Post by marathondude on Jan 16, 2009 13:45:07 GMT -5
2009 Walt Disney World Marathon
The full moon was bright overhead and the sky was dark as the 6:00 a.m. start of the 2009 Walt Disney World Marathon approached. Excitement was in the air while over 20,000 assorted runners, joggers and walkers waited to start their 26.2 mile trek through the four theme parks at Walt Disney World. Since I was a member of the “Florida’s Finest” team my family and I were lucky to be on a V.I.P. bus and I was able to warm up in the area beyond the starting line. The wheelchair athletes were off and I figured there were about five minutes until the runners started. I kissed and hugged “goodbyes” to my girlfriend, Jill, and daughters, Monica and Valleri. Little did I know that the wheelchair start was late and there were only about 30 seconds between their start and the runners’ start. Suddenly the race announcer’s voice boomed, “Ten… nine… eight… seven…” and I sprinted toward the field of runners, hoping to get across the starting line and record my computer chip as an official runner before the stampede came toward me. I heard my girls yelling, “Oh my God – Dad’s not going to make it!”
This is the first paragragh of a rather lengthy essay. Visit www.garycohenrunning.com for the remainder. Click on "Articles/All in a Day's Run" and then "2009 Disney Marathon." Did anyone else out there race Disney? How was your race?
The full moon was bright overhead and the sky was dark as the 6:00 a.m. start of the 2009 Walt Disney World Marathon approached. Excitement was in the air while over 20,000 assorted runners, joggers and walkers waited to start their 26.2 mile trek through the four theme parks at Walt Disney World. Since I was a member of the “Florida’s Finest” team my family and I were lucky to be on a V.I.P. bus and I was able to warm up in the area beyond the starting line. The wheelchair athletes were off and I figured there were about five minutes until the runners started. I kissed and hugged “goodbyes” to my girlfriend, Jill, and daughters, Monica and Valleri. Little did I know that the wheelchair start was late and there were only about 30 seconds between their start and the runners’ start. Suddenly the race announcer’s voice boomed, “Ten… nine… eight… seven…” and I sprinted toward the field of runners, hoping to get across the starting line and record my computer chip as an official runner before the stampede came toward me. I heard my girls yelling, “Oh my God – Dad’s not going to make it!”
This is the first paragragh of a rather lengthy essay. Visit www.garycohenrunning.com for the remainder. Click on "Articles/All in a Day's Run" and then "2009 Disney Marathon." Did anyone else out there race Disney? How was your race?