My 1st Dopey Challenge: Part 2

After tackling the 5k and 10k (detailed on this post), along with park days at Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom, I was ready for the half marathon. After an extensive training cycle a 13.1 mile run didn’t seem like a lot, but the lack of sleep and two full race and park days on my feet were starting to add up.

Half Marathon

The alarm went off (again) and I was finding it harder to stumble out of bed and into my morning routine. Physically I felt good, but mentally I couldn’t help but think about the collective 39.3 miles ahead of me. I was beginning to see the Dopey not as a running challenge, but rather as a fight against physical exhaustion (mostly in early morning wake-ups) and the mental struggle of knowing that each day gets harder in leading up to the marathon. Nonetheless, I got myself out the door and to an even sleepier bus than for the 10k.

The half marathon day was a bit chillier than the other race days, so I had what I thought was going to be a throwaway long sleeve layer over my race kit. This time when I got to the Epcot parking lot I hopped in line for a pre-race character picture with Flik from A Bug’s Life, a favorite of my kids at the time. I still had plenty of time to warm up and get myself ready for the race, although with the temperature staying cool I kept my thin outer layer on instead of tossing it at the start line. I headed to B corral that day, and immediately missed my A corral status. My best proof of time at the submission cutoff was a 4:01 marathon time, so I missed A by a couple minutes. I would recommend to anyone to try and get a solid A- or B-qualifying race every few years it is totally worth it.

As we started off I noticed the slightly more crowded roads in starting one corral back. A decent number of runners in A started off walking or jogging at a very easy pace, congesting the initial miles along the Epcot back roads. I tempered myself, though, as I had no intention of going much faster than my easy pace. We had no park plans that day, and instead my extended family was driving up to join us for a brunch-time character breakfast at Cape May Café before we planned to take it easy at Disney Springs and our resort. I also had the specter of the marathon looming large ahead of me, so I was in no real rush other than to finish and get off my feet for the day.

For the half marathon I changed my plan from the previous two days of trying to get through the course quickly. Wanting to preserve myself for the next day’s marathon, I made sure to hydrate often (water and Powerade at every stop) and I stopped at way more character stops. The runDisney events are always good for deep cut characters you’ll rarely see in the parks. On this day I got photos with Jafar, Mushu, Genie, Buzz Lightyear, and Jack Skellington, among others.

The WDW Half Marathon, along with the WDW Marathon and the Princess Half Marathon, have the distinction of going through Magic Kingdom. If you’ve never raced through Magic Kingdom, it’s probably one of the most striking scenes in any race. Running down a lit up Main Street with a mass of spectators cheering you on with the castle in the distance – it’s awesome. The thrill of running through Magic Kingdom gives a jolt to get through the last half of the race.

Unlike the 5k and 10k, the half marathon is mostly roads along the Disney World resort area, which is mostly offset with plenty of entertainment. Still, the last couple miles felt a little tougher and I was thankful to get in view of the Epcot sphere just as the sun was coming up. I was relieved to finish in about 2:14 – much slower than my usual pace but I didn’t feel too burned out for the next day. After finishing the race and getting cleaned up we had a great carb recovery and reload at the Cape May Café breakfast buffet. We headed to Disney Springs after breakfast where I finally started hitting a wall while taking a few minutes to sit by one of the themed Christmas trees that was still up. We headed back to Caribbean Beach where I was able to get a quick afternoon nap in while the rest of the family explored the resort. We had a nice early dinner and I was able to get to get some rest for the next day.

Marathon

This was it – 26.2 miles between me and my first Dopey. My feet were sore and I was worn down a bit overall, but my legs still felt good from taking it pretty easy in the three earlier races. For the fourth time in a row I dragged myself out of bed and got myself ready and out the door. Just getting to the starting line for the Dopey Challenge is an achievement onto itself: the hectic registration, the Disney trip planning, the months of training, and, most critically, waking up crazy early four straight days.

For the marathon, there was definitely more excitement and buzz than the 10k and half marathon. Everyone was psyching themselves up for the race ahead, and the mix of encouragement and nervous energy was palpable. As excited as I was to go through the course, I was also a little bit looking forward to just getting the race over with. My entire family, including my mom, my brother, my sister, and nieces and nephew, were all going to Epcot for the day. Weeks earlier I planned out my finish at around four hours, which would give me time to hit the Early Entry rope drop time at 9:30am. I would finish my run and head right back into Epcot (through the turnstiles – I knew running back into the course was a no-go) and I’d meet up with my family shortly after they entered the park. But then reality set in and I changed my strategy to “Just finish when you can”.

We were off on the start and I allowed myself to cruise in a slow and steady pace. I made a point not to pass anyone unless I had plenty of clearance, and I would just enjoy the race as much as anyone could enjoy a marathon. We started off dipping into Epcot briefly before heading back to the Magic Kingdom castle. With my feet feeling it every step, I stopped for as many character and water stops as I could. There were probably almost as many character stops as miles during the course, mostly along the roads to and from Magic Kingdom. I counted 18 pictures I stopped for along my run, and each stop was a relief in preserving my legs. The long road to Magic Kingdom was the toughest stretch, as my soreness was compounded by the knowledge I had a lot of miles left to go. Then Magic Kingdom happened.

I got the same rush from the crowd down Main Street, and when I got my picture with the castle behind me I checked the time: 6:58am. This was still during the time of Genie+ and Virtual Queues, so I had two goals: VQ for Guardians of the Galaxy for me and my son (my wife was about five months pregnant, so no coasters for her this trip), and Frozen Ever After as our first Genie+ selection. I stepped off to the side (along with a few others) and started tapping away furiously right at 7:00am. I secured a VQ ride group estimated for late morning for GotG, and a 10:15 return time for Frozen. Perfect.

Somehow this reenergized me, and as I exited Magic Kingdom for the long road down to Animal Kingdom I finally felt a sense of calm that I would finish the race strong and complete my Ultra Dopey. Between stops my pace crept up from the 9:20sih min/mi to 8:30 min/mi. I was feeling strong as I swept through Animal Kingdom and passed mile 18 where I had hit my first marathon wall a year earlier. Blizzard Beach parking lot felt like a breeze, and I soon found myself dipping into Hollywood Studios before heading to Epcot.

At this point it was about 9:30am and I called my wife to see if they were already getting into the park. They hit some snafus getting everyone onto the Skyliner to Epcot, so I actually ended up pulling off to the side for about 15 minutes after entering Epcot. Soon enough the whole crew joined me for a couple pictures and high fives (I was too sweaty for hugs). Between seeing my family, hitting the World Showcase final stretch, and taking a 15 minute break, I was able to rocket through the rest of the marathon. I finished in a sprint, elated that I had not only completed my Dopey Challenge but that I still had plenty of energy to enjoy Epcot with my family. I grabbed all the drinks, food, medal, and Marathon Mickey ears, and looped my way through the Epcot entrance to join my crew. After a few rides I even had enough in my legs to sprint to my resort room to shower just in time for our late check out. We enjoyed a celebratory late lunch at Biergarten to cap off a perfect Ultra Dopey trip

Takeaways

The Dopey Challenge is hard. All of the work and preparation to not only ready your body for the endurance challenge but also to put together a full Disney World trip can be it’s own challenge. Then you have to wake up early and execute from 5am until about 10pm each day. I fully realize a lot of people approach the Dopey Challenge differently, prioritizing sleep and nutrition to get through the races. One woman I saw on the early busses back from the races mentioned how her husband and children couldn’t join her for the week so she could nap and hang out around Walt Disney World at her leisure. As nice as that sounded, I could not imagine doing Disney World without my family. Make no mistake – the week was exhausting. A Disney World vacation is not a restful vacation, and that goes double for an Ultra Dopey vacation. But the feeling of accomplishment in finishing the Dopey Challenge and maximizing our park days is something I hold onto forever.