The wine and dine half marathon, well technically the wine and dine half of a half marathon, was the most interesting race I've ever run. I'm not going to go into too many details as its been rehashed a lot online but will tell you what I experienced.
We definitely took it easy after lynch. We got back to the room around 230 with a plan to leave at 730. We stretched, rolled, napped and relaxed until about 630 when we got up. We ate our leftovers from lunch, got dressed and off we went. We repacked our post race bag because of the changing weather. The line to get on the bus was insane but moved quickly. We waited about 15 min total. The traffic to get there was crazy!! I don't know what they did differently but it was bad. We got to the pre race area around 8:15.
Went to check our bag (look above-mine was massive!), pee and got in line for Minnie and a pic. Kelly came to meet us and we got an adorable pic!
I will never fault rundisney for the safety of the runners but I do think their communication could have been better. The race director should have given the full info-the storm moved through and hit AK hard and it is not safe for runners, there's another band coming through so for the safety, we will cut out the AK. Basically finding out through Facebook and Twitter is not the way to go especially wth spotty cell phone service.
The race started as a cluster. I somehow ended up in the wrong corral and people were all range of emotions and a lot of people were planning on racing it fast to get to the after party. Since I was still in recovery from NYCM and technically tapering for Infinity Gauntlet, I decided to stop for every pic, no matter how long the line.
I stopped for a pic with buzz and Woody which I had never done before
We headed backstage again and then out of the entrance. I stopped for a pic with vacation genie and Kelly continued on.
Once we got to the Boardwalk, it opened up and I was able to stick to my intervals. We went around to Yacht Club, Beach Club and through the international gateway and there was a photo opp with some old parade Floats that are out a lot so I passed.
Through backstage, through future world and I took a pic of spaceship earth as I had seen that view through 8 races in one year and it still brings me so much joy! I can't believe I'm about to complete every WDW disney race in one year(except Everest-sorry Everest)!
Crossed the finish line in 2:03:48 (18:29 min/mile pace) and was happy and feeling good! The part that sucked was cuting off all of those miles, I was not very hungry. I had the snack pack and was good and decided I would just drink and celebrate.
I stopped to get organized, got changed and waited for Mari and Sheryl. We headed into the park and it was a ZOO!
Definitely the busiest I have ever seen Epcot. Every line was at least 50 people long so we walked a bit more and stopped at France and decided just to brave the crowds. This definitely was the downside of the short race-it seems like everyone went to the after party. We made the best of it.
- France-Pom kir
- Morocco-mimosa
- Brazil-cheese bread
- America-wine
- Italy-prosecco
- Germany-reisling
- Mexico-cheesecake and sangria
- #drinkallthedrinks
It is still my favorite race. I'm not sure how the route will change but I love the night aspect and the course (AK got cut which is my fav park to run through) and of course I love food and wine and the start of Christmas.
Will I do this race again? DUH even though I have had bad luck with it. Will I do it next year? Not sure. I want a true Wine and dine experience but I also will be finishing my dissertation and also getting back from Europe. I also will be back on Jan for goofy 2016 and would need to find people to run with it me! Choices, choices!
Have you had a race cut short before? Have you had a good wine and dine experience?