{"id":35599,"date":"2020-01-10T11:39:43","date_gmt":"2020-01-10T16:39:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.runkevinrun.com\/?p=35599"},"modified":"2020-01-10T11:41:15","modified_gmt":"2020-01-10T16:41:15","slug":"january-10-2020-oswald-the-lucky-rabbit-10k-at-wdw","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/runkevinrun.com\/?p=35599","title":{"rendered":"January 10, 2020 – Oswald The Lucky Rabbit 10K at WDW"},"content":{"rendered":"

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gung-GUNG (or perhaps it should be typed “gun-GAN” in honor of Jar Jar Binks).<\/p>\n

For me, that two-note sting from The Mandalorian replaces the Law and Order ka-CHUNG for a series’s most recognizable theme.<\/p>\n

Years ago I ran the Star Wars Half Marathon as Boba Fett.\u00a0 For today’s 10K, I recycled that bounty hunter’s look and added a plush Yoda dog toy that in the right light looks almost Baby Yoda-ish.\u00a0 Jon Favreau and Bob Iger insist “the child” is not Baby Yoda and that he does indeed have a name… they just haven’t told us yet.\u00a0 I think it should be Bayo (or maybe “Baio”) but what do I know?\u00a0 As I carried my Bayo through the 10K course today, everybody – cast member and civilian alike – referred to him as Baby Yoda.\u00a0 You can’t fight the masses.\u00a0 But if we’re being SUPER technical geeky, one could argue that this is from Season 850 of the Mandalorian when Boba Fett has taken charge of Yoda himself.\u00a0 Or we could just roll with it as a tribute.<\/p>\n

In any case, this is the way…<\/p>\n

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The pre-race photo opportunities had race mascot Oswald with the longest wait time.\u00a0 This was at 3:20 AM… an hour and 10 minutes before we HAD to be onsite. As C-3PO would say, “madness!”<\/p>\n

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Fortunately, the other queues were a bit more reasonable, so Baby Yoda and I stopped by to say hello before heading to the corrals.<\/p>\n

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That’s no moon… oh, wait… that is the moon.<\/p>\n

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This is Nick, a fellow Perfect Dopey runner who I see every year.\u00a0 He’s a big Disney and photo fan so we tend to draft off each other to get to the next character stop throughout the race.<\/p>\n

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This is after we’ve been standing around for an hour.\u00a0 It’s almost time to start… in another 20 or thirty minutes.<\/p>\n

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Do the magic hand thing, Baby Yoda!<\/p>\n

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Love that guy!<\/p>\n

I figured I’d run full tilt to the first character stop… ya know, trying to get ahead of the lines for photos.\u00a0 Mile 1 goes by.\u00a0 Mile 2.\u00a0 Mile 3.\u00a0 It was a good 5K before we saw our first Disney friend… and fortunately they were running on a jumbotron the cartoon wherein tuxedoed twosome Chip and Dale are at a nightclub and both fall for a chipmunk chanteuse.\u00a0 I didn’t know her name, but at least I knew where I had seen her before…<\/p>\n

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FYI — her name is apparently Clarice<\/a>… I wonder if Chip and Dale had dinner with her with a nice Chianti.<\/em><\/p>\n

As we entered in EPCOT’s World Showcase, a few characters came fast and furious.\u00a0 Italy netted Pinocchio:<\/p>\n

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Whilst Morocco gave us Abu.<\/p>\n

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Whizzing past the newly installed whirling Skyline Gondolas, we proceeded to the Boardwalk Resort area… where I came across Goofy and Donald, both of whom were excited to meet Baby Yoda.\u00a0 A fellow runner said if I stopped and had a Disney Photographer near me I’d get a line of folks hoping to snag a photo with Baby Yoda.<\/p>\n

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Skirting EPCOT’s FutureWorld that is currently being refurbished for our future enjoyment, we wound our way in the backside of EPCOT (not quite as thrilling as the backside of water but…).\u00a0 They had refugees from the dearly missed Adventurer’s Club playing snarky construction crew and I snagged a selfie with them — nobody else was stopping which blows my mind — these people are superstars from the heyday of Downtown Disney’s Pleasure Island (as well as the less-dearly departed American Idol attraction at Hollywood Studios).<\/p>\n

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Baby Yoda, take the wheel and bring us on home, buddy!<\/p>\n

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I met this voluntEAR in the parking lot at 3:20 AM when we both arrived for the event.\u00a0 She was at the finish line handing out medals and ran up to give me mine — she recognized Baby Yoda (of course she did… he’s the one thing that brings our fractured world together).<\/p>\n

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The post race photo lines were short because I was in the A corral — so I snagged a number of shots before heading home:<\/p>\n

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The shortest line you may ever find at a Disney event… which saddened me as back in the day, the 10K was Minnie’s event.\u00a0 Who’s the leader of the pack who can break the patriarchy?\u00a0 M-I-N.. N-I-E, M-O-U-S-E.\u00a0 She can do it.<\/p>\n

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Mom tried to come and see me at the finish… but the traffic gods weren’t too kind to her.\u00a0 So we snagged a photo back at home as compensation.<\/p>\n

A clan of three:<\/p>\n

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***<\/p>\n

runDisney has issued a weather advisory for the next two days — they’re forecasting close to 96% humidity tomorrow… and near 100% on Sunday.\u00a0 To which I say… never tell me the odds.<\/p>\n

gung-GUNG.<\/p>\n