WDW Marathon Weekend - Part 1 - UP 5k

UP & Away 5k

It never really dawned on me that doing the 5k on Friday could jeopardize the ½ on Saturday. But, I knew that if I did the 5k right it might actually help. And it did. My plan going into the 5k was to find the sweeper and stay 20 feet in front of them. Well, not exactly, but stay as close to 16 min miles as possible. However, I’m not sure just how strict they are at sweeping during the 5k.

For me, the 5k was about having fun and getting in the groove of doing a Disney race. Thankfully, the 5k starts at 7am in the EPCOT parking lot so it was possible to show up only 10-15 minutes early if you wanted to. I woke up around 5 and was at EPCOT around 6. I was wanting to meet a few people but had no luck finding anyone in the sea of over 5000.

As I made my way to the start chute I wanted to be as far back as possible. I did not want to get swept up in the increased pace at the start that always comes with races like this. I wanted to run my race. So, I made my way to the back, which was not easy through the crowd. But finally I made it and had the place to myself. I was so far back that I was 20 feet behind the last person and was just roaming around the parking lot and warming up.

Finally we had the National Anthem and an appearance from the UP characters…SQUIRREL! Then we were off. We started in one of the exit lanes and headed north to then go around the outside of the parking lot and eventually pickup the road used to get to the ½ and full corrals. With that many people it was hard to get into any real rhythm until about .75 mi in. It was at about this point that we take a right turn to head backstage EPCOT. Soon after the turn we hit the 1 mile marker…15:58. We continued backstage to go under Test Track and finally come on stage by Mexico.

This was my first time (and hopefully not my last) running through EPCOT so I tried to soak it all in. From Mexico, we went clockwise to the bridge between France and Great Britain and turned left to go through the International Gateway entrance where we hit mile 2…15:47. Soon after we made a right turn to head back stage again. This time running by the Millennium Village to come back on stage by the phone booths in Great Britain. Hang the left turn, continue clockwise until World Showcase Plaza, hang another left and head toward Spaceship Earth for the trek through Future World.

We ran down the west side of Spaceship Earth, took a slight left by the Leave a Legacy monuments and circled around by the turnstiles and finally headed back stage one last time, following the same final .2 mi as the ½ and full. But, no backstage “surprise” today. Not long after exiting back stage you hit mile 3…15:21. Then head down the finish chute. 5k done in 48:30.

I had done exactly what I wanted to do…an easy 5k. While this was just the 5k, it shares the same finish as the ½. Needless to say, I got goose bumps the last tenth as I thought about what was to come on Saturday.

Till Next Time...Keep Moving Forward!!!