Walt Disney World Marathon 2007

  

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One of the main reasons for going to Disney world in January was to run the Walt Disney World Marathon. Marathon runners run through all four parks starting at Epcot then the Magic Kingdom, them Animal Kingdom and the Disney MGM Studios before finishing back at Epcot.

I ran the marathon in aide of the MS Society and was able to raise £800 (around $1600).

During training for the event I injured both my knees and needed physiotherapy on them, I thought that everything was ok by the time of the race but at around the 10 mile mark I started to feel the pain so gradually got slower and slower the more I ran.

I was able to finish but with a lot slower time than I would have liked, I was aiming for a sub 5 hour time but ended up finishing in 6 hours and 23 minutes.


The 2007 Marathon Route

 

Registration
Disney Marathon 2007 058.jpg (136092 bytes) Disney Marathon 2007 045.jpg (116341 bytes) I registered for the event two days earlier at the Sports and Fitness Expo in the Disney Wide World of Sports Complex.  Here I had to attend to receive my official bib and a goody bag which included a long sleeve t-shirt.

To get into the place took ages as a long registration queue had formed that stretched far outside the building.

Once registration was complete I walked around the expo for a while making some last minute purchases for the marathon such as energy bars and gels.     

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The Race
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The race started very early in the morning, but despite this it was still quite warm and very humid which worried me a bit for what it would be like later in the day.  I was right, it was one of the hottest days in the history of the WDW marathon and the sun was so strong beating down on us.

Up until the 10 mile post I was doing ok and on course to make my target time but that is when my knee injury started to play up.  I gradually slowed and slowed until I was hobbling for the last few miles but I was determine to finish, not just for the charity but for myself as well.

I now wish that I carried a camera around the course with me as there were numerous photo opportunities to be had with characters everywhere.

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Celebrating
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Aftermath
It took almost a week after the marathon to be able to walk correctly again as all the muscles in my legs had stiffened up so much I looked like a cross between Frankenstein and someone who had messed their pants when I walked.  This was not helped by the size of the blisters on my toes that are shown on the right. Disney Marathon 2007 085.jpg (91258 bytes) Disney Marathon 2007 091.jpg (103492 bytes)
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Walt Disney World Marathon Video hosted on You Tube
 
Here is my compilation of photographs and video of the 2007 Walt Disney World Marathon.

The editing job is not up to my usual standard but I was severely limited with the photography and video footage I had.