runDisney 2024 Dopey Challenge Day 2 – 10K

 

Our alarms were set for 2:00 am, but I woke about 1:45 am again and got up and started my morning ritual.  I made sure Cat was up by 2:00 am.  We both went through similar morning rituals.  I had laid out all my gear the night before, so the process was mechanical for me again.   One quick check of my watch, phone and ID and we were out the door on our way to the bus stop by 2:40 am.  We made one of the first busses from Boardwalk and were in the Epcot parking lot by 3:00 am.

 

It was a colder morning.  We both had multiple layers and hats and gloves on. In the fall, I had purchased some inexpensive warm top layers, sweatpants, hats and gloves for this purpose.  I was wearing a zippered hooded sweatshirt and a pair of sweatpants, Cat had a fuzzy half-zip pull over. In addition we both had windbreakers that would go in our drop-bags before we headed to the corrals.

 

We sat in the bleachers for a few minutes and chatted with some friends.  We started getting cold and decided it was better to be moving around.  At 3:45 am we started the process of heading to the corrals.  It seemed a bit more crowded today and I didn’t want to cut it close.  We went through the same ritual.  First, determine what to keep on, what to wear while running, what to throw away, pack everything else and check-in our drop bags.  Start the march to the start corrals, find the water table, fill my water bottle, and use the porta-potty.  It was about 4:15 am now, we didn’t want to enter our corral just yet.  We found an open area outside the corrals and went through our warmup routines and stretching.  That served to loosen up and keep us warm.

 

At about 4:30 we entered Corral C and made our way as far forward as possible.  From there it was the same routine as Day 1.  We saw corrals A and B move into the start queue and up to the starting line and I discarded my throw away sweatpants.  I did not want to be fumbling with pulling those off while in the crowded start queue.  We heard the National Anthem and then we moved into the start queue and watched the first wave take off promptly at 5:00 am.

 

As we rounded final curve to the start line, it was time to plan to shed our throw-aways.  I was trying to wait until the last moment, after the wave just before us was sent off, but it wasn’t easy to determine if we were the next or second next wave.  Rather than risk fumbling with clothing and watches as the gun went off, we ditched our extra layers when we knew we were within two waves. 

 

“3 … 2 … 1” followed by fireworks and we were off.  The hard part was over, now we just needed to enjoy the next 6.2 miles.  The first three miles of the Walt Disney World 10K is all out on roads outside Epcot.  Not all that exciting, especially in the dark.  However runDisney does a great job of sprinkling in entertainment and character stops to break it up.  They also do a great job recruiting Disney Cast Members to come out and cheer along the course.

 

Right after 3 miles, we entered Epcot through a backstage area by The Land.  From here on in, the course was interesting and cool.  We ran through part of World Showcase (Canada and UK) and out a service entrance behind the Skyliner station.  We then proceeded to do a lap around Crescent Lake, past Beach and Yacht Club, Swan and Dolphin, and along the Boardwalk before reentering Epcot at the International Gateway entrance.

 

After a lap around the rest of World Showcase, we ran up the center promenade toward Spaceship Earth, through the breezeway between Connections Café and Creations Shop, and out the backstage areas near Test Track and Guardians of the Galaxy.  Soon we were on the final stretch and across the iconic runDisney finish line. We went through the gauntlet of volunteers and gathered up medals, beverages, and snacks before recovering our drop bags and heading to take the bus back to our resort.


Day 2 was complete.  Time to recover and rest before the half-marathon.  I went through my post run ritual and prepared to just hang out at the resort and rest.  I had video from the first two days that I could start editing, so I had lots to keep myself occupied.  Cathy headed out to Epcot, she was done with her runDisney adventure and free to enjoy Disney world.  

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