2013 Disney World Marathon Part 2- The Finish

The first half marathon ended at Animal Kingdom and the second started as we headed off toward ESPN Zone.  This part was just like the Tower of Terror 10 Miler and the Wine and Dine Half Marathon.  It was long, there were "hills" and in all honesty probably the most boring part of the race.  There were some interesting characters on the course, like Launch Pad from Duck Tales...

At this point my knees and thighs were starting to hurt.  I stopped at my first medical tent ever for some BioFreeze and that definitely helped... What also helped was the fact that they had sponges soaking in cold water ready for runners at about mile 17.  It was right before we ran into the ESPN complex and I can tell you, those sponges were one of the best ideas ever!

Running through ESPN was interesting as usual.  Got to see a lot of the fields and track.  There were actually some track athletes running on the track which I thought was interesting considering we were all dying and yet they had these college level athletes training right there...  We did run around the baseball diamond just like Disneyland Half.  Disneyland is a tad bit better on this part because they get the boy scouts and girl scouts to fill the stadium while there were just a few people cheering from the seats at the marathon.

As we were leaving ESPN Wide World of Sports, we hit mile 20, which has a HUGE mile marker considering it was the race's 20th year.  They had Mickey, Minni, and Pluto there which was pretty cool and I won't lie, I got an awesome picture!

The course was pretty much exactly like the Wine and Dine Half, but they did make it safer.  At the half marathon there was a line of cones between the runners and cars... during the marathon there was an entire buffer lane with cops inside of it to make sure no one got hurt.  It definitely made me feel better.

Hollywood Studios was pretty normal with Wreck It Ralph as well as Mike and Sully out to take pictures.  I was actually taking pictures with Mike and Sully when I saw one of my friends pass.  After that I saw my Mom and decided to see who could make it back to the finish first.  

After DHS we ran by the Yacht and Beach Club, which have always been one of my favorite hotels.  The only thing that really annoyed me was the trio who decided to take up the entire path to walk and one of them was practically giving a tour to the other two about some of the hotels.  This was a RACE not a TOUR.  Sorry, that is one of my biggest pet peeves and I might not have been the kindest when I passed... blame it on my open water swimming past.

We were ushered backstage behind EPCOT only to emerge in the UK.  From there we ran through the World Showcase and I ran through most of it so I was pretty proud.  I did take a picture with Bell (who really needed to work on her makeup) as well as Mulan and Mushu.  Eventually I made it to the front of the park, around the corner, and hit the Mile 26 marker!

.2 miles left and I was able to finish!

I was alive, I was still moving, and I didn't throw up.  Overall, that was a huge accomplishment.  I started and finished without getting swept.  That medal around my neck has never felt better!  The marathon took me 6 hours and 4 minutes and I was more than proud of that.

My friend and I with our medals... Finished 2 minutes apart!

Will I do another one?  Probably considering I still want to do the Goofy, but I need to train better.  In the days after the race my knees have been acting up quite a bit so I need to do better for them.  Still, I was happy I was able to finish a marathon since it's something I never thought I'd be able to do.