"I don't think we're in Orlando any more Toto"

Three days ago I was wearing a bathing suit and watching the kids come down a water slide. Amazing how quickly things can change! I have some catching up to do at home, work, and the blog. I will try to get updates out as often as possible. I will start by recapping the opening race weekend for the RMEC.

Right off the bat, Frank had a great race at the Frosty 50k on Saturday 01/10. He set a new 50k PR in fact! The cool temps combined with an double out-and-back course set up perfectly for Frank. He ended up finishing the 31 mile race in a time of 6:38:24. Great job Frank! It is also interesting to note that the race winner ran a 3:09. To put that in perspective, it was a 6:06 pace for 31 miles!

Also racing on Saturday, but in a much warmer climate was Tracy H., Patti, and Ursula. For the second year in a row, these three ladies earned their "Donald" medals at the Disney World Half Marathon among over 12,000 finishers. Despite running most of the race together and posing for several pictures, all of them ran impressive times. Ursula and Tracy left Patti with a friend soon after the halfway point in the race. Tracy crossed the finish line in 2:35:03, and Ursula was right behind with 2:35:05. Some long photo lines held Patti back, and she crossed in 2:52:20. Great job ladies!

The next day, new RMEC member, Kim Blackwelder lined up for her first marathon and had one heck of a debut! She finished in 5:06:17 running a consistent pace throughout the race. Kim, feel free to post a comment about your race experience, or shoot me an email if you would like me to do a blog post. We love to hear runner reports on their races.

I also was racing the full marathon, and was very pleased with my race. I finished with a time of 3:41:20. Not my fastest marathon, but a race I feel really good about. Here are a few interesting tidbits from the race for me. . .

1. I was amazed how many runners had gas in the race (and they were not ashamed)
2. I ran most of the race near a joggler. The crowd loved him.
3. At mile 16 I was running by a guy racing in Crocs (seriously. . . Crocs!)
4. I proudly crossed the line minutes before the "pink tutu" guy from Runner's World. Turns out his chip time blew me away. Still, a very nice guy to talk to.

Finally, I had to post a picture of my finish line photo. Not because I am arrogant, but because it is so funny. If not for the clock time in the picture, you would think I won the race. Despite 15,000 marathon finishers, I managed to cross the line with NO ONE near me (except for Lilo and Stich). The picture cracks me up. For more race photos and other neat Disney information check out the My Disney Marathon site.

One other thing to point out. My old college roommate and one of my closest friends also ran Disney this past weekend. He proudly wore a RMEC shirt (he is President of the RMEC Orlando Chapter), and set a new PR finishing in 4:51:28. I know he reads our blog. . . Congrats Scoob! You had a fantastic race.