Just Call Us 'The Incredibles'

We started out this vacation with a Disney first--an inaugural half marathon relay run at night through the Disney parks!  Every runner out there must try and do a race at Disney World.  It is so freakin' cool and you will love every minute of it, no matter how far the distance.  The weather was absolutely perfect on the first night of October.  We couldn't have run at a better time.


Everything was exciting down to registering at the Runner's Expo where we got lots of goodies.  Jeremy bought a cool glow in the dark headband and I bought a cool running shirt that says, "This was a good idea 3 months ago".  This is very true for me considering I've down 2 half marathon's and after each one I say I'm not going to do another one again.

The Disney Wine & Dine Runners Expo

ESPN Wide World of Sports!

Being the procrastonater that I am, I didn't have our costumes ready for the race until hours before it actaully began.  Since we were running at Disney and running as a team, I wanted to dress the part.  Jeremy and I both love the movie 'The Incredibles' (who doesn't?!) and I knew that dressing as Mr. and Mrs. Incredible would be comfortable and easy to run in.  Luckily Wal-mart was near our hotel enabling us to find materials to complete our look.  Jeremy is an awesome artist so he was able to draw the Incredible symbol on the shirts.  I painted the shirts and VOILA! we had a costume!

Ready to run!

MUSCLES!!! 

Mrs. Incredible!

The race started at the ESPN Wide World of Sports.  The start time was at 10pm but Disney wanted to be sure you wouldn't miss out, requiring us to be there by 7pm!  We got there with plenty of time to spare.  Since our costumes were awesome, we got a lot of looks and compliments.  I expected a lot of people to dress up, but there weren't many.  I didn't feel as silly since we got such a good response.  Sadly, we had to separate since Jeremy was running the first leg and I the second.


10pm finally rolled around.  I was starving by then but ready and anxious to run!  All I had to do was wait for Jeremy to get to me!  {Waiting....waiting....waiting...35 minutes have passed....waiting...waiting...45 minutes....he should be here soon...waiting...50 minutes....where is he!...53 minutes...he's here!!}  We run together for a brief little stretch and off I go!  I decided to run this race without headphones just because I knew it would be a different experience.  I'm glad I opted out of them because I got to enjoy all of the exceitment throughout the course.  I got a lot of "Go Mrs. Incredible!!!!" which was nice since I knew they were encouraging me.  I also got a lot of high fives.  The volunteers and spectators were just awesome in general.  I've never felt so encouraged by strangers before.

Jeremy running through Animal Kingdom

A lot of runners were smart and brought a small camera with them on the run.  Everyone was stopping on the side and taking pictures with each mile mark.  They would take pictures with the different characters that were out supporting everyone.  There were also a few chefs out giving us a sneak peak of what was to come after the race. The aroma of the food was such a tease.

Running through Hollywood Studios!

After discussing the course with Jeremy, I think I got the better end of the stick.  He ran 1 mile through Animal Kingdom which turned out to be a little congested.  It was at the beginning of the race so the 12,000 people running hadn't thinned out yet.  I, however, had a great experience running through Hollywood Studios.  I ran 2 miles through the park.  It was soooo cool!  I even saw Mr. and Mrs. Incredible there!  If only I had my camera (next time).  The rest of the course was run on the highway which was filled with music, volunteers, and disney characters to cheer you on.  I ended at Epcot for the big finish!!  Our official time was 2:20.30.  I'm a little disappointed in the time but hey, that's what I get for not training harder.

Race Complete, Time to eat at the festival!

After the race, we were free to roam Epcot.  This was the start of the 15th annual Food and Wine Festival.  All of the countries at Epcot were hoppin' with scrumptious food and drinks.  We decided to stop at Brazil and get a grilled chicken kabob that was lightly breaded.  Most people got beer and wine afterwards, but I enjoyed a lemon slushie instead :).

Yum.

A nice end to the night 

I am so proud of Jeremy for doing this race with me.  I know he REALLY loves me since he absolutely hates to run.  I won't make him run again until Warrior Dash next year :) I couldn't have asked for a better partner.  Check out our sweet medals below!

Close up! 

Notice his shirt--"I did SOME of it!"

October Race : COMPLETE!