Disney Wine and Dine Half Marathon Race Recap

The Wine and Dine half marathon is a new addition to Disney World's race schedule.  It began at 10pm on Saturday, October 2.  The race started at Wide World of Sports and ended at Epcot with an after race party. We ran through Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios.  The field of 11,000 ran through the night encountering various bands, light displays, performers on stilts, dancers and Disney characters under a clear sky and temperatures in the 70s.

This was my second half marathon and I enjoyed it much more than the first one.  I tried to take the pressure off of earning a PR by reminding myself this was a training run, but I knew this wouldn't be enough so I decided to stop and take advantage of every photo op along the way. I took the first race way to seriously and all I cared about was making the time goal I had set for myself.  This time I actually enjoyed myself and had fun.

I had much better placement in this race and that helped as well.  These Disney races can be so crowded that it is actually hard to get around people and the pack doesn't ever seem to thin out.  Last night, there was space to run by the end of mile one.

Turk - Tarzan

Timon - Lion King

Fantasia

Goofy

Army man -Toy Story

It is a relatively flat course and running through the parks is entertaining.  I liked Hollywood Studios the best.  We ran through a behind the scenes section that was fun to see. Plus there were great characters!  This is the first time I have run with a camera and I'm glad I did.  I bought a new iFitness belt at the Expo and it did a super job of holding all my stuff without bouncing up and down.

Woody -Toy Story

Incredibles

Running that late at night was not bad.  Although you have to be there quite early before the race (about 8:15) there is plenty to see and do, like standing in line to take a photo or go to the bathroom. Plus hundreds of people to watch and entertainment on stage. We got in our corrals around 9:20.  I was in the second wave, so I started soon after 10.  In typical Disney style the start was accompanied by fireworks.

Carl - Up

Osborne Family Spectacle of Lights

Darth Vader

 I felt pretty good during the race except for around mile 6.  I think I had too much water in my stomach and felt a little sloshy.  I wanted to walk at this point, but kept on going.  I had a surge of energy near  mile 9 and reminded myself I only had a 5K left at mile 10- that was very motivating.  I definitely ran the second half of the race faster. One great thing they have for runners is text updates for family and friends.  Every 5K your current pace and expected finish time is sent out to them via text message.  

 I truly had fun and earned a fabulous medal.

I ended up  finishing with a time of 2:20:38 for an average pace of 10:43 per mile.  Considering all my stops along the way, I am happy with my performance.