This will be my last runDisney event for awhile.
They’ve already cancelled all future West Coast events because of a dispute with city residents in Anaheim, although they claim it’s because of construction on Star Wars Land … and Beyond… that would negatively impact on the world class runner experience they want to deliver.
This is my fifth year running the Dopey Challenge through Walt Disney World on the right coast. It’s actually the sixth year as I partook in the unofficial Dopey challenge which a group of crazed runners used to do that inspired Disney (read: the accountanteers realized they could charge more).
But since this is the fifth anniversary and I’ve toed the line each and every year, I’m “perfectly Dopey.” And that seems like a good time to close out.
Today was the mandatory bib pickup for the next four days of races. A cold snap has broken Florida’s panhandle… as it has done for most of the country if I’m being honest. Freezing temperatures are likely the next few mornings… especially given the 5:30 AM starts for all the events, regardless of distances.
So the 40-ish temperatures with a bit of rain for the expo made for a chilly warning… and has no doubt contributed to the yellow flag conditional alert for the races.
It’s gonna be a cold one, that’s for sure. Maybe it’s all for the best that I’m running in a few makeshift costumes for the shorter events.
In any case, I’m bib’ed and packet’d and prepping for tomorrow’s 2:30 AM wakeup. That’s probably ridiculously early but the traffic around here has gotten exponentially worse, race weekend or not, and I’m paranoid about missing my corral.
To the starting line… and beyond!
