I'm back home and getting back to my regular routine after running my virtual Dopey in WDW.
I stayed at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, which isn't ideal for running, since nearly all of the exterior spaces are taken up by the animal enclosures. I managed to string together a 5K Thursday and 10K Friday on site, but it was a lot of loops around the parking lot, since the path between Kidani Village and Jambo House is just barely over a quarter mile long.
For the half marathon, I took an Uber over to the Fort Wilderness campground, which was a great way to cover a lot of ground without too many other people around. Although I've never spent much time there, it was neat to see the whole area as it started to wake up for the day, along with some side excursions to Golden Oak and the Wilderness Lodge. There were a few other runners out (and a spectator setting up an aid table with snacks as I was in my final miles) and a few dog walkers, but the circuitous route I took kept me mostly to myself.
For the full, I went to the Boardwalk area and started with a few out-and-backs to the Studios before the morning crowds started to head over, when I switched to doing laps around the lake along with one loop around the perimeter of the parking lots. There were other runners out too, which made it feel a little more like an event; while the exact people changed as the hours passed, there were probably a dozen or so running at any given time. I ran 20 miles in the morning (my longest self-supported run ever), and finished the last 10K walking through the parks later in the day; even with the walking, my total time was only about 25 minutes slower than last year's marathon with the heat.
Running in Florida meant flatter topography and better weather than I'd get at home, and made it feel a little more special than just running in my neighborhood. I felt surprisingly good throughout each run, despite severely lackluster training; it was only later in the afternoons that I felt a little sore, but the recovery still seemed quicker than previous years. This was an especially pleasant surprise, since I had to cover so much distance on the concrete walkways, rather than the softer asphalt roads that are prevalent in races. It was also nice that I was able to run without a mask, since it was early enough and kept enough distance that the CMs didn't say anything.
Like so many things in the last year, it was definitely different than normal, but still fun in its own way. It was great to get those extra hours of sleep without having to deal with pre-race logistics, even though I still started each day around 5:30-6:00am. While there were a handful of folks in the parks wearing old race shirts (and probably more hidden by outer layers with the cool temperatures), there weren't as many as I expected; we had a couple friendly exchanges with other guests, but nowhere near the level of a normal year.
I'm hopeful that things will be back to normal by this time next year, but due to the nature of the event I suspect it may be one of the last things to return to 'normal'. If I hadn't been locked in to my travel plans already, I probably wouldn't have gone in person, but it was certainly a break from the usual event. On my way home, I realized that it was my 10th marathon weekend in a row, so hopefully next year will return to a live event.
)
