RAIN. A big fat green blob of rain on the radar. RAIN. So, not only is it 3am, but it's January, so it's a cold rain. Boy, that'll wake you up! For sure!
Luckily, I had my plastic baggy thing that RunDisney gave us yesterday after the 5k, to stay warm. Note to self--it also helps you stay dry--sort of.
It was corral waiting time....again, I was in corral E. Rain and corral waiting times make for a LONG WAIT.
My plan for today was to still walk, but this course was timed and this course had balloon ladies. But, this was still the fun race for me, and I was going to take it all in!
The race started, and I was jogging a little, walking a little taking in the scenery all around me. There were few characters on the course, because the rain was coming down too hard. This race consisted of highway running too.
We ran around the world at Epcot, and again I got to watch the sun, (or the clouds) rise over Epcot which was a beautiful sight.
Then, we got to the Boardwalk Hotel area. The entire morning, the race announcers kept saying over and over, "the board will be slick, be careful." SO, being the clumsy person that I am, decided to walk the boardwalk. I stopped for a photo op with Mike and Sully from Monsters, Inc, which took about 3 minutes or so.
I walked around the boardwalk, taking in the sights. It was pretty, a neat little place that I had never been to. It would be fun to go there at night, I think.
As I round the end of the boardwalk, I am now about .25 past mile 5. No sign of the balloon ladies, and a lot of people behind me. I see Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, a short line waiting for them. I decide to stop for a photo opp. After all, today was fun---business started tomorrow and Sunday.
I am in line for them. I kid you not, all of a sudden I see people in a panic. Sheer panic. I'm talking, "Walking Dead," type panic. People start running. It all felt like slow motion---I turn around and I hear....."THE BALLOON LADIES ARE HERE." And I see them. A lady wearing pink, carrying one single Mickey Mouse balloon. I envisioned them to be carrying about 25 balloons, much like you'd see a salesmen on Main Street, USA. But, they were not. They carried a single balloon. If you look REAL close in the picture, you can see the single balloon.
I panicked. I was NOT getting picked up on the 10k. I ran the last 3/4 of a mile like there was no tomorrow. Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum who?
I finished, and it was fun. Stressful, but fun!
It was now a steady rain at this point. I had heard that the characters, particularly Dopey were going to be doing meet/greets each day after the race---again, I am not fast, so realistically, the 10k was my only day to have a photo opp with my favorite Dwarf. He would be gone by the time I finished the half, and we all knew I was not going to finish the full, so by the time the bus drove me to the finish, he would be gone....today was my ONLY day to see Dopey, the entire reason I was doing this challenge---you cannot do the dopey challenge, and NOT get your photo with Dopey--simply cannot.
There was 2 people in line, in the rain for Dopey, and a man, casually standing outside of the line waiting for Dopey. I walk up, my bubbly self---and say "Hey, have ya'll looked at the radar, it looks like it's going to clear up." I kid you not, one lady says to me, "Uh, look around. It's not clearing up." So, thanks for making me feel stupid. I figure, I'm already wet, might as well wait.
An hour and half later, a few calls from the husband wondering where the heck I was and thinking I was NUTS, but it finally stopped raining enough that Dopey came out. There were about 10 of us left in the entire race parking lot. But, I got what I waited for, and met a new friend along the way! My new friend, Jennifer was a Dopey PRO, and we shared stories and giggled as we waited in the rain.
Next, I was forced to run to the last bus taking guests back to their rooms----and made it within 2 minutes of Race Day transportation ending.
It was wet, but it was fun. I headed back to the hotel, showered and napped for a few before going on to Magic Kingdom for the day. Oh, and did I mention that my Amazon Pantry order finally got delivered. Water, and carb bars all day long!
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