Dopey Challenge Review - Part Two - 5k

I woke up 5 minutes before my alarm which was set for 0300. I was impressed I did because I took melatonin the night before to make sure I slept. I'm not used to going to bed so early and when I know I have to be up for something important like this, I usually wake up hourly and I knew I needed rest. Surprisingly I wasn't feeling super tired, I felt decently rested and ready to get going. I was still a little nervous not knowing what to expect for my first runDisney race. There was a lot going on and several things I needed to remember.

I made an electrolyte drink in my room and drank it while I got dressed, did my hair and prepped my run belt with chapstick (it was cold!) and a recovery drink for later. Temperatures were in the mid-50s which is actually perfect running weather for me but was definitely cold while we were standing around beforehand. I packed a Mylar blanket in my run belt too just in case I got too cold standing around in my corral. I wore capri pants with calf length compression socks, a long sleeved tech shirt and zip up top. I ate a Honey Stinger waffle for energy and took a banana and Honey Stinger gel with me to eat in the corral. We had to be there over an hour and a half before the race actually started.

The start line

I got to the bus stop at 3:40am and there was already a line of people and 3 buses waiting. I was on the bus 10 minutes later and arrived at the Epcot parking lot at 4am. I was less nervous about the bus situation having "practiced" the day before by going to the Expo. When I got off the bus I followed the mob to the staging area. Those with bags had them searched while the rest of us walked into the staging area. It was pretty overwhelming when I got there. So many people! There was a map of the course and some signs with directions, DJs playing music, characters, a bag check, a Joffrey's coffee carts and port-o-potty city. I met up with some other friends who were running Dopey near the Joffrey's cart and that calmed my nerves a little.

While waiting to go to the corral I ate my gel and my banana and used the port-o-potty so I wouldn't have to deal with that later. I stretched and then we made our way to the corral. I was glad I had friends with me because the area confused me and I think I would have wasted time trying to figure it out by myself with everything going on and all the people everywhere.

We were at the front of our "wave" (group of 1,000 released from the corral)

There was some amusing entertainment as the race began, commentators got everyone hyped up for the start of each corral and pointed out some of the unique and funny costumes. This is where I made my first rookie mistake. I couldn't figure out where they would release the corrals to go to the start and the side I picked was not the closest. I thought they would release from the front of the pen but they released from the side so we ended up further back in the corral. Not a big deal but that added up when I realized just how long it took to get all those people moving! I had heard there were more runners for the later races so thinking this would be the smallest race, I was shocked when it took us 30 minutes after gun time to cross the start when we were only the second corral!

I crossed the start and hit play on my Epcot Entrance Loop music. This race had a lot of backstage areas where there wasn't a whole lot of music. I saw a bunch of characters including Frontierland Chip & Dale, Gepetto, and the Beast from Beauty and the Beast. I wasn't interested in stopping for any of them as the lines looked long so I kept going. For some reason this race felt kinda long at times even though it was the shortest and my training runs are almost a mile longer. But I was enjoying myself, especially as I got to the World Showcase. It was unbelievable to be running there, to see the countries lit up and an empty, sleepy looking Epcot as I ran through the pavilions.

I crossed the finish line around 6:40am (this race wasn't timed and I didn't time myself) was so wrapped up in taking in the surroundings and trying to take in that I was really there running through the parks that when I crossed the finish line I forgot all about getting a medal and was surprised when someone handed me one! Although 3.1 miles has gotten pretty easy for me now, that medal still felt special and like a big accomplishment because it was my first runDisney race. I felt amazing!

Cue my second rookie mistake. After getting my snack box, water and Powerade, I skipped the photos because I didn't know you could hold up a paddle saying "5k - I did it!" All I could see was a super boring looking gray backdrop and what looked like really long lines. I didn't see what the point of that was and I kept moving. I'd heard the lines for the buses would be nuts and I didn't want to wait for 30+ minutes to get back to my resort. I was ready to take a shower! Well the next day I realized about those photos and wish I'd stopped because I bet the lines weren't as long as they looked. That's the only paddle picture out of the 6 that I don't have. I also didn't know that the pre-race characters are still there at the finish. I skipped them in the morning because the lines were all over an hour from the moment I got there but had no idea they were still there after each race until 10k day. Thankfully I found that out before it was too late!

I got to the bus stop at 6:50am and made my recovery shake. I was on the bus 10 minutes later (nowhere near as bad as I thought even though the line looked awful) and I was in my resort room at 7:15am. I made good time! I showered and got dressed before leaving for Magic Kingdom. I got almost to the bus stop when I realized I'd left my medal in my room. I went back to get it and as I returned a bus pulled up. Perfect! We made it to the park just 30 minutes after rope drop and I proceeded to get a well deserved (or at least that's what I told myself) breakfast waffle sandwich at Sleepy Hollow.

I was on cloud 9 all day and enjoyed taking pictures with my medal. I was also super glad I had more races to come. First, I wasn't ready to give up this runner's high, second, I was so nervous about figuring everything out - finding my corral, getting to the bus stop on time, etc., that I didn't feel like I really took it all in and enjoyed it so I was glad for an immediate second chance, and third, now that I'd gotten my feet wet and knew what I was doing, I was ready for my next three races - as intimidating as they still were. I was also ready to see more of Walt Disney World than just the World Showcase.

Unfortunately that night, my refillable mug stopped working and that took some time to get fixed, so I ended up not getting back to my room until 8pm, despite getting back to Pop Century at 7:25pm. Lights out was much later than I anticipated at 9pm which made me nervous for the earlier wake up the next morning.