Expedition Everest Challenge

Okay, so technically this race was yesterday/last night.  But since we were finished and headed to the car around midnight, this race gets its own day.  Because sure, we could have stayed at partied at the Animal Kingdom after the race until 3am, but we are old and like doing other things at 3am - like sleep!  Anyhow, this race is similar to the Family Edition, being that it involves wogging and clues.  It also involves obstacles.  Here's how it went down ...

Hoping the rain was done for the day, we donned our outfits (yes, outfits) and headed for the car - after a photo op in the lobby.  And yes, KB and I spent hours on our hairdos.  Anyhow, we got to the Animal Kingdom parking lot and were in our corral by 9pm.  And the race didn't start until 10pm.  And it was sprinkling rain for the entire hour.  And of course we did not bring the ponchos.  Nevertheless, we were entertained by our fellow runners, the music, and the hope that the sprinkles would stop.

Soon the race did begin, and the first wave was off.  There were 10 corrals, and each corral was released six minutes after each other.  We were in Corral F, which meant we got to hang around another 30 minutes until it was our time to go - and off we went!  We wogged around the bend, and then came to our first obstacle - the hay bales.  The object was to leap over the hay bales, which I did.  I'm sure it was a lovely, and by that I mean ridiculous, sight to behold.  Once that was complete, we were off again, headed into Animal Kingdom, where we caught up with Molly, having her picture made with Donald.  We headed off again, after seeing a snake slithering around on the ground.  We're not sure where it's official Disney handler was!!

We wound around Asia and Africa and Expedition Everest and backstage, where we encountered our next obstacle - the tires.  Somehow I managed to get through these without breaking an appendage, and off we went again.  We headed back to the start (in the AK parking lot), and encountered the final obstacle - crawling under the net.  I can't say much about this except that you just need to imagine me with my "physical characteristics" on all fours, crawling on the ground under a net.  I think that's 'nuf said.

Having finished the 5K and obstacle course, we each grabbed the first clue and headed off.  The scavenger hunt has you getting a clue, figuring it out, heading to the next stop, getting a clue, and then repeat the process until you get the final clue.  Between the four of us (and maybe a little eavesdropping on our fellow trekkers), we managed to solve them all and head back to the finish.  Where we received our compass medals and complimentary bananas.  The rain eventually did stop and we had a great time.  And then headed to the car, anticipating the hot shower that would await each of us upon our return.

And who's race was this one?  Why, KB, of course!!  Not only was this a race that she's wanted to do, and this was her first time to do it, but this is her birthday weekend (actual birthday is Cinco de Mayo, or May 5 for those of you uninformed people).  Karen is my partner in crime, who's response to my great ideas is usually, "Okay, sure."  We first met at boot camp, bonded when I gave her "tips" for doing her first half marathon (because I am such an "expert"), and became sisters when we found out we were born the same year.  Karen's also the Southern daughter my mother probably wishes I would have become - she's beautiful and sweet and kind and dresses nicely and wears stylish clothes.  She probably even brushes her hair everyday!  She's the kind of friend that everybody deserves to have in their corner.  So Happy Birthday Karen - whatever shall we do next??!

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Today was a great day because:  finishing the EE Challenge; the rain stopping; doing all the obstacles (because some years I opt out)