Time. It’s a funny thing. It’s both an artificial concept and a real world imperative. The sun rises and sets. An hour is 60 minutes. And a half marathon starting at 5 am means you have to be there… checking my notes… by 3:15 AM?! And the marathon tomorrow starts at 4:30 am so we have to be there by 2:45 AM?! What madness is this? Should I just spend the night (or at least just a few hours) camped out in the Epcot parking lot? It might be easier that way.
Such were various thoughts that danced in my underslept noggin this morning. We wanted this. We paid for this. Hell, I’ve paid for it for 13 years as a Dopey participant and longer as an avid runDisney “guest.” So maybe I should stuff a peanut butter and strawberry Honey stinger waffle into my mouth and in the screenprinted words of one of my running shirts “suck it up, buttercup.”
The leg? It bothers still but (spoiler alert)… after the run as I stood in line to grab finisher pics with a few Disney Pals, it was… fine? Dulled into submission? Or maybe legitimately just fine? Not great, not 100%… but certainly no worse for wear, and this despite Thursday’s 5K, Friday’s 10k, and today’s 13.1 miles (though with ping-pongs in corrals and detours for photo ops, my Garmin said it was 13.6). I suppose one treatment plan would be stop running for 6 months and let the thing heal that way, stretching and trying to reteach myself a better running form/gait. But psychologically and emotionally and truly even physically, I don’t think I could handle a six-month Disability Listing… at least not without a really specific plan of action for cross training/form reform and that seems like too much work.
The other option is to keep stretching more. I admit it… I’m terribly lax at stretching before and after running… isn’t that what the initial miles are for in the marathon and the walk back to my car post-finish? Aren’t those enough “warm-ups” and “cool downs?” My body says “not anymore, if they ever were.” And, ya know, keep running.
I chose and continue to choose Option B. And so tomorrow brings the first marathon of 2026.
In the meanwhile, the lowdown on the 2026 WDW Half Marathon: It was a “Love Story” marathon so I was expecting a few more couples. Jack Sparrow and his beloved bottle of rum was noticeably absent. As were Giselle and Robert from “Enchanted.” Dipper Pines and Wendy from “Gravity Falls.” Han and Leia. The Alien and Ripley. Just to name a few….
The first Half-Marathon of 2026 photo album is below:
The Bayou must be explored!
Not pictured: Sally and Jack Skellington — there was no time to explore HalloweenTown.
Sandwiches must be explored!
China must be explored!
Not pictured: Woody and Bo Peep — no time to stop to check out Andy’s Room (though there would be later… duhn duhn duhnnnnnnnn… foreshadowing!)
Wonderland must be– wait… Off with my head? No, no, no!
Mrs. I tried to high five but I missed it and left her hanging… but I was too slow to remedy it.
The Magic Kingdom must be explored!
Agrabah must be explored! As must Corona!
The Magic Kingdom Parking Lot must be explored!
Andy’s Room revisited!
Other faces along the way!
Pic of the day? Me and Mr. Frederickson!
Oswald and his gal pal Ortensia! A rare sighting indeed!
The Finish Line must be explored — race announcer John Pelkey, Mickey Mouse, and Nick and me crossing the line.
End of line… the finisher pics with those at the Reunion Parking Lot:
