Race Report - 2014 Disneyland Dumbo Double Dare

Intro

This was my third consecutive Disneyland Half Marathon which I hope to continue as an annual event. Last year I finished the inaugural Dumbo Double Dare Challenge, Disneyland 10K on Saturday, followed by the Disneyland Half Marathon on Sunday.

This year my daughter signed up for the 10K, her first. This will be the first race we are running together. My original plan was to take it easy on the 10K, so that I would not be so worn out for the Half Marathon the next day. I normally wear some sort of costume for Disney runs. Labor Day weekend in Anaheim tends to be hot, so wearing a wig is challenging. The theme for the 10K this year is Lilo & Stitch, so Hawaiian style will be appropriate, as would Elvis. My costume would be a Hawaiian dancer, with leaf ankle & wrist leis.

Back on July 4, during a 10K race, my running world changed dramatically. At around mile 2 in the race, a girl kicked my left leg which caused my calf muscles to contract hard. The sudden stress was too much for my Achilles tendon, and I could no longer run. I few hundred yards of walking did not make it feel better and I had to take a medical ambulance to get off the course. I could barely walk for a week, and 10 days later I completed a short sprint triathlon I had already signed up for. The 3 mile run was slow (16 min/mile) and I was limping heavily, but I finished without causing more damage. Another sprint triathlon two weeks later was better, but I was still limping. I went to see a Physical Therapist which helped me gain some of my motion back in my left Achilles.

Two weeks before the Disney weekend, I completed the AFC Half Marathon in preparation for the Double Dare. I was able to run the first 6 miles at a 14 min/mile pace, but the lack of training did not allow me to run continuously very long. I ended up walking more than running to the end and was the last finisher, but the clocks were still running, and I got my medal. A boost to my confidence to finish, but in 4 hours was way slower than the runDisney pace that would keep me from getting swept off the course.

Disneyland 10K

Much cooler than last year, with some cloud cover. Even though I was assigned to corral B up in front, my daughter was in the last corral, so we started as close to the beginning of the corral as possible. My daughter's training pace was not very fast, so we were hoping to finish fast enough to avoid the sweep. The runDisney recommended speed is around a 16 min/mile, but that is measured from the last person to cross the start line. The first 3 miles went well, we were holding a 15 min/mile pace. Being ahead of pace allowed us to stop for character pictures, but this year's 10K hardly had any worthwhile photo ops. At mile 4, my daughter still felt strong, and I wanted to slow to conserve my energy. I encouraged her to finish race ahead of me, since I wanted her to have a good experience in her first 10K. Her finish time was 1:33:50 (15:08 pace), and mine was 1:37:20 (15:42 pace).

The finish area was better organized this year. Last year many runners missed the Dumbo Double Dare wrist band, but this year it was clearly marked with a volunteer shouting out directions. This year there's a little area to mark that the band invalid, so we get souvenir wristband in addition to the bonus medal. Last year they cut off the band and kept it.

Disneyland Half Marathon

After the 10K, I rested as much as possible. I used my compression sock every time we had to go out, which was only once for lunch. I had a little pain left abductor hallucis (back of the arch), which was sore earlier this week, and it was acting up again. Also slight pain around the left hamstring area close to the knee. I hoped it would feel better the next morning, but it didn't. Limping to the start line very slowly, I had doubts I could finish, but by the time I got to the starting area, I was all warmed up and there was less pain.

This year I was in corral E much lower than last year's B, though I didn't have as good of a qualifying time as last year. When they let both A and B corral start at the same time, I realized that the split up the groups in two. Next wave was C & D, followed by E & F (15 minutes behind the gun time). I'm not sure if it was the excitement of the race or my blood was flowing freeing through my legs, but suddenly the pain I had earlier was not there. First mile split was 13:43, and I was feeling great. Knowing that I had an extra 30 minutes due to the last wave start the buffer would allow me to make a character stop. There didn't seem to be as much this year, but I was planning to stop at the Aladdin-Jasmine that produced some of the best character pictures the past two years. I finally saw the Aladdin backdrop float, then saw that the was re-labeled for the three caballeros with Donald and friends. What a big disappointment, and not worth a stop. Some of the other princesses that have been in previous years were missing this year, too.

One interesting thing I noticed is that people recognized me as Tarzan from the previous 2 years. Cast members, spectators, and some of the runners were calling out Tarzan. My costume this year was no way close to that loincloth and wig. I will have to wear it again next year.

As we headed out on the streets of Anaheim, the weather was cooperating. Cloud cover kept the temperatures cool, and the sun glare was non existence most of the morning. My 10K split was 1:30:44 (14:38 min/mile pace). My goal was to get past Angel Stadium (mile 10) ahead of sweep pace (16 min/mile). At around mile 8 is where the asphalt got rough, luckily the city patched a few of the rougher spots, and I know where to use the sidewalk as necessary to retain my speed. At 15K, my average pace was down to 15:49. The dirt path slowed me down, not sure if that's because I'm getting tired, or I'm not used to the surface. I videoed the run through Angel Stadium as the announcer calls out my name. Still plenty of people around me, but the walkers are starting to pass me, so I knew my pace has dropped significantly. As we headed toward mile 11, the sun starts to come out, and my legs muscles are getting sore all around. I never like running in pain, so to avoid any cramping, I slow even more to a 20 minute mile pace.

As we cross over Harbor Blvd into the Disney back lot and mile 12, I finally felt safe as we were no longer on public streets. The asphalt surface is slightly rough, and I'm tempted to put on my Xero sandals that I carried on my back waist band. Walking barefoot is much harder than running, but I don't have the leg strength to run anymore. I noticed the smooth concrete gutter area on the side, and headed over there to finish off the last mile. Even my walking pace was slow (30 min/mile), as more people passed me. I expected the balloon ladies (16 min/mile pacers) to pass me any time, but as I look back, there are still hundreds of runner/walkers back there, but no balloons in sight. At this point there wasn't a chance that runDisney would sweep me off anyway, so I just go slow are steady to the finish. As I see the finish line, I start to run slow again, and gave Mickey a high 4 and crossed the finish in 3:51:12 (17:39 pace). The clock showed 4:07:23, but still many behind. I was 15547 of 15952 finishers.

Summary

One of the best parts of the runDisney races was meeting up with fellow runners, some which I have not seen since last year. With 10,000 in the 10K, and 18,000 in the Half, it's hard to find anyone. I also met many people on the course, since I started in front, but slowed in the end. Normally I would also meet lots of people after the race, but because my finish time was so long, most had already headed off back home. Weeks before the race, I had thoughts of deferring the race until next year because of my injury, but I'm glad I did not. I'll be back again next year.