The Big Story PART 1 - Pre-Race

So here it is, the BIG ACCOUNT of one best achievements I have experienced!  My FIRST Half Marathon!  I am going to put it into 4 segments - just in case it gets too boring and trivial you can take a break and check in later for more tantalizing details of my big moments!  I would equal this blog to decades ago when people made friends and acquaintances sit for long slide shows of their vacations!

I just have to say from my perspective, that the race is so much more than just the 13.1 miles.  At least for the Disney Half Marathon, it is so so so SO much more of an experience!  Put all eight months aside and narrow it down to 24 hours and there is an experience that puts you into a daze that has to be picked apart and sucked out of your sub-conscious just to recall it in detail. It wraps itself up into one big ball, more like a cloud or a foggy swirl of energy and leaves you with almost a post traumatic syndrome where you have to debrief yourself to make sense of it.

It all begins with packing hastily and getting everyone in the car, even though I've known about this for almost a year.  It inevitably now is at the end of a busy week, jammed between the start of more busyness, so there's a little "let's just get in the car" attitude!   I have packed my race bag with several extra pieces of race clothing in case I change my mind on my "race look", along with my number belt and various attachments like my iPhone strap and energy boost packets.  The most important thing I carried in my race gear was likened unto the holy grail - the race waiver!  You can't get your packet without it - that was the warning in the repeated email reminders!

As we arrived on Disney property toward the hotel....  I have to digress here for a moment.  I must make it VERY CLEAR to whom ever is reading this, THAT, DISNEY WORLD is one of the most favorite places in my life - I love love love just being on Disney Property.   To me it IS THE HAPPIEST PLACE IN THE WORLD.  Perhaps because I remember as a little girl born in Orlando, when it wasn't even built yet and we went to see the little schematic of the park and I got my first Winnie-the-Pooh and Tinkerbell.  I remember a book of tickets that was lettered A-F for the different park areas.  I remember many "Nights of Joy" with my youth group and later taking my children there to scream in terror as the characters came near them.  GOOD TIMES and SWEET MEMORIES.   So to have my first Half Marathon there is SERENDIPITY...which I' have always wanted to use in a sentence!

SO - as we arrived on Disney property towards the hotel, we passed the ESPN Sports Complex where the Expo and Check In was and I had an instinctive urge to go there before we checked in and THANK GOD we did.  The place was swirling.  This is when the enormity of the race became too clear!

As we got out of our car, my husband turned to the right to walk toward a white tented area.  I quickly corrected him- he thought we were going to this little tent to pick up my packet.  He thought that because the Triathlon at Ft. Wilderness two years ago with about 800 people had that....this however was over 20,000 people running not counting their entire families with them...it was in the COMPLEX.   As we now turned to walk with the sea of people toward the complex a wave of excitement hit me.  I was now possessed by a girl 13 years old going to see Justin Bieber!  I was pointing and jumping a little...I wanted a picture of everything.

On the way into the complex

Still on the way into the complex

In the complex...race packet pick up

The Expo with a lot of awesome vedors....

On the way out of the Complex!

I just had a compulsion to remember it all! 

What struck me the most was how organized, welcoming and detailed this part of the event was.  For a first timer coming into this type of race it could not have been more special!  There were plenty of workers directing you to the right place to go.  I am sure we all had a look of "first day out of the egg"!  We were directed in a perfect flow into the Check-in Building with everything clearly marked as to where to get your packet.  The woman who have me my packet explained everything so explicitly that I felt entirely confident of what was happening even though it was overwhelming! 

 I was only a little miffed when I saw an entire Kiosk with printers for people who hadn't brought their Race Waiver.  They made it sound like you would be jailed and fined if you didn't have it when you came but there were plenty of empty printers waiting for the negligent waiver criminals.  I was miffed because before we crossed the bridge out of St. Pete I had my daughter climb over the back seat to confirm I had it in the outside pocket of my race bag!   Later my racing buddy Lisa commented on it as well.  I then knew my intimidation with the waiver was a well organized move by the Disney Race Organizers.  Brilliant!

Signing the racers wall on the way into the Expo!

 As we exited the Check-in building the flow of people went right into the Expo Center with the vendors.  This was a very exciting because I had come determined to get a really cool, girly shirt to wear.  It HAD to be black and hot pink and voila - there was a perfect one for me!!!  I could have bought so much more but I had my hubby with me and I felt a little restrained on that end! He did splurge on me and bought me one packet of some super delicious energy bites that I ended up eating throughout my race!  Thank you honey!

love these

We then took a family picture at the HP Printer - "don't you want to buy our printers"  booth and I practically floated to the car with my excitement energizing me!  I had my own CLEAR Race bag stuffed with papers, samples, a huge glossy thick program, my race number with a chip on the back, and my new super cute race shirt.  WHAT MORE could a Virgin Half Marathoner want!  

More to come on my Pre-Race NIGHT!