Wine and Dine (and Whine) Half Marathon
This is part 1 of a 2 part post about the Wine and Dine Half Marathon. We ran the Wine and Dine Half Marathon race. We thought it would be awesome. We were horribly wrong. We had previously ran the Half Princess marathon in February, so we were accustomed to some of the pitfalls of Disney runs (crowds and runners who seem completely unfit to run).
On paper the run seemed great. We run at 10 PM and end the evening in Epcot partaking in parts of the food and wine festival. Our children were with their grandparents so we headed to the park just before six PM so that we could park and pick up the bus that would drop us at the Wide World of Sports area. We arrived early, parked and headed to the park since we had some time. We meandered around the park for a bit and then headed to the buses. I contemplated placing our items in the storage lockers there but was unsure as to whether or not they would clear out the lockers when the park closed. Playing it safe I took our items with us. The bus ride was simple and dropped us off at the Wide World of Sports. It was probably seven thirty and we had plenty of time to kill. I was wearing my fabulous Nike running pants, Asics sneakers, bamboo socks and head band (which I LOVE...so comfy). We dropped off our bags at the bag check and made our way around the field filled with people.
An entertainment complex was set up at one end and various music and spirited entertainment emanated from the stage. Meanwhile people had formed three lines to do meet and greets with some of the classic Disney characters. So far so good. We grabbed some beers since we had so much time before the run. Perhaps not the best pre run fare, but keeping in spirt with the theme of the run. We lined up to greet one of the characters, but even these things did not kill that much time.
Around nine we figured the time to head to the corrals had come. However a bathroom break was needed first. During the bathroom break rumors spread throughout the crowd that lightening threatened. However there did not appear to be anything that seemed frightening in the sky. Suddenly we were all (14-15 thousand of us) being ushered off of the field and towards the stadium. A mass of people without any clue as to what was going on filtered into the stadium. NOT COOL!
In the stadium we waited and waited. Nobody seemed to know what was going on. Of course they had a food cart open and Disney fans being Disney fans quickly lined up for snacks. Forty minutes passed and only through observation of the crowd did we discover it was time to head back to the corrals. We stood outside of the corrals for another twenty minutes before we finally were permitted to enter the corrals. Then they announced the news that they were cutting out six miles from the half marathon. What a rip off. Little did we know this was just the beginning.
P.S. Our shirts our in memory of David Heard. He was an amazing boy that lost his life because of cancer at the very young age of 11. Every parent's worst nightmare. Please consider donating to St. Baldrick's this holiday season to fund research for pediatric cancer. Spread some glitter this holiday season and think of David. We never had the chance to meet him but his parents and sister are just amazing! We know he was an amazing kid!!
On paper the run seemed great. We run at 10 PM and end the evening in Epcot partaking in parts of the food and wine festival. Our children were with their grandparents so we headed to the park just before six PM so that we could park and pick up the bus that would drop us at the Wide World of Sports area. We arrived early, parked and headed to the park since we had some time. We meandered around the park for a bit and then headed to the buses. I contemplated placing our items in the storage lockers there but was unsure as to whether or not they would clear out the lockers when the park closed. Playing it safe I took our items with us. The bus ride was simple and dropped us off at the Wide World of Sports. It was probably seven thirty and we had plenty of time to kill. I was wearing my fabulous Nike running pants, Asics sneakers, bamboo socks and head band (which I LOVE...so comfy). We dropped off our bags at the bag check and made our way around the field filled with people.
An entertainment complex was set up at one end and various music and spirited entertainment emanated from the stage. Meanwhile people had formed three lines to do meet and greets with some of the classic Disney characters. So far so good. We grabbed some beers since we had so much time before the run. Perhaps not the best pre run fare, but keeping in spirt with the theme of the run. We lined up to greet one of the characters, but even these things did not kill that much time.
In the stadium we waited and waited. Nobody seemed to know what was going on. Of course they had a food cart open and Disney fans being Disney fans quickly lined up for snacks. Forty minutes passed and only through observation of the crowd did we discover it was time to head back to the corrals. We stood outside of the corrals for another twenty minutes before we finally were permitted to enter the corrals. Then they announced the news that they were cutting out six miles from the half marathon. What a rip off. Little did we know this was just the beginning.
P.S. Our shirts our in memory of David Heard. He was an amazing boy that lost his life because of cancer at the very young age of 11. Every parent's worst nightmare. Please consider donating to St. Baldrick's this holiday season to fund research for pediatric cancer. Spread some glitter this holiday season and think of David. We never had the chance to meet him but his parents and sister are just amazing! We know he was an amazing kid!!
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