The last race of the Dopey Challenge is the Walt Disney World Marathon. For those who don't know, a marathon is 26.2 miles. The marathon is more miles than all the three previous race distances combined. This is my second marathon, so I am no stranger to the distance.
To prepare for day 4, I tried to rest as much as possible after the half marathon. I also ditched my cute running pants for compression tights and I had to bring out the GU and Nuun. I also keep my interval plan, even though I try to ditch it a few times.
The beginning of the course was the same as the half marathon (Epcot to Magic Kingdom). After Magic Kingdom we were off to Animal Kingdom. There was a long stretch that reminded me of my adventure run to Stone Mountain. Right as I begin to get bored, we entered Animal Kingdom. I have never visited Animal Kingdom, but I did recognize and photograph the Tree of Life. There were plenty of characters and animals in the park.
Jafar, the misunderstood villian of Alladin, was also near Animal Kingdom.
The next stop after Animal Kingdom was the ESPN Wide World of Sports. We ran around the property and the tracks. It was my least favorite part of the race, but there were plenty of characters to keep our spirts up. We left ESPN at mile 20 (6.2 miles to go).
At mile 21, I ran out of the mental capacity to run. At that point, I just power walked the remainder of the race. We went through Hollywood Studios and ended the epic adventure in Epcot. I had never in my life been so happy to see the Epcot golf ball. The parks were open so we had great crowd support as we ran through.
My soul rejoiced when I crossed the finish line. We received our marathon medals and took pictures. Afterwards, we were directed to the Dopey Challenge tent for picture comparison and time verification. I received my Dopey and Goofy Challenge medals. 4 races=48.6 miles= 6 medals. I can cross Dopey off my list.
