Look Back: 2023 Walt Disney World Marathon
A look back at the 2023 Walt Disney World Marathon
On January 8, 2023, I completed my 7th marathon by running the 2023 Walt Disney World Marathon. For this race, my goal was to finish in under 5 hours. Unfortunately, things didn’t go to plan and I ended up finishing at an official time of 5:47:48.
How It Went
Florida is always a challenging place to run because the weather can be unpredictable in January. I’ve done this race several times with one year hitting 90ºF heat, resulting in a course getting shortened, and another year, the starting line had a wind chill that brought temperatures down to the 30s. While the weather for this year’s event was expected to hit 77ºF, that peak didn’t hit until the late afternoon and the morning temperatures were favorable for runners, starting in the 50s and peaking around the mid-60s by the time I crossed the finish line.
As we crossed the starting line and made our way to EPCOT, things were going to plan, holding a nice and easy pace 10-minute mile pace. The cooler weather was definitely working in my favor at this point however as we exited EPCOT and made our way to Magic Kingdom, I was starting to feel a new discomfort in my right calf. This was something I didn’t experience during training, but at this point, it wasn’t too bad and felt confident in holding my pace for the full distance.
As we crossed the 6-mile mark, my official split time was 1:03:00, leaving me on track to hit my goal of finishing in under 5 hours. With 3 miles to go until we entered Magic Kingdom, I kept my focus on maintaining this pace and effort but the discomfort in my leg was always in the back of my head, keeping it in mind to make sure I don’t push too hard and injure myself.
Entering Magic Kingdom, we were greeted by a crowd of spectators cheering us on, giving a nice boost of energy for runners. We ran through Main Street, turned into Tomorrowland, and made our way through Fantasyland to run through the castle, where I had to take an obligatory stop to get a photo in front of the park icon.
We made our way through Liberty Square and Adventureland, leaving the park through a backstage exit. At this point, we had a 6-mile stretch of road ahead of us as we made our way to the next park - Animal Kingdom. These stretches of road are always mentally draining for me as all we saw are trees with an occasional character stop or DJ to keep us entertained. With the goal and optimism to finish in under 5 hours, I skipped the character stops we ran past here to minimize any impact on my time. I had to reserve those breaks for the all-important restroom stops instead.
I started to feel some of the exhaustion starting to kick in and was now slowing down at the 12-mile mark with a pace averaging in the 11-12 minute mile pace. At the the half-marathon split, I clocked in at 2:21:11. If I maintained this current effort, I knew I could still hit my goal time with roughly 20 minutes to spare. The discomfort in my leg was however getting worse but was still manageable.
At mile 16, we entered Animal Kingdom. This is one of the harder parts of the race with the hillier terrain (though nothing compared to the hills of the San Francisco half marathon). I started to transition to a run-walk interval at this point, slowing my pace down even further to a 12-13 minute mile pace. At this point, the park was open and it was very tempting to join other runners on Expedition Everest, but with the probability of still hitting my goal, I wanted to keep pushing on.
As we exited the Animal Kingdom, the discomfort in my right calf was getting less manageable, requiring even longer walks to just keep me moving. With a medical tent at the exit, I stopped by and applied some Biofreeze to hopefully help a little bit. At this point, my average pace was a minute slower, ranging in the 13-14 minute mile range. However, when I hit mile 20, my split was at 3:56:48, just enough time to possibly still hit a sub 5-hour finish if I could figure out how to get back to a 10-minute pace.
As I entered that final 10k stretch, I started to push to try and get back on track with my goal. I went on to try and pick up the pace, but my body mechanics couldn’t get back to that effort. At this point, I would classify my leg discomfort as a “low-pain.” It made it very difficult to maintain any kind of pace for more than 20 or 30 seconds before I really had to slow down. It also didn’t help that we were at the Blizzard Beach parking lot loop, probably the most boring part of the course. With the fatigue and pain bothering me, I admitted to myself that there was no way back to a 10-minute mile and wasn’t going to hit the 5-hour official finish time.
New goal - try to finish at an official 5-hour finish time. This would be me still trying to get under 5 hours based on my watch time, which I was pausing for restroom breaks. Since I was now going to go for an unofficial finish, I decided to have fun with this and just stop for the characters. Donald Duck was the first stop for me.
As we exited the parking lot loop, we had to take on 1.5 miles of the roadway as we headed to Hollywood Studios. While this part was a much shorter stretch, my fatigued and injured legs made this stretch feel like it lasted forever. Once we entered Hollywood Studios, we were treated to some chocolate and hydration stops. Running past the Fantasmic stage, we turned and entered the park through an entrance next to the Tower of Terror. By now, I was at a 14-minute mile pace and knew I wouldn’t hit a sub-5-hour unofficial time.
New Goal - maximize the fun out of this race. When I saw a very short wait for the Tower of Terror, and a few other runners hopping in line, I decided to join them. It’ll all be good as long as the ride doesn’t break down, right?
That decision was a good one and made mile 23 very memorable for me. Not only was there a great photo opportunity, but the short break to sit down was refreshing and was a nice reset for the remaining distance we had to run. Chatting with the other runners and non-runners who were riding the ride was also a nice change of pace. This break gave me enough energy to run out of the park, but as we made our way out, I was reminded of the fatigue and pain in my legs. With less than 3 miles to go, there was no giving up now.
The next 1.5 miles had us running past the Boardwalk Resorts which had hotel guests cheering us on. This part gets challenging because of the narrower paths in the area. For those of us with the energy to keep on running, this required additional weaving to get past those that were walking in this area. I continued my run-walk intervals, averaging my 13-14 minute mile pace at this point.
Eventually, we made it past the Boardwalk and entered that final stretch in EPCOT’s world showcase. With another mile and a half to go, this distance seemed feasible to run. As we entered the park, I started to jog again in hopes I could hold it for the remaining distance, but it was quick for me to realize that I had to continue my run-walk intervals here. A mile is definitely feeling much further at this point.
The energy in EPCOT was very high, with several cast members representing each country out to cheer us on. Many were even waving their flags to represent their country which was fun to see. This gave me a boost of energy for my intervals.
As we exited the World Showcase, we made our way to a backstage exit next to the Gaurdians of the Galaxy ride. With EPCOT being the final park (and the one we started in), I knew the finish line has to be just around the corner.
As we took each step, the finish line music and narrator got louder and louder, helping to build up the energy needed to have a strong finish. We passed by a gospel choir, made a few turns, and started to see the bench seating and the cheering crowds where we saw the one and only Mickey Mouse by the finish line. At this point, I gave it one last push.
While it was nearly 50 minutes past my goal time, I finished with that runner’s high, and in the end, glad I decided to change my goals to maximize the fun out of this race. I had a blast running this one and look forward to coming back. While my official time was 5:47:48, my unofficial time (with my watch being paused during breaks) clocked in at 5:12:13. This is nowhere near a PR, but there’ll always be a next time to try and hit this goal.