At long last, the much anticipated (and highly controversial)
2009 WDW Marathon Weekend Trip and Race Report!
Chapter 1 - Travel and Packet Pick Up! OR Skim and Look at the Pictures!
The week leading up to the Half Marathon trip had been a bit of a crazy one - rehearsal for Cabaret every night, stuff with the kids. I did manage to get myself packed and ready to go on Thursday night, though I don't remember exactly
how. I got up very early Friday morning, 4:30am early, and drove myself to the Humphrey Terminal, where I parked and smoothly checked in. I did not have TONS of extra time, nor did I race to the gate only to find they'd just closed the doors. The first flight was uneventful, and I may have even slept a bit. Before we landed, the captain said that this plane was going to continue on to Orlando after the stop in Atlanta.
My connecting flight was 2 hours away, so I talked to the gate agent and she had no problem booking me on the plane I had just been on! This was good news because I had been concerned about how I was going to pick up my packet and make it to the POP meet at...whatever time that was. It eludes me already. 4:30, I think, if my plane was supposed to land at 2pm. A few weeks prior, my flight had been changed from a nonstop to this connecting thing in Atlanta and I didn't like it. Anyhow, it worked out very smoothly, since I was using DME - my bag followed along behind. I grabbed a quick bite in the Orlando airport and got into the LONGEST DME line I'd ever been in! I think a lot of people were coming in that morning for Marathon weekend!
Finally, I got to the Boardwalk and my room was clean and ready, but about 1/2 mile away at the end of a LONG hall, passing right by the creepy twin chairs:
They eyeballed me every time I went by and I had visions of them coming to life and scrambling down the halls in the middle of the night. Which was concerning given that I'd be getting up in the middle of the night!
I walked back down the LONG hall and then out to the front to catch the Expo shuttle - they were running them from the Boardwalk Convention Center pick up area. There was a limo there, but that wasn't it. Oh well. It was very nice not having to get a WWoS bus from DHS, but instead having one direct from the resort. Ah, Marathon Weekend, I love you already.
It's super-exciting to pick up your packet from the Wide World of Sports. The only other time I've done that was at the Minnie and I did not take photos then. This was a different set up. Packet Pick up was fairly uncrowded. I waited for one person ahead of me in my line, I think.
I had never seen this before at either of the other Disney races, but they had a station for checking chips. Now, I had bought the 2009 Marathon Weekend Chip, and had planned on using it, but foolishly had left it in the room on my "race" shoes. Go figure. So I had them check the back-up chip they had provided and ultimately decided to go with that one rather than the one specifically FOR that race! Ridiculous!
I finally figured out how to get over to the expo - you had to go up and out and over and around and into the Josten's center, which was actually connected to the Milk House so that you could hear the Expo from in there, you just had to go way around to get to it!!
Wow, the expo was BUSY, but I was on a mission - the only thing I had not been able to find to pack from home was a pair of running sunglasses. It is unfortunate because I have a couple, but could I find even one to pack? For some reason, no. I had bought a relatively inexpensive pair from a booth at the Minnie and had liked them well, before I was unable to find them, so I was going to find and buy the same thing again. I found the booth, no problem - thank goodness she was there!- and then could not figure out for the life of me which glasses I'd bought before. I found a couple of others on closeout and finally, we decided that it was the older version of the "Driver," and fortunately she had some left in the older style. I bought more sunglasses than I strictly needed.
I got my t-shirt and goodie bag and then looked at the marathon weekend merchandise for a few minutes, but felt like it might be a bit of a jinx or arrogant to buy any before I'd actually finished the race, so I left and caught the bus to POP century for the WISH meet. And on the bus, who do I meet but Maria (Worfiedoodles) and her husband! It was very fun to meet someone from Team Ohana right away!
The WISH meet was lots of fun but a little overwhelming. I met so many WISHers, I don't even remember! I don't have a copy of the big group photo, but I did take one of the people getting ready to take the big group photos, so that's unique!
We also gathered as many of the Ohana family together as we could find after the big photo and took a picture by the 70's O.
Eventually, Debra and I decided that we were going to go inside and get some dinner. While we were in line getting the Baked Ziti Marathon Special, a fabulous team dinner formed! Someone had put together a bunch of tables and we kept adding to it. I wish I had a photo, but I was so hungry, I guess, I didn't even think of it! It was a nice dinner, and included a surprise! Someone (I wish I had caught his name!) came around and gave us all WISH socks! Just gave them to us! They have penguins and a green cuff and say WISH on them!
After the meet, It had gotten a little chilly out, and I had a harder time getting back to the Boardwalk than I would have preferred - it wasn't that bad, but I first tried to take a DHS bus, but apparently DHS had closed. I just took the coach back to the expo and caught a boardwalk bus from there.
The interesting thing about staying at the boardwalk is that it is the last stop in the big ring of the 5 Epcot resorts, so if you are going somewhere, it's great. If you are coming home, it's either a long ride OR you can hop off at the Swan and walk a little ways. I opted for the little walk that night, and it was very nice! I did get a little soft serve ice cream from that candy shop and then walked back to the end of the LONG, long hall, past the creepy chairs, and to my room to get everything set up for the next morning. There was one moment where I thought I had no pins! Agh!!! Fortunately, I found three at the bottom of the goodie bag, which is where they were supposed to be anyhow, I guess. Three is better than none. I set the alarm for very early and then set the wake-up call for not quite as early. Since the busses ran between 3 and 4am, I wanted to be out the door no later than 3:25! Going to bed around 10pm (later than I'd planned), I was going to get a solid 4 hours!