For the most part we spent the time between the 5K and 10 Miler races laying low. We ventured out for lunch at the Brown Derby at Hollywood Studios, and went for quick spins on Star Tours and Toy Story Midway Mania (thank you FastPass+).
After we got back to our hotel room I attempted to have a nap but I was too excited to sleep. Before I knew it, it was time to get ready and make our way to the race start! We were staying at the Swan so we were able to leave a little later and walk from the hotel to the start line at Hollywood Studios. Not having to drive to ESPN Wide World of Sports and then take a bus to the start was really nice!
Neil and I decided to go the super hero route with our costumes this year – he as the Flash (with an Under Armour shirt he loved) and me as Wonder Woman. I got the skirt, gold cuffs and visor (that I embellished with red stars) from Sparkle Athletics. I had a pair of Oiselle Distance shorts under the skirt and my tank was the Oiselle Scantron tank. The yellow Wonder Woman logo was done with yellow Duck tape.
We made the decision to not check any gear for the end so when we got to the race start we lined up to sign the guest register for the Hollywood Tower Hotel and to grab a photo. It was getting close to race time after we got through the line but all of a sudden I had to pee badly! I knew that would be a bad way to start the race so we got in the very slow moving lines for the porta potties. We were supposed to be in corral E but by the time we got out of the porta potties corrals A-E had already been sent off to the start line. We narrowly missed corral F as they closed the barricades just before we could make our way up. We managed to get into corral G just in time. At first I was a bit upset that we’d be starting farther back and that we’d have to weave around more people, but I knew starting that race with a full bladder would have not been fun. And after all, this race was for fun, right?
I took a gel and all of a sudden fireworks were going off and the first corral was on its way! There were only a few minutes between the send off for each corral so we were running shortly.
Tower of Terror 10 Miler Race Report
Neil and I have done this race three times. For our first race in 2012 Neil hadn’t trained for it, yet we ran the race together and finished together. Last year Neil did train for it, but experienced pain in his shins and hip flexors and pulled out mid-race while I continued on (feeling guilty and terrible the entire time). This year Neil didn’t train for the race so I had no idea what to expect. To avoid the shin/hip flexor issues we had a nice warm up walk to the start of the race and we didn’t sit around the start tightening up. We also did a few activation exercises (butt kicks, high knees) as we walked to the start. We had a plan to run/walk 4:1 intervals and if the lines for the characters were okay we would stop for photos. I was prepared to adjust the run/walk ratio if we needed to as well.
The weather for the race this year was absolute perfection for Orlando. In the evening a cool front blew in, knocking the humidity down and dropping the temperature a few degrees. It was lovely! It wasn’t long before we came upon our first villain, Jafar.
After saying hello we were on our way and it didn’t take long to get to the turnaround at the entrance to the Animal Kingdom parking lot.
We knew Dr. Facilier, the bad guy from the Princess and the Frog, was just a little ways ahead. After we crossed the 5K timing mat I sprinted ahead to grab us a spot in line for a photo.
While it felt really fun to sprint ahead it turns out it didn’t make that much of a difference as there weren’t that many people lining up for photos around us. From the conversation I heard many of the folks were afraid that if they stopped for photos they would drop behind the pace requirements and get swept. There were also several characters with crazy long lines (like the hyenas from the Lion King and Captain Hook) that we decided to skip.
The 4:1 intervals were working really well and Neil was feeling good. We didn’t manage very many photos of us actually running together…but here we are, running around the baseball diamond at WWOS, just after the 10K timing mat.
Just after we left WWOS we ran into the Big Bad Wolf again.
And just as we turned Osceola Parkway we ran into the ballroom dancers from the Boo to You Parade from Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party.
After that Neil declared that he was ready to quit standing in lines for photos and finish this race off. Time to bring it home! Once we entered Hollywood Studios the atmosphere was electric. We ran through the Lights, Motor, Action Stunt Spectacular.
As we ran around the Sorcerer’s Hat there was a large crowd of spectators cheering us on.
Then we were through Pixar Place and on the final stretch to the finish!
Neil and I held hands as we crossed the finish line together! We had done it!
We finished in 2:17:02. I’m so happy we were able to run the entire race together and I know Neil felt a bit of redemption after not finishing the race last year. We grabbed our food boxes, Powerade and water and had our finisher’s photo snapped.
Because we didn’t check a bag we were able to exit out into the park right near the Tower of Terror. My first priority was to get something to eat and a cheeseburger sounded delicious!
After we were done eating Neil was ready to call it a night so we bypassed the meet and greets with the villains along the rides and walked back to our hotel. Again, it was really nice to not have to board a bus and then drive back to our hotel in the middle of the night!
After having run this race three times (plus the inaugural 13K Tower of Terror in 2007) I’m a little sad to see that the Tower of Terror isn’t on the Run Disney calendar for next year. Neil and I have loved making a trip out of the race, the Halloween Party and the EPCOT Food & Wine festival. Oh well…maybe that gives me an excuse to try something new around this time next year instead…
Did you run the Tower of Terror? How was your race?
Results:
2:17:02
Overall: 5366 of 9,388
F35 – 39: 567 of 993
Love the recap – you guys look so happy and adorable! Disney races are really fun. 🙂
Sounds like a great race and looks like you both had a love of fun. Love your costume!
Awww, I’m bummed it’s off the list for next year – my aunt and I were hoping to fly down and run it together one year.
Your costumes were so cute!!
Stinks it isn’t on the calendar next year. Seems like such a fun time of year at Disney.