It was awesome driving on the property in the dark. Pulling into the Epcot parking lot where it's just a barren wasteland of parking spaces but you can see Spaceship Earth in the distance - that was just cool. We pulled up to the drop off area, and we kind of blindly followed the crowds as we walked...and walked...and walked to the main area. It was kind of a ridiculous walk, honestly. There were a few volunteers, some people checking bags. We didn't have to worry about any of that, so we figured we'd have plenty of time to maybe get a picture or two with some characters or some schemes.
When we got to the main area, it looked like the party had been in full swing for hours to be honest. If busses didn't start running until 3:30 (and we were on that bus), where did all of these people come from? The lines for the characters and photo scenes were outrageous, and they were already announcing the fact that they were closing the lines in 15 minutes because it was almost time to get people to their corrals. Weird. But maybe it's always like this. I have no idea; it's my first event.
So we enjoy the DJ silliness and fan crazies - DJ Elliott was providing some entertainment, and it honestly felt like being "home" at a Star Wars Celebration. So that part was pretty neat, and we decided not to worry about the pictures. It's not like we couldn't grab those at a convention later on. I saw one other Asajj Ventress costumed runner, but other than that, Asajj wasn't anywhere to be seen! That kind of made me sad considering all of the time she got on Star Wars: The Clone Wars, but oh well. About 20-30 minutes went by or so, and then they announced they were moving people to the corrals. So we follow the herd (literally) to our corrals, find corral E, get in place and get ready.
Get ready to be smushed in with a bunch of other people for about an hour and a half, unable to sit, unable to stretch, unable to do anything but stand and watch Star Wars trailers and have conversations with the people around you. And freeze. It was pretty darned cold that early in the morning, and we just kept having to think warm thoughts and huddle together. I guess that was one good thing about being packed in so tightly. But the wind was just brutal at times.
The Nerd Husband and I spent time pointing out costumes in the sea of people who just kept flooding into the corral section. It was seriously never-ending, and they kept packing us in tighter and tighter. I knew right then there was going to be no way I could run this thing. Not in the slightest. Even if I had a hope of breaking through in some way, I had a feeling it was going to be like this most of the 6ish miles we had to go.
They released each corral with a length of 10-15 minutes in between. Something like that. I didn't time it; it would have annoyed me far too much, I think. But I spent my time in a pleasant mood instead - watching the fireworks and cheering for the corrals as they were released. Patiently waiting to move up, and finally...it was our turn. Corral E. The "Evil" Corral as we then referred to ourselves. It's the Dark Side 10K, after all.
We got our on your mark, get set, gooooooooooo - FIREWORKS! I filmed it on my phone, we walked until we go to about the start line, and then jogged lightly over the start - because c'mon, you kind of have to start off a run at least kind of running. I think I gave a thumbs up to the camera guy, but who knows if it was broadcasted on the screens to corral F (the only folks left waiting to start the race).
We did our running through the Epcot parking lot and met up with a high school band who was playing Star Wars music. That was a great pump-up, and it made me so excited to be outside running(?) at Epcot. We managed to do a few run/walk intervals, but it was proving to be difficult to keep up with our interval timer on my phone. Even this early on, we were kind of bottle necking in places - especially as we moved our way into Epcot. It was then that we decided that we would do what we could with our intervals, keep up with the folks that were close to us in the corral, and speed up when necessary to not get swept. Honestly, this was the best decision of the race - the decision to not make it a "race".
I never even saw the mile marker for the first mile - who knows what I was gawking at. It could have been the backstage view of Epcot, trying to figure out what the buildings were for and what they housed in them. Or waving at the cast members who were cheering for us. Or checking out the back gate that was open into Mexico as we rounded the corners to Star Wars music playing. The lights on the Mexican pavilion as we made our way into the park and up the pathway toward the entrance to the World Showcase. Or looking at the giant screen playing Star Wars movie clips. Of course, then there was Spaceship Earth - that ball never ceases to amaze me. Somewhere in there I think I saw Artoo and Vader, and I just kept staring at it all and smiling and walking quickly or jogging a bit when I could find a place to break through.
We rounded into Canada and the UK, and then the path took the bridge toward the "back door" of Epcot with the intent of moving on to the Boardwalk area using a little bridge. It was kind of a narrow little pain-in-the-butt pathway, let me tell you. But again, we treated it like a walk-fest when we couldn't do our intervals. No big deal until you see the balloon ladies, right? (The balloon ladies, by the way, are women who do Disney races and walk at the back of the pack at the correct official pace time. It's my understanding that they carry balloons so you can see them, and you don't want to fall behind them because then you will be swept. I am proud to say we never saw the balloon ladies.)
The best thing about this little narrow path was a lady at the end of it who was cheering people on. She had a sign that said sometime like "Good job, Random Stranger. You can do this!" It literally made me laugh of loud, and I said, "Thank you, Random Stranger! That's awesome."
The Boardwalk was just a nightmare to run on with all of those people - lol. So we walked it. And then we walked quite a bit of the pathway from the Boardwalk to Hollywood Studios, doing little jog spurts when we could get into a good groove and not get in the way. I was starting to worry around this time that it was going to rain on us; we felt a few little misty drops, but that was about it. We ran under a little bridge down by the river that they had bathed in deep red lights and Darth Vader's breathing was playing on a loop. It was pretty cool, but that was about the only thing we saw until we got to Hollywood Studios.
I honestly don't recall what characters or stops or anything were in Hollywood Studios. It was just neat seeing the whole place in the early dawn light. The lights were still on, and the cast members just seemed genuinely thrilled that we were up and out this early in the morning being stupid.
From here on out, the pathway is kind of a blur to me, and I'd have to sit down with a map to really show you were we were. I remember seeing an alligator in a little bog-like thing off of a main road. That was a fun little pit stop. I think my favorite part of this last bit of the run, though, was running down this little dirt/gravel access road. We were surrounded by trees and everything, and it felt a bit like running through Endor. I loved that.
The homestretch was back at ESPN Wide World of Sports, complete with dozens of costumed Rebel Legion and 501st folks. I stopped long enough to ask a stormtrooper if I could take a selfie with him, and he obliged. And then...
FINISH LINE!
I filmed going across the finish line, too. They were calling out names of people as they crossed, but I don't remember hearing my name. Not a big deal. I finished. I got my medal placed around my neck, and I was given a box of goodies. There was really no place to sit down except on the pavement which was weird, so we just took our box of goodies and our awesome medals and decided to head back to the bus. There were huge lines waiting for the bus, and we were all very hot and tired and still standing and waiting. That was just...hard. Really hard. We got in a conversation with teh couple in front of us, and it helped pass the time.
Back at the hotel, I prompted pulled off my shoes. Wearing new socks was a bad idea, and my feet were swollen. That never happened during any of my training sessions, so it was a new one. I let my feet rest and I gobbled through some of my goodies. Then the Nerd Husband took a nap, and I drew up a hot bath and relaxed. Who needs a hot tub when you've got a bath tub? Yay, value resorts!
After our rest, we decided to head out to actually get to enjoy the Epcot Flower and Garden festival, and we spent the rest of the day on our feet. My phone told me at the end of the day that it was my "most active day ever" - clocking in at a crazy 18.25 miles. Holy. Mother. Of pearls.
So as a conclusion regarding the Dark Side 10K race - all-in-all, I had a pretty good time with it. Did I have some gripes? Yep. Did I have some nerdy geek moments? Yep.
Let's start with the complaining first. ;)
Gripes
- The walk from the bus pick-up/drop-off to the Expo and the Finish Line.
- This was just hard. Normally, it wouldn't have bothered me, but I was trying to prep for a race. And then afterward, I was trying to recover from a race. I felt like all of that walking just tacked another 5K onto my distance, to be honest. Can we just move the bus area closer to wherever it is we need to be?
- Expo merchandise
- There was nothing left that was worth getting, and we were there very early on the 2nd day of the Expo. My guess from reading message boards and other blogs is that local eBayers come out, purchase a bunch of merchandise, and then resell at crazy prices on eBay. Sure enough, I did some searches, and that's what happened. I hate this. Please, there are some people who this is their first race. Maybe just having a magnet to put on our cars would make us feel kind of cool, you know?
- Narrow pathways and too many people - not able to "race"
- I understand that part of this is because I was in the next-to-the-last corral, but surely something could have been done. Maybe even split up the last couple of corrals. I don't know, but it was kind of upsetting to not be able to do what I'd trained to do. I accepted that fact early on, though, and it made life easier. Next time, I know - submit a proof of time and get in an earlier corral.
- More entertainment in some places
- There were times when there was just...nothing. Not a lot of times, but I know there's that stretch of road from Hollywood Studios until the access road where my greatest entertainment was the girl who complimented my Asajj hat (without realizing what it was) and the alligator I saw in the bog. I didn't need much, really. Maybe even just some music or a random Star Wars character holding a sign. Nothing big. But there were times it just seemed quiet.
- Fix the Race Day photo weirdness
- If you're on the first bus at 3:30, but by the time you get to the Race all of the photo ops are closing...something is wrong. Severely wrong. If you need to start busses earlier, that's fine. If you need to start the festivities later, then that's okay, too. But it doesn't seem okay that for some reason those of us who stayed on property got left out of the photo op fun.
- Fix the Race Day walk to the corrals
- Did we really have to trek that far to our corrals? lol Holy cow. I mean, I really don't care in the long run - what does it matter? But that just seemed a bit of a stretch to me.
- Seating at the Finish line - benches, maybe
- I'm not sure how to fix this one, but I saw so many people sitting in the sun on the pavement trying to eat their banana. It was hot and uncomfortable, and there they sat. It didn't seem quite fair, and I think that's why we just opted to go to the busses. Maybe a tent? Some bench seating or something?
- Buses
- More of them, maybe? Or just shaded areas to wait for them?
Fangirl Squee-worthy Moments
- 501st and Rebel Legion volunteers
- I was so glad to see all of those costumers out there supporting the runners and walkers. That truly made my morning because there were so many of them and so easily accessible to everyone for pictures and whatnot. Those of us who couldn't afford to wait in official character lines got a chance to take a picture with these folks, and that was just awesome. I really appreciated them being there.
- Epcot backstage
- Why this made me as happy as it did, I have no idea. There isn't much back there, but it still felt like I was getting away with something by being somewhere I'm traditionally not allowed to be.
- Epcot in the early morning
- What more can I say? Epic.
- High school band playing Star Wars music
- This pumped me up quite a bit, and I needed it after standing in the wind for about an hour and a half. Thank you, bandies!
- Random Conversations with strangers
- I'm weird; I know. But this is the part of a convention that always means quite a bit to me - getting into random conversations with random people that you'll never meet otherwise. You meet these people right now - in that moment - because you're sharing something cool. You're sharing fandom. And yes, I'm a natural-born introvert, but I still love interactions like this.
- Getting to wear my medal to the park
- You get into all sorts of conversations with people. You exchanges congratulations with other racers. You get congratulated by cast members, and some of them even stop to admire your medal. It was just another way to meet more smiling people; I liked that.
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