The Dopey Challenge Race Reports - WDW 5K

I am going to take a break from posting my notes from my Eastern European Trip to provide my race reports from the Walt Disney World (WDW) Marathon Weekend.  My daughter called me to see if I wanted to come down to Orlando in January to run the WDW Half Marathon with her.  How could I pass that up.  I had looked at the website numerous times before and had contemplated running the Goofy Challenge which is also known as the Race and a Half.  Basically the challenge is to run a half and full marathon back to back.  I thought it would be a good challenge to shake up my training routine and give me something new to shoot for.

I went out onto the website to sign up for the Goofy Challenge.  I noticed that there was a new challenge – the Dopey Challenge.  It has only been around for 5 years.  To complete this challenge, I would have to run a 5K, 10K, Half and Full Marathon on consecutive days.  This is a total of 498.6 miles.  I called my daughter and told her I was contemplating doing the Dopey Challenge.  She told me if I signed up for it, she would run the 10K and Half with me.  I thought about it for a few days.  I figured that I had run numerous adventure relays which is somewhat of a similar challenge although not the same mileage.  Plus I would get a full 24 hours to recover between each race.  So I decided to take on the challenge and signed up.

I trained hard for this race.  I didn’t want to get out there and DNF.  I was building up mileage which you can see if you go back and look at my posts.  I did my last short run on the day I headed to Orlando.  I was nervous but ready for the challenge.  The key was to take it easy on the first 3 races so that I would have some energy and reserves for the marathon on Sunday.  I had set a goal of 10 hours total combined for the 4 races.  But my main goal was to just finish.  As I flew to Orlando I wondered how I would feel when I crossed the finish line of the marathon on Sunday having run 48.6 miles.  It would be the furthest I had run on consecutive days in my life and at the age of 57.

As I sat there on the plane, I thought about the first race I ever signed up for when I had just started running as a sport.  It was the Sunrise Florida Jingle Bell Jog 5K in December 1989.  I can assure you that when I finished that race, I never expected to be running really long distances or adventure relay races.  Yet there I was 30 years or so later standing in the parking lot at Epcot Center on a cold 43 degree January morning waiting to run the first of 4 consecutive races that make up the Dopey Challenge.  It seemed fitting to be running a 5K to start as it was the start of my amateur racing odyssey.

I had set my alarm for 3:00 a.m. as the buses from the hotel to the starting line started at 3:30 a.m.  I never sleep well the night before any race and that night was no different.  I found myself waking up every couple of hours checking my watch and phone to make sure I didn’t miss my wakeup call or alarm.  I finally gave up around 2:45 a.m.  I got up and started to get myself dressed for the race while sipping a Bing Energy drink that would help wake me up.

I had chosen to run in costume(ish) for each of the races.  The 5K I planned to run as Mickey Mouse.  I had a long sleeve black running shirt, black compression pants and a pair of Mickey Mouse Boxers that looked like Mickey’s pants.  I had some 4 fingered gloves to round out the outfit.  Since I knew it would be cold, I also put on a running skull cap and my 48.6 headband I had bought at the race expo the day before.  I thought that this would be plenty warm enough as I waited for the race to start.  I was wrong.

I headed down to the lobby of the Swan Hotel where I was staying to meet the shuttle bus.  I had decided to splurge and stay in one of the resort hotels.  I figured this would make getting to and from the races easier as the shuttles serviced all of the resort hotels.  I was a little nervous when I got to the lobby because I didn’t see any runners milling around.  I found the bus and they assured me I was in the right place.  So I jumped on and waited.  By 3:30 a.m. the bus was about half full and the driver shut the doors and off we went.

The drive only took about 10 minutes to get to the Epcot parking lot.  We got off the bus and headed over to the waiting area near the starting line.  It was quite a long walk over to the waiting area.  I noticed that I was feeling a lot colder than I thought I would.  It was a little breezy and the temperature was dropping from the 48 degrees it was when I got onto the bus to about 45 degrees when I got to the waiting area.

Since I had a little over an hour to wait, I decided to see what characters were there to have my picture taken with before the race.  The lines were reasonable for Mickey, Minnie and Dopey.  The line for Oswald (the races signature character) was the longest.  Since I wasn’t sure if I would see Dopey again and his line was the shortest I jumped in line.  It was the right choice.  I only waited about 15 minutes for my time with Dopey.  He gave me a big hug when he saw my Dopey Challenge bib and we had our picture taken together.  He high-fived me as I left and I was really excited to have met him.

Since I had met Mickey at the expo and had my picture taken already, I headed over to Oswald’s line.  It had grown quite a bit.  The attendant told me it would be about 45 minut
e wait and that Oswald leaves right at 5:00 am.  It was only 3:50 a.m. so I figured I would be ok.  As I waited in the line, I was getting progressively colder and started to shiver.  I did my best to move around and try to warm up but it wasn’t working.

The attendant was right.  After about 45 minutes or so I made it to the front of the line.  Oswald was fascinated by my 4 fingered gloves.  He counted his fingers and then mine and laughed.  He was really excited about being here for the race and was super energetic which helped take my mind off of the cold.  We posed for our picture and then I headed to the Porto-potties to relieve myself before what I thought would be a short 25 minute wait for the race to start.

I huddled next to a tent to get out of the wind while I waited for the announcement to get into the corrals.  At 5:00 a.m. they finally called us to the corrals.  I was supposed to be in Corral C.  I have to say that based on my typical 5K time, this was way too far back in the corrals.  It was a little warmer in the corrals with all the bodies around me.  I found a space blanket someone had discarded and wrapped it around me to try and warm up a bit.  It helped.

The good news is that the race started right on time at 5:30 a.m.  The bad news is that they send each corral out in 4 different waves.  By the time my section of Corral C lined up at the starting line it was 6:20 a.m.  I understand that the roads and route around the World Showcase are narrow which is why they sent us off in waves.  But I would make one change to the corral assignments making them based on expected finish time.  Also they should have anyone who plans to walk all or most of the race in the last corral.  This would allow runners like me to avoid having to weave around those participants walking the race.

The gun went off at 6:20 and I was finally running.  The first mile of the route takes you out of the Epcot Parking Lot on to the parking lot ring road paralleling Epcot Center Drive.  I weaved in and out of a lot of people walking trying to get up to a steady comfortable pace.  I noticed that just before we entered the back stage area of Epcot, they had Flik and Princess Atta available for photos.  I decided that I would pass on character meet and greets for this race.  I made it to the backstage entrance and turned in.

When we came out of the backstage area, we were between the Mexico and Norway pavilions.  The

World Showcase was lit up and absolutely beautiful.  I noticed that the crowds were starting to thin out at this point.  I was able to lock into a nice easy pace.  When I got about half way around the lagoon, I found a really nice spot for a mid-race photo.   I asked a couple who had just taken a selfie if they wouldn’t mind taking the photo for me.  They happily agreed.  I love fellow runners!

I then took off wanting to get across the finish line in under 30 minutes.  We had one additional detour through a backstage area.  It was a pretty heavy construction zone.  The footing in parts of the run were a little treacherous.  But I made it through without a hitch and popped back out on the lagoon.  I only had about ¾ of a mile to go at that point.  So I put my head down and pushed on.

The last mile takes you into the Future World section of the park.  You turn right and head toward Mission Space before turning and heading back to make the final turn towards the finish line.  I was running really well and feeling comfortable with my pace.  Unfortunately I wasn’t going to make it in under 30 minutes due to the crowds.  It really doesn’t matter because I had to run 3 more races and time is not a factor.

I ran by Spaceship Earth and out the exit to the finish line.  I crossed the finish line in 30:12 which was a 9:18 per mile pace.  My Garmin showed that I had actually run 3.24 miles.  Not sure why there is a difference.  It must be because I had to do so much weaving in and out at the start of the race.  But I was feeling relieved to have one race under my belt.  I walked through the finish line area and grabbed a space blanket.  I was still feeling a little cold.  I missed the medals somehow and had to go back to get my Oswald 5K medal.  It is a really nice medal for a 5K race.

It was a bit of a long walk through the finish line area.  They gave me a snack box and banana.  Finally at the very end, they had water.  I would have liked it better if the water was closer to the finish line as that is when I like to replenish.  Overall it was a really efficient system.

After exiting the finish line area, I went to look for my bus.  The big signs showed the bus number and where they were headed.  None of the 10 routes showed my hotel the Swan.  I finally flagged down a volunteer and he told me it was bus 9.  When I went to where bus 9 was the sign right by the bus said Swan/Dolphin Resort at the bottom.  It would have been nice to have had it on the way finder signs.

After a short wait, I climbed on the bus and we headed back to my hotel.  The Swan/Dolphin was the last stop.  I disembarked and headed into the hotel.  A cast member shouted to me, “Welcome Back Mickey!”  That made me laugh.  I was ready to get to my room, warm up, shower and grab some water and snacks before meeting Mara for lunch.

Overall I enjoyed the race.  I don’t think I would co
me down to Disney and run just a 5K race.  I think it is a great race if you want to get your younger children into running.   The course is pretty flat and easy.  You can take breaks to meet the characters and the World Showcase is absolutely beautiful in the darkness.

The next race the Dopey Challenge is the 10K.  I’m was going to be running it with my daughter.  I was really looking forward to running her first 10K with her.

Jan 1 – 4.10 miles (35:19, 8:37 pace)
Jan 3 – 6.40 miles (55:45, 8:43 pace)
Jan 4 – 2.80 miles (29:53, 10:35 pace)
Jan 5 – 8.10 miles (1:15:18, 9:18 pace)
Jan 8 – 2.10 miles (19:23, 9:13 pace)
Jan 10 – 3.24 miles (30:12, 9:18 pace) – WDW 5K
Jan 11 – 6.42 miles (1:21:07, 12:38 pace) – WDW 10K
Jan 12 – 13.54 miles (3:07:52, 13:53 pace) – WDW Half Marathon
Jan 13 – 26.86 miles (5:04:45, 11:21 pace) – WDW Marathon
Jan 19 – 3.10 miles (26:47, 8:38 pace)
Jan 20 – 5.10 miles (45:49, 8:59 pace)

Total Miles:  81.76 miles
2019 Total Miles:  81.76 miles