Sunday, January 10, 2016

Marathon Day!!

 Today is the day that Molly completes her Dopey – after having done the 5K, the 10K, and the half-marathon on consecutive days. Today is the final race – all 26.2 miles of it. Me? I’m just along for course support.

So, I pack my bag of Molly’s necessities (M&Ms, Lays potato chips, power water, etc) and head out with her at 4:30am to catch the bus. Why am I going with her at this early hour? So I can be at my first appointed stop outside the Polynesian Resort – or around Mile 8.5.

We get to the start area at Epcot, and Molly headed off to her corral. I head to catch the monorail which will take me to the Magic Kingdom area. I then get in the line that is apparently the bag check line for the monorail. Bag check is common to get into the parks, but for the monorail? Once the line snakes out into the parking lot and doubles, the powers that be determine that bag check is NOT necessary for the monorail, and we get going.

I get to my appointed spot in plenty of time. There are several other spectators there, including one
woman with humongous boobs that I am afraid are going to fall out of her blouse at any given moment. Oh well, I guess we all have our ways of encouraging others.


Anyway, soon Molly appears and I provide her with her desired items. She appears happy and healthy – and only has around 18 more miles to go!



My next spot is outside of Animal Kingdom. I catch the bus and spend the next 45 minutes getting to Animal Kingdom (a ride that should take half the time). The reason? The marathon ties up a lot of roads, so we have to take the long way. As we head to Animal Kingdom, we pass many runners – some of whom look good, and some who don’t look so good.

Once I arrive at Animal Kingdom, I find a spot and get out the oranges that I had peeled last night. I put them on a plate and offered them to the runners as they passed. Some acted as if I were passing out gold bars! Again, some runners were trotting along as if this were nothing, and some were actually weeping at this point – which would be the halfway point.

Soon Molly comes trotting along and looks pretty good. Apparently she stopped while in Animal Kingdom and rode the Expedition Everest roller coaster. And why shouldn’t see? Anyhow, she took some more supplies and headed out for the last half of the race.

My next stop was at Hollywood Studios which is at Mile 22 of the course. I had a lot of time to spend in Hollywood Studios, which was good, since my phone was quickly running low on battery (and of course my emergency booster was back in the room). Luckily, Guest Relations will charge your phone for you, so I got enough of a boost to see me through. Molly arrived, we had a brief moment, and off she headed to finish the race. Along the way to the finish, she saw Steve at the Boardwalk, and she met Katie in France, where Katie had a pineapple cider to push Molly to the finish.

Meanwhile, I had headed out of Hollywood Studios where I heard my name being called. It was my friend Suzanne, who was sitting with her husband, waiting for their daughter Jessie Elizabeth, who was doing the marathon. We visited for a few minutes and then I headed to catch the bus to Epcot.

Once on the bus, I kept thinking I heard a tiny baby crying – young enough to still have that newborn cry. I kept looking around but saw no baby. Finally I noticed a baby seat covered with a baby blanket, situated between a lady’s legs. Other people started noticing the baby’s cries (because it cried the entire time). Finally the lady said, “I know, but it’s a short bus ride.” Um, not for your distraught baby, lady!!

Finally we got to Epcot and I headed to the finish line, where I saw Molly as she finished that last .2 miles to the finish line. Yay Molly!! She finished her 3rd Dopey Challenge!!

Once she was done, we found the bus to the hotel and headed back there for a nap before eating dinner in Canada. Steve headed to the airport to head home while Molly and I headed to bed. Tomorrow starts Phase 2 of our Disneycation!!

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Thankful today for: Seeing Molly at various places along the marathon course; passing out oranges to runners; Molly finishing the Dopey

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