The End of The Long Road to Dopey

It’s now almost two months after the 2024 runDisney Marathon Weekend.  And I am still amazed that my Dopey Journey has come to a end, and a successful one at that.  It’s been 4 years since I first planted the Dopey Challenge seed in my brain.  Since then we have had a pandemic that nearly shut the world down, I suffered a bout of COVID that has perhaps done permanent damage to my heart resulting in episodes of irregular heartbeat,  I retired from my lifelong career, and I suffered a hip injury that took over 6 months to recover from.

In February 2020, I imagined that I could and would run an 8:30 pace for the 5K, a 9:00 pace for the 10K, a 9:30 pace for the half-marathon, and a 10:00 pace for the marathon.  I even did a test run on a treadmill where I ran a 5K and 10K back-to-back at my target paces with a short rest in between.  By the time I got to the starting line in Walt Disney World, I had added 2:30 per mile to each of my target paces.  And what I ran was even slower than that by at least another 30 seconds per mile.

 

But a lot had transpired in those 4 years, and I no longer cared about my pace.  I just wanted to experience the 4-day event that had people clambering to register every April.  I just wanted to complete one Dopey Challenge, even if I was just ahead of the Balloon Ladies.  

 

I overcame the discomfort in my right hip, it was a non-factor by the time I got to Walt Disney World.  I continued to struggle with episodes of irregular heartbeat throughout my training and at Walt Disney World, but I learned how to adjust my pace and run/walk intervals to manage that.

 

Participating in a runDisney event is such a one-of-a-kind experience. runDisney invites and supports athletes of all abilities, and if you can’t stay ahead of the Balloon Ladies, I have heard that they take good care of you even as they sweep you from the course.   

 

Since I captured a lot of it in on my GoPro, I have videos to give me lasting memories of my experience completing the runDisney Dopey Challenge.  I created a series of videos on YouTube to share the experience with whoever wants to watch. Every now and then I go to YouTube to watch my own videos, especially the marathon video.  I like reliving the experience, it seems to get better with every view.  

 

If I ever find a remedy for my irregular heartbeat episodes, I may be tempted to become Dopey again. For now, I have reached the end of my Long Road to Dopey and it’s time to find another challenge to pursue.

 

Thanks for visiting my Blog,

Jack


P.S.  Here is a link to my Dopey Challenge Recap and Tips video:




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