2018 Dopey Challenge Race Report: 10K

Pre-Race Rambles

My 3 am wake up for day 2 of the Dopey Challenge came all too quickly on Friday morning. Unfortunately the weather wasn’t much better today either. Although the temperature was 4C, with the wind it felt like 0C. I was grateful for my $17 Target robe I was able to reuse, along with the one pair of tights I packed.

During the 5K I realized corrals were being sent off in mini-waves, so today I arrived earlier to get closer to the front. This meant spending more time standing around in the cold, but huddled with everyone in my corral helped to protect against the wind a bit. Once I got up to the start I bundled my robe up to hand off to Neil past the start line.

Walt Disney World 10K Race Report

This was my first time running the 10K at Disney World. My feet felt like icy blocks attached to the end of my legs running in the dark along the highway. My motto for the race was patience, and I kept glancing at my watch to keep pace in check.

The first character stop was one mile in, just at the turnaround point on the highway. Pocahontas and Meeko were there, but the line up was really long. Flick and Princess Atta from A Bug’s Life were next, followed by the the Evil Queen/Witch from Snow White. I bypassed all of them and just kept running.

Just before entering Epcot I found some fellows on stilts.

I wound my way into World Showcase, where just like the 5K yesterday, the pavilions were lit up and Disney tunes were playing.

I hopped into the line up for Rapunzel and Finn, however the cast member managing the line said that it was probably a 25 minute wait. That seemed like too long a wait, so I kept running until I found Pinocchio at the Italian pavilion.

I ran past Marie from the Aristocats in France, and then exited World Showcase for a loop around the Boardwalk. It was so pretty out here, and spectators were out cheering us on.

Once back in Epcot there was one last character photo op with Duffy the Bear. While Duffy isn’t all that popular in the US he is a huge sensation at Tokyo Disneyland. Park goers in Tokyo dress in their best Duffy inspired clothing, and the line to get into the store that sells Duffy merchandise can be over an hour long.

We did a little loop around Spaceship Earth…

…and then it was on to the finish in Epcot’s parking lot.

Like yesterday, I grabbed my snuggly robe back from Neil as soon as possible and drank a chocolate milk as a recovery drink right away. I also took the opportunity to say hi to Dopey.