Disney Halloween 5K Race

My Results

Really felt great! I know the time doesn't show it, but let me break it down for you...

Per Garmin:
Mile 1: 11:04 pace
Mile 2: 10:32 pace
Mile 3: 10:04 pace
Mile .17: 9:02 pace
...total was 33:11 for 3.17 miles, so adjusting for 3.1 miles, thats where the 32:35 came from.

First mile was sooo congested, and people simply don't have the courtesy of getting into the proper location on the corrals. Really....if you are walking after 1/8 of a mile, you definitely shouldn't have been in the 8-9.5minute/mile placing! Ugh. And then the path narrowed considerably when entering Animal Kingdom, but once we were in the park, it spread out considerably. I rarely ran into people running 3 across....2 across was often encountered, but I just had to wait to get around a tad. And only one time did someone stop when they got water and I ran into them (not sure what they were thinking, but they quickly noticed the err of their ways without me pointing it out to them).

So, you can see that my pace would have definitely been faster if it wasn't for the congestion, and the last mile did have more of an ascent compared to the first 2 miles! So, I would have definitely averaged less than 10:15 pace if it wasn't for the crowd. It wasn't until 15 minutes into the run when my average cadence jumped to 87-91spm (I don't think I've ever run with that much 91spm foot turnover yet). First 15 minutes was 80-86spm.

And, my husband said I looked great at the end and I definitely felt strong...not even winded. Considerably different than my last run 2 weeks ago (he said that I looked beaten up after that one!). Seriously, it had to be the "Slim in 6" and the extra cardio I did in the last 2 weeks, because I could have seriously gone on for another 2-3 miles. This really surprised me since most of my running/elliptical this last 2 weeks has been about 2 miles....I haven't even run a 5K distance since the last race two weeks ago!

All in all, a great run...quite pleased with it! I have another 4 weeks on the "Slim in 6" so I'll try to keep it up as much as possible and see how my next 5k is...which is scheduled for 10/27, but this time its in the evening! :)

Race Critique

As for the actual race, it was great. We woke up at 5am, and out the door of the All Star Sports Resort by 5:45am. Quick drive and parking was a breeze. We were supposed to be there by 6:15, so we were ok with time. Went to the porta-potty line several times (no lines really to speak of) and listened to the performers entertain the crowds while waiting to get into the corrals.

I think the non-runners in the crowd should have been better informed of the corral placement, as too many people didn't know how to interpret the time posts and/or they didn't see them and/or they ignored them. Also, they weren't spaced well enough. At least 30 people were outside the corral ahead of me but had to wait at the corral gate simply because there wasn't enough room in the corral for their anticipated pace time.

The first mile was parking lot, so I wasn't thrilled with that....and once we started into the park, the path narrowed considerably causing more congestion and slower pace. Fortunately, this didn't last long. By the time we were in the park and the back areas, it was pretty easy to run. The water stations were at mile marker 1.5 and 2.25 and that seemed more than adequate. The cast members were cheering throughout the course, which was nice...and lots of music blasting here and there.

The last 1/2 mile was deceiving....people that didn't have a garmin had no idea how much time they had left. Many seemed to have misinterpreted it as 1/2 mile (as the pace posts were only at the mile markers), but we only had less than 1/4 mile to go. Once off this final backlot trek, you turn into the parking lot and voila....finish line.

I'm not sure I will do this again, just because I know I want to focus on the longer runs, but I hope that my husband considers it :)