Race Day Recap

So I said I’d do a recap of race day as I remembered it and here it is!

Since I had done two other half marathons in the past 7 months, this should be old hat, right? Well, I guess not as I didn’t actually fall asleep till 10:30p or so. Just couldn’t get comfortable as I started to think about the race more and more. The funny thing is that I wasn’t even thinking about myself! Was thinking about all the other Team Voicer’s, pictured us hanging out waiting for the thing to get going, possibly if there was someone to pace with, chatting about our triumph post-finish… That kind of thing. Also, I still had yet to meet “The Voice” and the oddly spelled “Bryan”! These are the guys that put the idea in my head in the first place! I tell ya though, after meeting Mike-speed, Matt (and Bill), Heath, Rae (and family), Lisa, and Trace on Thursday evening, I felt a lot more connected to the team as well as the event itself. Kinda validated the whole year of training, and talking to my internet Disney friends (which I have been eternally mocked for!! Ha! In your face non-believers!!! Again..ha!). Okay, so no-one really mocked me, but c’mon, admit it...when you tell people all about your Disney buddies from the internet that you have never met in person, people do look at you a little funny, right? Come to find out that this is more than an internet buddy group, this to me is a kind of family. We’ve gone through a lot together over the year and I consider you all friends :) Oh boy did that get off track! Here’s something you’ll really like….nuttin’ up my sleeve…presto!

2:40am….alarm went off and I snailed out of bed and into the shower. Mike was going to swing by at 3am to see if we (my friend Chris and I) were ready to head to the bus. Well, apparently I was in the shower and couldn’t hear and Chris was in some kind of sleep coma… Anyhooo, we both got ready and made our way to the bus (about 3:05am). Chilly for sure, but very bearable considering the frigid temps back in CT at the time. Like Deb, I had my iPod rockin’ while I was on the bus, a little Hercules (which I didn’t discover till recently…like a joke that you don’t get for a couple of weeks…you guys have been talking about “go the distance” all year!), and other mixed songs. First tingly feeling was when the bus rolled into Epcot and seeing Spaceship Earth, yes indeed, this is a much different half than what I had run prior… Found the couple of TV folks at the rally spot and listened to the band while wondering where the pre-race water was….note for next time, bring my own bottle for the pre-race…. Yada yada yada…The Voice strolls up (nice use of stroll, ehh) right next to me and greets us all. Gave him a pat on the back, shook his hand, said nice to meet you and then asked if he threw up yet…LOL Okay, it was more of a joke, but I’m not sure he took it that way…DOH! On to the race!

5:50 start. Running to Disney Craig was in the same corral so we decided to pace together. We chatted it up for the first 3 miles and the time seemed to fly by. I recall as we entered the Magic Kingdom saying to Craig “This is what we’re here for, right? Let’s do this!” At this point we were just strolling through the park, slappin’ fives, yelling “Git ‘er done” to the person who had that sign (too funny). Next thing I knew we were out of the Magic Kingdom and in front of the Grand Floridian, time just flew by. Crowds were awesome! Heard a ton of “Go Team Voice” cheers as well as folks yelling our names. Felt a boost of energy everytime we ran through the large crowds. At about mile 9 I started to feel a little tightness in the lungs so I slowed down a bit. Craig was looking great and went on ahead. For his first race he looked like a pro! I saved a little energy to try and make a run at him toward the end, but could only close within two minutes or so (was probably more like 3-4 at one point). After the ramp off of World Drive, which was just a killer angle not the elevation so much but the pitch was killer for my right leg. Started to speed up when I hit the peak of the off ramp as the lungs felt much looser. Yelled “Mongello” to a guy wearing a WDW Radio shirt as I passed him. He looked a little tired and perhaps annoyed…guessing it wasn’t the first “Mongello” he heard J Kept pace till I entered Epcot and noticed the time 1:58’ish so I picked up the pace through Epcot as I wanted to finish under 2hrs and wasn’t sure what my chip time was in comparison to the clock. The last burst of energy came when I saw a kid Eagles hat cheering….so I gave him an E-A-G-L-E-S EAGLES!!! chant and he responded with a cheerful “GO EAGLES!!!” ha! Awesome! After that, I started to sprint it out a bit more. As I came to the finish line, the announcer said “and here comes Chris Cullen from Kesington CT, and the crowd cheered pretty darn loud! What a great crowd, cheering for tons of people they don’t know. What a thrill given that there were so many people in this race. I put my arms up and crossed the line, feeling like I could have probably run another few miles around the parks. Made my way back to our rally point and shared my run story with Mike-speed and Craig who were waiting there for me…Of course…Mike had to look down at his watch and say “what took you so long” ;-) Well played Mike-speed…well played… :)

With the goal of a full marathon here in CT I’ve got my hands full once again, but nothing will match the great time had at the Disney race. That is, until I return for my NEXT Disney race. If that race is next year, I hope y’all will be there as well!