First and foremost, I get a big fat F for my 18 miler on Saturday morning. Of course you all know what that F stands for. The weather was not only cold, but rainy. I probably could have gutted it out but by mile 9 I was still cold and not getting warmer. Now I get to see how it feels to go from an 9 miler to a 20 miler. I am sure it’s going to be a piece of cake. (If by cake I mean mud, then yes.)
I was an official sherpa/spectator at the Disney Marathon this weekend and let me tell you it was COLD. I had a great time supporting my friend Daisy and her cousin John, but I would have given anything to either be running or it at least be 10 degrees warmer. With a high of 44 and a low of 29, this Florida girl was freezing.
Upon arriving at the house of mouse at around 4 AM on Sunday I was a little (READ: VERY) sleepy from seeing some non-marathoning friends on Saturday night. I may or may not have stayed out a bit too late. And may or may not have had some glasses of wine. I’ll never tell. Anyway, we arrived at 4 and hung out in the toasty SUV until Daisy and John headed to the start line. I met up with Mike B. from my Half Nuts Ragnar team, also a blogger( click here for his awesome recap) as he was running it too. It was his first.
While chatting with Mike B. I hear someone say “Bob?” I say “Yes.” And he says “Hey, it’s me Patrick!” Well what do you know! Patrick from My New Life on the Run. One of my faves! I wish we would have taken a photo but someone may or may not have been too cold and tired to even think to do so. In fact I think I said “Hi Patrick! I am freezing my ass off!” Heh. I may or may not have taken a little nap in the SUV prior to the race start.
As I made my way to the monorail I continued to freeze and wish I was running. The sentiments seem universal as every spectator I encountered felt the same way. One guy said, “I saw my wife at mile 4, I am heading to the hotel.” Upon arriving at mile 9 I met up with the Redhead and Spike. I love them both to death. I was super excited to see my beloved Red as we keep missing each other. She has promised to come visit this weekend for the impending 20 miler. FYI: If you ever spectate with Spike be prepared for very strange motivational yelling. “You are sexy runners!” “This is the marathon!” (At one point I tried to hide and he just yellled “She’s with us! That girl is with us!”) Too freaking funny.
We hung out and caught Daisy and John around mile 10 and after all of our runners passed we tried to get some relief from the cold in the ever present souvenir shops. I must say again that sometimes being a spectator is tough. I know, wah wah wah. But honestly the wind started picking up around 10:30 and I am a total cold weather baby. Waaaah!
The worst part of the day was when the damn direct-to-our-location monorail broke. Instead we had to take the Ferry. Also known as the slow boat to Antartica. Then we had to wait to take yet another monorail. Ahhh the joys of theme park travel.
I split from my compatriots at around mile 20 as they headed off to Epcot and I went to the finish line. I met up with Mike B. upon his kick butt first marathon finish and then went to get some comfort back in the SUV.
Fortunately, the Redhead called me when she saw Daisy and John so that I could hop out of my toasty heaven to catch them finish. I was so proud of Daisy. It was her first marathon and she did great. John, her cousin, is an Ultra-marathoner and he really helped push her to finish. It was truly great to be there for them both (even while I cried about my popcicle fingers). While waiting for my peeps to finish I got to relish in the sight of first time marathoners and many-time marathoners as they came through the chute. The expressions of joy, pain, and pride are just so fun to see.
I can’t wait for Gasparilla. I am only hoping I get this kind of weather because as a runner it rocks, as a spectator, not so much.
Congrats to all who ran Disney. You are now marathoners!
Can I rent you out to come and cheer me on? You are a hardcore runner and now spectator! Sounds like you ended up having fun! Happy Monday!
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Seriously , it needs to warm up before March or I'm going to be one seriously cranky princess runner!
yeahh for spectating! i am going to cheer on all my friends at Miami…first time I will be watching and not running the marathon. I wonder if I could meet up with you girls during my next training this spring..that would be neat!
Nice job spectating! It is so important to have supporters out there. I am sure you are going to rock the 20 miler. You'll be fine. Your legs just had a little extra rest to get ready for it.
Good job cheering for your buds and budettes. And you should hope for 45-50 degrees for your Gasparilla marathon. From my perspective, it is the ideal weather… Just wish I could convince myself to be part of the last one, the G-run.
That's awesome that you braved the chill and cheered on friends! That means a TON. 🙂 Glad you are warmer now. Hehe.
Hope your 20 miler is better than your 18!
How wonderful that you were able to cheer so many friends on! I am sure they all appreciated it. You were a trooper for putting up with the cold temps. It sounds like you had a blast:)
Sorry I missed you. I ran Saturday and cheered on some friends Sunday. It was much colder to cheer than to run. Renewed my appreciation for the folks that support us in our craziness.
Umm, I'm coming to Orlando for a week on Jan. 23… it better warm up before then! Good on you for getting out there and supporting the runners, especially in the chilly temps!
OMG…Mel…I will also we in Orlando, but I leave the 22nd!!! 🙁
I've had so much fun keeping up with the Disney marathon- it must have been fun to volunteer!
Love the blog! 🙂
I thought about you wimpy FL folk during the cold. :o)
Why do I think I would have had so much fun spectating this one with you, Red and Spike? 'Cause all of you are awesome and mid 30s is actually about 10 degrees warmer than we had this weekend!
Still, great job and great report, B.O.B. You're welcome to come and spectate for me anytime!
I'm so glad we got to spectate and co-miserate in the cold together!!!! If ya gotta do both it's best to do it with friends!!! Love you and see you Friday!!! 20 here we come!!!
Several of my SoCal buds were there. Their collective impression: COLD!!!!! Snow in Orlando? WTF? They should have stayed home. We had the 13.1 Marathon (actually an HM) in 75 degree weather.
Good luck on your 20 this weekend.
It's so weird that have those cold temps and snow in Florida! But you're right, it's perfect running weather! I wish I could control the weather for every race that I want to run!
I can't believe you went outside. Aren't you a Floridian??? Ah ha ha
ok, standing out in the cold for 5+ hours is NO fun. it's much easier to run in it! you were a great spectator. 🙂
spectating is fun and people don't realize how much it impacts a runner! 🙂 Great job and even int he freaking cold! BRRRRRR!
Saturday was MISERABLE! Cold is one thing, but rain/sleet/whateverthatwas is not so cool.
Kudos for spectating!!!
I think you should get a medal just for spectating…especially in sub-freezing temperatures. Right, right?
Great job, B.O.B. I admire you!
Great recap! I'm having so much fun reading the spectator's recaps as it's interesting to compare all of our suffering notes both runners and spectators! It was good seeing you for 2.5 seconds at mile 9 or 10 or whatever the beginning of the Magic Kingdom was while I was wearing my "ninja" outfit!