This is the third post for the 2018 Dopey Challenge. Checkout my recaps for the expo, 5k, half marathon, and marathon.
For day two of the 2018 Dopey Challenge, things went rather similarly to the 5k the day before.
The weather on Friday morning was just as cold as Thursday’s 5k, but with more wind which made things feel even colder. Still, this time, I opted for the shorts I wished I had for the 5k. To stay warm, I bundled myself up again with throwaway clothes and saved heatsheats.
I caught the bus a few minutes earlier than Wednesday, but this time, Danielle was with me. This was the only race she was running for the weekend and she planned to push the pace. I planned to, again, keep it easy.
We quickly made our way through security and onto the meetup spot. Like the day before, I had my bag for bag check folded up in my pocket so I wouldn’t have to deal with security needing to search it. Besides, I was wearing all of my post-race layers anyway so I didn’t have anything left to put in it.
The usual gang was at the meetup spot and we again chatted it up. I also snagged one of the most intense hugs ever from DC area’s resident loudmouth friend Lauren Bailey. Like Danielle, this was the only race she was running so we had to make the hug count.
Danielle and I walked over to the corrals with Ohana friends Nathan, Aimee, and Katherine. Even though we had plenty of time, we only barely made it in time. Not only had they already started walking the A corral up, but they were starting to bring the B corral too. We all sprinted ahead to catch up with the back of our corral. Danielle left us all behind so she could get closer to the front. Again, she was racing this one so she wanted to be up there more than the rest of us Dopeyers did.
The rest of us huddled together to stay warm as best we could. Oddly, the national anthem was not sung by a live human, but instead an instrumental version was played. I guess maybe it was too cold for whoever was supposed to sing. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
When the race started, Katherine dusted us, but Nathan, Aimee, and I stuck together and kept a slightly more sensible pace. Neither of them were very well prepared for the weekend so they wanted to keep it easy. Fine by me, anyway.
The 10k course is similar to the 5k one, but with some added bonuses. It takes a little while longer to get into Epcot, but you get to see a little more. The countries of the World Showcase ticked off like they were nothing and before I knew it, we were through the International Gateway and heading over to Crescent Lake. I always love the lap around Boardwalk, Yacht Club, and Beach Club in the dark. These resorts are beautiful at night when they’re lit up and there’s just a ton of energy.
After our lap, we came back into Epcot through a new construction zone where they’re starting work on the stupid Skyliner 🙄. A few construction workers were out with mics and speakers having fun cheering on the runners and, to be honest, I still don’t know if they were actual construction workers for the project or actors doing characters. Either way, it was a cute way to turn the construction zone into part of the entertainment.
As we rounded the corner turning from the World Showcase towards Futureworld, one of our other Ohana friends, Jeff, came up and shoulder-checked Aimee as a joke. This pushed her into me and me into Nathan and then Nathan into an innocent stranger. It wasn’t a hard bump, but it was hilarious. We started running together and I figured we’d finish together, but…
Approaching the Fountain of Nations, I saw there was no line for the photographers set up to take shots with Spaceship Earth in the background. I decided to run right up and get a photo. I think the stop took, at most, 7 seconds. But I figured the group had already passed by so I took the f off sprinting to catch them.
Apparently, though, they hadn’t actually passed me and I was ahead of them. I quickly realized this, but it was too dark to find them behind me. Luckily, it didn’t take long for Nathan to catch me. Though, Aimee and Jeff were gone.
Nathan and I made our way to the finish and I jumped across the finish line because, yeah, why not?
I’m not one for running with others, but I had a lot of fun running with Aimee and Nathan for this race. It brought together a lot of what runDisney means to me, fun with friends.
After grabbing my checked bag, I again went straight to the bus to find warmth. It turned out that Aimee got Jeff back by checking him into the fence coming down the last bit of the race to the finish. And THAT is why we never saw them again.
As for Danielle’s race, well…she PRed like a jerk. Like, come on, who PRs at Disney? Danielle does.
