Rise and Run
Rise and Run
176: 2025 Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend Recap
Ever wondered what it's like to be part of the exhilarating Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend? Join us as we step into a realm where magic meets endurance, featuring cherished stories from our friends Lora, Melissa, Tonya, Brandy, Courtney, and Jennifer. Whether you're curious about the joys of running through iconic Disneyland landscapes, this episode promises a vibrant tapestry of tales and tips. Prepare to be inspired by our dear friend Roxanne's journey, as she marks her cancer diagnosis anniversary with a powerful run at the Donna Marathon Weekend in Jacksonville, Florida, while supporting for breast cancer research.
Explore the heartwarming community spirit that permeates runDisney events, highlighting the unsung heroes like the third shift custodial crew who add a touch of magic to every race. From the thrills of themed costumes and pre-race excitement, you'll gain insight into the unique experiences that define these races. Our conversations go beyond the races themselves, delving into the camaraderie, support, and unexpected friendships that blossom in this incredible running community. Whether you're a seasoned runner or just getting started, there's something here for everyone.
As we celebrate personal milestones, from PRs to overcoming physical challenges, this episode underscores the power of shared experiences and the resilience of the human spirit. Join us on a journey that captures the essence of endurance, friendship, and the joy of crossing the finish line. With future plans like the upcoming Rise and Run cruise and exciting runDisney races on the horizon, there's no better time to connect with this passionate community. Engage with us on social media, share your running stories, and get ready for more adventures that await.
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3 am again. Why did I ever think this was a good idea? Welcome to the Rise and Run podcast. Join our group of Run Disney friends. As we talk about running at Walt Disney World and beyond. We'll discuss recent runs, training, upcoming races and surprise topics suggested by you, our listeners. Well, the alarm's gone off, so let's go.
Speaker 4:Hi Rise and Run family. This is Nona from South Carolina on my morning training run, wishing everybody success in whatever they're training for. Forward is a progress, so keep going and happy running.
Speaker 5:Hi, this is Erin from Scotland and I'm here at the Rise and Run meetup in Disney Springs. You're listening to Rise and Run podcast.
Speaker 6:Great intros. You talk about diverse locations Nona from South Carolina, erin from Scotland how cool is that? Of course, erin wasn't actually in Scotland when she gave it to us, but that's okay. It counts, erin, we appreciate it. Thanks for the intros. Thanks for being here.
Speaker 6:Hello everyone, welcome to episode 176 of the Rise and Run podcast. Delighted, as always, always to have you with us. I'm Bob. I'm here this week with Greg, hey, hey. Hey. With Lexi, hello. With Alicia, hello. And with John, hey, how you doing Wonderful, wonderful, john. Thank you for asking On this week's episode, the Disneyland Half Marathon race recap. As you are aware, I believe none of the podcast gang was out there. Nevertheless, we had a wonderful group of friends join us to tell us about that race. That was fun. Look forward to hearing that In the Race Report Spotlight. Another big race this weekend, one on the West Coast, one on the East Coast in Jacksonville, florida, the Donna and I forget the race's official title, but it's a race for cancer research, breast cancer research specifically. Big event. Our great friend Roxanne joins us. She's got quite a story to tell about that race.
Speaker 8:If you enjoy the Rise and Run podcast, please share us with your friends and introduce them to the Rise and Run family we want to share on your Run Disney journey. Please remember to follow us on Facebook at Rise and Run Podcast, on Instagram at Rise and Run Pod. Check our YouTube channel and visit our webpage at riseandrunpodcastcom. If you have a question, comment, race report or want to introduce an upcoming episode, call us at 727-266-2344 and leave us a recorded message.
Speaker 2:We also want to thank our patrons, whose support keeps the Rise and Run podcast rising and running. If you'd like to join the patron team, please check out patreoncom slash rise and run podcast.
Speaker 3:The Rise and Run podcast is sponsored by our friends over at Magic Bound Travel, and you know there's two really important things that we want to mention this week in terms of our friends over at mbt, and the first is next week, you know, so one week from day of recording is going to be wine and dine registration. Obviously, we don't have a crystal ball to look into to see if you got in for the race that you wanted to or not, but the smart thing for you to do is get your room reserved now, because I guarantee you, once everyone gets their race registrations, then the rates will most likely, or have a pretty good chance of possibly going up. So you want to lock in the absolute best rate available to you. So I recommend you reach out to our friends over at MBT to get a no obligation quote and put down that $200 refundable deposit to get a room booked for this calendar year's races Now. That being said, though, I know we just had a comment made in our Marathon Weekend chat group the other day about booking a room for Dopey for Marathon Weekend in 2026. Unfortunately, you can't book that right now, but I would have to imagine sometime soon, because I know Disney has been pushing the envelope more and more and more about making those next years of bookings even sooner. So even if you're interested in something for 2026, shoot MBT a message and they'll be able to get you on their waiting list to get you set up for next year.
Speaker 3:Second thing I want to mention is we were just chatting the other day with our friends Brad and Maggie and you know we're again continuing to do those preliminary plans for the inaugural Rise and Run cruise and they wanted us to tell all of you that there are a limited number of those discounted interior staterooms still available. So there are a few left. We want as many people to be able to join us on this epic, epic trick. So be sure to go to magicboundtravelcom, fill out a no-obligation quote form for the Rise and Run Cruise. One of their agents will get back to you and hopefully you can get one of those discounted interior staterooms. So be sure to take care of that ASAP.
Speaker 6:Back to you, bob. I'm super excited about this cruise, greg, even though it is 439 days away Not that I'm counting but it's going to be fun. Now look, I know not everyone can go. I know people have jobs. I know it's more money after spending money to come to Disney.
Speaker 3:Especially coming directly off of a race weekend.
Speaker 6:Yep, still, I'm excited about it and I hope as many of you as possible can make it. I'm sure it's going to be a good time. Let's see here YouTube Friends, if you like, the race report spotlights. We've been recording them and putting them up on YouTube Pretty much unedited, and in fact, in several cases Especially this one there's stuff after. You know like you stay around at the end of the movie to see the stuff after the credits. Well, there's stuff after. So they're a little bit longer, but they're on our YouTube channel, the Weekly Race Report Spotlights. Hey, check them out. I hope you enjoy them.
Speaker 6:Apologies and alibis Haven't done one for a while. I must apologize to my friend, laura known, becoming known better as Sam's mom. Once again, I violated my cardinal rule Don't start listing names because you're going to leave somebody out. Well, the last two times I've done that, the person I left out was Laura. Last week's introduction, we had the group for the introduction. I went back and played it. I'm Laura. I didn't mention Laura's name. I mentioned everybody else, didn't mention Laura. Laura, I apologize for that.
Speaker 6:Okay, friends, let's take a look at the training calendar. Of course, the Disneyland half marathon weekend comes off. The next race up. A mere two weeks away is princess weekend at Walt Disney world training week 15. This is the. This is the big training week before the race. So if you are doing the challenge, you have a five-mile walk followed by a 14-mile run walk. Springtime surprise, eight weeks away, training week eight. Again for the challenge two-mile walk, eight-mile run walk.
Speaker 6:Another important date coming up one week from recording day, less than a week from the day this releases, is registration day for Wine and Dine 2025. Let me remind you, if you have not done this before, that my best advice is to find the community group chat on our Facebook page, whether you're using it on your phone or on your computer. Find that Wine and Dine weekend chat and join us there during registration time. We do our very best to help one another get registered for that race. If nothing else, we keep each other calm as everybody lights up and says you're in the queue, you have more than one hour to wait. So try it out, guys. I think you're going to like it and if nothing else, it's fun. Training updates, kids, anything new.
Speaker 2:So last week I said that I did my first run, Um, and as we were going through the podcast, my, I don't want to say that my chest was hurting, but I could definitely feel from being sick that I overdid it a little, even though I was going slowly. So I made the conscious decision this week to just do some strength workouts. So I've been doing Tom's Challenge again and today I did some leg workouts and so I've been really proud of myself for listening to my body and knowing what it needs. Um, and I will get back out there running. I just want to make sure that.
Speaker 2:I'm okay and I don't hurt myself.
Speaker 6:Yeah, smart move.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:The training update for me.
Speaker 3:Uh, I'm back into the uh the groove, getting ready for the uh, the springtime surprise challenge.
Speaker 3:So this past weekend coach had a magic mile on my schedule.
Speaker 3:So I went and did that and I decided to go a little bit outside of my comfort zone because, as all my friends here know, especially jack, that, um, you know I I really don't like putting myself on camera all that much because, hence why I'm a podcast co-host, but anyway, so I decided to make a little reel, since we had talked about a little bit last week about how to run the magic mile and how to determine those paces and everything like that. So if you are interested in watching that, be sure to head over to our Instagram page at rise and run pod and you can check that out Again. Real simple to do and I'm glad to see that, even though I haven't really done like a lot of speed work recently, even though my magic mile was slower than my previous one, it wasn't so slow that it drastically changed my paces. So I'm happy where that's at and I'll just keep moving forward and I'm sure I'll have another one in a few weeks and hopefully we can get a little bit faster.
Speaker 3:So, but yeah, that's where I'm at for this week. That was a good reel.
Speaker 6:Greg, that was well done. Thank you, appreciate you doing that.
Speaker 8:You might do this for a living, greg. I think, yeah, yeah, this for a living, greg.
Speaker 3:I think, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, you, you would. You would think I mean, of course, you know, I, I, I give all the props in the world to people who who do this on a professional basis and how they can edit it on their phone. Because I did it in my video editing program and at one point my wife was yelled upstairs and she's like what are you doing? And you know, even you know, so a what 50 second reel took me about you about 30 to 40 minutes to edit.
Speaker 6:So, props to you that do this on a daily basis. Yeah, gotcha, gotcha. Training update. Let's see. Yeah, back out on the road.
Speaker 6:I ate something that did not agree with me over the weekend, so that while I was in fact running on Saturday, it was not on the road, and I'll leave it at that. After about 36 hours I was feeling pretty good and I did what I advise our friends to do all the time. If you're feeling, oh, I don't want to do it, I'm going to try, go out and give it 10 minutes. So I went out Sunday and gave it 10 minutes and, for the first time ever, I said that's enough and I quit at a mile and came back in. I did a magic mile today because I was so inspired by Greg's reel. Well, I was supposed to do it this weekend and I did want to get it done. And, as I commented when I made my Instagram post today, I may be getting old, but at least I'm still slow. So I wasn't too impressed with my match mile time. But look, it's a measuring stick and it is what it is and we use it to set our training faces, and so that's what we'll do. A quick word I continue to see and I understand this completely I continue to see friends making comments on social media that I'm having a hard time getting going after I finished Dopey. Perfectly normal.
Speaker 6:It's a major goal, especially if it's like your first time doing it. It's a big goal. You've accomplished it and the feeling is now what do I do? I get it, but the bottom line is you've put all that effort in. You are a runner. You've shown that you can do this, regardless of the pace. Don't waste it. Get yourself back out there, Do the 10 minute trick I just talked about. Go out there, say I'm just going to go for 10 minutes and if you feel okay, feel good, do 10 more or do whatever's on your training schedule. It's, you'll get back. You just have to push yourself a little bit. You just got to get that pump primed and get yourself started again. So do the best you can.
Speaker 3:Don't give up all that hard work that you put into it and don't feel like you're doing anything wrong, because it is a normal thing to occur. I will say there's one thing to get over, grant. We've heard the term dopey blues. Didn't Brittany coin the term the dopey doldrums, or something? Like that, something like that yeah, dopey downers, dopey downers, yeah, Grant, this isn't a cheap way to fix it by any means whatsoever, but the thing that I've always found is finding that next race.
Speaker 6:Yeah, Greg.
Speaker 3:So maybe obviously you don't want to do like something like in the super, super short term, but you know, maybe you know a month or two or three out, you know, find a, you know a local 10K or a half marathon, so that way it almost kind of forces you to get back into the habit of consistent training and then, but you know, but again make it a distance that is manageable. Obviously anything after the marathon or goofy or dopey, or even your first half marathon, you know, can be a little daunting. So just find that race, that, um, you know that that is either local or cheap or whatnot, and you know, and make that training plan. Or if you're with a coach you know, tell them about so they can build out your schedule for and make that training plan. Or if you're with a coach you know, tell them about so they can build out your schedule for you and and that should, that should do the trick pretty well and unfortunately it costs money, though, but but it's a way
Speaker 6:it's a way to get out of it, but you get a medal.
Speaker 8:Yes, you do Most. Sometimes you get medals, bob.
Speaker 6:You get the t-shirt. Yeah, you, you get the t-shirt. Yeah, you get the satisfaction of doing another run. And I wanted hey look, I wanted to share with my friends over in this part of the country, and there are a bunch of them in the Tampa Bay area. I'm at St Pete this weekend. That's a great run that they put on over there. I've signed up for the run with Meb I forget exactly when that is. I've signed up for that lightning St Patrick's Day run that we talked about last week. Reminder, if you're in the area, you want to do that one St Patrick's Day weekend. We've got a discount code Rise and Run. And since we're talking discount codes and races, flying Pig, flying Pig Marathon and Half Marathon in Cincinnati, I will remind you, voted in USA Today as the best marathon in the country the Flying Pig was. We've got a code there. It is FPM, as in Flying Pig Marathon, 25, because this is their 25th anniversary Rise Run. So there you go, no excuses. There's discount codes. Sign up for races, get back out there, quit whining, okay.
Speaker 8:And dying.
Speaker 6:You're allowed to whine a little bit, but yeah, but if you hey, look, if you feel like there's something wrong with you there's not that's normal, but you'll get back out there like there's something wrong with you, there's not that's normal, but you'll get back out there. You'll get back out there, just like our friends who went to the West Coast this past weekend got back out there and did the Disneyland half marathon weekend. Friends, it was a Disney race weekend and none of the podcast gang were there. And golly, going through social media looking at all the photos that were posted, oh, I missed it. But we are very fortunate. We have a group of friends who have volunteered their time to come and talk with us and do a recap of the Disneyland half marathon weekend. Welcome to the Rise and Run podcast friends. Let's start with Laura. Good to see you.
Speaker 11:Hi, thanks for having me. I'm Laura Alegria and I'm from Yakima, washington, so I'm on the West Coast, which is what makes California easier for me, and I ran all three races this last weekend with my daughter 16.
Speaker 6:Cool Melissa's here.
Speaker 5:Hi, I'm Melissa from Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and I'm excited to be here and I ran the Dumbo Double Dare Challenge.
Speaker 6:Dumbo Double Dare Challenge. Glad you're here, Melissa. Let's see Tanya's here.
Speaker 12:Hi, I'm Tanya and I'm from Edmonton, alberta, canada. So nice to meet you, melissa, because I think we've been connecting and crossing paths over the time, so it's great to finally meet you on the podcast. And also agree, it's very easy to get down to California from Alberta, and I ran the challenge with my husband and my daughter joined us for her first 10K and she had a lot of fun.
Speaker 6:Awesome. We'll talk about that later. Yeah, please. Awesome. Two friends from north of the border. I didn't realize we had done that. That's great. Brandy's here with us, Hiya Brandy.
Speaker 13:Hi Brandy from Houston, running the perfect season. I blame Greg, Of course, you know.
Speaker 3:I thought I was free on this one, but obviously I'm not so. I'm very glad that you're here.
Speaker 13:It's fantastic. I'm kidding. I thank Greg.
Speaker 6:We'll explain later. Perhaps Courtney's joined us. Hi, courtney.
Speaker 14:Hi, there I'm Courtney Mintzel. I am living in New York City, and so going to California was a trek but it was a worthwhile trek. I did the Dopey to Dumbo. And yeah, had a great time and excited to be here.
Speaker 6:We're glad you're here and Jennifer has joined us.
Speaker 15:Hi, I'm Jennifer. I am in Sugar Land outside of Houston, or Land of Sugar as I like to say. I ran just the half with my youngest daughter. It was our fourth time running a half marathon together. Her sister my oldest was unable to join us. We were supposed to be the three fairies but my oldest had work requirements so she had to back out. So I was kind of bummed. But yeah, we just did the half.
Speaker 6:Okay. Well, let's get to talking about the weekend. I'm excited to hear your perspective, alicia, kick us off.
Speaker 2:All right, so let's start at the beginning for the Expo. Brandy, why don't you start off and tell us how the Expo went for you? The?
Speaker 13:Expo was really smooth. So I've done all three of the California races since they came back, so January 2024, and then the excruciatingly hot September races and then this one, and I think just each time they get better right. So I'm going to give Disneyland credit. Every time they seem to learn it gets a little better, a little smoother. Got to see Coach Twiggs, got to see Jeff. It was a really good expo, very smooth, very simple, particularly if you were Dopey to Dumbo. You know Dopey, the lines were long, it was really crowded. I found it a little chaotic for Dopey. But I thought the Dumbo Expo was fantastic. Merch was stocked, people were happy, lines were short. It just went really smoothly.
Speaker 2:Perfect. That seems to be a running trend for Disneyland, that all the merch is there not like Disney World, is Melissa, how was your?
Speaker 5:experience the like Disney World is. Melissa, how was your experience the same? So I flew in Friday. So we came Friday afternoon and it was quiet and there was no line for Jeff and the merchandise was like all neatly on the racks and there was lots of merchandise. There was no line for the bibs. It was super, super smooth, it was fun. I got to, I got a bracelet from BB Brooke and that was exciting to meet her and I don't know I ran into so many people that I had met at marathon weekend. So I thought it was quick, smooth, easy, small, but I liked. It was not overwhelming like I feel sometimes at Walt Disney World, but it was. Yeah, it was awesome.
Speaker 2:Jennifer doing just the half. Did you go on the first day of the expo or did you go later in?
Speaker 15:uh, well, with being a teacher, um, I only took Friday off, okay. So I got in um pretty early and then you know, on Friday doesn Friday it doesn't open till, didn't open till noon, and I forgot about that. So I get there, I get over, walk over from Pixar place to the Disneyland hotel and I'm like, oh, wait, a minute, I got an hour. I walked down to Earl sandwich and bellied up and had a lunch and then by the time I was done eating and having a tasty beverage by myself, um, uh, was able to get in. I had to wait, we had to queue or whatever. Um, having done the previous four, covid and um, cause I did, we did it 10 years ago.
Speaker 15:Um, the expo, it was all different for me because we would go underneath the hotel and that's where you picked up your bib and it was all. It was chaotic then, like it was, the lines for merch were just crazy, um, and I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't as crazy, cause that's what I was fearing, because back before it, before they cut them, expo was crazy. Merch area it was just. Yeah, it was not an enjoyable experience, especially when you have two younger kids in tow. Um, but this time it was a breeze, but we still had to queue a little bit because we were there right when they opened and then my daughter had to come in. She got in late Friday. We had to go back over on Saturday and we just walked right in and I did have our bibs checked because of what happened in Florida.
Speaker 15:Make sure I I normally like skip that part, but after the debacle of you know in in world for marathon weekend, I'm like I'm gonna make sure that they, they hear, they see my, my bib. So, compared to 10 years ago, much calmer but smaller, um, I was kind of disappointed. There wasn't more booze and it was just I don't know. I I kind of like the bigger expo for more options of shopping and whatnot, um, but I can't complain that it was all in one stop shop it seemed like. So that's just Disney. Disneyland is just condensed, right, um, whereas Disney world is just much bigger. So it it fit the fit, its profile bib verification.
Speaker 3:So good on run Disney, for you know, within a couple of weeks time, pivoting to make sure that that could be checked. What was the process to get your bib verified?
Speaker 15:It literally was like in the middle of the ballroom and you just walked over a timing mat and it picked it up and it you know your name popped up on the screen just to make sure that it saw it.
Speaker 3:Oh perfect.
Speaker 15:Yeah.
Speaker 13:Yeah, yeah. So I was one of the dopies that had a broken bib on two days and I was super worried because of my coast to coast and perfect season and so when I saw that I said, oh, thank goodness Disney saw a problem and they fixed it. So when I saw that big verification, I walked over it like five times just to make sure. I was going for my second coast to coast. I times just to make sure I was going from my second coast to coast.
Speaker 13:I want to make sure I got Dopey to Dumbo and they were super nice and it popped up really quickly and it took all that stress away. So well done, disney, for solving that problem. I'm glad it worked out, absolutely.
Speaker 8:How did that work out for you Cause? Did you register that your bibs register for the half or the full in Disney Disney world or not?
Speaker 13:No. So I didn't show a time, like if you look me up, it doesn't look like I finished. So I had to go to runner relations and show them like my fit. I was super paranoid. I showed my finish line photo, I showed my Garmin. They said, no, it's fine, we believe you, we got it. But I was worried about the perfect season and don't put your number. And they were super nice about it. They were like that's on us, we screwed up, not your fault. So they were very, very I want to give them credit. They were very kind and considerate. I showed pictures of the mile markers and the finish line and my garment and they were super nice. And so when I went to pick up my bib for Dumbo, they gave me my coast to coast bracelet. Like it all went super fine.
Speaker 8:That's one of the questions I was wondering about. What would have happened to the people that didn't show up for those two that were doing coast to coast?
Speaker 13:Exactly, it looked like I didn't finish. If you look at Disney like finish results, I don't have any. But again, I showed them my stuff and they were super gracious, no problem at all.
Speaker 14:Courtney, what was your experience with the Expo? Yeah, I echo a lot of what everyone else has said about just like calmness, especially that like dopey was my first run, disney for first marathon. I hit full send on all my running goals this year, um, and it was definitely bigger in disney world. And then coming to disneyland it was like, oh, it's so calm and chill and like it was just a very different vibe, which was kind of nice. Having the wonderful and like busyness of Disney World and Dopey to go to like a more calm, serene, quaint is how I describe Disneyland and it lives up to that, I think, in every single way. So it was very nice and like I was very proud. I was like, okay, this is gonna take me all day and then I was done in like two hours and that was even like a long time of just taking my time around the expo, but it was lovely and I felt like everything went very smoothly and I didn't have any issues.
Speaker 2:Tanya do you have anything to add?
Speaker 12:We did it on the Friday just after noon and we were at Disneyland that day. So we left the park and went over through security or out of security into Disneyland and yeah, it was really fast. It was a little bit I felt it was a little bit kind of not messier, but there was just a little bit more happening than Disneyland last year, even though it was more smooth. Messier, but there was just a little bit more happening than Disneyland last year, even though it was more smooth. It just felt there was more people that didn't know where they were going and maybe it's just because it right opened at noon at that period. But it was fast and easy, knew where to go, got all our stuff, did the quick purchase and then got right back into the park. Laura, anything else?
Speaker 11:to add yeah, yeah, so I don't know if anyone else here is a member of Club Run Disney, but I am a Platinum Club Run Disney, so it's a different experience for me. Um and um. So my expo went really easy. Um, um, even though, uh, we get in first, people start lining up about an hour in advance of when they let us in. So, like I got in line at 730. No, what time did we get to go in? I'm sorry, I got in line at 630 because we got to go in at 730. At Disney World we get to go in at eight, so we line up at seven. So it is still busy with all the platinum people and there's a couple of kinks for that timeframe, which I'm sure you all feel really bad about it for us. But it's hard when you pre-order your stuff and you forget what you pre-order in.
Speaker 11:Disneyland, the pre-order is not within the confines of the merch where, like it is in Disney world, so you have to ask to be escorted over there to get your pre-ordered stuff before you, and then, if you want it, like I want to make sure I don't double buy things and so so there can be very nice cast members who help you do that. And then I got a grumpy cast member this time.
Speaker 11:And so that was a little difficult but I actually when I got back they made me leave all my stuff. Like I picked up all the things I wanted and they made me set it down and when I got back from getting my pre-ordered stuff like a cast member was like taking my bag to put it all back Cause they thought it was a return pile and I was like no, no, no, no no.
Speaker 11:Oh my gosh. So I I was talking with them a little bit. I had a great conversation with um, a cast member, after that and she was amazing and I just was like you know, the logistics are a little wonky for us at this time because, like, if you're gold or if you're coming in at any other point, you can go get your pre pre ordered, pre pre ordered stuff before you go into the main expo. So that was a bit of a difference. So I had a great conversation with her and, just like all we have all said, it's small, they're confined, they have construction going on that we can't see, stuff going on in the background that we can't see, and so when it feels crowded and there's not anywhere to try on, like there is at Disney World, that's a little bit trickier, but it's just because they're small.
Speaker 11:But everything went, went smooth and I ran for my daughter, who is not in club run Disney, so I still had to go upstairs and get her bib and come back down and get her shirts and all of that went, went super smooth. I let the line go in. People start queuing up. I don't know when they start queuing up to go in to get bibs. But the line is really long and so I let everybody go in and then I went in after that Super easy.
Speaker 15:I thought the merch this time, like the quality of the jacket and the variety of different jackets, was surprising. Like they had a pullover. They had two versions of the jacket. Then they had the vests and I tried that, tried those on, so I heard not having a lot, but they had different varieties of stuff in the quality of the jacket. I actually bought it because I usually don't for a half marathon weekend, but just because it was A my favorite color and B it was a really nice quality jacket, so I was pleasantly surprised.
Speaker 6:Oh, okay.
Speaker 15:The quality of the shirts that they were selling for the merch.
Speaker 6:Good. So we're surprising good, not surprising bad.
Speaker 11:That's a good thing, Correct, yeah, yeah, yeah, thank you for saying that, jennifer. I have this sitting right next to me. I don't know if anyone else bought this, but the new lounge fly model Did you see that? Yeah, it's so cute. It's soft, so it's packable and there's like a clear pocket for your metal. There's so many pockets you can put a real water bottle in the side of it. I was very excited about this bag, so I hope they I hope they do more in for like this model for future races very nice okay, you got to tell me more, because the bag that is released for the pre-order for wine and dine looks very similar to that.
Speaker 9:We thought it was lug, but it doesn't have a lug on it. It's lounge fly, though. Yes, it is long wait.
Speaker 11:No, I'm sorry, it is look okay. Right, I didn't even notice. It is like yep, but it is um, it's bigger. I can fit more stuff in it, like I can put my poncho and, you know, my sunglasses and all that inside so many pockets, like there's just so many pockets.
Speaker 9:Yeah, we were talking about that today on our chat between us, because they just released, or people posted, pictures of what the Wine and Dine merch is going to look like.
Speaker 11:Yeah, I'm sorry I misspoke on the amount, that or the brand, but yeah, I love it all righty.
Speaker 3:Well, expo's finished now, so now it's it's time to everyone to go to bed and get ready for a rocking good time with a baby group 5k. And one of our participants today not only ran a 5k but also celebrated the birthday. Brandy, tell us how it was to run a 5k on your birthday this was maybe my favorite disney race ever so.
Speaker 13:It was my birthday, it was a 5k, so it was super chill. I, I was Corral, a Y'all. I don't know why. I have no proof of time. The Disney gods blessed me for my birthday.
Speaker 13:So I'm standing there right in front of Carissa and just in front of the whole situation, and you know, the thing about Disneyland is, on the 5K you start right there at the castle. I mean it is so special. I mean God love the Epcot parking lot, but it just cannot compete, right, let's be real. So you're standing there, you're Corella. You're right in front of Cressa, you're dancing, you're partying. I have this ridiculous sparkle unicorn rainbow birthday outfit on and it is my birthday and I'm doing the perfect season. And it just doesn't get any better. My buddies are with me and I am just, I'm just bouncing right, I'm like. I'm like Tigger, I'm just.
Speaker 13:It was fantastic Takeoff. And you know I stopped for every single picture because why would you not? And you know it was just beautiful. And the crowd is hopping and the characters are out. I just think that might've been the most perfect Disney experience. It was a lovely, lovely little run and just the characters and the staff, the cast were excited. I just thought it was fantastic. So I hope everyone enjoyed that 5K. I thought it was super special. The weather was perfect. You know we froze a little bit. At Marathon it was a little rainy. This was just gorgeous.
Speaker 3:How were character lines? Because I know, you know, I know everyone's been saying for you know, each race that Disneyland has been back, they've been improving more and more and more and I remember that was one of the points of contention, especially within the shorter distances that you know either characters weren't lit well, or they didn't have photo pass, or the lines weren't saying how was that experience for?
Speaker 13:you. It was great for me. I will say again I've done all three of them since we've been back. So january last year was a little tough.
Speaker 13:There was the mile three water stop we all survived yes, right, there was the dumbo situation, where dumbo was out for like 30 seconds and then gone and they cut the line. I will say again, the theme of this for me was every time disneyland has gotten a little better, so it's fantastic. I caught all the characters and the cast. They were very open. They would tell you hey, you, hey, you can get in this line, but you know the carts might be coming. I mean, I thought they did a fantastic job communicating and you could decide if you want to stay or go and look. Even though I started Corral A, I stopped for everything and hung out with everybody and I finished a little bit in front of the carts, but it was my birthday. It was fantastic. But I will really give them credit. I think that everything improved the characters, the cast speaking with you about what was happening. It was fantastic.
Speaker 3:Excellent, excellent. All right, laura, what was your experience like during this Guardians of the Galaxy themed race?
Speaker 11:I'm going to echo, brandy, it was awesome. I was in Corral Sea with my daughter, so I was a little bit back. I was at like the start of Main Street, so I wasn't up around the circle or the castle and they did projections along the buildings and pyrotechnics along the top and fireworks, and so it was really fun. And they had platforms down Main Street, like they did for in the fall for the villains, where they had the technical guys who had to help out with the, and they ended up they were dapper dance, right, like they ended up being, they were just dapper dance, and so they were stationed down main street and then they ended up singing the national anthem. And so it was. It was really fun. I was still cold, brandy. My feet and legs were freezing. I was pretty bundled for that 5K. Not as bad as Disney, as Marathon Weekend, but yeah, it was great. It's the only place you get to do that right, starting on Main Street. So yeah, it's wonderful.
Speaker 13:I'll say one other thing about the 5k. Yeah, I had a lot of layers on with my rainbow sparkle unicorn outfit, um, but when you came around to do your photo with great, so gamora and star lord were hanging out up top and I had this ridiculous rainbow wig on and star lord's like oh look, she has colored hair too. And so gamora started talking to me. She said, well, that's too many colors and they had this whole little bit while I was waiting in line. So they're up top and they were just the the level of um, you know, the acting that was going on, like they were yelling down to me, just playing along with me while I was in line. That was outrageous. Like you don't always see that level of interaction. I thought it was fantastic. So props to the cast members who were truly acting and enjoying the moment. It was quite fun.
Speaker 8:Now Saturday, the 10K. So I heard and I saw that you got a little inspirational message from somebody special before the 10K.
Speaker 5:So Ashley Eckstein is that how you say her name? She was on the stage. It was so cool. She gave an inspirational speech about pushing through hard things and being the best that you could be and just including everybody and it was awesome and like really being grounded in the moment and taking it all in and it was so. It was so cool, she was so positive, it was really neat. Um, I love. This was my favorite race I've ever done in my lifetime, so I was super excited to be a part of it.
Speaker 6:Beautiful. We have two, we have two favorite races, and we're not even quite halfway done here. That's fantastic. I love it.
Speaker 12:So, uh, ashley is the voice of Ahsoka, who was the uh theme for the race, and Ashley did run as Ahsoka, which I think was probably really cool the 10k uh was the first race that we did with our daughter, who had never done a race, and we were training her to come and do this with her and she was not very excited to wake up really early, although we stayed at the best western instead of on property this time, and so we really it backed up right on to the the race. So it'd be nice if we could just jump over the big wall, but it really took us less than 10 minutes from our hotel room to the corral Like security was walk right through, and it was just really quick to get in there. And we were in, I don't know, maybe C Corral, somehow we weren't in the same corral, which I thought was weird to have a minor that is associated with you that didn't have the same corral. So she was in B and I was in C, so we all had to come back to that, which was really strange, but she was just so excited and wanted to run.
Speaker 12:And if you've been following along, then we know that I'm the one that had the sad leg fracture in May and I was just really trying to rehab so that I could be able to successfully do that. But I'm just now on a 15-30 run walk I can do that and she was so disappointed that she couldn't actually just run the whole thing and had to, like, stay slow and be with me. But then she got to really enjoy it all and see all the characters and kind of understand this, this weird thing that we do really early in the morning. All dressed up, she was bb8 and I was r2d2 and husband was a c3po, so I think she's she's in the club people.
Speaker 8:One of us, brandy.
Speaker 13:So it's funny. I also stayed at the Best Western. It was amazing. You could hear the announcers starting while you were still getting ready. It was fantastic. I will say that's a huge plus to Disneyland. You just walk around behind, You're there in like 10 minutes. It's fantastic. I was also BB-8, and I ran with an R2-D2 and a Leia. So it was fantastic and the cast was super excited to see people dressed up in kind of Star Wars costumes. So we got a lot of validation from the cast and it was really fun. So I think it's just fun to remind people like Disneyland is simpler both. The expo is smaller, it's all smaller, but you can also just walk to the start line. That's a huge plus, especially if you're going with a kid or someone who's not a zealot or a cultist like we are.
Speaker 11:You can just show them like the easy path, laura. So I just I think that this 10K course is the best course of all Disney courses.
Speaker 11:It is a good one yeah it is mostly in the park and it's just, it's just so cool. And so we, um, my daughter was Ahsoka she, that was like she was so hyped about this metal and this theme, and so I was, um Darth Vader, who I didn't realize was her master or whatever, and so I just, um, I just had a Darth Vader tank top, so that's what I went with, and my daughter thought that was hilarious because I didn't know the connection, but it's just so cool to have, like most of it in the park and it's just the best. I just think it's the best course, so to get to experience that as the first that's where we started and ran into.
Speaker 14:It was nice to get to experience that while running and it was beautiful and stunning. And then to go into Disneyland and running up Main Street. It is magical. Each and every time I was like core memories are being formed and made, so that's like often has been. My favorite part is like going up Main Street and then in the castle.
Speaker 6:Well, I agree, going up Main Street, whether it's in Florida or California, is there's nothing like it. Well, it sounds like we're having a great time. 5k is done. 10k is done. We had a meetup Saturday afternoon and I am tickled to death that you guys look like you had a great time. Well, I think it's great. I'd love to hear about how it went. How many folks came and? Did you have any trouble finding the place? And, jennifer, we haven't heard from you for a while. You said you were at the meetup. How did it go?
Speaker 15:It was good I was around a little late. I have friends that live local and so we had met up for lunch and since I didn't rent a car, they drove and dropped us off and whatever, so I had to hightail it. So it was fine. I had brought and I had to go up to my room to get the cookies I made. So I did bring a small amount of cookies that fit in my bag. But, yeah, it was nice to, you know, meet up with people that you normally see on the East Coast.
Speaker 15:And yeah, I looked it up on the map because, yeah, yeah, you can't see it behind all those shrubs, behind the hedges right and so and I kind of scoped it out the day before when I was by myself walking around Disney and but yeah, it was nice to meet up with with Russell and met his wife and, of course, alan and his wife and, um, all the lead the I guess Alan had invited. They had some meetup with all the legacy people.
Speaker 6:Yes, they did, that's right.
Speaker 15:They were over in one section and then we were in another section, so they're like he was going back and forth. I'm like what's going on? Like okay, we'll do that, so anyway. So yeah, it was nice to. It was small, um and uh, and I luckily I had enough time to grab some water, because there's really no quick place to go grab a drink because you're kind of secluded, so you kind of have to have that in mind as you walk over there what you're going to drink.
Speaker 8:But other than that it was nice to meet everybody.
Speaker 15:Brandy was there and ran into Kay and everyone else, so it was fun.
Speaker 6:Melissa about how many people do you think were there for the meetup.
Speaker 5:Would you say, I don't know, 50, maybe Around 50 there, and it was, I'd say, the highlight of this whole weekend. For me was the 10K, but most of all, I spent so much time with Alan and Grace this weekend and they are the most incredible people. So and they did such a good job kind of hosting that meetup and it was the bracelets and I don't know.
Speaker 5:Everyone just was so lovely and you could feel the love and the magic there and it was just so exciting. And, like, I talked to Mark for a bit and Sarah, and then we met a lady from Bozeman is that how you say it Montana, and she was. I think it's her first run Disney race and I'm pretty sure it was her first half marathon and she was so nervous so she was asking us questions and then I brought her over to Mark because I I see Mark answering so many people so thoughtfully, so he was doing such a good job answering her questions and calming her down. But we want to know so badly if she was able to finish the half marathon. I have no doubt that she did. I'm sure she finished, but I'd love to hear how she did. Sarah and I we ran into each other at the park and then we were asking each other did you find her? And I can't remember her name. I feel terrible. I just know she's from Montana.
Speaker 6:You said she's from Bozeman Montana.
Speaker 5:Yes, and she's an older lady.
Speaker 6:I'll bet you could find it in the results, because they list the hometowns in the results. Okay, I'll bet you could find that, and I think you said she listens to the podcast.
Speaker 5:Yes, and we encourage her to call in to tell her story. So hopefully you'll get a call from her 727-266-2344.
Speaker 6:Dial right now. Operators are standing by. Brandy, how were the cookies?
Speaker 13:The cookies were amazing. I think it was Kelly that brought this cornflake marshmallow chocolate. Yeah, I heard about Kelly's cookie, oh my God, I ate like I don't know 20 of them. No, I'm kidding, Not 20. I wanted to have 20. I only had like two to save them for others but honestly, they were amazing. I only had like two to save them for others, but honestly, they were amazing and the meetup was fantastic. That location is great.
Speaker 13:I mean, yes, you have to spend it behind the trees, but it's so quiet and idyllic and we had time and space and it was just. I agree with Melissa, it was a gorgeous meetup, it was just. I had a blast. We traded bracelets, we traded stories, we agreed to meet up and take pictures before and after it. Just wonderful things happen there and that's that's credit to you guys in the community you've built. It was lovely.
Speaker 13:I mean, you make a funny point, bob, like none of the hosts were there and it went perfectly fine anyway, and I think that is something you take as a compliment, right?
Speaker 6:Oh, absolutely. I'm very proud of that. We all are very proud of that, that the community has grown as it has, and I think that's just a wonderful thing. And you commented on Alan and Grace and, of course, several others. I think it's wonderful that Alan loves being part of this community. That's genuine, it's all genuine, it's genuine from all of us. And I go back to Jeff Galloway's words you cannot fake that and it's just a wonderful thing. So I am tickled to death to hear that the meetup went as well as it did. I'm excited for all of you. I don't want to close it off if you've got something else to say.
Speaker 9:I was just going to say where's the recipe? Can we get that?
Speaker 6:I hope so Please share it. I want to know more about this amazing dessert. All right, we'll get up with Kelly and we'll find out what the recipe is. We'll see how we do.
Speaker 9:Okay, so next up the last race of the weekend, have the half marathon. So we're up on sunday morning. How are we feeling? What's what's going on?
Speaker 15:tell me about your race, let's go with jennifer, my daughter and I had to eat dinner later than normal, but because we were eating in the hotel and we didn't have to get up as early, um, we didn't have to go to bed as early, so, but three o'clock still came, early, um, and we were staying at Pixar place, uh, so we're feeling pretty good, um. So, yeah, the the getting up, we had to walk to catch. They actually had a bus from uh, the Grand over to the start, because we were on the other side of where the start was, which was fine, which kind of saved our feet and where to go. So, yeah, the not 2 o'clock wake up was kind of nice, but it also kept me on central time because I still had to go to school and go to work the next morning after flying home, so that kind of kept my body on the same uh time zone, so that was fine. What about you, Courtney?
Speaker 14:Yeah, I, um, I agree it was nice to wake up at like 2, 45, three, not two or one 30. Um and I stayed, stayed at the grand legacy, which was literally right on the start line oh yeah, I've stayed in the best western and it was great.
Speaker 14:I was like, oh and because the crowds weren't as, or it didn't seem as, packed, even though I got there like pretty much right when they opened, it was again just much chiller and calmer than dopey um, so it just got to settle in and then I really enjoyed how they took us through both the parks again, but in a completely different way, which was really nice, because as much as I loved dopey weekend and running, I think I was a little over epcot by the end of it yeah, and running around Epcot I was like, okay, if I don't have to see Epcot again for a little bit, that's fine.
Speaker 14:No shame to Epcot, we love it.
Speaker 6:No, we understand.
Speaker 14:Yeah, and so it was really nice to have like a completely different way, going through Disneyland and then California Adventure and like we ran down Main Street instead of up it. So I really enjoyed the different course and it that way, especially doing the 10k and then the half together, um, not having like the visual fatigue, even though it was only two races, but the visual of like, oh, we see it differently, so it feels different, so, um, and then the streets of Anaheim were fine, um, but I, I personally ran the half a little harder than I intended, but I think by the time we exited the park so I was like, okay, I'm ready to be done, I want to be done, I'm I tired and being, and I also like had just recovered from the flu. It was I'm grateful that I I'm not grateful that I got the flu, but the timing of it worked out really well that I got sick like the Friday and then had a whole Friday to recover, which, tamiflu, is a godsend.
Speaker 6:Yeah, get it in time, it sure is uh, yeah, that girl does her job.
Speaker 14:Um is what I learned um, but yes, I was very grateful to um be well enough to do both the 10k and the half um and really, yeah, just had a lovely, lovely time and much slower feeling, even if I ran them harder than I did any of the other races. A slower vibe and feel to the whole weekend was really nice coming from Dopey.
Speaker 3:Courtney, quick question for you on the theme of this race, because I remember when the artwork originally got announced. Remember when the artwork originally got announced, everyone was a little confused about, you know, this adventure Mickey thing. So was there a strong tie in to Indiana Jones? Was that supposed to be the theme for this race or was it more just a generic adventure Mickey?
Speaker 14:I would say both, because indiana was on the course so he did appear, um, he wasn't like a full-on character stop, he was above so you could wave or selfie with him, and that was traditionally, in my experience, a lot more of the characters that were out for both the 10k and the half, and that was something that I was like, oh, it's a little sad there weren't as many character stops, um, but hearing also that this is their third time coming back since covid, that also makes a lot more sense and I'm like, yeah, they're doing what they can and it's nice to hear that it keeps getting better. But also at the start of the race, um, mickey was in his like adventure explorer and all of the mile markers were the same kind of artwork for that. So I would say it's kind of a mix in my opinion question about the half again.
Speaker 8:Uh, you talk about character stops. I know, since the half is run, majority of it, on the streets of Anaheim, how is the crowd support out there? Because I know they can't really have character stops out there. So was the crowds out there? I know this was a different course than last year. I know you didn't go by Angel Stadium or anything like that.
Speaker 15:No, there wasn't a lot. I mean, I was kind of disappointed in that regard. But then again it felt just like going out for a nice quiet neighborhood run and that was fine with me. I was kind of bummed we weren't going to the baseball stadium but the miles seemed to tick by faster than any half I've done. Like, all of a sudden I'm like, oh, we're already at seven. Oh, oh, there was and I was just on the call with customized and yeah, one of the mile markers was in the wrong spot. I was looking at my watch and I'm like, wait a minute, we hit 10, but where's the mile marker? Oh, it was at 10.25. And so then every time I kept so it was like from mile nine or 10 that the and Chris Twiggs was like, yeah, they put a mile marker in the wrong spot.
Speaker 6:Well then, 11 came fast, didn't it?
Speaker 15:Yeah.
Speaker 15:So I wasn't like thinking that up because I was kind of nervous about this route, but I kind of enjoyed it, just because it made the miles tick faster.
Speaker 15:There was some support I did, some nice family had water because I had forgotten my water bottle for my, my fanny, my water, my fuel belt, and so my daughter was running with me and I'm like, go get that water, cause I need a water bottle, um, and cause I was having to really rely on the um the water stops, um, which I typically just do that, but I always have my own water and I forgot my bottle. So, um, but you know, it's kind of like when I've done rock and roll and you're like, oh, bands, every whatever, and I'm like, and it's so disappointing, um, I didn't really have any expectation of anything out on the streets. I'm like I really just want to run it and be done, and I just thought it was a nice relaxing route through a neighborhood and then back up into Disneyland, where the crowds were then toward the finish, lots of people Through Anaheim and Garden Grove. It was really quiet, it was kind of sporadic, and then you got closer to Disneyland and everybody was out.
Speaker 8:Laura.
Speaker 11:First of all, we took the bus from Disneyland Hotel, and that was the first time we'd taken a bus. We had walked every other race and I think the buses have gotten better each weekend too from those Disneyland hotels. So that's good news. And we were kind of speculating, right Like last year there was no. You got to go to the stadium parking lot but not in the stadium. So maybe there's a reason we didn't go to the stadium because they didn't want to do the parking lot, right Like maybe there was last year yeah, last year.
Speaker 15:Inside. That's why.
Speaker 11:Yeah, so I'm assuming maybe there was something this weekend. I don't know. I didn't look at the calendar, but I thought they did a good job not doing the parking lot again and I feel like out on the streets it was. I don't know if I missed this last year or in September, because I was, I didn't. I ended up last year. I was doing dopey to Dumbo but I um ended up not doing the half cause I was tapped out. Um, and then this year I was going to do dopey to Dumbo and I got sick after the half. So, uh or not sorry, after the 5k I was down with the sinus infection. So, um, I only did 5k marathon weekend, but in September. I don't remember this, so I don't know if this happened or not. So you correct me. But the police cars that were stationed around like blocking the roads and and at intersections and stuff, like they were playing music out of their cars this, yeah, I don't. I don't know if they were doing that last time or not, I don't remember.
Speaker 5:They were. I heard yeah, yeah it don't.
Speaker 2:I don't know if they were doing that last time or not, I don't remember they were.
Speaker 11:I heard, yeah, yeah, it was really, it was fun, like they were playing Disney music and stuff. So that was fun. There were more cast members out cheering us on, I thought, along the course, and also because my daughter she got next to last corral both times in September and this weekend, and so September is really hot we were at the back of the pack and I don't know about anybody else, but there were some water stops where we were pouring our own water in September and this time the water stops were great, really smooth. People were standing in front of the tables like a normal water stop handing you water and the cups were filled. So I felt like the logistics of the tables, like a normal water stop handing you water, and they were. You know, the cups were filled.
Speaker 11:So I felt like the logistics of the course went a lot smoother and we didn't have that bike path bottleneck situation before the stadium. Yeah, we avoided that this time. The stadium is super cool and I hope we get to do that again, but there are some logistics to it that can, um, make it a little tricky. So, um, I felt like I felt the same as jennifer, like it was just a nice run through the neighborhoods and there were people who were obviously just out in their pajamas, surprised that there were people running by, and so we're just like good morning.
Speaker 11:And just like they just started smiling and waving and so it was fun. It was fun and I feel like the Run Disney crowd and everybody's dressed up and these people come out. They have no clue what's going on, and now they've been introduced to running and Run Disney and maybe we're motivating people along the way. And what a way to be introduced Exactly Right.
Speaker 11:So I I felt like, um, it was a good course, um, I didn't mind the streets. Um, I I ran Tinkerbell the first time in 2014. And I remember, I remember a couple of points on the course, like not seeing other runners and thinking am I going the right way?
Speaker 11:I wasn't sure I was going the right direction. I was a lot faster in 2014. But this time we were with the pack the whole time and there was no confusion. So, yeah, I felt like we had a great run, and it was also cloud cover. I didn't put my sunglasses on until the last, maybe half mile. So, yeah, it was nice, perfect weather.
Speaker 6:Good.
Speaker 13:I want to give a couple different shout outs. So I agree that the core support was great. The neighborhoods were out. I got a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I petted a dog, I got a red vine. Like the neighborhood was amazing, definitely. The officers were out playing tunes in their car. That was fantastic. I really want to shout out the third shift custodial crew. Oh yes, you, you guys, they were amazing. They were howling, they were screaming. It was the end of their long work night. They were amazing. They had signs and I went on and specifically tried to find a way to cast compliment them and I hope others who liked them did that. They were just amazing. Um, and then to compliment our crew. You know so my running partner. She tapped out, so we were dopey to Dumbo. She actually broke her femur during the marathon at dopey, which was horrible.
Speaker 6:Oh no.
Speaker 13:Yeah, no, she did. I got her to the airport in a wheelchair. It was awful. But I ran into Allie. So I was Timothy Mouse and I had no Dumbo because my Dumbo was down and I ran into Allie and Allie took this. Adorable, she was dumb but she took this great picture with me. I mean she could like only vaguely knows me, like this is such a great community. I was like, hey, timothy needs a picture. It was just fantastic. So things like that, like the custodial crew cheering us on at the end of their shift, ellie taking a picture with me, just friends along the way, I thought this was a really beautiful, magical race. The community, the officers, I just thought it was fantastic. So, just again, like others Zavecca, courtney said, lori said just giving every single time it's gotten a little better. So I want to give them credit for what they've done and again to this crowd and the community we've built.
Speaker 6:it was fantastic. It was a beautiful race. Yeah, I think Third Shift made their initial mark at the Halloween race. They were a big hit then.
Speaker 5:Yes, yes. What I loved about this race was all the park time right at the beginning. I loved that it was. It was like you were set in the magic and then you went out into the streets of Anaheim, which I loved. There were no. Like I from Canada, I always tell people when I describe the races in Florida, everything is massively huge. Um, those on and off off ramps. I've never seen anything like it until I went to Florida, so I really appreciated the fact that they weren't there after cause I did goofy to Dumbo and it was a nice rest on my legs and I loved it. And I loved like it was breathtaking for me running through the streets with the palm trees on both sides, like that is a dream for me. I loved it so much, it was so beautiful.
Speaker 5:There were it wasn't as like as many people out there cheering for you, but there were lots of people and the signs. I was able, because there were less of them, I felt like I was able to appreciate the signs more and really like read them and see them. And there were just so many funny ones like the I don't know if you've seen the Chip and Dale one that was therapy with therapy would be cheaper and that there was like this big chat and like saying, like come rub my belly, and like I never do that, I felt like I had to go and touch every sign. That was like that. This time it was so fun and I don't know if you guys have seen the finish line, the last finisher video. Oh, I saw that.
Speaker 3:Yes, it's incredible. I cried.
Speaker 5:The last finisher. I just I love her, her, I don't even know her. The mini and mickey, they went and held her hands and went yeah, it's so lovely.
Speaker 5:I mean the balloon ladies like got her to the finish. They stopped and let her go. Mickey and minnie joined her and I think goof no pluto and uh streamers went off. I can't, I can. I cry every time. I've watched it like 25 times today. I'm a teacher too, jennifer. I showed my students today, I showed my staff in the staff room. I don't know, it was so heartwarming and to me that is what Run Disney is. It is magical, it is inclusive and everyone is a family and I absolutely am so grateful to be a part of it.
Speaker 3:No, I just looked it up. So the big reel that was making the rounds at least the first one was actually from Bebe Brooks, and so I'm just looking at as of time of recording, that reel of hers has been viewed almost 320,000 times. What.
Speaker 3:So I mean, yeah, so I mean that goes to show how powerful a message that video is sending, and I'm so glad that it's really just showing the great positive light that this community of Run Disney has, you know, in not only the running community, but just you know how it creates friendships and bonds and and supports one another.
Speaker 5:It just it's absolutely beautiful I also love those races and seeing jeff galloway at the end. It's just like a celebration for me, and this is my last disney event this year, so for like I just I always love to just stop and thank him and then go to the finish line. It's my favorite part of the races too, and so I think what he has done and who he is and how he is, even at the expos, like he just takes his time with everybody. He's so genuine, so that's always a special part for me too.
Speaker 6:Couldn't agree more.
Speaker 9:And then, last but certainly not least, tanya, tell us about your half marathon.
Speaker 12:Thank you. So I'm the sleeper inner of this group, so I didn't get up until 345 and was at which is so not Disney World and was in the corral at 415 ready to go. So that's how easy it is to get there. So really not looking forward to Princess Weekend and having to get back to normal run Disney wake up times.
Speaker 12:But this was really a personal journey for me so I physically couldn't start running until December and I was really anxious about being able to complete this. I was pretty sure I could do the 10K, but the most I've been able to get running or run walking right was 15K two weeks ago. So I was pretty anxious about how I would be able to do this and, working with my medical team, we said that I would walk one mile and then 1530 the next mile. And hearing some of the stories from this group on how they've been getting through their injuries and supporting themselves, so really took that to heart to know that I could do that. And I know that this is different and this isn't how I normally run and I'm really trying to get back to my normal self and not sure if I could do this, but I really did do that and knew that that was the right thing to do.
Speaker 12:Even though I was getting all excited, I'm like, OK, let's keep running, but I really had to slow down and listen to my team and my medical team, and so it was really an emotional journey. I think it was more emotional than doing my first marathon because I was able to complete it and I felt healthy and great. And same thing with Melissa stopping and talking to Jeff at the end and saying like, thank you, for you don't realize how much coaching you provide for all of this community. And I'm here today because of that and his words. I don't know how he comes up with this, but his words were the best is yet to come.
Speaker 6:He always finds the right thing to say.
Speaker 12:Absolutely. So yes, great race, totally love the course. Way better than going through the Terminator Death Valley over on the other side. Yeah right, so really enjoyable and looking forward to seeing people at Princess.
Speaker 6:Awesome, awesome.
Speaker 11:Just one more thing that I noticed, from January of last year through September and then this this January weekend, was the photographers so much better they have done. We got so many great pictures this weekend Last year the 5K and 10K it was a little sketchy what your pictures are going to turn out like. Can can tank? Hey, it was a little sketchy what your pictures are going to turn out like. And um September, we got some good ones.
Speaker 11:But I I have so many amazing photos from this weekend and um I was even I'm in another group where one of the photographers was in the group and he was like, hey, post, post what you like, like post some photos that you like. So we know what to you know take and you know everyone posting like we know what to you know take and you know everyone posting like tips about how to get better pictures and things like that. And so just every single time I ran by a photographer, I yelled thank you and most of them yelled you're welcome back or thank you back, and so just the interaction with the photographers this weekend was amazing and they, just they, they nailed it the only thing.
Speaker 15:Okay, so the on course photographer is fine. I always miss them because I'm not paying attention and I'm always too late sometimes on some of them. But let me just tell you, inside the park I literally was, my daughter and I were in line for castle pictures and there was three photo pass people standing there. They were finishing up, and then they and there was three photo pass people standing there and they were finishing up, and then they and there was a line of like or had to be a half a dozen of us.
Speaker 15:They literally walked away oh no I'm like we're all looking at each other like, um, hello, there's people here with medals, and so I was really kind of disappointed with in-park PhotoPass. People Like there weren't enough. Like at Disney World, where they're everywhere after the race to take pictures, I didn't see a lot and I was kind of disappointed and I almost was going to, you know, put a comment into Disney about that, because I'm like this is where Disney World shines at the end, because people are doing their castle pictures in so many spots and it was really hard to find a photo path person after the race at the park and to have them walk away. I was really like PO'd.
Speaker 12:I was not cool, so I'm then going to give my shout out to cast member Karis, who I went into Disneyland afterwards and she was standing there in front of the railroad, so I'm going to name drop her, and she spent a half an hour with me and my husband going and taking pictures around various sites and I have I don't a hundred pictures with her taking different images, and she walked all the way up and down Main Street with me taking a whole bunch of pictures.
Speaker 12:So I'm going to give a kudos out to Karis.
Speaker 6:How nice is that? Yeah, well, I missed it. I knew I'd get a little melancholy listening to y'all. Sorry I wasn't there, but I am so glad that you had a wonderful time. It sounds like it was a great weekend, thanks. Thanks for taking the time to come here and share it with us. We appreciate you. I'm going to run, I'm going to go by and I'm going to ask real quick when we're going to see you at Disney again next, laura? When are you at Disney again next?
Speaker 11:I'm going for Princess Anne Springtime. I was going for a perfect season until I got taken out after the 5K at Dopey.
Speaker 6:All right. Good Melissa, you mentioned it already. I think you said you're done for the year.
Speaker 5:For the year, I think I made Alan and Grace a promise that I would be at the marathon at least, though next year. See what happens next year. For sure, I think I need to earn my ears.
Speaker 6:Okay, tanya.
Speaker 12:I'm going to do the same thing that I did in Disneyland and do it in Princess, and maybe my ankle won't be as swollen, so see, you in a couple of weeks.
Speaker 6:Yeah, that's good. That's good, brandy. You told us you're doing a perfect season, so we'll see you in a couple of weeks. Yeah, that's good. That's good, brandy. You told us you're doing a perfect season, so we'll see you in a couple of weeks too, right?
Speaker 13:Yes, princess, perfect season. Greg's fault.
Speaker 6:Good Courtney. How about you?
Speaker 14:I am done currently, unless something happens, but I think my tentative plan is to do princess in 2026.
Speaker 6:Okay, sure, sure and Jennifer.
Speaker 15:Uh, I don't know. Um, I'm cause I'm doing Chicago in October, so wine and dine is a question questionable. Um, so, maybe the half a marathon weekend, cause I do kind of like marathon weekend. Um, I just don't know. So it's kind of up in the air right now. But I'll see you though, bob, in may. So for, uh, flying pig flying pig.
Speaker 6:Yeah, yeah, sounds good. All right, my friends. Once again, thanks so much and we'll see you soon. Great recap, ladies. I felt like I was there. Thanks for doing that. Got one more for you. Friend Melody called the hotline and left us this race report.
Speaker 1:Hi, this is Melody from Montana. I just wanted to say I completed my first run Disney and my first half marathon on Sunday. I want to thank the podcast. The information going into this was so helpful. I also want to thank Coach Alicia for getting me started and keeping me on track for a while and finally, for announcing the meetup, because I did attend and I met a group of really nice people. Thanks to everyone.
Speaker 6:Looking forward now the next Disney race, as we said at the top of the episode here, not far away, a mere two weeks till Princess Meetup. I will put the meetup in the Facebook group page. I haven't done it now because I don't. I haven't done it up till now. I don't want to confuse the two different events, but the Princess Meetup will be, as we always are, at the food truck area in Disney Springs, 3 pm on Saturday. Really hope to see you there. Try and make it if you can. I say it, we say it over and over, that we love those meetups, we love seeing everyone there and it's wonderful how everyone interacts. Folks who come come back because they make new friends and they look forward to seeing them there.
Speaker 6:I'm going to go on to the chat and ask for some volunteers to help with the cookies. This year Becky will still make some, but it's become a pretty big effort, so I'll see if I can get some help. But that'll be in the chat. Uh, speaking of the chats, I went ahead and changed the names just a little bit. What I had done up to now is made one for each year and then a couple of weeks afterwards I delete it, and then I'd have to remember to. We just have the. The weekend chats now, like the chat for wine and dine, is the wine and dine weekend chat group, the marathon weekend chat group. There's no year on them and this way they'll just run continuously. So if there's old information you want to look up, it'll be there from year to year. Let's see friends.
Speaker 6:Upcoming episodes next week Brian Seaman, the push rim champion from Dopey for last year and the year before and the year before and the year before, and well, you'll have to tune in to listen to that one. Brian's a great guy. It's a good interview. We hope you enjoy it. All right, my friends, it's time for the race report, race report brought to you by our friend Stokes at Stoked Metabolic Training. Stokesfit slash riseandruncoaching is the website. Information is pinned to the featured section of our Facebook group page. You heard Alicia talking earlier that she's getting back into the Stokes Fitness Challenge, the eight-week challenge that's going on right now. I'm also very active in that and finding it very helpful for, I think, keeping me fit, keeping me strong as I get a little bit older and, again, knock wood, reducing or minimizing the risk of other running injuries. So it's good training good training in terms of strength training and good training in terms of nutrition and overall fitness. Tom really knows what he's talking about Worth looking into.
Speaker 6:Looking at the race report, I have a note here. This is a virtual, but I wanted to talk about this one. Our friend, peter, over in the UK in January of 2023, two years ago started an event called the virtual 92. It is a virtual run throughout all of the 92 football league grounds in the UK. Total of 2,222 miles. He finished that last week. Well done, peter. Well, we've talked about the event where most of our friends were this weekend out in Anaheim, but by gosh, we had a bunch of friends on the other coast, over on the East Coast in Jacksonville, florida, doing another great race this weekend and here to chat with us about it, about her adventures is a good friend of the podcast who I can't believe we haven't had on before. But, roxanne, welcome to the Rise and Run podcast. We're so glad you're here.
Speaker 7:Thank you, bob, and John Good to be here. Thank you for having me to talk about this awesome race.
Speaker 6:How did we go so long without having you? And you don't know the answer to that question. Neither do I. I don't know, but I'm happy to be here. We're glad you're joining us now. That's great, Roxanne. This is a big deal. The Donna weekend, I think it's and I don't know this, but I think it's probably the biggest of the breast cancer awareness race weekends in the country. I know we have a lot of them throughout the country. Is this your first time, or have you done this one before?
Speaker 7:No, this is not my first time. I am trying to think this is probably my seventh or eighth time. This race happens to fall every weekend right within a day or two of the day that I was diagnosed in 2009 with stage 3C triple negative breast cancer. So it's you know, it's I've. I've done it for a number of years now.
Speaker 6:Yeah, a special event for you and a special event for a whole lot of people. Yes, absolutely. I want to hear your story, but let's talk about the weekend in general just a little bit. When did you get there?
Speaker 7:So this year we got there on Saturday morning because we just lived in Orlando, we're just a couple of hours away. Sometimes we get there Friday night to hang out with friends, but we got there Saturday morning and maybe Saturday around noontime and we met up with some of the friends some Rise and Run friends, some friends from a different running group, had some lunch and visited and had a chance to just kind of hang out and have some dinner. So we were just there for the weekend actually is there a big expo at this event?
Speaker 7:you know it is a beautiful expo they used to be in the years past. It had a kmart building old kmart building and now now now they're in the Jacksonville Jaguars training field expo and I mean it's right on the same playing field where they practice that Astro turf and it's all marked. I mean, if it wasn't for the booths in there, you'd think you were right there going to be watching a Jacksonville Jaguars training game. That's cool.
Speaker 7:Beautiful expo there, lots of vendors, a huge area inside where kids can play different sports and jump houses and stuff. So it's a really nice.
Speaker 6:Neato, you had good weather this year, didn't you?
Speaker 7:We did, we did. You know, as runners, especially Florida runners, I think we have like a five degree radius that we call good. Isn't that right. We would really like it to be between 50 and 55. Maybe we can. We can handle that. Yeah. I think we all kind of get that way when we start talking about weather. But we did have compared to, especially last year, the Donna last year was freezing cold. Yeah.
Speaker 7:Poured down rain, so actually we had beautiful weather. I think it was maybe 55 at the start, so it beautiful weather. Like I said, we got there Saturday. You know, the weekend is so much also about getting together with different friends, running, and even if you're not, you know there's such a community even at the expo. If you don't run into someone with Rise and Run or someone with Customize or one of your groups, there's a community there. You can be sitting there at a booth looking at a jacket or a shirt and you know all of a sudden you're talking about the race that's coming up, so meeting new people. Where are you from and what are you running? Are you running the half, are you running the full? And so you know, the weekend was, especially at the expo, spent a getting, getting to talk to different people and meet different people for that race that all have the same thing in common yes, I was going to ask if you think.
Speaker 6:I mean, we see that at other races, we see it at disney, but do you think that is a unique feature of the donna marathon, that that bond, that there's so many survivors?
Speaker 7:I do Absolutely, bob. I and I love the Disney races and that there's nothing like Disney expo. I mean, you know that's, that's amazing. But but you're right, even from the moment you walk into the expo, you you know that you're among either survivors or people who are in the midst of it, or they're running for a family member in honor of them. So there's a whole cohesive group that have that in common.
Speaker 7:And you just know that going into it automatically makes you a group together for one cause, even starting with the expo, makes you a group together for one cause, even starting with the expo. So that's one thing about that expo that I think makes it so different. Everybody's got their, you know, survivor shirts on or their pink ribbon shirts or whatever.
Speaker 6:Even those who are there don't have a first level connection, don't have the disease, don't have anybody in the family, they still know why they're there and they still understand, and I think that's a big attraction for the race. Now, for those of us in this area, I've never done this one, roxanne, and I keep saying next year, and I think I'm finally there. I think, especially looking at the reaction from this year, I think I'm finally there. Especially looking at the reaction from this year, I think I'm finally there. So I'm a year out now. Okay, but for those who are not familiar with this weekend, there are a bunch of different races, aren't there?
Speaker 7:Yes, yes, you know, you've got the 5K, that's on Friday, and you have the 110, that's you know.
Speaker 6:You didn't do that, one did you.
Speaker 7:Oh no, I just you know I can't fathom those that do that, but they are amazing to watch and the training that they put in for that and they, they darn sure do that for the cause as well, because you don't run 110 miles without having a cause for sure now the way they do, that is, they do approximately 84 on saturday right.
Speaker 6:Then they finish it with the marathon right.
Speaker 7:So they run the full marathon after they've done 84 already and you know you see them on the course, some of them going by, and they're looking less tired than you and you're at the third mile mark or something you know, and it's just amazing to watch, to watch them finish that and do that.
Speaker 6:This is incredible I'm going to mention it again, but our friend mark won that event. Do you know, mark, mark baguette I.
Speaker 7:I don't know of him.
Speaker 6:I've never met him nice man, it really is nice young man. Uh, galloway pacer uh, he finished and again I'll repeat this, but he finished saturday with about a one hour lead, so then he goes. Well, all I have to do then is just take it easy in a marathon which he still finishes in under three hours. That's unbelievable.
Speaker 7:After that many miles, yeah. That's crazy, that's a whole other caliber of athletes, for sure, yes. And then the 5K, and then the 110. And they have the challenge, which would be the 5k and the half of the booby trap challenge 5k and the half marathon. Vote me if I'm wrong.
Speaker 6:No, I think, yeah, I think they both. I think they both call them the booby trap challenge, whether it's the marathon or the half the marathon or the half, right right.
Speaker 7:So this year, this year, I did. Yeah, that's right, because one year I did the 5k and the half and this year, uh, did the marathon, not the 5k, so we didn't get in there until saturday this time okay and 5k. You know that is another. Just a really neat thing if you get a chance to get in on friday. You know it's families, it's kids because and they're walking and they're pushing strollers and even these little kids are carrying a sign.
Speaker 7:I'm walking for my grandma and the sign's bigger than they are yeah um, but it's just, it's, it's just all for such a nice cause and they're so proud of their little medals when they go through there and, um, so, even that you, it's just a part of the weekend that makes that race just so incredible.
Speaker 3:Yeah, awesome. All right, roxanne, we've been, you know, talking a while now about you, know everything leading up to the race and, needless to say, you had a very memorable marathon, so why don't you walk us, walk us through the marathon.
Speaker 6:Oh yeah, there we go, there we go.
Speaker 3:Run, walk us through the marathon up until mile 18, and then we'll get towards the end.
Speaker 7:You got it, that's perfect is usually the only marathon I run because I turned 70 years old this year and you know they get a little tougher as you get older. But this is so special to me that that's going to be the one marathon that I'm going to do and. But I usually don't have a time goal. I just want to go run the marathon and have fun. Well, this year I hit a new age group and that little competition thing kicked in and I thought, thought I could warm in the old lady group, I could try to actually maybe age group place a little bit. So I got that and I I got a goal, a plan and according to you know, galloway and and coach Chris and the customized that plan was 10 minutes within reach, easy, should, easily to do. Um, and I had a 10 mile plan, then another 10 mile and then a 10K. So it was all laid out and I had done my long training runs. I did a 23 miler, I did a 26 miler and I even did the 29 mile Awesome In preparation for hitting this time goal. So I went into that race ready to go and you know I even didn't start out too fast Each mile. I had a thing where you should know what time it should be at each little pace band I think they call, and so each mile I was in like 10 seconds, eight seconds, 15 seconds. It was amazing and I was just, you know, so excited about it.
Speaker 7:So about mile nine it started to get hot and you know everything's relative, I guess, and I'm used to Florida heat, but it did. The sun came out and it started to get hot, and so that was about mile eight or mile nine and I and I, you know I was going up the course and the heat got to me a little bit. I got sick on the course, just, you know just, and then went on and tried to continue to to hydrate. However, I made mistake number one on that, and that is that you should slow down when you get hot. But I got my little garmawatch and I'm seeing that I'm right on pace. So you know I'm going. I didn't slow down like I should have. I kept on and still felt pretty good and, you know, ran up all the way up. I had some leg cramps a little bit from the heat, but really not too too bad, felt pretty decent along the way.
Speaker 7:Until I didn't. I felt pretty decent along the way until I didn't. It was just, it was a crazy thing. Up until then I was pretty much on course up until then. So, at a six hour pace group, my time goal was to be under six, which could have been five 59, five 59 or five 59. I was happy with that, had the pace group in front of me because they do different intervals than I do, but they were always in front of me and I, you know, really felt, felt good about that. Um, so you know, and just kept on it. Like I said, it was a little bit hot, probably didn't drink as much as I should, but was still not feeling too bad. Um, but then slowly, the wheels just started to come off the bus.
Speaker 8:Okay, so you said the wheels came off the bus. What happened?
Speaker 7:So you know, as I was running along about mile 17, I did get some leg cramps and had some biofreeze and kind of work them out a little bit, but all of a sudden my body started leaning to the right. It craziest thing. And I'd run a little bit more, and the more I would run, the more my body was leaning to the right. It was the oddest thing, and you know, of course I'm a nurse anyway. But first thing, I'm like phone out, looking at my face. I don't feel any tingly fingers and you know nothing crazy like that. But I still didn't understand what it was. So but the more I ran, the more pronounced this angle got. And as I kept on with that, because I was leaning to the right, the muscles in my lower back on the left side were getting pulled tight. That became just excruciating. So the only comfortable position I had to run was to be bent forward and off to the right to try to help deal with that pain.
Speaker 3:And so Roxanne, had this ever happened to you before on a training run or a race or anything?
Speaker 7:No, and I did the 23, the 26, the 29.
Speaker 7:I've never had that happen before and just couldn't understand why and it was the oddest thing, you know you're, you have to physically, had to physically try to make my unlike. I can straighten this body up, which you do, use the muscles to straighten up, but as soon as you let go, it goes right back to the right now, but as soon as you let go, it goes right back to the right. Wow, and before, before too long, I couldn't run anymore because the pain in my back was too bad, so I ended up, you know, walking. So that's when the pace really started slowing down at 18. So I saw the six hour group go and I'm, you know, okay, well, there goes that goal, I'll try for the 615, you know, um, but you know, okay, well, there goes that goal, I'll try for the 615, you know, but you know, it became evident at that point, just to try to be able to get through it, because it was just, you know, it was just a really, really uncomfortable, I'll say painful experience.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, Now, at this point. Now, Grant, usually he wears a cape. I don't know if he was wearing a cape for this one, but you had a superhero in the sense come in and help you out. Who was that?
Speaker 7:kind of adopted me as his running mom, but he is the one too who kind of helped me along with this plan and encouraged, and along with Coach Chris. So Adam's plan all along oh, his name is Adam Earl, that's my angel with the cape, my hero with the cape. But his plan from the get go, before this even happened, he's going to run his marathon. He was a pacer Galloway pacer brought the 430 group in like with about 20 seconds, you know perfectly. And then he came back. He didn't know anything about what was going on with me at that time, but he did text me when he finished and said and I told him, I'm like struggling here. I don't know what's going on, but I'm struggling. So he literally ran another five miles back to meet me at mile 21 to.
Speaker 7:And at that point he was, he was just an angel, because you know it was just at that point you want to just kind of give up and he's like, oh no, you work too hard for this and you know it was all along the way. If I'd start to lean or I would start to actually wander over to the side some and he'd like get back, get over to the middle of the road. We're getting a straight line to the finish line, we're not going to do this zigzag thing. You know all these, these little things, even to the point that you know there were still some people cheering on on the course and about mile 23, when I was just, you know, really not loving life at all, and he said they were cheering and saying Yay, and Adam's like, you know, this isn't for me, this is for you, keep on going.
Speaker 7:And you know, just, he just did so many things along that way, um, to get me through to that run. And he even said at some point in time, he said you want to? You think you can shuffle, because by this time we were at, you know, at the back. I mean, the last pacer group was right behind us and I knew that that was the end. The, the, the Galloway Floyd's Pacer group is the one who brings up the end of the race, and every time I would look back to see if Floyd was back there. Adam would say turn straight, we are not doing anything about what's behind you.
Speaker 7:So it was that kind of thing that just kind of really was so encouraging to make it through, because honestly I I mean those last five miles would have just been miserable without. And at some point in time he texted a couple other friends, stephanie and Jen, and they came and walked the last mile in with me. In fact, at some point on the race, stephanie also helped, you know, kind of prop me up a little bit as I walked, which was a little less painful. And then, as we got closer to the line, I'm like oh no, you know, I've come this far, I'm not, I'm not going across that finish line propped up by anybody, I'm. If I have to crawl over there, I'm going over there. And that's almost what I did there and that's almost what I did. But uh, yeah, I, you know it's Adam was just just incredible to have Adam and people like that by your side makes make it made all the difference in that race.
Speaker 8:Honestly we saw your finish line photo, or what we saw, with everybody around you. You had Fitz in front of you cheering you on. I mean, how did that feel?
Speaker 7:oh, you know, john, there is just that's really what made this race. Adam coming out, um, friends coming out to walk with me absolutely made that race. But when I saw that finish line and on, even at the last 0.2 miles, I was wondering if I was going to have to, if I was going to be upright enough to get over that line. And everybody, as you can see by the photo, they were not up here cheering me on, they were in my face and I'm short anyway, and bent over in half I'm even shorter and you know they were all like in my face saying you've got this, you've got this.
Speaker 7:And Fitz has got the microphone. And she was saying I love this, you, you've got this, you've got this. And Fitz has got the microphone. And she was saying I love this, you, you've got this. Come on, you're almost there. And I, you know that.
Speaker 7:To me, that made the whole race. That's, that's what running in community is all about the how, how, everyone from Adam on and all those people. I didn't know one single person at the finish line. Well, I mean, I knew Fitz, the race director, we all know Fitz, but all the people that were cheering me on and you have to think, I mean they're at the very end, they could have left. You know, those are the people cheering the last people on. They could have all been gone, and that could have been Fitz and two other people at the sideline, your family members, you know. But no, they were all just just cheering on and that's.
Speaker 7:You know, this will go down as the most memorable race I've I've ever done for that reason, you know, and someone, someone made a comment that was really spot on and and I think he said you know, you certainly didn't PR in a time and you probably didn't PR in fun, but you PR, pr in perseverance and encouragement and support from those around you. And that was exactly what this race was. And you know how fitting is it? Because the Donna race embodies that we support those who are going through the cancer journey. This race supports those who've been through it. So how fitting that it that would show in the finish line photo, like that, exactly what this race means.
Speaker 6:So, oh, roxanne, beautiful story, beautiful story about a beautiful event.
Speaker 7:It was an amazing one. I will remember forever. And you know, I didn't get a goal, didn't get the goal time, and I didn't care, not, you know, not wet one bit, because that race will go down as one. That's my most memorable race. So there's always next year. I did.
Speaker 7:I did ask coach today. I said you know, as memorable as it was, I'd really not like to repeat it again next year. So maybe we can look and see what happened and and work on it for next year. But it was just fantastic. So when I saw somewhere along the maybe mile eight, there was a gentleman and he said are you in the Rise and Run? And I said yeah, and he's like so am I? I think I've seen you before. I didn't get his name. He said we're going to flip flop back and forth, but he kept running and I did see him up ahead of me too. So even seeing even seeing people from the podcast along the course and getting to chat was just it made it. If you haven't done that race before, you gotta do that race. Just fantastic perfect, perfect.
Speaker 6:What a what a perfect conclusion. What a beautiful story. Uh, roxanne, I'm always grateful when friends share their time with us, but that was that was special tonight. My friend, we're glad you were here well.
Speaker 7:Thank you for having me, thank you for letting me share that love and encouragement that we get from the, the running community. I'm grateful for that. So thank you so much.
Speaker 8:One other question when are we going to see you next? Any Disney races?
Speaker 7:You know I'm not signed up for the princess, but I'm going to go to the expo. I'd love to be able to volunteer at the races. I need to find out how to do that because I'm not signed up for princess or spring time this year, but I would like to because there's so many that I'll be out for the meetup for the rise and run for the races. Absolutely Just won't be running the race, but I will be out for the meetup to get to talk to everybody.
Speaker 6:Outstanding, outstanding. We'll see you there.
Speaker 7:Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 6:So, friends, let's look at the rest of the Donna weekend and it was, as we alluded to, a big weekend. Lots of friends there. I am looking at the list I have and this may end up being out of order, but let's go here, starting with the booby trap challenge for the 5k and the half. Our friend Heather was there. We had a couple of Jen's Jen Iorio walked the 5k on Saturday and ran with Pacer Todd's group on Sunday.
Speaker 3:And Jen PR'd by eight minutes. Oh, Jen, this goes out to you and Steve Go Birds.
Speaker 6:Go Birds. Jen Hudson was there. Marathon number six for Jen, by far her slowest. That was intentional. Decided to upgrade to the full, Said she was going to cross the finish line with her friend Floyd who is the sweeper for the race. Laura was there. Laura looked for your report, didn't see it. Tom Aaron and the Will Runford gang were there, including the matriarch and the patriarch of the podcast. They actually had a lovely turnout of friends. I thought that was really impressive, yeah.
Speaker 3:The thing I'm really impressed by and I want to talk to them all about that is that the chair that they got for Aaron so that they could push her for both races. That thing had wheels.
Speaker 3:I have never seen before on a racing chair, so I'd love to know if that's like a special maker model, Because I mean, you know, Bob, I think about your experience with Woody and my experience pushing my goddaughter in an Ainsley's Angels race and I mean you know, woody's, you know over six foot, you know over two bills and stuff like that, and his wheels aren't even as big as those. So I want to know about that racing chair that was super, super impressive, greg.
Speaker 6:That looked like a chair designed to be pushed, uh, in the sand yes, I agree with you.
Speaker 8:Yeah, I got off-road chair, I got off-road off-road chair.
Speaker 6:Yeah, yeah, but no, it was.
Speaker 3:It was incredibly special to the fall that we can be, because I know that you know this race takes on new meaning for aaron and the entire will run for family. So, to see the support and the, the shirts that they made and the and the tanks that that the girls were wearing, and you know Flamingo costumes and you know they. I think Aaron even had the like a pink skeleton riding with her, you know, in the racing chair.
Speaker 8:It was so well done. I you know in the racing chair. Oh, I saw that. Yeah, it was so well done.
Speaker 3:I, you know, I'm so glad that you know they got to celebrate life in the way that they wanted to and surviving and thriving. So, you know, kudos to you, and also I I know I put this on facebook, but I also just want to extend a heartfelt thank you, um to the will run for crew for hosting an awesome rise and run meetup that none of us attended did doug Doug plan that for them too I don't know, I don't even think Doug was there.
Speaker 6:Doug was in New York. Let's take a look. As I said at the start of the race report, there were a lot of people running this weekend and it's possible I missed some. I sure hope not, but I see our friends Rachel and Tara were there for this 5k and a half challenge well, actually, and a big shout out to rachel.
Speaker 3:I don't know the amount of time, but uh, she got a pr. I didn't see that. Uh, yeah, I at least got a text message from her. I believe this was and. And rachel, if I get this wrong, I'm so sorry. I think this was her first ever sub three hour sub three half marathon. I think she clocked in around 251 or so.
Speaker 6:Greg, I think I saw that too. It may have been on Instagram, I'm not sure.
Speaker 3:But I think I saw that also. Congratulations, girl.
Speaker 8:Well deserved yeah Two hours 51 minutes and 52 seconds Perfect. Where is that, john On Instagram In my text message?
Speaker 6:Okay, Then I probably have that too. I'll see the two of them tomorrow, as a matter of fact, which of course is yesterday. You mean yesterday. Yeah, is yesterday in podcast. Speak right.
Speaker 8:Yeah, I was telling her now you got that sub three, now you gotta go for that sub two.
Speaker 6:That's it All right, great job. Uh, tracy was there. Tracy walked the five K and, speaking of PRS, her first PR at any distance since 2020, with a new best half marathon time of under two hours 10 minutes. That's awesome.
Speaker 8:Nice.
Speaker 6:Unforgettable weekend. Great friends, great cause. Loved everything about it. The booby trap full. So there is a slight difference in the names. The booby trap full is the 5K and the marathon and our buddy, stephanie, did that one. I think she did it in half instead that day.
Speaker 8:I think she did it in half instead that day.
Speaker 6:I think she changed it in half.
Speaker 3:Yeah, she was talking about on the customized call this morning that this wasn't her day and things adjusted.
Speaker 6:I think it's wise. She's had a lot going on in her life. We've talked about it before.
Speaker 3:But again, as Roxanne mentioned, she was part of that crew that helped guide her in for that last mile. So way to tough it out. Stephanie, we're really proud of you.
Speaker 6:Yes, now running the marathon, jason. Community is the key to this event and by gosh Jason, we know that to be true. We heard it in Roxanne's voice and in her story. Community involvement, support along the course is wonderful. Jason chose the race with a PR in mind, but by mile 24, he thought that that might be impossible. Just didn't have a whole lot of gas left in the tank. Really awesome running into the finisher's chute. All the volunteers giving you high fives on both sides. Awesome running into the finisher's shoot All the volunteers giving you high fives on both sides. Discovered that his runner's wrath, his runner's math, must have been wrong, because he did, in fact, pr. Jason, congratulations. Ellie did this one. Ellie did the marathon. Ellie finished third in her age group. Way to go.
Speaker 6:We talked about Adam pacing, the 430 group. Jennifer was there also running the breast cancer half marathon, angie. Angie started with the 210 pacers, stuck with them till past the halfway point, about mile seven Knew. At that point she didn't quite have enough in her to finish with them, so she adjusted her goals, decided not to worry about time and enjoy the course. Good job, angie. Jenny and Cam are next Still a little tired after Dopey. Jenny says she forgot to grab her running shoes and ended up running in her work shoes instead. Now her work shoes are a kind of running shoe. It's not like she was running in heels, okay I know, for some reason stilettos popped in my mind.
Speaker 8:I'm thinking like doc martins or something uh, yeah, but uh, let's see.
Speaker 6:So that caused them to miss their. They were shooting for a run Disney proof of time. But they both had a 5K PR, 10k PR and, the cherry on top, a new half marathon PR for Jenny and Cam. Joy did the half her first half ever, so there's another PR. Training slipped a little bit the last couple of weeks, disappointed with her finish time, I wish she wouldn't be, but that's all within us. It only means she's got a new goal for the next half, and I talked about this when we were talking with Roxanne, our friend Mark. Yeah, he won the whole thing. He won the 110 miler. I'm not shocked by that because he's such a darn good runner. But finishing that 86 mile part is it 86 or 84? The 84 mile part with about a one hour lead, that must have been easier for him to sleep that night with that big of a lead, knowing and you know the kind of time that mark can put up for a absolutely so great job.
Speaker 6:Great job to everyone. Wonderful thanks for the great reports on a great weekend. Lots of wonderful photos. Glad y'all had a good time. All right, continuing through the race weekend. On Saturday, the Fudge Trudge 5k in a very cold Green Bay, Wisconsin. Our buddy Tony did it with his brother pacing him. A 730 pace was the A goal, but they must have had one terrific headwind. I saw the splits that Tony put up because mile three was actually a full minute slower than the others. It is really tough when the wind's right in your face, Bob it wasn't the wind.
Speaker 6:Oh, no, it wasn't.
Speaker 3:The reason why he slowed down is because he wore a shirt. Oh, if he wouldn't have had that on, he would. He would have crushed and been consistent the parachute effect, the parachute exactly, yeah exactly site drag.
Speaker 6:It's called parasite drag. That's what it is. Yep, hey look, it was 14 degrees with a wind chill of seven. He started out with a 73030 pace in mind, finished 7.30, second place in his age group. Tony, that's a good run, that really is.
Speaker 3:Very proud of you, buddy.
Speaker 6:Those temps are. I've seen them. I haven't seen them for a long time. I don't want to see them anymore.
Speaker 6:In St Louis, missouri, the Snowball Series 7K. This is race three out of four in this series that Katie is doing. It was chilly but sunny, which makes it feel better. Great run for Katie. Had some of her best split times, even beat her best 5k pace in this 7k race by a whole gosh darn second Doesn't matter, katie, you beat it, you beat it and as this was her first 7K, it's a PR.
Speaker 6:In Cincinnati, ohio I was talking about Flying Pig a little earlier. Julie did the Frozen 5K in Cincinnati, not far from my hometown. This one is in Safety Harbor, florida. There was a best damn race there, judy.
Speaker 6:Judy, our logistician, our sales and shipping person, extraordinaire ran this one. Ran exactly the pace that she wanted. Eventually started out listening to music. Ran a little too fast for a training run so she switched over to Stephanie and Aaron's podcast and that slowed her right down. I don't know what that says about your podcast, but Judy's using it to slow down, but that's okay. Uh happy she met up with Trina. Slow down, but that's okay. Happy she met up with Trina. Trina's husband met up with Kaylee in between the races and of course she ran with some of her friends, her neighbors Kathy, holly, dana and Joyce. Good job, judy. Kaylee was there, of course. Kaylee said it couldn't have been a better experience. Her favorite part was Girl Scouts handing out cookies during the race. A thin mint at mile five. Kaylee must have done the 10k. It was exactly what she needed to power through the last stretch. Little piece of run. Disney was there, dj CJ was there.
Speaker 3:Kaylee PR'd this 10K by 11 minutes All right quick survey question If we could be served a Girl Scout cookie in the middle of a race which cookie would we want?
Speaker 6:Yeah, it's.
Speaker 3:Thin Mints for me, thin Mints.
Speaker 8:Jono, how about you? They got that new lemon cookie I like, yeah, the lemonades. I like where your head's at brother, they just got think for next this year, I think right or last year no, they've had them for a couple of years.
Speaker 3:I'm, I'm with you in the lemonade. How about you, alicia?
Speaker 2:I just I was gonna say the same thing, I actually was a girl scout so I I had many girl scout cookies all over the years, yeah I imagine I have.
Speaker 3:I have a co-worker. She posted the photo to facebook. Her neighbor had pallets of girl scout cookies delivered to their like to their home. It was absolutely insane but anyway, I digress, continue.
Speaker 6:Well, that's okay. Continuing on the bdr and safety harbor, trina and her husband jeff did the double challenge 5k and 10k. 10k was actually first. Uh, after party was fun Normal snacks, hot dogs, beer, a couple of drink trucks with some harder drinks. Trina took a selfie with DJ CJ while he was playing all the great songs. Her husband Jeff got a PR in the 10K and got so excited ringing the PR bell that was there, not the one that we do, the one that was there that he had everybody around him laughing. Be back for that race again next year. That's a pretty area Safety Harbor is. I haven't done. I've gone over to watch that one. I haven't done it yet. Need to think about it next year. Tiffany was there also doing the double challenge. Also doing the double challenge, the 5K and the 10K In Lehigh Acres, florida.
Speaker 6:Rob did the Harns Marsh 5K. Woke up this morning, took two of his dogs Beckham, thor, dog of Thunder and Ash the Bear those are some names, aren't they guys Took them for a 5K trail run around the Harns Marsh Preserve. The dogs and Rob finished in the top 10 overall but according to the dogs, they'd have won if they didn't have to drag Rob's 220-pound body along with them. Good job, guys. So Rob thought he was done running for the day, but then a friend who'd bought an entry for the Naples Beer Running Company 5K beer crawl got sick, asked Rob to go drink some beer and run during the afternoon in Naples. How can you say no to that? Three bars, four beers, five kilometers along some of the streets in and around downtown Naples. How can you say no to that? Three bars, four beers, five kilometers along some of the streets in and around downtown Naples. Finally, rob's finished for the day.
Speaker 6:No beer in Raleigh. North Carolina Donuts instead, the Krispy Kreme Challenge. Debbie did it In this race. You run two and a half miles to the downtown Krispy Kreme, you get a dozen donuts, then you run two and a half miles back. She ran it in 2012 with Blake. They ate all the donuts at the midpoint. This year she brought them back and enjoyed them with coffee. I think that's a better way to do it.
Speaker 3:But you would want to carry a box, though for two and a half miles.
Speaker 6:I wouldn't want to carry a dozen in my belly for two and a half miles.
Speaker 3:But they're so light and airy and it goes down smooth.
Speaker 8:And stinky and sugary.
Speaker 6:Yeah, I don't want to bury this headline though. Age group third place finish for Debbie. Good job Debbie. I don't want to bury this headline though. Age group third place finish for Debbie. Good job Debbie. Karen did a hot chocolate 5K. I'm not sure where. This may have been virtual and that's fine. She's kind of at the beginning of her running journey. Mostly she's walking. That's great. Very proud to have finished the 5K. Gave in to the blahs for weeks now. Now she's back out, at least walking and running. So I'm hoping to do a run Disney event one day. Heck, yeah, karen, I'm sure you will.
Speaker 6:In Marietta, georgia, the run for the Sun 5k. Sun S-O-NN. Brooke did this one at her church. Pr'd her 5K race distance, crossing the finish line in 27.20. That's a great. 5k Course was nice. Weather was beautiful for February in Georgia. Nice to see so many of her friends who don't run come out and give it a try. That's it for Saturday.
Speaker 6:On Sunday in New York City, the Manhattan 10K. Everybody who did this one commented on how cold it was in New York this weekend. Grace was the first. Took it easy after a long run workout the day before as part of her London training. Saw Gypsy on Broadway that night. So did take this 10K kind of easy. Water stops were tricky as the water was starting to freeze around the water stops I've heard of that before. Checked out her first 9 plus 1 and 4 out of 6 race in the New York for entry into the marathon.
Speaker 6:Doug, this one had a great time. First post-dopey race Slightly faster than he planned. Finished feeling strong as needed. Didn't give him any problems. That's nice, turns out, when you follow your physical therapist's instruction and don't miss an appointment. Pt works wonders. Well, there you go, doug. That's a good lesson learned. Yep, jen did it. Of course commented on how cold it was. Uh, don't think that her toes thawed until about mile number two didn't hit a goal. She had a PR goal in mind. Didn't hit it. Did end with negative splits and a cup of hot chocolate after getting her medal. And our buddy Rob was there and left us this race report.
Speaker 10:Hello, this is Rob from Glenrock, New Jersey, with a race report for the New York Roadrunners Manhattan 10K today in Central Park Always a great time. The park is a really super place to run through. Had a chance to meet up with Grace before the race started, which was fun. Missed Doug, unfortunately, but hopefully he had a good run as well. And you know, I figured out the way not to overheat during the race is to only do them when it's 15 degrees outside. So I hope everybody has a great day, Happy running and take care.
Speaker 6:Continuing in Christmas, florida, where it was a bit warmer. Jared ran the Forgotten Florida 15 miler in Austin, texas. Holly, she was in town for a couple of days for work, figured to get a race in. So she did the Rodeo Stampede 5K in Austin. Austin, texas Course started out on some uneven field that kind of scared her, but it went right into paved roads in a park. All good, nice weather. Pr for Holly and an age group third place finish. First podium finish for Holly, ever that's great Medal's also a belt buckle. It's Texas. What do you expect? The award for third place in the age group is a bronze Bigfoot. Bigfoot apparently was also on the course In Columbus, Ohio.
Speaker 6:Nikki ran the Warm-Up Columbus Half Marathon. In Dayton, tennessee. Amanda did the Couple Shuffle 5K at Tennessee River Park. Kind of a crisp, beautiful morning, best run she's had since being sick at New Year's. No PR, but still feeling strong. Finished second place in her age group, outstanding. Also had a great time volunteering before the race checking fellow runners in. Good job, amanda.
Speaker 6:Down in miami, anna did the miami half marathon. She paced for the first time paced the 16 minute per mile group. Nice job, loved it. Loved making sure people made it through the whole race. Only started running three years ago, brought all of her cheer and Disney spirit to the race that she calls the first serious race that she did this on, recruited a flock of runners during the race, finished strong, had a blast during this very warm and humid Miami day. It's one thing to work on your own running goals, but it really felt great to help others through the race. Good job, anna.
Speaker 6:Atlanta had a hot chocolate 5K. Dorothy was there, said the weather was great for this hot chocolate race. Y'all know if you've ever done a hot chocolate, you know about the finisher's bowl that you get there. It's delicious. Better yet, she finished with her fastest 5K time in two and a half years and an age group PR. Finally, lauren from Decatur left us a race report. I think this was the race she ran in Atlanta, but the big thing is she did a 15K and the Hot Chocolate does have a 15K distance and got a PR and left this report.
Speaker 4:Hi friends, this is Lauren from Decatur, georgia. I just finished my first 15K. It was a hot chocolate run, beautiful, beautiful day Started out a little chilly but it ended up being really nice weather. A little hilly, but the hills were small, so it was actually pretty easy. Good training For the princess challenge that I've got coming up. This will be my first Princess Challenge ever, my first run. Disney Shout out to the two ladies I ran into around mile one or two wearing their Poisoned Heart skort. I was able to identify them as Disney runners. So hello and good luck to you all at Princess Challenge. See you guys soon. Thanks.
Speaker 6:And there you have it, my friends. There is your race report for episode 176 of the Rise and Run podcast. Well, friends and if you run, you know you are our friend A lot going on this week. Do hope your training's going well. Looking forward to seeing you in just a couple weeks now at Disney World. This is not a Zoom week. Next week we'll have our Zoom get-together on Thursday. Good luck, have fun.
Speaker 3:And until we meet again, happy running. Any information or advice discussed on this podcast should not be considered medical advice and should always consult with your healthcare provider or event organizer.
