Heading into the home stretch (finally!) in this 26.2 mile trek through Disney's four parks, not to mention all the connecting roads, resorts, and recreational areas that surround them.
Bounding into the Wide World of Sports, we know who's number 1
Three Goofs. I might also add, Goofy's water stop had hands-down, the coldest water on the entire course.
Donald Duck wished us luck. At least that's what I think he said
The 2014 Legend of the Baseball Field.
Turns out there's 30 fields at the Wide World of Sports. A fact we know this year, but didn't know in 2014. Andrew re-enacts the anger of the 2014 communication snafu
Heading out of the parks, we run into this officially sanctioned character. Didn't know the Gronk Patriots SuperFan was a licensed Disney character, but we were proud to shout out our Patriots Pride.
Heading to Hollywood Studios, you've got to stop and take orders from Sarge and his Green Army Men. He ruthlessly barks out inspirational taunts to get you up one of the very few hills on the entire course.
Approaching the Tower of Terror, Andrew does his best Scream
Mile 24, wasn't feeling so incredible, but luckily we had help from some super-heroes to get us to the end
This one's for you Boo!
Andrew needed to stop and channel his inner force for fellow Star Wars aficionados Nick and Carlos
Wishing he had the speed of BB8 to propel him to the end
While not the New York City Marathon, it's a pretty good replica
Right there in the heart of Hollywood Studios, it's a father-son face-off, Captain America vs. Iron Man.
Final stretch, and I was starting to feel like Carl Frederickson (BTW, that's not our time atop the clock, that's the official first gun time. Just sayin'.)
But as we rounded the corner, a Genie awaited, ready to grant us that one final wish for the final push through EPCOT
Finally, at mile 26, I heard the choirs and knew we had arrived. Or maybe I was hallucinating.
Either way, Hallelujah!
In the chute post-race, Andrew said he's ready to have another go at it.
I can only stare at him in puzzlement.
In case you haven't figured it out from the gallery of shots posted throughout recent blogs, this will go down as probably the greatest, most enjoyable race ever for me.
Not because of my time, which wasn't stellar.
Not because it's a marathon, of which there've been a few.
But because I got to share the experience step-for-step with my son, and we goofed, laughed, and mugged up our way through it all. We went the distance together.
Truth be told, with but a couple of exceptions among the 26.2, it never really felt like a marathon. We were having too much fun out there, anticipating who would be the next character we'd encounter, what surprises lie ahead for us.
Our ChEAR squad of Jack and Heather helped make it all possible.
And at the end of the day, we've got a series of unforgettable memories that ain't gonna be taken away any time soon.
So yeah, at that particular moment when the race was done and the family was reunited post-finish line, it really was the Happiest Place on Earth.
No comments:
Post a Comment