Star Wars Dark Side – 4/15/18 – 4/23/18 – Day 6

Here you go @monkcline, race day!

Friday 4/20/18

5K day! We were up at an ungodly hour in the middle of the night and had bagels with peanut butter for some race fuel. We caught the first bus at 3:30 and were to Epcot before long. Pop really is close to Epcot! Oh, and we found out when Disney waters their lawns…..3:00 in the morning! We were able to meet Captain Phasma while waiting for the others to arrive. We met up with Heather and Ryan when they got there and then we all looked around to find Melissa and Jen and their mom and Melissa’s son. Many hugs ensued and we got some good and fun pictures in the pre-dawn. Before long it was time to move to Corral E. Oh my goodness, that was a LONG wait for them to release us! We were to the front of the corral and all started together. Melissa and her son set out jogging and we made sure to see Heather and Ryan just past the start. They were awesome cheerleaders! The first mile is all outside the park and we nailed a textbook 14 ½ minute mile, right on our target pace. We entered the park between Mexico and Norway, grabbed some water at the pitstop, even though we had water with us, and I got a picture of R2-D2 as we passed. Our second mile wound up being right about 15 minutes which was exactly as we planned, knowing we would want to take it a little slower once we entered the park and enjoy it. This was working out exactly as planned! The third mile, after we exited Epcot and International Gateway and just before we re-entered between U.K. and Canada is where everything went wrong. Every single time I paused to take a picture I told Kathy to keep going, don’t break pace. She did wonderful each time and I caught up to her quickly. We saw Chewbacca and I just paused, didn’t say anything. For some reason in my mind she would have stayed with me. But she did what she did every single time previous, kept going, just like she should. I looked around and couldn’t find her. In a panic I texted Heather that I lost Kathy! And I had both phones because we were using hers for pace and mine for pictures! Heather was so valuable in talking me off the ledge and telling me to look around for a minute and then keep moving forward. I did just that and met up with Jen and her mom. They were great at keeping me calm too while we kept moving and looking. Just after exiting Epcot for the final time I got the text from Heather that Kathy finished! So I ran the last of it at a full sprint! I saw Heather screaming her cheers at the finish and got a big hug from Kathy after! We still finished in an under 16 minute mile pace even with our hiccup! So I have come to the conclusion that I will NOT lose her again in our next runDisney race AND I will finish ahead, even if by a step or two. She is not going to beat me twice! We got the best hugs from Heather and Ryan and they stayed with us while we met Boba Fett for pictures with our medals. Then we caught the bus back to Pop to change, and eat our box of food! Man did that taste good! So our first runDisney race was fun, a little panicky, and basically a blast! It did not take long to know that we’ll be doing more!

We got to Epcot just a little after 9:00 after changing and resting and eating a bit. Daisy was meeting so we met her for pictures with our medals. Test Track was down at the time so we got our AP magnets for Flower and Garden and rode The Seas with Nemo with Heather and Ryan and then used our FP for Spaceship Earth. We saw that Test Track was up and running so we all went and used our FP for that. Always fun! And our car outscored by one point, 207 to 206! Those were both great scores, and fun to be that close! Since Test Track had become a wild card by being down, it was now time for our FP for the Character Spot. Unfortunately there was a backup and they were even telling people to come back if it was the beginning of their window. We didn’t know if we would get back and we really wanted pictures with the characters and our medals. Heather and Ryan needed caffeine so they said they’d get Starbucks while we did the Spot. That was really nice and we wound up not having to wait too long. All of them loved our medals! After meeting and Heather and Ryan fueling, it was time to start eating around the World! We started in Canada for the beef tenderloin tips, which were delicious, then hitting the Promenade, and finally working our way clockwise from Mexico. We took a nice little break to ride Gran Fiesta Tour in Mexico, a nice break while we all ate and enjoyed and just had a great time strolling and talking and being in our happy place. One of the absolute best items? The chocolate Macaron from France! Oh my goodness! More by luck than anything we timed out getting to France and the International Gateway pretty close to perfectly for our Beaches & Cream reservation, for our reward for our first runDisney race! I got the No Way Jose’ and I’m proud to say it was so good and delicious! Right to the last drop! I didn’t think my belly would ever be the same size again! After enjoying our treat we waddled back into Epcot and up front where Heather and Ryan took their leave with plans to meet up with Teri at Disney Springs. Kathy was feeling it after a very early morning and day, and unknown to us at the time her foot injury, so she also called it a night, heading back home to Pop. Melissa and Jen were on their way so she told me to stay and play with them. I met up with them and their mom and Melissa’s son at the front of the park where we got some nice photopass pictures with Spaceship Earth as a backdrop. They were able to get me into Test Track on their FP where Jen and I won with our car! Woohoo! Two Test Track wins in a day! Don’t mind me, I’m *not* making the W sign with my fingers like Stacey does in the Must Do’s! We then crossed at the Odyssey and started eating again, and some more drinking this time as it was Friday evening by this point!, this time working our way around the World counter-clockwise. I enjoyed a Dole Whip with rum, shared in their slush from France…wow! Good but strong! I swear these girls were trying to get me liguored up! And good food all over! As we were in France, Heather was texting me with disappointment that Teri couldn’t meet them due to accidents and corresponding traffic on their route. She asked how long I’d be in Epcot and I could just feel that she needed some big brother time. There was no way I was going to let her be feeling that way! So when they got to the entrance I said my goodbyes to the sisters with lots of hugs in Morocco and made my way back around through France, meeting up with Heather and Ryan. I enjoyed sitting and talking with them while they got fish and chips form Yorkshire County Fish Shoppe in U.K. As much as I love those I was far too full from the billion calories I had consumed that day to partake in my own order. But it was lovely to spend more time with them. After that we slowly strolled around World Showcase counter clockwise, briefly seeing Melissa and Jen again in Germany. It was so nice to surprisingly see them again as they had to leave in the morning to go back home. By the time we finished up our tour of the World it was dark and getting close to closing time. Heather and Ryan wanted to stop in at Mouse Gear for a minute so I gave hugs goodnight and made my way out to the bus stop and home to Pop, oh so very tired but also oh so very happy!

Steps: 36,177 (my most steps ever!)
Miles: 16.37