I know it has been a while since I posted. Since then I have completed halfs number 13(Star Wars Cali), 14(Princess Half) and 15(Star Wars Dark Side Fla).
Star Wars in Cali was great. I felt better than I expected during the race especially since I did the challenge and it gave me hope again. I love that race and everything about it. Then came Princess and it was rough. The more I do WDW races, the more I hate them. There is just something about them that makes them hard. I don't know if it is the course or the weather or a combination of things but they always seem to be crappy races for me. After Princess, I had very low hopes and expectations for Star Wars Dark Side. A race in April in Florida sounded like not a lot of fun and then you throw in a course map that looks like the course was going to be bad made me feel like it was probably a one and done(at least until Star Wars Land is complete so they can change the course).
I signed up for all three races for that weekend so I could have at least one medal from all of them. I did the 5K with Rach and her mom and it was fun and laid back. We dressed up as workers from the Dark Side Cookie Co(a play on the Great American Cookie Co) since you always hear that the Dark Side has cookies. We had shirts, visors and aprons that I made for us and we handed out oreos on the course.
Saturday morning, Mac and I did the 10K. It was interesting. If you looked at the course maps in the event guide, it showed that the 10K was basically just the first half of the half marathon with a little difference in Epcot and mostly a reverse of what we ran for the shortened Wine and Dine. We started out in front of Epcot and ran around into the backlot area. We came out in World Showcase next to Mexico and turned towards Spaceship Earth. After going around half of the lagoon, we headed out the back side of Epcot onto the Boardwalk. Running on the boardwalk is always nice because it is nice and bouncy since it is all wood but I knew the trouble area was coming up quick. Between the boardwalk and Hollywood Studios the course gets VERY NARROW. I knew it was going to be bad and it was. There were so many people it was very hard to run and then you add all the jerks that are trying to shove through the crowds and it was a nightmare. Once we were through that madness, we were at HS. There was a small group of 501st members out front for pics. It was nice that Disney allowed them to be a part of the race but it wasn't as good as the presence they have at the California race because Disney limited the number of members allowed to be out there. The first time I noticed that the course was different from the published course was in HS. In the event guide, it looked like we would run by the new Launch Bay and then through a back stage area to get back unto the main "road" towards Tower. However, we just ran into the park and immediately turned right onto the normal path instead of going farther in towards launch bay. Because of this we didn't run by ANY of the Star Wars stuff in the parks. We headed out of the back lot area behind Tower of Terror and onto the road towards Wide World of Sports. This was pretty straight with a few over passes that sucked because of the banking of the roads on the curves of the ramps. To enter WWoS, we had to take the horrible dirt road that I hated when I ran Tower of Terror 10 Miler a few years ago. After winding through WWoS, we were done and headed to the buses to go to breakfast. After the 10K, I really wasn't looking forward to the half the next day.
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| Checking out the 501st members before heading into HS |
Sunday morning we were up super early. They moved up the start time up 30 minutes because it was supposed to be a little warm and that would give us more time before the sun came up. We were in the 8th of 12 corrals so it was a little over 30 minutes before we got started. The first mile was exactly like the 10K but after that, it changed some. When we hit the World Showcase, we turned left instead of right. After circling the back half of the lagoon we headed onto the opposite side of the boardwalk than we ran during the 10K. That is where the crowding and shoving started during the half. It only got much worse as we headed to the narrow sidewalk on the way to Hollywood Studios. I may have threatened to shove a few idiots into the water as they shoved past me on the right side but I did not do it. We ran a little more in HS than during the 10K but still not past any of the Star Wars attractions. At least they did have some storm troopers out on the stage as we ran by. They had a group from the 501st in front of the Fantasmic theater area which was nice but still not the same as Cali. Soon we were out of HS and headed towards Animal Kingdom. The road there and back was a part of the course I was not looking forward to at all. As we headed down the road out of HS, we found out we had a at least 20 minute lead on the pacers. As we went up one of the ramps, I looked back and only saw a sea of people. I wasn't feeling great that morning so this made me feel a little better. As we headed down the road to AK, I started to feel a little nauseated and my stomach was cramping up. I had a melt down at one point and started crying. The only reason I cared if I finished or not was the Kessel Run Medal. I didn't want to miss out on the giant millennium falcon medal. At that point I did not care about that race anymore but I wanted that special medal for doing both Star Wars races and that is the only reason I kept moving forward. As we got closer to AK, I could see the pacers behind us. I tried to speed up but they were still catching us. By the time we got to the 11 mile marker, they were getting very close. I started running just after mile 9 and had been running the entire time. I wasn't running fast, but I was running. Mac was also pushing me along during a lot of it. We were trying to get to the stupid dirt road but at least this time it would mean we were safe and that was around 11.8 miles. They were right behind us as we turned onto the dirt road but I didn't care because we were close and I was going to get my medals. Once we finally finished, I had to find ice, a mister fan and a place to sit because I felt like I was going to pass out. After taking a minute to regroup, we got our challenge medals(dark side and kessel run). We headed over to the buses with a plan to jump on the bus to Epcot for breakfast. However, the bus situation was a NIGHTMARE. There were probably 1000 people in line for the Epcot bus so we hopped on one to the Poly so we could take the monorail. Even though we had nearly an hour to get there after we finished, we did not get to Epcot in time for our reservation. We ended up going to a very yummy place off property but not until after a little frustration and bickering due to the completely unorganized mess that was transportation after the race.
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| Mac literally pushing me to the finish line. |
The general consensus from other runners that ended up on the same monorail with us was that it SUCKED. Everything sucked. The course, the entertainment(or lack thereof), the crowds, the transportation situation, it all sucked. It was just as much of a disappointment as I expected it to be. I went it to the race weekend with the expectation that I would not do it again, at least for a few years. I only did it this year because it was an inaugural race and because I wanted that millennium falcon. So now that it is done, I will go back to loving and running the Star Wars race in Cali and leave this one alone until construction is over and they can come up with a much better course. I'm glad it is done and I am glad I have my medals but this race is way down on my list of races to repeat.
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| At least we got our medals |
