Liam and Brenan in front of the castle in the Magic Kingdom at Disney the day after my first marathon.

















Synopsis of my first marathon,

As most of you know the place was Orlando, Florida, The Walt Disney World Marathon. The date January 7th 2007, official start time 6:02:31. The weather was much hotter and more humid than I had expected and planned for - by 09:15 a scorching 85degF and 97% humidity – let’s just say that my Canadian blood was not acclimatized.

• I arrived Fri the 5th and went to the race expo …..picked up my race bid etc…. attended a seminar and met Jeff Galloway who completely screwed me up and scared me about the weather (hot, humid) and the idea of run/walking vs. running which is what I trained for.(please note that I say this with all due respect to Mr. Galloway who is a master runner, coach and completely devoted to helping runners of all abilities)


• The Sunday morning start was exciting. It took me 5 minutes to cross the start line. Approx 12000 runners started the race and 10953 completed the course.


• My plan was simple and was devised at 04:00, one hour before the race: a 4:15hr goal with even splits. I had a pace bracelet to keep on track.
  The first mile was 1 ½ min slow due to heavy traffic
  By mile 3, I was on pace


• From mile 4 to 10, I put 4 minutes in the tank for reserve and decided to slow the pace a little even though I felt great.


• The course was great – especially in the theme parks Epcot, Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom all the Disney characters, run through the castle, good crowd support, and many water/aid stations. Very well organized.


• From mile 11 to 21, I managed to keep a reserve of 3 ½ minutes which had I been stronger and continued at that pace would wave put me at 4:11:30 finish.


• Miles 21 to 26 were brutal – although I never stopped for a second I converted my continuous run to a run/walk pattern. I am sad to say that I fell apart. My brain shrunk in size by a factor of at least10 and my legs were killing me – the heat, sun and humidity ……….. Disney Schmisney Kisney Fisbey I thought – I’m beat


• I ended the race running with a time or 4:23:33. Although I am not disappointed with the time, I am not happy with the last 5 miles and I have a lot to learn. It was as I suspected a humbleling experience.


• I finished in 4:23:33
  Rank overall 2290 out of 10953
  Rank gender 1619 out of 5787
  Rank Division 40-44 male 340 out of 1128


• It was an experience worthy of repeating and improving
  
  Thank you all for your support and encouragement.