RunDisney Dopey Challenge Part 2: 10K

After the 5K we all got cleaned up and headed to the Animal Kingdom for the day. The park is huge, but with fewer prime attractions. We definitely did more walking that we had planned on. We did manage to leave the park around 4PM and headed back to the hotel to recover. I met up with my aunt and uncle who live near Orlando to have dinner. Soon after it was off to bed for another early alarm.

We got to the race far earlier than needed and waited in the cold while a DJ spun music and looked around at all the various costumes. After awhile me and Jennifer headed to the corrals in hopes of finding warmth huddled in the masses of people waiting to run. Alas that wasn't the case as people didn't pack as tightly as the day before. Once again we soon found ourselves off and running.

Each wave got fireworks

Shortly after starting the race Vijay spotted us and yelled out. Jennifer had a sweater she wanted to give to him to hold onto that wound up in the face of an old lady as she ran past him and then made a poor throw back. Yes, I caught this all on video.

I soon parted ways to run my own race. We once again turned down the highway, this time for an extended turn before returning to Epcot. At one point they had Anna and Else from Frozen on an overpass cheering on the runners. They were even blowing around fake snow.

The run brought us through a backstage area and back through the World Showcase for another night tour. The difference for the 10K is we took a detour and did a lap around the Boardwalk Resort which featured an actual boardwalk modeled after 1920s New Jersey. It was well lit and allowed for guests and families of runners to be on the actual course cheering on runners. Not that this is a problem in other sections as there are so many volunteers cheering as well as characters and lights to keep the runner occupied and moving.

Mike and Sebastian

I cruised through the run just trying to find an easy comfort level. After the race was done I would only be 19% of the way through my weekend mileage. The finish was much like the 5K, but this time I had to wait a bit for Jennifer to finish. Once she was done it was back to the bus and hotel to warm up.