Here's Holly's recap of the Enchanted 10K:
I was registered for the Glass Slipper Challenge which involved doing the Enchanted 10k on Saturday and the Princess Half Marathon on Sunday. After some travel mishaps (again) Dave and I made it to Disney World Friday around noon and went right to the race Expo. It was not crowded and I was able to pick up everything very quickly and even was able to buy a couple pins with a small line at the official runDisney booth.
The Enchanted 10k was the same course as the 10k in January and I wasn’t really looking forward to it since it was such a boring course. My plan for the weekend was to try and run hard but still stop for some character pictures since I didn’t stop for any in January. Dave was not registered for any races this weekend and he was looking forward to a more laid back weekend with some spectating thrown in. Saturday morning I woke up at 2:30 and got ready to leave. I left a lucky Dave sleeping as his plan was to bring a pot of coffee out to the Boardwalk and start cheering around 5:30. I got to Epcot way too early and wandered around until I found some friends. It was nice to be able to talk to them to pass the time. I spent the time in the corrals with Mike and Michelle and it was fun to discuss our future race plans. Finally we were off and running.
The course was very crowded in the beginning and I had trouble running the pace I wanted to. The first character area was on the overpass and was a very neat Frozen display with Elsa interacting with the runners. No character pictures possible here, but I stopped to get a picture of her. Next up was the White Rabbit which I didn’t stop for. Then it was Pocahontas and Meeko. I was excited for that one and stopped. It was a pretty long line, but I was on a good pace so I stopped anyway.
Now the long boring stretch until you get to Epcot. I had a fast mile on this stretch and was feeling good. A quick stop for a picture with the toy soldiers and then back through the backstage area of Epcot. We came out at China and then did a short lap around the showcase. Characters here were Jiminy Cricket, Tiana and Naveen, and Marie. I didn’t stop for any of these. Next up was the lap around the Boardwalk and Beach Club, which is my favorite part. It is really pretty in the predawn light. I stopped for a picture with Baseball Goofy. It was a huge line, but again my pace was good and I wanted this rare picture.
Dave was just up ahead with his pot of coffee and he made me go back and come at him again because he wasn’t ready. After that section you head back into the backstage area of Epcot and come out right by the Imagination pavilion. A quick run by Spaceship Earth and the finish line is around the corner. I felt really strong and was pleased with my time, which included a bunch of time waiting for characters. I still think the course is boring and that they need to add more to the highway portion of this race.
Dave's comments
The first thing I did when arriving at the race Expo was to visit Guest Services to see if they could help me with some theme park ticketing issues. That particular location couldn't. So then I went to the cafe and bought a beer in a RunDisney souvenir cup. The beer with cup was $8.50 but you could get $4.50 refills. One of Disney's better values so I had to make sue we got a second one.
The morning of the 10K I made it to my spectating spot at 5:30, which was about 25 minutes too early since this was mile marker 4-point-something and runners would not be here for a while. I saw Baseball Goofy come out from ESPN and practice a photo with the handler. I ran over, seeing this as my only opportunity to get a photo. When I asked the cast member, he kinda hesitated and said "he's here for the runners". In my head I'm coming up with all kinda smarty retorts like "no kidding", "Do you see any runners right now"...but I held my tongue. In the end he snapped my picture.
This was a very odd spectating experience for me. I had just my small point-and-shoot and iPhone for electronics. I sat on a bistro chair putting me eye-level with runners while I had my pot of coffee on the table. This prompted many runners to talk to me. Great! I was an on-course spectacle. I had fun watching my friend Eddie speed by, taking pictures of other friends, and doing some Facebook photo updates of friends passing by. Holly had texted me that she was in line with Goofy, and I texted back asking for warning when she was almost through with him. She missed that text and caught me off-guard. So yeah I sent her back to get the one shot of video of her from the race. That video will be part of the Glass Slipper Challenge video which will be included with the Princess Half Marathon post.
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