Disney Marathon Weekend
During the first weekend of January 2012, Mike completed the Goofy Challenge. 
The challenge consists of running a half marathon (13.1 miles) on Saturday, and then completing a marathon (26.2 miles) on Sunday. Susan and the boys took a couple of days off of school and traveled down to Orlando with Mike. Also, Mike's friend from the Army, Bill Kendall and his wife, Melanie, flew in from Maine to run in the marathon with Mike. On Friday, everyone visited the expo to pickup the running packets. The expo was held in the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. It was very crowded, but well organized. On Friday evening everyone relaxed at the resort pool, which was heated. Mike's mom was kind enough to set everyone up in an upscale condo for the weekend.
On Saturday morning, Mike and his family departed the condo about 3:45 in the morning.
Traffic was very heavy. Mike barely made it to his starting corral for the 5:35am start. Susan and the boys were able to see Mike at the start and at the finish line. Mike ran through Epcot and Magic Kingdom during the half marathon. Mike held back during the half marathon to reserve energy for the following day. Mike finished the half marathon in 1 hour, 55 minutes. After the half marathon, Mike's thighs were a bit sore. Mike rested Saturday evening while carb loading. Sunday we decided to leave a little bit earlier. This time, Mike made it to his corral with plenty of time to spare. Mike, Bill and Melanie all started the race together. They ran almost the first mile together. Mike never saw Melanie again on the course. Mike saw Bill at a turnaround, near mile 21. The marathon course took Mike through Epcot, Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom and MGM Studios. Mike had thigh discomfort the entire marathon. He finished the marathon in 3 hours and 54 minutes, which was a new personal record for Mike.
Mike enjoyed completing the Goofy Challenge. After doing it once though, he has no desire to do it again. The course support was very good. Disney did a superb job of distracting runners from the pain of running 26 miles. Mike's favorite sight was when he first entered Animal Kingdom. Several Disney employees lined the roadway with various animals. Birds, an owl, a lamb and a pig watched as crazy humans ran by them for hours. The photograph on the right was taken right before the full marathon. The photograph on the left is of Mike finishing the full marathon.
Click on one of the pictures to view the entire album of photographs.