Disney Winter Racing Part Two - WDW Pluto Family Fun Run 5k

This part of my race series will focus on the Dopey Challenge.  This challenge contains four races in four days, a 5k, 10k, half marathon, and then a full marathon.  Each race has a unique aspect and feel, with this year’s series adding a special kind of weather to the mix.  Each Disney race starts very early in the morning.  This is due to the fact that they would like to start opening up the roads to support the guests that will be attending the parks.  I initially intended to cover the first three races in this post, but after I completed the initial write-up, I decided that there was more to talk about in each race.  In order to show some of the fun, I needed to expand the race reports.  For better or for worse, here is the first of the race reports.

The Zen of Pacing

My goal for these four races would be to continue learning to feel a race pace and to feel how I am doing throughout the races and recovery.  I have relied on my watch far too much over the few years that I have been running, without understanding how a pace translates to my body’s state at that time.  Over the last month, I have been trying to only use my watch for the final finishing time, and to update myself on what pace I am running to compare with how I feel.  This also means that I will have to learn to resist the urge to speed up or slow down if the pace I see is not what I expect or think I want.  If I burn out too soon, I learn a lesson from how I feel leading up to it.  If I feel like I still had something in the tank, I will again have a good reference to understand how to use everything while on the course.  With two weekends of races, each set back to back, this would be a good challenge to that method of pacing.
 

Pluto Family Fun Run 5k

The first of these races, the Pluto Family Fun 5k, starts at  the latest time, 6:15am.  This is the start of the Dopey race challenge, and is only timed for those running the Dopey races.  As Thursday morning arrives, at a very early 4am, I start putting together my clothes for the race.  Today would be the traditional 5k clothes set; a Hulk Under Armor compression t-shirt, normal running shorts, and standard running socks.  This is Florida, so this combination should be perfect, and it was, until I looked at the weather.  The weather for 6am Thursday had an expected temperature of 38F, with high winds, bringing the wind chill to 31.  

This is where last night’s purchase will come into play.  While not very stylish, trash bags should keep in enough heat to stop me from shivering.  I had posted earlier to the Dopey Challenge Facebook group that I would bring extra trash bags for anyone lacking the right clothing, so I grabbed the box of trash bags, a single GU, and off I went.  The drive to the race, which started at Epcot, was uneventful.  With only 12k runners, in which 7k being Dopey runners, the traffic was expected to be light.  Once I got there, I grabbed a few bags, and opened one to put on.  It would seem that I got the smaller ones, as they only went down to my waist.  Hopefully this will do, as I didn't have much choice in the matter.

I headed to the check-in point and then to the corrals, as we had 45 minutes before the race, and it was really cold.  The wind was much stronger then I thought, so I added a trash bag skirt to my wardrobe, adding to my trashy style.  Once through the security check, I found out that the corrals would not open up until 6am, so the idea of mass warmth in the corral was out.  

Looking around the empty staging area, I saw many tents for bag check, a future finishers store, and storage. A number of runners were using these tents to keep out of the wind, so I joined them.

While waiting for the corrals to open, I ran into a group of runners from Alexandria, all in the same bag check area.  We chatted about routes and training, and I handed more bags out to people that looked worse off than me.  Eventually they kicked us out of the tent and the march of the penguins to the corrals commenced.   

Once I got to the corrals, I started my warm up by running loops inside the corral, while keeping my arms and hands inside the bag.  After a few minutes of cold stretching, we were released to the starting line.  I started in corral A, so we were the first group to the line.  This meant that we would be waiting through the initial announcements, the National Anthem, fireworks, and the release of the wheelchair heat.

Waiting until the last minute to remove my bags, I tore them off like bandages and headed off for a quick 5k.  The race travels through Epcot, using some back lots, the World Showcase, and the area around Starship:Earth as the course.  The course is quick and flat, with only a few points where it becomes tight.  Throughout the course they have many characters to get pictures with, and since I started in corral A, there were no lines.  

Half way through the course, I Passed Chip and Dale.  I had to stop and get a quick photo, they were far too awesome to miss.  One of the highlights of running through Epcot at night is the lights Disney displays throughout the World Showcase and around Starship: Earth.  There was too much beauty to ignore, so I grabbed a few photos of the lights across the lake.

The final part of the race circled under Startship:Earth, through a back road, and up to the finish.  This same path would be used for all four races, and would become a trigger point for my kicks to the end.  As you would expect, on this final stretch, I sprinted to the finish line.  For most short races, I attempt to jump across the finish line and hit the actual finish line sign.  This race would be no different, or so I thought.

As I crossed the finish line, I went to do my normal leap, except I didn’t.  I timed the leap in such a poor way, that I almost tripped over myself, and thus just went through the finish looking awkward.  Unlike most 5ks, this race offered a medal for finishing the race.  It was a rubber medal of Pluto, and a nice prize for all of the kids and their families running this race. 

On the path back to the finishing area, I ran into a group of runners with some Tron themed costumes.  They were hanging out in the bag check tent, trying to keep warm after the race.

While there were characters in the finisher area for photos, it was way too cold to hang around without another set of trash bags, or a jacket.  I jogged back to my car and headed back to the room to warm up and get some work done.

The rest of the day would be relatively relaxing, beyond work activities.  I had one more race related activity for the day, as I had signed up for Pasta in the Park.  This party would start at 6:30pm, with a waiting line in Epcot.  The food and activities would be held in the World Showcase Center, and would open up at 7pm.  Once they let us in, we were offered dinner, dessert, dancing, and photos with several character.

The buffet of pasta, salad, bread, all great food

The room was huge, with ample room for all the runners.  The stage had a DJ

They had stacks of bananas on each table for snacks and the next days races

In between eating pasta and figuring out where the dessert was, I got in line for each of the characters.  If you timed it well enough, the line was short and each character would give you a bit of their time versus a quick lineup and photo.  I missed Minnie Mouse and Chip and Dale.

 After the party, all the runners had the option to stay and watch Epcot's Illuminations light show.  They stated in the pamphlet that it would start at 8:30, and that we would have private seating to watch the show.  While we did have great seats, at around 8:45pm, they announced that it would start in 15 minutes.  Since I had a very early start tomorrow, I decided that getting back to the room before 9:30pm was the best idea.  I could see the show once my wife Sallie arrived.  After putting out my gear for tomorrow, I headed off to bed.  On to the 10k!