Day 3 Part 3 - the race

And we were off. The beginning of the race was a mess. 13K-ers with 6.5K-ers, runners with walkers. It had rained on and off for the last 3 days so you couldn't run on the the grass because it was wet. And you had to watch the road because it had slick spots too. Len and I weaved our way among the participants. Around mile 2, the we were routed off road to get to the Wide World of Sports. Disney went with the Halloween theme and had volunteers acting out a mass escape from the asylum tableau. It was just as weird as it sounds. Also, off road plus 3 days of rain? And it wasn't just off road, it was like through the woods. Len said, "if you hear the banjos from Deliverance - RUN!" Mercifully, we made it to the WWoS complex, where they routed us onto a track. Around mile 3.5 I was starting to lag. The previous few days activities were catching up with me. So I told Len to go ahead without me.

I spent the miles between WWoS and the Studios run/walking but not pushing it too hard. The banked turns going into the Studios' parking lot were harsh. Then I got into the park and had NO idea where I was. I followed the route and just kept thinking the race had to end at some point. Also I was under the mistaken impression that the race would end at its namesake, the Tower of Terror. It ended at the Rock and Roller coaster instead. There was one cool part where they routed us through Lights! Motors! Action! and had the runners on the video screen. But the route was so funky that you couldn't figure out where the hell you were in the park.

Near the end, Dave was waiting with our friends to yell encouragement. He actually showed up in allearsnet's pictures. He got a picture of Len and of me 2:45 later. I didn't even know where I was in the race until I saw the pictures.

I finished and found Dave at the end. I didn't see Len who had finished 4 minutes before me and had gone back to accompany Scopa to the finish line. He's just cool that way. There wasn't too much time to enjoy the park after the race. Dave and I hung out. I got the ride Tower of Terror with people I know for the first time (Dave won't ride it).

Then we went to Picabu at the Dolphin for a late night refueling. Scopa, Newell, Beci, Len, Dave and I were there. We had a nice snack with good company. At long last, it was something like 2AM and everyone was ready for bed. Goodbyes were said. Len and I expressed our mutual relief that neither of us were internet freaks. And that was that.

Dave and I still had Sunday, Monday, and half of Tuesday before we had to leave.