Yup, I can give you 26.2 reasons why I’m crazy – they’re called miles, and I’m going to be running them. Â In Disney World. Â On January 8th, 2017.
I registered to run the Disney World Marathon. Â I’m pretty sure I’m insane, actually. Â Registering was a lot easier than I thought it would be. Â Just click a couple of buttons, give them your credit card info, and you’re good to go! Â Simple, right?
I’m not even sure the reality of what 26.2 miles is has truly hit me yet. Â I have some awesome friends and family who are super supportive. Â And I have other awesome friends who have done a marathon before and are not only inspiring, but extremely encouraging of me and my ability to do this.
Because I won’t lie, I definitely have some doubts. Â I’ve run 4 half marathons at this point, and I have at least 2 more that I plan to run this year before the full marathon. Â But a half marathon is just that – literally half of a marathon. Â And there have been times when I’ve run 13.1 miles and felt like death by the end. Â So is there any possible way I can keep pushing myself to do the whole thing again? Â The only time I had a brief hope that I could go past 13 miles was when I did the Hershey half last October. Â I felt okay after that one.
I had thought about putting off the full marathon for a couple of years, get more half marathons under my belt, but the timing just seemed very right for this. Â In terms of my theater schedule, I’m going to be in a show that has performances in August. Â Then I can take a break until the spring shows start auditioning in January. Â That will give me the whole fall to dedicate to marathon training. Â And there is going to be a lot of training. Â I know I’ll need to train not just to physically get my body ready for this, but also mentally too.
After I registered the first thought that went through my head was “I’m crazy. Â What am I doing to myself?” Â Then my second thought was, “what costume should I do for this?”
My word for 2016 has been confidence, and I think registering for the marathon exemplifies that. Â So I’d love for my costume to be a strong, confident, inspiring Disney character (strong and confident female probably, though I’m open to other characters too). Â I’m not feeling a super strong pull towards any one costume right now, but a couple of ideas that I had:
- Merida from Brave (though I’m not a huge fan of the movie)
- Joy from Inside Out (however, I’m not sure running a marathon will exactly be filled with joy)
- Mulan (though I’m thinking I’d like to save the princesses for all the times I do the Princess half – same goes for Merida)
- Megara (from Hercules)
- Judy Hops (I loved Zootopia but not sure I could make a good running costume for her)
What do you think? Â Any other suggestions for which character I should dress as for the Disney World Marathon?
I am not running any marathons anytime soon but good luck to you.
Thanks very much Candy!
How about Peter Pan? It could make a super cute running outfit! I love the idea of running through Disney and running in costume… but I pretty much top out around 6 – 7 miles. =)
Peter Pan would be a fun one! And Disney also does 5ks and 10ks, so you could always do one of those 😉
There’s also Robin Hood. That’s one of my favorite old Disney movies. He does lots of running 🙂
Oh, good one! He’s a more rare character too that might be fun.
The WDW Marathon is AMAZING. I’ve done it twice now and it makes me unbelievably happy – you’re gonna rock it!
That’s good to hear! I’m both nervous and excited for it!
I’m tired just looking at this but to be honest it seems freaking awesome. Good luck lady
Haha I think it will be both awesome and awful!
You got this! To be honest… A full marathon isn’t just twice as hard as a half, it’s exponentially more challenging. But when you finish, you’ll feel so proud of yourself! Book a sports massage for after the race. That really helped me!
Yeah that’s what I imagined – but I know it will be an incredible accomplishment. Great idea about the massage!
YAY! You rock! It’s my dream to do a RunDisney race one day. I’ve done a half marathon, and the idea of a full is still daunting to me. You’ll do amazing. A Megara costume would be incredible! She’s such a great character, but she’s so often over-looked.
Definitely try to do a RunDisney race if you get the chance! They are so much fun. I don’t think I’d do a full marathon anywhere but Disney.
I would love to be able to do something like this, but I know that I definitely do not have the dedication! ha
Haha I know it will take a lot of dedication and time. Hopefully I can get my butt into gear!
Dang you go girl! I thought I was going to die at the end of the 10-miler.. but then again I hadn’t really trained properly for it! You will rock this though! I vote for Joy or Megara for the costume – save the princesses for the next one!
I’m sure I will feel like death at the end – some of my friends are talking about coming to cheer me on and I told them I will probably be in tears/hobbling along by the end!
WOW!!! You can do it. Seriously runner girl you will amaze yourself and surpass your expectations and look awesomely disney to boot while you do it…
As for costumes:
Dory (Just Keep Running!)
Maid Marian
Wendy Darling
Or Megara… I’m with you on that!
Great ideas! I love the Dory one! And Megara is definitely a top contender right now.
Amazing! Congratulations as well. I’ve only done 2 half marathons and a couple 10k’s. I bet the scenery was beautiful!
Disney is an amazing place to run – it’s the only place I’d consider doing a full marathon!
Thats amazing!! Great Great job!!! i just signed up for my first half Marathon and I am way excited! You are going to do so great!
Thank you! And congrats on your first half marathon – that’s so exciting as well! I wish you lots of luck!
If I were to do a marathon, this would be where I’d want to do it. What a memory you’ll be making!
Yes indeed, I can’t think of any other place where I would want to run by the scenery for 7-8 hours!
Hands down I vote for Judy Hopps!!
I don’t think I’ve seen any Judy Hopps running costumes yet, so it would definitely be cool to be one of the first!
Oh gosh, you’re gonna run AND dress up?! That’s fantastic! I can’t wait to see pics!!!
I am – and I will definitely be sharing all about it on the blog!
You go girl! You can totally do the whole marathon – I bet you won’t even notice when it gets hard since you’ll be running through Disney! 😉 I love the ideas of Megara or Judy Hops!
Oh boy, I really hope that’s the case! My friends are talking about coming to cheer me on so maybe seeing them will help me get through some of the tough parts too 🙂
Good luck with the training and your race! I did the inaugural Dopey Challenge, and it was the first time I had ever run a marathon. I think I only could’ve made it running through Disney!
Oh my gosh, that’s so cool! I don’t know if I could handle Dopey!
What show will you be in during August?
Catch Me if you Can!