One of the smart things I did was check into qualifying for a better corral when I check in on Thursday. Fortunately my time from the Rochester half moved me from Corral D to Corral B for the half and from C to B for the full. So I had a decent starting spot and when the race started was across the start line fairly quickly. Took the first mile to get up to pace as it was still pretty tight. I ran the first mile with the poncho on and then that became an agravation so I ditched that, ditched the sweatshirt about a mile later. By the 2nd mile the rain started to freeze and it snowed a bit (yes this race is in Florida!) and then it turned to freezing sleet and finally back to rain. Tried to settle into a comfortable pace that would have me finish under 2 hours, but not wear me out for Sundays race. For most of the run I pretty much went by perceived effort as it was dark out so I couldn't see the garmin without lighting it up and I didn't feel like doing that. Turns out that other than mile 1 and 7(not sure what happened there 9:28) every mile was in the 8:35 - 8:45 pace. It was nice to chat with some of the other runners and thank the volunteers without worrying about time. I really felt bad for the volunteers as this race is popular with a lot of folks doing thier first half or first full so the volunteers were standing in the cold rain for a lot longer than they may have at some other races.

Had a good time in the Magic Kingdom, lots of people along the course cheering and the Disney characters out for photo ops! Didn't bring a camera or I would have stopped and had a picture!

Probably the only surprise was that this wasn't as flat as I thought it would be. Not hilly, but there are 2 or 3 over passes and traffic ramps that have a fairly good climb to them.

I am happy with this run!

Nothing, I had a lot of fun despite the rain. Should have brought a camera!

This is where the day turned a bit ugly. I didn't bring dry/warm clothes to check in as Connie was going to come to the finish area and bring them with her. Unfortunately, due to traffic, bus confusion, etc. she didn't get to the finish area until about 40 minutes after I finished. The mylar blankets helped some, but was tough with the wind to keep covered. Plus, since she wasn't at the meeting spot, I went looking for her.

Once I finally found her (or she found me) we went right to the bus to get out of the cold rain! Fortunately all the bus drivers are southerners that had the heat cranked!!!


The race was very organized considering its size. Lots of water stops with plenty of volunteers. Post race food was pretty lame considering the size and cost. Bagels and fruit and maybe pizza (i saw the boxes but didn't see it on the table). It would have been nice to have my favorite post race recovery drink, hot chocolate!