Expedition Everest 5k Challenge race recap

In my last post I teased my race photo, (here it is for those that missed it) and said I'd share my race recap and here it is!

Expedition Everest 5k Challenge race recap

I wasn't planning on being able to race up until the last minute. But, I was lucky and secured a last minute spot and thanks to a wonderful friend, got a great deal on a condo rental. We even ended up getting to invite and share the trip with our friends Allison & Kevin, who I was able to do a mini photo session with in the Magic Kingdom.

But, back to the race! I had been trying to work on speed a bit more in April but mainly, I wanted to run this race as my first timed 5k and add to my runDisney medal collection! So far, I have the Fiesta 5k plastic medal from January 2012 but it's just a family fun run, not an individually timed race, as well as the 15th anniversary Donald Half Marathon medal from January 2012. Also, with this race, the runner and family or friends who want to purchase tickets can experience select rides at Animal Kingdom after park closing after the race is over during the after party! Too cool and I love seeing Animal Kingdom in the dark, it's so majestic!

I knew this medal would be shaped like a compass (very cool!) and it was the 5th anniversary as well. One thing that I've learned in my short time running, anniversary years are even more fun because they normally have special medals to commemorate the occasion and I LOVE medals especially special commemorative ones (swag hag!!)!

Also, I knew multiple people running this race and was really excited to see them again!! So, after getting in that afternoon after an 8 hour drive, we drove straight to package pickup at The Wide World of Sports Complex. I walked into the package pickup area and all the names were on boards correlating to your corral and bib number. This race can be run by individuals (like I was) or as a team (like a majority of people did). I found my name on the individual list as bib number 9, in wave/corral 1.

Hahahahahahahaha!!!! If you're a runner, you know why that's funny. If you're not a runner, what it normally means is that you're in the fastest group of elite runners. At large races, they group the elite runners with the lowest bib numbers in the first corral. When I say elite runners, I mean like Kenyans and Olympic record speed peeps. Well, I am NONE of those. Totally not even close. Like they look at me and wonder why I'm walking at a race. You'll see below how not speedy I am when you see my time, but it was a PR for me! But for a second there it was hilarious and it continued to be for the rest of the night really.

After that fun discovery, I stopped for this cute photo op, where I kind of look unclothed due to the sign covering 75% of my body:

I was hoping against hope that there might be some extra pins (race and tour pins are really the only ones I "collect") at the teeny tiny "expo" but alas, they were sold out just like the website said. We walked down to pickup the shirt and I was stuck with a large (that I'll never wear) since I had registered so late.  Maybe my husband will wear it?

After a quick trip to Epcot to celebrate a little Cinco de Mayo through food and beverage in the Mexico pavilion (see below) we went back to the room so I could get ready for the race. I wore my purple shirt since its dark and I figured I'd be pouring water all over myself since it was so hot and my go-to Adidas capris as well as my compression sleeves and Asics shoes.

I packed my bag that I was going to check with Gatorade, fresh socks and shirt for post race (since I knew I'd be drenched with water & sweat), Chapstick, body glide and a few other items and headed over to meet my friends Larry & Kayce who were running as a father/daughter team and who graciously let me ride to and from the race with them.  They're such a fun family and it was their first ever race!! (They did awesome, by the way!)

We got to the starting area in the Animal Kingdom Parking lot and it was crowded and hot!!  The blacktop was sot hot my shoes were getting warm!  There were a lot of people there already and the line for bag check was crazy long so we hopped in and waited and waited some more! Finally, after dropping the bags off, I was able to meet up with my running buddy Deanna from Canada as well as a few new people who I have become acquainted with through twitter (it's like a massive pen-pal service I think!). As I was standing there with them, they called for the first corral and we traded a couple more jokes about me being a Kenyan, they wished me luck, and I was herded into the corral to begin the race!

While standing listening to the announcers, I started to feel my feet burning.  A lot!  I started jumping around just to get some air under them!  Finally, the fireworks went off, I started my MapMyRun app (which didn't end up recording my race route BOO!) and my music and we were off!  The first obstacle was hay bales.  Oh, did I forget to mention, this race has 1. Obstacles during the 5k and 2. A scavenger hunt after the 5k race which is included in the overall time (more on that later).  Well, I am about as graceful as a brick.  I fall UP the stairs.  I trip on cracks in the sidewalk.  I broke my baby toe in a laundry basket.  I broke my shoulder falling off the bathroom counter (long story-I was 13 & stupid).  So, these obstacles had me worried, but as we approached, the runDisney volunteers assured us we could go around them if we didn't think we could do it.  I wanted to try and I hopped over all of them (but I'm sure anyone watching me would've thought I was flailing my arms like I was trying to fly away or something!).

We continued to run through the parking lot of Animal Kingdom and headed toward the entry gate to begin running through the park, as I approached mile marker 1, I realized that since I was in wave/corral 1, the projected time was actually mine, and not the total race time that I normally see during the other races I've been to.  As I approached, It was still under 11 minutes, I speeded up and crossed mile 1 right as it hit 11:00 (I was actually 6 seconds behind that based on the Disney time, so it was technically a 10:54 minute mile!!) and I yelled out "I JUST RAN AN 11 MINUTE MILE!!!" Haha! Everyone around me could've cared less and I got a couple crazy looks, but that was probably a personal best, much less in 90 degree + heat!!

I really did enjoy getting to run through Animal Kingdom, I think it's really underrated as far as design goes.  Maybe it's because I love animals so much, or that Animal Kingdom isn't always packed with people, but I enjoy the time we spend there.  Those park days are always relaxed and laid back.  However, the race route was wet in many areas and I won't lie, a few times I was worried I, or other people, might slip!

As the race went on, it was so hot and humid, it was pretty miserable! I poured a little bit of water from my bottle on my head and neck and pressed on.  Obstacle 2 was a "silent obstacle" and don't even ask me what they meant by that other than you weren't supposed to talk.  It was as weird as it sounds.  Anyways, like I said, I'm not graceful or coordinated but I wanted to try it.  It was a tire hop obstacle, I tried hopping in about 4 and fell over, right on my butt.  Yep. So graceful.  I decided, I tried-but better to not injure myself on a 5k, you know?! So I skipped the rest of the tires and pressed on.

As I passed the 2nd water stop, I poured part of a cup over my head to wet my hair and a bit over chest and then a well-meaning volunteer proceeded to pour a full cup down my back.  A full cup of water ended up down my shirt, pants and underwear.  NOT what you want for a race and pretty over the top for a 5k.  I was pretty mad, but just kept going.

By the end of mile 2 I was getting ready to be done.  It was just so hot and my feet were on fire still.  The 5k finish was in sight and as I rounded the bend, the last obstacle was a crawl under a rope net.  I wanted to just walk around it, but I stood there for 2 seconds and decided to "just do it!".  The astroturf we had to crawl on hurt my knees like heck, but as I crawled out I was proud that I decided to try all the obstacles.

After crossing the 5k finish, we were given a mini sharpie and a clue.  At this point, I was drained from an 8 hour road trip in that morning, walking around Epcot, running a 5k at 9pm, then they hand me a clue and expect my brain to work?! Eh, let's just say that first clue was rough!  I don't even remember what they all were, other than word and number puzzles that my brain was not happy about having to complete.  And, the clues are just part of it, you have to get to other areas of the Animal Kingdom park to get more!  So, a lot of people kept running to get good times, I just walked since I was pooped and thanks to that oh-so-sweet volunteer lady, I was now a soggy-bottom girl.

During the "scavenger hunt portion, I remember starting outside the park again, thenvisiting The Camp Minnie-Mickey area, then on to Africa, then the walkway between Africa & Asia and then crossing over the 5k track which still had runners, and then on to the Expedition Everest ride where the official "Finish Line" was.

I "ran" that finish since I has recouped some by then and then grabbed my shiny new medal, a banana, a yellow powerade and I walked straight on to Expedition Everest!!! It was really fun to run a race based on the ride and then hope RIGHT ON IT!  Not only that, but Expedition Everest is a great ride, but it's MAGICAL at night!  I hopped in the first row, and by this point, my body has cooled down enough that I'm chilly from the sweat/water soaking incident and the breeze on the ride.  I actually felt like I was at Everest in May in Orlando, FL! Pretty fun!

After I hopped off the ride, I decided to go to bag pickup and I'm glad I did because bag pickup got CRAZY BAD as the night went on!  I changed my shirt and socks and then waited for my friends Larry & Kayce and then we all rode Everest together which was a blast all over again!  We decided we were pooped and walked back to the car where we happened upon Brett & his wife, new runners who we know through the Disney Flickr photography community!  We were parked on the same row and everything!  It really is a "small world after all!"

All in all, I enjoyed the race, the people I got to see again, and the new people I was able to meet.  The medal is really cute and the course was fun and obstacles/scavenger were pretty challenging, although I'm no navy seal or rubik's cube champ! Haha!  I wasn't sore the next day and I wore my medal although no one seemed to notice it, but I was proud of it!  While we were waiting in line at the Epcot Character Spot I saw a tweet that times were out and so I found my time and for the 5k it was 34:42!! That's a PR any way I slice it, since it was my first timed 5k, and probably the fastest pace per mile on any race or training run yet!  I'm very happy with it and maybe one day soon I'll be able to do a sub-30 5k!

Until then, I'll just have my shiny new compass medal, my #9 bib and keep dreaming of being Grete Waitz ;)

Thanks for reading and let me know if you have ever run this race or if you want to!  I'd do it again, especially if I have a partner or team, I think it would be extra fun!

-Diana