Sunday 1/7/18
This is it! Marathon Day! The completion of the Dopey Challenge!
Heather told us that since we were at the start of the Half, and since the Marathon was going to be much longer to not see them at the start. It would be much more useful to see them on the course. So we were able to move our departure from Pop back by an hour and got on the 4:30 bus, dressed in full winter gear once again. At least today’s high was supposed to get into the 60’s! There was a huge traffic backup and even after we got to Epcot Heather was texting me that they were stuck on the bridge and were really afraid they weren’t going to make the start! Thank goodness they finally did! It was unreal though how we moved our departure from the resort back and still beat them there! Once we got to Epcot we went straight to the monorail to TTC and on to the Magic Kingdom. We were in the first group to be let in at 5:30! Woohoo! It was great, we basically got a pick of spots on Main Street right in front of the Emporium across from the Confectionary. It was a great spot to see the runners as they rounded the corner from the train station hub to go up Main Street! We should have a great view of all our people! In this race we had our three, Heather, Ryan, and Teri and our “pseudo-niece” and her husband, BrieLynn and Rob. They are actually cousins of our niece and nephew, in my brother-in-law’s family. She was so excited we were there to also follow and see them! So since we were early enough we sat down on the towels we brought from the room to read and wait. I think standing that long the day before on the cold concrete, and in the cold, really hurt my knees, and I don’t usually hurt. So we got smart today. The towels worked really well and kept the cold from the ground away from our bodies! And it felt good to sit for awhile! Before too long though the lead hand bikers came roaring through! Oh my gosh, they had to have been going as fast as cars and the 2nd place was drafting right behind the 1st, right in his tire tracks! It was like watching a NASCAR or Indy car race! Shortly after the lead runners came through battling shoulder to shoulder at a full sprint! At mile freakin’ 5 of a marathon! Whaaaaaat?! Slow down fellas, you still have over 20 to go! I can’t imagine anything other than pure survival for that distance! We had a lot of fun cheering on the runners as we waited for our peeps. We saw BrieLynn and Rob and gave them hugs and shortly after Teri and Ryan came through and we got to see them too! And then our Heather came through! When we hugged her skin felt like ice! But she was actually being smart and dressed for when it was going to get warmer later. She looked really good and energetic! Once we saw her it was time to make our way to Animal Kingdom for the next time we could see them. The plan was to see them all three times, MK, AK, and finish at Epcot. We knew we couldn’t make Studios and the finish with as spread out as they’d be by then. This is where it got really interesting and we earned our keep so to speak as spectators. So grab another cup of coffee or your favorite beverage and settle in.
We had to take the monorail over to Contemporary because runners were still coming through so we couldn’t walk. This is where we made our mistake, but didn’t know it at the time. We got off the monorail and went downstairs thinking we could catch a bus to Animal Kingdom. Well, we found out they weren’t running buses from there but at the TTC due to the marathon! So we followed some cast members who were cheering upstairs to try to catch the monorail over to TTC. Ugh, everyone was doing the same thing! While we were waiting we saw the balloon ladies working their way to MK! There were some people just in front of them (safe for now) and some (gasp!) behind them! We finally got on a monorail and over to TTC where they had lots of buses rolling in, thank goodness! So we got in the crowd of hundreds of other people going to AK and found a bus. Once we got close to AK, with the marathon and other traffic it was pretty much gridlock. We had lost a fair amount of time at Contemporary also and I was frantically texting BrieLynn afraid that we weren’t going to make it to see them! The half marathon point was inside AK and we finally reached AK just a little after we saw that they had passed it. So I texted her and Ryan both that we were there and we hustled to where they would make a sweeping turn outside the entrance. Not more than two minutes after we got there we saw Teri and Ryan! And just shortly after that, BrieLynn and Rob! If they knew what everybody looked like they practically could be running together! In fact, at certain checkpoints I would get texts from the tracking that they had swapped positions! Once we saw them Kathy said “ok, let’s go in and see our girl!” I hadn’t received a text notification from tracking that she had passed a point that the others had, I can’t remember which one but it had me worried that she was injured! But we went in and found a great spot on the route by Triceratops Spin where there were hardly any spectators. We had room to lay out our towels and spread out. I texted her to be right and look right just at Triceratops Spin. We chatted with some cast members and other guests and then got the notification that she passed the half! It wouldn’t be long now! We saw her round the corner and I screamed SO loud and Tigger bounced and waved my arms and caught her right in them! I just squeezed her so tight and lifted her right off the ground! She was worried because she was behind the pace she wanted. We gave her a quick pep talk and told her she could do it and that she was awesome and how proud we were of her before another hug and sending her on her way. I think it worked because we would find out later that she ran the second half faster than the first half! We knew we had a bit of time since we wouldn’t see them again until the finish so we used the restroom and got ourselves a snack of a Mickey pretzel and some photopass pictures as we headed out. It was fun to talk to the photographer about the race and spectating. As we left, this is where my expertise and knowledge of WDW came into play and really helped us out. The stop to go directly to Epcot was backed up with people at least 4 buses deep. That was going to take forever! So I thought and had a brilliant idea! All Star Sports is the closest resort to AK other than AKL. Ok, their stop was right close and no one was at it. Let’s go there and catch an Epcot bus! Only one other family had the same idea. A bus was actually pulling up! Traffic still crawled of course as lanes were shut down for the race but this was a lot quicker than waiting for bus after bus. With a little luck on our side and Epcot bus was at the resort when we pulled up! Finally some transportation on our side! We got to Epcot in pretty good time and went inside to Test Track shop to pick up an item for our little cousin. It was really cool to see how they controlled traffic flow, benefitting both guests and runners with switchbacks and holding areas. A quick stop at the shop and we made our way back out to the finish line to wait for our people to finish. It was nice that we didn’t have to leave the secured area so no double bag check, especially since we still had the towels with us! We saw Ryan and Teri cross first as they had passed BrieLynn and Rob. We screamed for them and they saw us in the stands! Shortly after we saw BrieLynn and Rob cross! Her smile was so big seeing us yelling for them! Teri had to leave to try to see her daughter at Bippity Boppity Boutique but Ryan was able to come join us to wait for Heather. BrieLynn and Rob were able to come see us and get hugs and pictures too before heading off to see her parents! After a little while and a few texts back and forth with Ryan we saw our girl cross the finish line with her Mickey Bar! Best finish ever! I tried to keep the tears in check there but I sure had goosebumps! After screaming so loudly that I think people at Universal and Sea World heard us, we made our way to the reunion area. Ryan spotted her and Kathy and I hung back and gave them a private moment together while she collapsed into his arms. That was when I started crying a little bit and then she came over to us and we both broke down in each other’s arms. I told her I was SO PROUD of her through the tears and we just hung onto each other for a bit. If the first hug was awesome and amazing, this one had to probably top it. In fact one of the runners walked by and said she hadn’t cried all day until she saw us two! We finally made our way to our respective buses, Kathy and I carrying their boxes and making sure they got on their bus ok before heading to ours to Pop. We got a little rest break in and then enjoyed a linner at Pop. Kathy had Mickey waffles, which she was so thrilled were available all day!, and I enjoyed the fried chicken.
We then made our way to Epcot where we barely made our FP for Soarin’, which Heather and Ryan missed as they were still stretching it out at the resort. We got row B-1! We met up with Heather and Ryan coming in for our FP at Character Spot. They looked great with all their medals! Dopey was so heavy! I don’t know how they held all 6 around their necks! We all went to get a snack of Fish and Chips for Heather and Ryan and enjoyed sitting by the water with them. Then we all used our final FP of the day for Figment. It was time for them to head over to Studios for a family dinner with Teri and family. So we walked, slowly mind you, with them out International Gateway and over to Studios. Of all the time we spent with them in the parks I think this was one of my favorite memories. Just the four of us strolling along and enjoying each other’s company on what turned out to be a beautiful Florida January evening. They shared some great stories of the Marathon earlier that day and we just had the best time! We got them into Studios for their dinner and we browsed the shops a bit along Hollywood Blvd and then headed home to Pop for a snack and bed. Oh so tired! That was a lot of early wake ups and long days!
Steps: 27,649
Miles: 12.47
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