The Accidental Marathon (Part 3 of 3)

Hello again, readers. Decided to 'pace' out this series into three parts. This is the final installment, but you should definitely check out parts 1 and 2 if you haven't already. Enjoy!

Pro tip #14: As Yoda said, “Remember your training”. Not just the physical training (which could eventually fail you, like it did me) but your mental training. Stick to your plan, cut the distance into manageable chunks, focus on your goal, and JUST KEEP GOING

WHEN we entered the World Showcase between Canada and the UK I was choking back sobs. Strenuous work always seems to bring out strong emotions in me – I’ve run plenty of races that ended with me in tears on the finish line. This time, with just over a mile to go before completing my first marathon, the tears started early.

Some of the emotion came from other runners – I had seen one runner in a shirt honoring her lost father. I had seen another runner in a shirt honoring her lost daughter.

Some of the emotion came from my family – my wife had done so much to arrange and rearrange our schedules so I could do this. She was spending the whole morning entertaining our son, and I could only hope he was behaving himself. On top of that, I really wanted to see his smiling face. He inspires me in every race – no matter how much I struggle through any challenge, I compare it to what we witnessed him go through – learning to speak, learning to walk, learning to crawl, learning to lie on his stomach. I really needed a big Ronut hug.

A lot of it, though, was the crowds. One of the things I hadn’t thought about in this race, which was currently in the afternoon, was what the parks would be like. When we entered the Magic Kingdom it was dawn (although they had allowed spectators in); however, by the time we had hit the three other parks, they were open for business. They had used cones to mark out where the runners could race vs. where the park visitors could walk. Not only did this severely crowd in the visitors, but since the runners had right of way, there were many choke points where cast members had to hold the visitors from crossing until there was enough space between runners.

With all of this, especially this late in the race with the slower runners like myself clogging up the lanes, I would think the visitors would be frustrated. However, they chose instead to cheer for us. They clapped loudly, shouted encouragements, told us we were doing great. Throughout the race this had helped me along, but now, with only Epcot to get through, the cheers from these strangers brought me to tears. Physically I had little left, but in order to show my appreciation for their well wishes I did everything I could to run when going past them.

Just about every Disney race ends in Epcot, and for just about all of them the last mile is the longest. We reached mile 25 early on in the World Showcase. While running through the countries and trying to regain control of my emotions, I thought of how the rest of the race would shape up. Would we exit the park past Mexico, then run backstage to the finish line? Maybe there was an exit near Mission Mars we would go through?

We ran that last piece of the race all the way through to Mexico. Then over the bridge to Future World. Then all the way down to Spaceship Earth. Once there, we shuffled and stumbled to our right and exited backstage behind the bathrooms.

The backstage segment here was short but powerful. On the left, cast members were lined up clapping and cheering for us. On the right, a gospel choir sang us on.

We shuffled along this short backstage segment, then made a left into the parking lot. We made a quick right turn, and there was the finish line. I had hoped that I would have saved enough energy to run towards the finish line, but my tank was empty. With my legs dead, my back hinged, and my lungs burning, I pumped my arms and threw my legs in front of me as fast as I could.

On the left, Chip and Dale were giving runners high fives just before finishing; on the right was Daisy. I love Chip and Dale, but ran towards Daisy for a simple reason – I no longer had the muscle control to raise both arms. Instead, I gave Daisy a high five (and almost knocked her over since I also had trouble bringing my arm back down), then stumbled along a few more yards until, six hours and forty eight minutes after starting the race, I crossed the blue stripe.

I had run a marathon.

Pro tip #15: Feel – let the emotions carry you – grueling tasks require both your body and mind, so don’t be surprised by big feelings

EPILOGUE: After crossing the finish line, volunteers are there to hand out medals – this one included a spinner showing Mickey running. The volunteer put it around my neck and…boy was it heavy. We then passed through volunteers handing out bottles of water, then bottles of Powerade, then cold towels. Then, something I had never seen in a prior race – red marathon finisher Mickey ears! All of these items were welcome; however, with only two hands and in a lot of pain, it was a lot to manage.

I had wanted to rest for a bit, eat and drink a little bit, and go to the merchandise tent to buy a finisher shirt. However, it was already past one in the afternoon – I was still concerned with how long I’d been away from my family and really wanted to see them. I decided to move towards the buses as quickly as I could (which wasn’t much).

To get there runners passed through the tables where the volunteers prepared the food boxes. I stopped and a volunteer gave me a box and placed two bananas on top. I really wanted the two bananas, but considering I was already juggling two bottles plus the Mickey ears plus my phone plus my headwear from the race (which was soggy from the icepack), I had to give one back.

I hobbled over to the resort bus and sat down – or more like fell down since I couldn’t work my knees. I texted my wife that I was done and on my way back. At the same time I received a text from my mom congratulating me for finishing the race. I hadn’t known this, but my wife had been able to follow my progress remotely and had already posted my finish to Facebook, so she wasn’t surprised that I was only done now.

When the bus arrived at my stop, it took every remaining ounce of effort to not only grab onto the seat in front of me and pull myself up without using my stiff and painful legs, but also to bend over and pick up all the food, drink, and headwear I had accumulated from the race before the bus closed its doors.

One of the peculiarities of running a runDisney race is that when it is over, you’re in Disney World. If you were to run, say, the New York City Marathon, when you returned home you could decide that you were to spend the next two days eating delivery food in an ice bath. For me, instead, I showered up so we could spend the next several hours walking around Epcot.

Keep in mind that this was not the original plan – since I was supposed to run the half marathon the day before, we had planned that day as a rest day, where I would have had time to lay by the pool and hit the hot tub before a late dinner. Since this race had come up on only one day’s notice, and since my wife and son had already spent the entire morning and parts of the afternoon at the pool, we really had to hit a park.

I remember hearing something about “marathon flu” before, how due to all the inflammation and chemical imbalances caused by continuous running, runners can feel like they had the flu after the race. I definitely experienced it walking around Epcot. The most surprising thing to me was that I had no interest in eating or drinking anything. I figured I would be gobbling up churros and ice cream left and right to make up for the lost calories, but didn’t want to eat anything.

We ate a late lunch at Sunshine Seasons and I had to force myself to eat the Sweet and Sour Chicken, which I usually love, since I knew I needed the calories. Later, after riding some rides and watching the acrobats in China (amazing!), we had a quick-service dinner at the Liberty Inn. Again, I had no interest in food, but I took a bit of hot dog…and it was like a choir singing in my mouth! I have known of foods and drinks that are supposed to help runners recover/feel better – Coke, bananas, chocolate – but had never heard anyone mention hot dogs before – maybe it was just me. But with the saltiness, the vinegar and spices, the beef, and the mustard on top, it was the most delicious meal I can remember having.

The second symptom of marathon flu I experienced was that due to all the inflammation I was running a fever. I could feel how hot my body was, and between the pain and soreness, the general fatigue (not only the running but that I had been up since 4AM), and the fever, I quickly became grumpy, which was not what I intended to show the people who changed everything to support my racing.

I had my wife feel my head to make sure I wasn’t crazy about the fever. She felt it too and told me I should take some aspirin. I had intended to give blood shortly after returning from our trip and told her all I needed was rest. I promised her, though, that if I still ran a fever in the morning I would get some from the first aid center.

We Ubered home from the Boardwalk (we had walked there to end the night with some ice cream) and returned to our room. Luckily, my son went down to sleep easily. I read a couple pages from my book, then turned in and closed my eyes, the pillow cooling my warm forehead.

When I woke up in the morning…everything felt fine! My legs were still sore, but they moved. My fever was gone. And my appetite had definitely returned! We started the morning with a breakfast at the Crystal Palace, and I ate my weight in buffet food. I spent the rest of that day eating and drinking as much as I could manage.

Each day my legs became less and less sore, and by the time I had to start the seven hour drive home I felt like normal.

The medal and bib are currently hanging on a medal rack in our basement. The headwear I had worn is in a garbage dump – apparently at some point after the race I accidentally threw it out when I thought I was getting rid of the cold towel. The finisher shirt remains unpurchased – I was hoping I would get another chance during the rest of our vacation to find one but never did. And the marathon finisher Mickey ears sit on my desk at work.

No, nobody at work has asked me about them, and yes, I’m dying to tell them the story. But I’m happy with what I have. I’m still the same person – a slow, chubby runner who can focus on goals. I don’t get discounts at restaurants, I don’t get special lines at airport security, I don’t get priority seating on the bus. Externally the world is the same. But internally I still feel pride at my accomplishment and still roll the words around in my head.

I ran a damn marathon.

Pro tip #16: If you have a pocket somewhere in your running kit, stuff a plastic bag there – that will make it easier to hold all the food and drinks you’ll accumulate post-race

Pro tip #17: Do your best to manage the rest of your day so you can rest and relax after your race. But also remember you’ll be at Disney with your loved ones who sacrificed for you, so do what you can to accommodate everyone’s needs

Pro tip #18: If all else fails, try hot dogs

Pro tip #19: Sign up for a runDisney race now at a distance you’ve never tried before. No, really, now.

Pro tip #20: You can do it