Marathon

Great weather greeted us on Marathon Sunday Morning! There were a TON of characters and lots of voluntEARs along the course. Some of the same characters as the day before, but in different locations than usual, which was a nice change of pace for the Goofy people thinking we knew what was coming. Mary Poppins' chimney sweep was a little baffled when I requested he squat down a tad so that my favorite character Dumbo could be in the picture. Disney definitely made the race worth stopping for characters because many of them were multi-character stops. For a while along the stretch between Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom I kept hearing "Bad to the Bone." All I could think of was the BBQ joint on the way to the family cottage, although I've never been there. As the music gets louder it gets kind of foggy and a little scary...Who let all the villains get together anyway? There was even the lady from Pirates with Cruella and Scar to name a few. In previous years I've run into Zorro and some Aliens in the cornfield. This year was a cute little raccoon and his friends.I was "Jammin' in the Jungle" with these fellows and the other runners were watching me with odd looks, as well as cast members. Apparently dancing to the parade music while waiting to see the characters is not common. Oh well, it was a great opportunity for me to snack on my fruit snacks and salt packets.I gave Papa Bear a great big hug (aka Baloo) and then continued on my way. Then it happened. The worst thing imaginable in the race, see for yourself: "There's no hope if Tinkerbell is laying down," was heard from a random runner passing by.
People in line started to say, "I believe Tink..." and clapping ensued. Not really, but I can dream.Of course many more characters and things were seen along the way. It was a great race and I ran the WHOLE time. Well, except the water stops where I walk through and drink and waiting for characters. But, this was the first time I didn't hurt and need to start walk/jogging the last 6 miles. I still finished in under 4:30 and was walking without a limp and was back to running/elliptical by Wednesday to keep training for Disneyland at the end of January (3 weeks after the Marathon). Only 333 days 'til next years race weekend starts!