It was so cold…
HOW COLD WAS IT?
It was so cold that Tarzan traded in his loin cloth for a BLANK.
It was so cold that this runner created his (or her… or their) own yurt.
It was so cold that I threw on a disposable layer of a sweatshirt and never took it off.
I’ve been colder to be sure… and I’ve been colder at the Dopey Challenge… but gosh golly was I chilled to the bone today.
Part of it was the race start time shifting to 4:30 AM… which meant the corrals opened at 2:45 AM… and which meant I got up at 1:45 AM and arrived at Epcot at 2:17 to make the long walk to the corrals… all of which is to say that I’m discombobulated. We joked in the corral that we all should have just stayed in the park last night, ridden a few rides, and come out to run the marathon. Would’ve been just as much sleep I think!
If this is the way the Dopey Challenge ends for me, with a jerk who cut in front of me at the Mickey and Minnie finisher photo and then had his stroller age kids rush in demanding hugs from the Power Mouse Couple, then maybe that’s the end of it.
It was nice hanging out with Nick and Adrian at the starts and along the way… and it’s not a bad way to force me to put in some mileage. But these early wake-ups, the time commitment, and the ever-rising cost of the events make me wonder if there’s any future in my Dopey streak. I am apparently only 359 Perfectly Dopey runners left… dare I carry on in 2026… to infinity… and beyond? Time and my credit card bills will tell the tale soon enough.
In the meanwhile, the photos of the day: