Walt Disney World Marathon
Sunday, January 6, 2002Race report from Dave...
Date: Thu Jan 10, 2002
Subject: My Disney report
OK...where to start...I don't really want to make this too long. I arrived in Florida on Friday night and was quickly off to meet my first USA penguins..I met up with Peggy, Ellen, Ken, and Kathy and we must have talked until well past midnight..it was a wonderful night. Saturday morning I managed to sleep in a little, and then it was off to the expo to register. Took in most of the expo and finally got to meet John for the first time. Heard John speak and then headed back to the hotel to meet my Parents who were down in Florida...spent a few hours with them and then I was off to the Pasta Dinner :) Not bad I must say...they really can throw on a spread. Headed over to Wolfgang's and met up with even more penguins~! Nangel, Ward, Linae, Terri, Charles and many more..(I am bad with names) Back home for some sleep.
Race Morning - Felt pretty good for not actually training like I should and felt I might have a good race. Started off slow and made my way on the course doing my 5/1's. The start had fireworks and Mickey Mouse...it was kinda cool :)
About 4 miles into it...a lovely lady taps me on the shoulder and asks me if I am Dave..It was BONNIE~! We had been missing each other all weekend, and here she finds me on the course...well we ran together for quite a long way...
Mile 8 is when disaster struck..I pulled my ITB, and the pain was brutal. I tried the best I could to continue my 5/1's but it was not to be...slowly they became 3/1's and then 2/1's until I could no longer run...Bonnie (who was so awesome~!!!) stayed with me until about mile 14 or so?? Is that right Bonnie? and then I pushed her on ahead. I walked pretty much the rest of the way in...trying to run through downtown Disney, The animal Kingdom, and MGM...but it was hard...Talked a lot to others and kept thinking about how much I needed that medal and how I cannot give up.
so much for my short story.....well I finally crossed that line in 6hrs and 48 min and I learned a valuable lesson...I will never again run a race I am so undertrained for...seems simple huh?
well..the reason I needed that medal so bad, and the reason I kept going was this...last night I gave my medal to the Little Girl who was my Arthritis Hero. She takes 10 pills a day to ease her pain, and I truly felt she deserved that medal..she personally raised over $500 for me and I will never forget her.
I am walking again normal now, and all toenails seem to be hanging on...I do have a few blisters, but all in all, nothing to complain about..I shall take a few weeks off, and then begin training for the PWC 4 race....Think I will do the 1/2 this time..but we shall see..Then I think I would like to do NYC...I shall enter the lottery and see what happens...
There ya go...short and sweet right?
:)till later,
Dave
Home About Us Calendar T.O. FAQ Photos Links Page last updated: Mar 21/02