Hooray! It was a solo trip no more. I greeted Craig (haven’t seen the kid since February, so that was exciting) and my mom in their room at the Yacht Club and they excitedly showed me this:

Sheesh. Talk about your amazing views. I don’t know how they got this room, because I booked it for them (30% discount or whatever) and they definitely did not pay extra for it.

I liked their room much, much better than mine, and not just because of their view. I really need to stay at this resort some day.

LOVE.

After oogling the view for a bit, we all agreed that it was lunch time. To Epcot!

 

[Ariel484]

We got tickets squared away for both of them (Craig got a sweet Florida resident rate) and we got a nice surprise walking in to Epcot: 3 Soarin’ fastpasses from another guest that couldn’t use them! Score!

Craig decided on sushi from Japan for lunch, and I convinced mom to hold out for Norway. We both got ham and apple sandwiches from Kringla Bakeri og Café, along with giant cups of ice water. Time to start hydrating for the race!

YUM. I think this might be my favorite counter service place in the World Showcase.

After lunch, Craig and I decided it was time for Soarin’! Mom wasn’t so sure…she was convinced it would make her sick. During the walk from Norway to the Land, we tried to convince her otherwise.

When we got to Soarin’, the wait was posted at 80 minutes. Not a problem when you have these babies!

Mom was ready to take the chicken exit up through the intro video, but eventually we convinced her that she could just shut her eyes if she didn’t like the ride. So we got in our seats and…nothing happened. The ride broke down! We couldn’t undo our seatbelts, so she started to freak a bit, saying “I am not going on this thing if it’s broken! I’m going to get sick! I’m scared of heights!” We were up and running a few minutes later, and I kept looking at her and laughing the entire time because she sort of looked like someone was torturing her…yet she loved it! Huzzah! :sohappy:

The break down really messed things up for everything else…the wait time shot up by an hour!

Since we were in the Land anyway, we went on Living with the Land (which they thought was lame until the greenhouse part), then the Seas with Nemo and Friends, and Turtle Talk with Crush. I had to work really hard to convince them to see Crush…it was seriously like pulling teeth. But they liked it. We checked out the aquariums for a bit (including catching part of the dolphin show, which was super cool) before heading out of the Seas. As soon as we left the Seas, we were surrounded by people in matching dark blue shirts. Somehow we’d found ourselves in the middle of a Brazilian tour group! Yikes!

 

[Ariel484]

After leaving The Seas we decided to head back to our hotels to rest up a bit and get changed for dinner. We made our way back to the International Gateway.

A dark picture of the Epcot tree:

Birds hanging out on the angel:

Craig and I both grabbed lattes from the small coffee stand in Canada and we made it to our hotels around 5PM. This seemed as good a time as any to lay out everything I’d need for tomorrow:

After getting a bit turned around, Craig and mom found my room and we headed back to Epcot at about 6:15. We were a few minutes late for our reservation at Via Napoli…bring on those carbs!

There was a huge line for walk-ups (20 people maybe?)…so glad we had an ADR!

I know people either love or hate this place…put me in the love category. This was my second time eating here and it was just as delicious as it was in June. I’d wanted to pick a place for our pre-race meal that I’d been to before and seemed like “safe” food (nothing weird to possibly make us sick). This was perfect…plus, the server didn’t harass me when I kept asking for more water.

I ordered the margherita pizza:

Mom ordered the pepperoni (no picture) and Craig got pasta with clams and other seafood on it:

He liked it, but after trying our pizza he wishes he’d ordered the pizza instead. Both he and mom loved Via Napoli, and as a bonus, I randomly saw a friend of mine there. Excitement!

After dinner, we walked around World Showcase a bit. I found the park to be surprisingly crowded. I thought this was supposed to be a slow time of the year?!

My terrible streak of nighttime photos continued:

I’d actually kept forgetting about the race all day, but by now Craig and I knew we needed to start thinking about turning in for the night. Mom headed to the Magic Kingdom while Craig and I made our way to France for dessert (strawberry tarts…yum!). I got back to my room at about 8:30, called Will, and realized I could hear the announcement that Illuminations was starting soon! Maybe I could see the fireworks?!

 

[Ariel484]

Yes, I could! :sohappy:

I also realized that the informational marathon videos actually did have a dedicated channel in the resorts, just like the guy on the bus had been talking about. Basically it talked about race logistics, runner etiquette, etc. It also had some inspirational runner stories, as well as ads for other races and TV shows on ABC (i.e. Tim Gunn and Ty Pennington promoting their new talk show while wishing us runners good luck).

Before going to bed at 10:30 (later than I’d planned), I set 3 alarms for Sunday morning: my phone (2:45 AM), a wake-up call with the front desk (3AM), and the iHome on the bedside table. When I’d checked in I’d noticed that the iHome was set an hour ahead and never figured out how to correct the time. I wanted this alarm to go off at 3AM, and knew I needed to adjust for that…I don’t know if it was nerves or just the fact that I can be a little stupid at times, but I set the alarm for 3AM – no adjustment made. Ugh.

After setting the alarms I got into bed and fell asleep pretty quickly. The marathon was almost here! :sohappy: :sohappy: :sohappy:

 

[enchanted_belle]

Anyhoo, no Tower of Terror 10-miler medal! Boo! I grilled the runDisney representative and he said that the medal is a secret. He also said that there will be a 5k race during the weekend and that the 10-miler course will be “all-terrain” – concrete, dirt, etc. That’s all I could get out of him.

oooooh, sounds interesting.. I love running on a dirt terrain!! I wish they would come out with more info already.

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

oooooh, sounds interesting.. I love running on a dirt terrain!! I wish they would come out with more info already.

Yeah, there really is no info on it yet! I want to see a map of the course and what the cost is... Grrrrr..... I need to plan ahead, don't they realize that?!? lol

 

[Disneyfalcon]

SO exciting so far!! I am so sad your hubby couldn't come!

I love all the running merchandise too!

Thanks for posting, Shannon, I can't wait for the marathon!!

 

[enchanted_belle]

Yeah, there really is no info on it yet! I want to see a map of the course and what the cost is... Grrrrr..... I need to plan ahead, don't they realize that?!? lol

lol, all we know so far is it's Saturday night and has a kicking after party... this is KILLING me. Tell me more already!!!!!

 

[surfsupdon]

Isn't Yacht Club great??! That's where I was, and tend to always stay now. That view was incredible--we always request a view in that wing to your right, overlooking the gazebo and the marina.


Were you awoken by the Epcot firework testing after midnight?? It was like 12:45am....I heard these booms and explosions, ran to my balcony and watched Illuminations till the grand finale. That was on Thurs night. I also heard and saw them again on Friday night, same time, quarter to 1am.

It wasn't advertised, it was just a pleasant treat. And worked perfectly because I never made it to Epcot at night, so to see their fireworks twice was great.

 

[surfsupdon]

Oh yeah, and I wnated to thank you for the great trip report for the marathon weekend. I was there for the whole w/e as well, but it is great reliving the event through your camera and written word.

It was such a fun weekend, congratulations on your finish!! I had a blast.

 

[PartOfYourWorld]

Thanks for showing us pics all about the expo! Good things to know for September! Can't wait to see race day pics!!!!

Interesting that the course for the 10 miler will be an "all-terrain" course. Gotta make sure I got some good running shoes for that! lol

Yeah, there really is no info on it yet! I want to see a map of the course and what the cost is... Grrrrr..... I need to plan ahead, don't they realize that?!? lol

oooooh, sounds interesting.. I love running on a dirt terrain!! I wish they would come out with more info already.

I know!!! I seriously need this info already!

 

[surfsupdon]

The original first 3 Tower runs had a short area (400 meters maybe?) that was a wide trail through the woods linking the roadway to Wide World of Sports.

It was flat, pretty wide, had a few small puddles, and was mostly gravel and dirt. This was where a lot of escaped mental patients tried scaring us along the course in the first year. It was very neat. The second and third year had lots of eerie mood lighting and fog. Again, fun.

Maybe that is the "all-terrain" in reference.

 

[Ariel484]

oooooh, sounds interesting.. I love running on a dirt terrain!! I wish they would come out with more info already.

Yeah, there really is no info on it yet! I want to see a map of the course and what the cost is... Grrrrr..... I need to plan ahead, don't they realize that?!? lol

Well, registration begins on February 14, so I'm sure they'll release more information soon.

I'm guessing the schedule is similar to the W&D Half Marathon weekend, since both are night races, with the 5K/kid's races being in the morning, the 10-miler happening that same evening (Saturday, September 29) and the expo possibly on Friday and Saturday of that weekend.

SO exciting so far!! I am so sad your hubby couldn't come!

I love all the running merchandise too!

Thanks for posting, Shannon, I can't wait for the marathon!!

Thanks Tammy! :wave: I was surprised to see how much merchandise they had...I was afraid they'd be out of stuff I liked since I was there on the last day of the expo, but I got lucky.

Isn't Yacht Club great??! That's where I was, and tend to always stay now. That view was incredible--we always request a view in that wing to your right, overlooking the gazebo and the marina.

I've wanted to stay at the Yacht Club for awhile now! But we've been renting points a lot lately to save money and if we're really attached to the Boardwalk when not renting, so Yacht Club hasn't come up yet for us. Maybe someday!

Were you awoken by the Epcot firework testing after midnight?? It was like 12:45am....I heard these booms and explosions, ran to my balcony and watched Illuminations till the grand finale. That was on Thurs night. I also heard and saw them again on Friday night, same time, quarter to 1am.

It wasn't advertised, it was just a pleasant treat. And worked perfectly because I never made it to Epcot at night, so to see their fireworks twice was great.

That's so cool! I hadn't yet checked in on Thursday, but I have no excuse for having missed them on Friday. I must have slept right through them! :lol:

Oh yeah, and I wnated to thank you for the great trip report for the marathon weekend. I was there for the whole w/e as well, but it is great reliving the event through your camera and written word.

It was such a fun weekend, congratulations on your finish!! I had a blast.

And thank YOU for reading, and for the congrats! And congratulations to you on your awesome half time (which I saw earlier in the running thread)...great job! :sohappy:

Thanks for showing us pics all about the expo! Good things to know for September! Can't wait to see race day pics!!!!

Interesting that the course for the 10 miler will be an "all-terrain" course. Gotta make sure I got some good running shoes for that! lol

The only "terrains" I ever run on are treadmills and concrete, so I'm a little nervous for that part!

 

[HollyBelle]

LOVE that Mickey plush you picked up! The one we got back in 2009 was wearing red/blue running clothes, so it's good to see that they've mixed it up a bit. Personally, I've never stuck around long enough to enjoy any of the expos we've attended - glad to see this one treated you better than the Princess.

Aren't the Marathon tech shirts the absolute best?! That's the only one I've gotten that I actually wear. I have yet to wear any of the shirts we received with other registrations (Everest Challenge, Princess, Wine & Dine) because they never fit right. But the marathon one is perfect - the park icons down the sleeve are the best part!

Bring on the run!

 

[disneygirl1]

Loving your report!! You motived me last year to one dayrun these races... I am going to do the broad street run here in Philly in May. Hopefully in the coming years I will be in Disney running one!

 

[Ariel484]

LOVE that Mickey plush you picked up! The one we got back in 2009 was wearing red/blue running clothes, so it's good to see that they've mixed it up a bit. Personally, I've never stuck around long enough to enjoy any of the expos we've attended - glad to see this one treated you better than the Princess.

Aren't the Marathon tech shirts the absolute best?! That's the only one I've gotten that I actually wear. I have yet to wear any of the shirts we received with other registrations (Everest Challenge, Princess, Wine & Dine) because they never fit right. But the marathon one is perfect - the park icons down the sleeve are the best part!

Bring on the run!

Isn't Marathon Mickey so darn cute? I love all the details, from his little headband to the bottoms of his shoes. I normally don't stick around the expos much either, but this one was so empty and I knew I had stops I wanted to make (the merch area, the runDisney booth, and The Stick booth) so it was nice to take my time.

Yes, I LOVE the tech shirts. I wear other race tech shirts when I run, but this one is being designated as a non-running shirt that I'm sure I'll wear a lot.

I'm hoping to start posting the race portion of the report tonight. It's written out, but I splurged and bought the photo package, so I need to go home and download that. There were 2 photos I wanted - $35 apiece to download! :hurl: - and the photo package itself was $99, so I thought, "What the heck?!" and bought the whole thing. Good job brightroom photography, you got me. :lol: The funny thing is that it actually includes 3 short videos of me running, so I need to figure out how to post those too so everyone can laugh at how ridiculous I look. :ROFLOL:

Loving your report!! You motived me last year to one dayrun these races... I am going to do the broad street run here in Philly in May. Hopefully in the coming years I will be in Disney running one!

You gotta do one someday, Reese! They are ridiculously fun! :sohappy:

Edited to Add: Oops, missed that you're planning on doing the run in Philly. GOOD LUCK!! :sohappy:

 

[TakeMeThere81]

Loving your report!! You motived me last year to one dayrun these races... I am going to do the broad street run here in Philly in May. Hopefully in the coming years I will be in Disney running one!

Very cool girl!!


I'm ready to hear about this marathon!! It's stormy and nasty here where we live and there's nothing better! I can't wait to see your photos and video!

 

[Ariel484]

Very cool girl!!


I'm ready to hear about this marathon!! It's stormy and nasty here where we live and there's nothing better! I can't wait to see your photos and video!

I'll try to start posting the race portion tonight! Sorry about the crappy weather...blech. It seems like it's gross out everywhere right now...we're currently seeing temperatures in the 20s in good ol' Ohio. In the meantime I'm going to start studying up on how to post the videos. :lol: