Finishing the Disney Marathon
(This also appears on "The Battle of Marathon" page)
The Marathon post-mortem will begin with the really good news: the A-T Children's Project raised over $700,000. That is money well earned and will hopefully do much in the fight against A-T. The night before the race, the A-T Children's project had a pasta dinner (and the pasta was quite tasty). At the dinner, I was speaking with a woman whose son was diagnosed about 8 years ago. She was showing pictures of him with his new ATV that helps him get around. Due to the loss of motor skills, many children with A-T become confined to a wheelchair. While it is sad to see these children, the event really put into perspective why we were there. Sure, I had a selfish reason of finishing a marathon, but the whole reason for the race was to raise money for the A-T Children's Project.
Disney World is the land without irony, set up to offer the illusion of a Utopia. Even setting a wake up call for 2:45 a.m. at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, I was greeted with "Have a magical day." As though getting up before 3 a.m. to run 26.2 miles was sure to be magical.
While waiting for the start of the Disney Marathon at 6 AM, with a temperature hovering in the mid-thirties (take temperature off for wind-chill), the marathoners were treated to Mickey and Minnie Mouse, as well as Donald and Daisy Duck participating in a canned, pre-recorded opening. The dead giveaway to the canned opening, besides the fact that the Disney characters were on lifts without microphones, was Mickey handing the proceedings back "You, Mr. Announcer" as opposed to actually saying the name of the announcer. Then as runners started the tape kept looping telling runners to "have great Marathon." I had come to the conclusion, before this race even started, that Mickey Mouse was never in anything worth remembering, at least not like the Looney Toons characters.
The course featured all kinds of absurd moments with Disney characters populating the course: Mary Poppins, some insect thingy from "A Bug's Life," various ducks, an orangutan, and the country bears (really bad inbred hick stereotypes from the look of it). Disney World is predicated on the notion that evil does not truly exist, and if it does, it is easily thwarted.
I finished the course in an agonizing 5:13:34 (official) and 5:10:39 (net). I was maintaining a 10-minute mile pace for about thirteen miles. At miles 7, 10, 14, and 16 I had to crap. How fitting that this blog started with a story about having to crap while on a long run.
Overcrapping is only the first entry in my Official Marathon Excuse Log, or why I didn't finish in 4:30. Other reasons follow:
* Running around and playing basketball on Saturday (the Missus Jazz has family in Florida). Mostly shooting baskets with children.
* Watching the Patriots-Titans playoff game which went until about 11:30 and then still not being able to sleep. I got about two hours.
* As I was running, I kept thinking of how I am going to write this all down. This is why I would have sucked as a professional athlete: I think too much.
* Oh, and that cramping, agonizing pain in my right inner thigh. It hurt so bad that I could hardly move, let alone run.
Now for the Official Marathon No Excuse Not to Finish Log or How Verbal Jazz ran/walked 26.2 miles and lived to tell the tale:
* The crowd was great. No, not those paid to be dressed up in Disney character costumes, although I hear they are not allowed to take off any piece of the costume at any time. But the crowd: the people cheering along the route. The children holding out their hands so that we runners could slap them on the way by.
* Water stops and snack stops. Bananas were served at one of my crap stops, but the Powerade, water and PowerGel were essential.
* The Biofreeze rub down at mile 24: I passed the medical tents all day. At one point I saw a runner eat a stick of Vaseline thinking it was Gu (an energy gel). I avoided the pain meds, but broke down and got a leg rub down at mile 24. By then the pain in my inner thigh was so bad that I could barely walk let alone run.
* "Only one mile left," "Only a half mile," "Only 365 yards"
* I came here to finish
At the end of the race, I was looking for my brother-in-law Ryan. He was supposed to meet me while we waited for Val (otherwise known as the Missus Jazz) and his wife Lara, Sister of the Missus Jazz. I sprinted across the finish line with all the energy I had left in my body and still no sign of Ryan. The pain was excruciating. I was wrapped in Mylar and collected a Mickey Mouse medal for finishing and kept walking, looking for Ryan. I finally saw the Missus Jazz and my sister-in-law, and Ryan, and Maureen (one of my Mothers-in-law). "It hurts so bad," I sobbed as I hugged Maureen and gave the Missus a kiss. It was finally over...
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(This also appears on "The Battle of Marathon" page)
The Marathon post-mortem will begin with the really good news: the A-T Children's Project raised over $700,000. That is money well earned and will hopefully do much in the fight against A-T. The night before the race, the A-T Children's project had a pasta dinner (and the pasta was quite tasty). At the dinner, I was speaking with a woman whose son was diagnosed about 8 years ago. She was showing pictures of him with his new ATV that helps him get around. Due to the loss of motor skills, many children with A-T become confined to a wheelchair. While it is sad to see these children, the event really put into perspective why we were there. Sure, I had a selfish reason of finishing a marathon, but the whole reason for the race was to raise money for the A-T Children's Project.
Disney World is the land without irony, set up to offer the illusion of a Utopia. Even setting a wake up call for 2:45 a.m. at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, I was greeted with "Have a magical day." As though getting up before 3 a.m. to run 26.2 miles was sure to be magical.
While waiting for the start of the Disney Marathon at 6 AM, with a temperature hovering in the mid-thirties (take temperature off for wind-chill), the marathoners were treated to Mickey and Minnie Mouse, as well as Donald and Daisy Duck participating in a canned, pre-recorded opening. The dead giveaway to the canned opening, besides the fact that the Disney characters were on lifts without microphones, was Mickey handing the proceedings back "You, Mr. Announcer" as opposed to actually saying the name of the announcer. Then as runners started the tape kept looping telling runners to "have great Marathon." I had come to the conclusion, before this race even started, that Mickey Mouse was never in anything worth remembering, at least not like the Looney Toons characters.
The course featured all kinds of absurd moments with Disney characters populating the course: Mary Poppins, some insect thingy from "A Bug's Life," various ducks, an orangutan, and the country bears (really bad inbred hick stereotypes from the look of it). Disney World is predicated on the notion that evil does not truly exist, and if it does, it is easily thwarted.
I finished the course in an agonizing 5:13:34 (official) and 5:10:39 (net). I was maintaining a 10-minute mile pace for about thirteen miles. At miles 7, 10, 14, and 16 I had to crap. How fitting that this blog started with a story about having to crap while on a long run.
Overcrapping is only the first entry in my Official Marathon Excuse Log, or why I didn't finish in 4:30. Other reasons follow:
* Running around and playing basketball on Saturday (the Missus Jazz has family in Florida). Mostly shooting baskets with children.
* Watching the Patriots-Titans playoff game which went until about 11:30 and then still not being able to sleep. I got about two hours.
* As I was running, I kept thinking of how I am going to write this all down. This is why I would have sucked as a professional athlete: I think too much.
* Oh, and that cramping, agonizing pain in my right inner thigh. It hurt so bad that I could hardly move, let alone run.
Now for the Official Marathon No Excuse Not to Finish Log or How Verbal Jazz ran/walked 26.2 miles and lived to tell the tale:
* The crowd was great. No, not those paid to be dressed up in Disney character costumes, although I hear they are not allowed to take off any piece of the costume at any time. But the crowd: the people cheering along the route. The children holding out their hands so that we runners could slap them on the way by.
* Water stops and snack stops. Bananas were served at one of my crap stops, but the Powerade, water and PowerGel were essential.
* The Biofreeze rub down at mile 24: I passed the medical tents all day. At one point I saw a runner eat a stick of Vaseline thinking it was Gu (an energy gel). I avoided the pain meds, but broke down and got a leg rub down at mile 24. By then the pain in my inner thigh was so bad that I could barely walk let alone run.
* "Only one mile left," "Only a half mile," "Only 365 yards"
* I came here to finish
At the end of the race, I was looking for my brother-in-law Ryan. He was supposed to meet me while we waited for Val (otherwise known as the Missus Jazz) and his wife Lara, Sister of the Missus Jazz. I sprinted across the finish line with all the energy I had left in my body and still no sign of Ryan. The pain was excruciating. I was wrapped in Mylar and collected a Mickey Mouse medal for finishing and kept walking, looking for Ryan. I finally saw the Missus Jazz and my sister-in-law, and Ryan, and Maureen (one of my Mothers-in-law). "It hurts so bad," I sobbed as I hugged Maureen and gave the Missus a kiss. It was finally over...
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