After a very cold 5K morning, I definitely wasn't looking forward to yet another freezing race start! I've said it before and I'll say it again, the worst part of Dopey Challenge for me was simply getting out of bed, knowing I had to face the cold for several hours before our run was set to begin. I was slightly better prepared this morning, though - I saved my mylar blanket from the day before and had it wrapped around my waist/legs - it was seriously a life saver!
For a full recap of our WDW Marathon Weekend experience, check out these links below:
We were appropriately dressed as Anna and Elsa for this 10K and received several funny comments along the course about it being "her" fault for the cold, make it go away, etc!
I waited once again until 4 a.m. to head to the bus stop. Thankfully, the line wasn't near as long as the day before which was great!
After arriving at the starting area, I found my running buddy and we made our way to coral C.
It honestly felt a little warmer this morning and we were able to bundle up close to the runners in our coral which made a world of difference!
Before long, our coral had made it to the start line and we were up and running!
Side note - I love the new(ish) digital start signs runDisney had out for both the 5K and the 10K!
I absolutely LOVE the Disney 10K course which leads runners out on
the highway for a little while (ok, that's not my favorite part) then
through World Showcase, the Boardwalk/Yacht/Beach Resorts, and finally
back into EPCOT for the finish!
While out on the highway, we spotted a couple of characters from Bug's Life but decided to skip that line...so when we saw these parade performers with a super short line, we knew we had to stop!
Pinocchio was also inside World Showcase, so it was fun saying hi to him!
The sun was just starting to rise as we approached the Boardwalk and Crescent Lake. A few similar characters from the 5K were also out (like Vacation Genie), so we decided to skip them.
This dude cracked me up so I had to snap a picture! I'm assuming he was cheering on the Be Our Guest Podcast Lizards? Still hilarious, even though I wasn't an official part of their group! Also along this area, we spotted Lou Mongello from the WDW Radio Podcast - he was out to cheer on his WDW Radio racing team!
A fun surprise for us was seeing Duffy in EPCOT! We were a bit of a ways back in line and were told that Duffy was about to go on break - so several people left the line...which meant we got to see him before he left for break! Another fun surprise!
A photo with the EPCOT ball was also a must-do!
Our final stop of the race was with another set of parade performers! They were standing in the spot where the gospel singers are usually located and they had a super short line, so we had to stop and say hello!
We crossed the finish line, got our medals, drinks, and food boxes, then made a bee line for the bus! Although we'd run most of this race, we were both freezing by the time we finished and were ready to warm up!
Part 2 of Dopey Challenge, the Walt Disney World 10K was complete! I couldn't comprehend that I still had 39.3 miles to run!
Stay tuned for more from our 2018 WDW Marathon Weekend vacay! Also, if you're interested in Disney vlogs from the remainder of our trip, look to my
YouTube channel for updates! Have a great day!
