Disneyland Half Marathon

The only time I have ever been able to get a picture with Walt Disney and Mickey in front of the castle without a billion other people trying to do the same is on race day!

When I crossed the finish line of The Goofy Challenge back in January, I let out a huge Lion King roar that pretty much woke up all of Orlando. 39.3 miles in one weekend: GOOFIFICATION!  Runner's high reached the code red level and I really thought that The Mouse was going to call security on Endorphin Dude! I don't think anyone has ever been ejected from the park from extreme excitement, but you never know! The Goofy Challenge was a big deal for me.  I never thought that I could have pulled off such an incredible feat.  Sure enough, I did, and I walked out of the Magic Kingdom with three shiny medals around my neck.

Fast forward eight months later.  Endorphin Dude visits Mickey Mouse's west coast estate to run another 13.1 miles to collect that coveted Coast To Coast medal. By completing Goofy and the Disneyland Half, E-Dude earned five shiny medals.  Hakuna Matata!

I have to admit, getting to that finish line was a bit stressful.  I could easily make up the excuse that my body was exhausted from the marathon the day before or that I needed to preserve my body for the marathon the day after, but that wouldn't be the complete truth.  The truth of the matter is that I had a little too much fun in the park! Miles two through five were in Disneyland and I stopped to pose with every character!  Once I left the park, I looked at my Garmin and gulped.  Never before had I ever run a one hour fifteen minute 5k!  I knew I had to hustle, but it wasn't easy, as the sun got hotter as the clock ticked away.  The last thing I wanted was to get picked up by the Disney sag wagon, so I kept focused and plugged along.  It took me about four hours to get to that finish line, but I made it.  Woo Hoo!

I was more scared of the sag wagon than the Evil Queen!

Gotta love the fuzzy characters.

I had to stop to take a picture with this lady. Love the sign.

It's like the Goofy Challenge reunion!

I am not a Disney guy, but I have to admit that every time I run in that Mouse's house, I feel like a five year old all over again. This race marked my 42nd life time half marathon since October 2009. It still seems surreal to me that I've done all this in such a short amount of time. I sometimes feel like I'm living in a fantasy world.  It gives me great pleasure knowing that my awesome life is very real.

Woo Hoo!