Wine & Dine Half Marathon: Recap

Wine & Dine... or what many like to call WDW's 2014 Splash 'n Dash!

The week leading up to the race showed a chance of rain, but the forecast changed everyday. It wasn't until the day before or the day of the race that rain was imminent. I am a Goldilocks runner: I don't like to run when it's too hot or too cold. And running in the rain definitely is not my cup of tea. But this was my first trip to WDW and I was going to get my Coast to Coast medal, even with the rain. 

I had dinner at our resort- Boatwright's at Port Orleans Riverside. This was my first night race and I wasn't sure if I should carb-load or not, so I went with pasta anyway.

I considered wearing regular running clothes since it was raining, but I was super excited about my Mickey Ice Cream Bar costume. Mostly just the ears. :) I'll post a DIY on how I made them.

The character lines were long! I only had time to wait in one line, so of course I went with Mickey. The line took about 45 mins to an hour, but well worth it!

The rain didn't start until just before the race while we waited in the corrals. I started in corral E and was already pretty damp by the time I crossed the start.

And we're off!

A quick picture with one of the floats from the Electrical Parade that was stolen borrowed from Disneyland. ;)

I was averaging a 10:30 min mile- much faster than I'd been training. The rain really made seeing anything difficult. Water kept getting stuck on my eyelashes and getting in my eyes. Maybe it's just me, but when I wear contacts and I get water in my eyes, they get super uncomfortable. I was afraid they were going to come out! Does that happen to anyone else?

The textured ground in Animal Kingdom made for some great puddles. My shoes were totally soaked!

There was a pirate ship and pirates out for a photo op. There weren't as many characters out, probably due to the rain. These guys were troopers!

Hollywood Studios hat. I like it and I'm sad to hear it's being taken out.

Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights!!!!

The lights were my motivation during this race. I was tired and hating the rain, so I told myself I wouldn't stop running until I reached the lights. Then I could take a break and enjoy them.

A soggy and tired Mickey Ice Cream Bar

 The rain couldn't stop my excitement about these lights.

Pretty sure I took more photos here than the rest of the race combined. :)

After that, it was just a couple miles to the finish! At this point I really just wanted to be done, so I pushed a little harder at the end and picked up the pace.

My final time was 2:30, which is actually my 3rd fastest half marathon (my PR is 2:23). Surprised? So am I, considering the rain!

I considered just going back to the hotel after the race, after all, I was completely soaked and cold now that I had stopped running. But... I really wanted to eat at the Hawaii booth in Epcot. This was my last opportunity during my trip, so I put on a dry top and braved the rain. I got my food- a pork slider and tuna poke. And even a beer to go with it. :) 

Riding Test Track was considered, but I was shivering so much that I was spilling my beer, so that was my cue to head home.

I even made the official runDisney video! Find me about 27 seconds in. :)