Hi everyone! So sorry for the delay in getting the rest of the trip up!
So where did we leave it... The night before the big 10k race.
As a bit of background, I was the one who persuaded Gemma to come on this trip - the lure of the 10k was far less appealing to her than that of a week in WDW! This 10k was to be the first 10k in Gemma's running career and would mark the first race in my Glass Slipper Challenge.
We set the alarms for 2:30am as all the literature said buses would be at 3:30am to get us to the start line, and we'd heard horror stories of people not getting on buses etc etc.
The alarm buzzed at 2:30 and I think we both lay in bed for a few minutes, dazed by the early start and the nervous energy building. However, no time for nerves as we got up and got ready for the task ahead. Costumes on (Make it Pink and Make t Blue) we set off to the bus pick up point at the front of POR. We got a seat on the first bus that pulled up and away we went!
We arrived at Epcot at around 4am, super early and eager (well I was...!) to get started. Gemma was much quieter this morning than usual, I could tell she was getting nervous about the run ahead. At no point did I ever doubt her ability to do the run, so a few gentle 'you'll be grand' and 'let's get to the loo before the get gross' to help put the nerves at ease was needed :-)
RunDisney know how to do races. Lots of entertainment and characters to meet before the race, loads of portaloos and water is readily available.
The music was pumping, more women in princess gear were arriving and the atmosphere was electric! It was almost time to make the walk to our corral - a good 15/20min walk from the Epcot car park and out onto the bypass road that goes around it!
And we are off!
Heading to the corrals feeling great and excited for the race ahead! Hopefully by this point Gemma's nerves had lowered and she was starting to enjoy herself... Gemma? heehee
After about an hour of hanging about our corral and slowly moving towards the actual start line, we reached the point where the start was in sight and we started the count down...
5
4
3
2
1
*BOOM* the most amazing fireworks go off and that's us, officially running the Enchanted 10k. Crossing the start line, with all the spectators and entertainment and music was so electric! Everyone wa slumped and ready for a super race - despite the fact it was 5:30am and still dark!
The weather was humid, but we found it warm enough to not need a jumper. Some of the runners from warmer places were wrapped in blankets and sweaters though!
The first 3 miles went by pretty quickly. The pictures are dreadful because it was still so dark (sorry! ).
On the route we passed Moana, a marching band, a dj, there were other characters out but we didn't stop to say hi. We wanted to keep the pace up and hopefully be able to watch the sunrise from the boardwalk
As we ran around and into Epcot Gemma started to feel some pain in her ankle/foot so we pulled over and as she was stretching so many ladies ran past asking if we were ok, did we need help etc. Such a lovely atmosphere!
Stretching done, ankle feeling better and the knowledge that we are half way there, we sped into Epco. We ran into Epcot around the China pavilion. The torches were lit and the music was turned up full
Volume, honestly running into Epcot at that moment was fantastic - I saw Gemma's pace pick up and she seemed to relax a bit more. Clearly the park plus being half way through the race finally had her believing that this was achievable (I never ever had a doubt! )
As we ran round Epcot, up past France and then through international Gateway towards the Boardwalk, the sun started to rise and the most gorgeous golden glow appeared. The mist was hanging around which created a really cool, almost spooky atmosphere around the boardwalk.
We reached mile 4!
Miles 4, 5 and 6 seemed to slip by really quickly. As we ran past the hotels in the boardwalk it was amazing to see some of the guests out with big signs, cheering us on and really encouraging runners to keep going!
By this point we had passed loads of character opportunities :
Genie
Old Hag
Tinker bell
Pinocchio and Geppetto
Marie the cat
We had also passed a water stop and grabbed a cup of water each to cool us down. The humidity had risen slightly!
We rounded back through the boardwalk and into Epcot. This was it. The home stretch.
We ran down towards the fountains with Spaceship Earth in our sights. Less than a mile to go!
Under SE and around the fountain at the entrance, and back up the other side of the ball and we were there. Less than 400m to go...!
THE FINISH LINE!
We crossed the finish line! DONE!
The wonderful RunDisney volunteers place your bling around your neck and directed us along the barrier to collect some water/poweraid and the Disney snack box.
But we didn't care. We had our medals!
This was my first Disney 10k and I loved it! Gemma really enjoyed it too, so much so that we've decided to plan another trip for another Disney race in the future! So much for. It being a runner huh Gemma!
With the race done, we headed back to POR for a shower, change and back to HS for the day.
If you remember, we've been DisneyBounding each day and today we were Minnie Mouse!
Medals on, we walked round to the bus stop ready for a day in HS. It was around 10am by this time, and we had planned on being in the park until around 3 as I was up early again the next day for the half marathon.
We arrived to a busy HS park. It seemed that everyone had the same idea as us today! It doesn't help that the park has the appearance of a half shut attraction and it felt like there were construction walls everywhere!
First up, we decided to have a wee walk and soak up the atmosphere and get some photos along the way.
Gemma had the snack list for today, and knowing we were going to be hungry after the race, the list contained some glorious Chilli cheese hot dogs from Min and Bills Dockside Diner
The hot dogs were fantastic, and just what we both needed! During the day we also had a couple of frozen margarita drinks and ordered an ice cream cookie (but were pixie dusted 2 because there had been a problem with the magic band reader when we went to pay! )
Food inhaled, we decided to hang about and watch the March of the First Order. This is something that I really enjoy, the sounds and the storm troopers marching really makes the entire experience really immersive and you feel like they are really marching on the enemy.
Whilst we were standing waiting, we became acutely aware that the family beside us was in the middle of a drama of sorts - raised voices and a crying child, that sort of thing. As if we weren't feeling awkward enough, the dad then raised his hand and belted the poor child right there in front of everyone! We didn't know what to do. Nobody did. I think a CM had a word with the family, but I can't be sure.
March of the First Order done, we popped over to Star Wars and got in line. Said it was only 20mins wait, but was closer to 40! Neither of us were the rebel spy :-( I've never been picked for that yet!
By the time we came out it had cooled down and we had some time to spare before our next FP (Tower of Terror), so I suggested we get margaritas! Yep. A cooler day, with a spit of rain and I'm getting ready for a half marathon - but a frozen tequila slushie is exactly what we need!
A wee collection of attraction selfies!
We managed to see a lot of the Studios in our short time there, FP for ToT, Toy Story Mania and Frozen.
We both LOVED the Frozen sing along, despite being the only 2 adults in the entire arena who didn't have kids, we snagged 3rd row seats right in the middle and we sang out loud and proud! The Elsa magic at the end was amazing :-)
As I'd mentioned, the park felt so busy today and when we finished on TSM (our last FP for the day) we decided to just head back to the hotel. We would have loved to have stayed for Fantasmic or see the Beauty and the Beast show, but crowds were growing and I was starting to get nervous about the run on Sunday. Gemma was so lovely, and agreed that heading back to the hotel for some foot court food and an early night might be best.
Back at POR I sorted out 'Flat Belle' for the race tomorrow am, took the obligatory photo and then we headed down to the food court.
Gemma was really fancying some good ok Disney Chicken strip things and I had a make your own salad (building the protein and good carb for tomorrow! ). The food court at POR really is great, lots of options for all tastes and whilst we were there we never really found it overly busy.
Food eaten, I had a very brief suggestion that we get a drink at the bar - Gemma was sensible and suggested it probably wasn't the best idea for me! So we popped back to the room to rest up.
From memory we were in bed by 8:30pm, alarm set for 2am. I think I nodded off about 9:30 after watching a rerun of SVU on TV (isn't American TV just so much better than ours! )
Up next. A post dedicated to the Princess Half Marathon