It’s 3:30 within the morning on an incredibly chilly January day in Orlando. I’m wearing working gear, lacing up my Hokas, and rethinking every part as I head out of the foyer of the Disney Seaside Membership Resort. For starters: Why am I awake? And what did I signal myself up for?
What I signed up for, in actual fact, is the runDisney 10K at Walt Disney World — considered one of 4 races that comprise Marathon Weekend on the world’s happiest place. After I was invited to take part in a type of races, in addition to expertise the opposite health and self-care choices obtainable on the resort throughout January, I used to be all in. The promise of a fun-filled household trip plus some built-in me time? Signal me up, certainly.
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And so it’s that I’m standing at the hours of darkness, with temperatures hovering round 40 levels, queued in line for a bus that may take me to the beginning of the race whereas my husband and two children are nonetheless cozy of their beds again in our resort room. On the corral, the vitality is electrical. It’s far and away the largest crowd of runners I’ve ever been in, and any trace of fatigue has evaporated by the 5:00 a.m. begin time. (The early hour, by the way in which, is as a result of the race winds by means of Epcot and must be over earlier than the park opens.) Nonetheless, pitch darkish and chilly, it appears like we’re working in the midst of the evening, which is form of a thrill in and of itself.
I’m a racing novice, and that is my first 10K. It seems that that’s a very good factor. RunDisney’s Marathon Weekend is a superb place to kick off a new-to-you distance as a result of, as I’ve come to grasp, runDisney races should not essentially ones the place folks push for a PR. They’re designed to be extra enjoyable than quick. Folks costume in costumes, there’s music and dwell leisure alongside the way in which, and there are built-in breaks for photograph ops with Disney characters. (Full disclosure: I used to be not in peak type for this race, so I welcomed the breathers I bought ready in line to snap pics with Goofy and Princess Aurora.)
Whereas the race began within the Epcot car parking zone and on the street outdoors of the park, the enjoyable actually began as soon as we had been winding our approach by means of the again of Epcot, by means of the resort (the place workers from the totally different nation pavilions cheered us on), and alongside the BoardWalk. Working previous the glowing, lit-up globe of Spaceship Earth was breathtaking (actually and figuratively, as I used to be huffing and puffing my well past it!). And seeing the park in a approach that few folks do — practically empty save for runners and volunteers — was tremendous cool.
After I crossed the end line and grabbed my Chip and Dale-decorated finishers medal, my speedy thought was, I need to do that once more. I’m hardly the one one who feels that approach: there’s a whole class of people that do what’s often called the Dopey Problem — working all 4 race distances (5K, 10K, Half Marathon, and Marathon) in the identical weekend. (That’s a whopping 48.6 miles in case you’re counting!) Plus, it could have been much more enjoyable if my household had been working with me.
Because it was, they had been nonetheless asleep by the point I bought again to my resort, making it the right method to do one thing for myself on a household trip. Later that morning, whereas they performed on the resort pool, I headed over to Disney Springs to take pleasure in a few of the different Wellness Month actions, together with a free yoga class hosted by lululemon and a calming mini-facial at L’Occitane. (Different choices have included Cirque du Soleil-led health lessons and household Zumba.)
After which it was again to Epcot, however this time as a foursome and with a completely totally different perspective of the park. I used to be nonetheless in my Hokas, but it surely wasn’t about working this time. It was about household bonding — and occurring the rides.