Wine & Dine.. no more running in the rain!

After cheering for some friends at Disney's Wine & Dine Half Marathon last year, I was determined to join in the fun this year. Due to my current financial situation, it really came down to the wire, but I got to go! I watched the weather reports all week and the threat of rain kept creeping closer and closer to the half marathon, so I went on a search for something to make my rims and gloves sticky. I got lucky with a store in the area, but didn't have any time to test it before we left so I decided to try it out during the 5K and hope for the best.

I travelled with my Rabbit and Turtle friends... we flew in Thursday, went to the expo Friday and to Hollywood Studios for a bit. I needed to upgrade my pass to the Premier so I went to Guest Relations outside the park and made the Cast Member's day as she doesn't get to see that pass very often. She was also nice enough to give me a DisneyWorld DAS card right there... I had brought my Disneyland one because it makes the process faster for them to see that I have had one already; she said the park codes didn't work together, but it was good enough to see my other one. We didn't stay long since we had to get up early and stay up late the next day.

I had talked to a RunDisney rep a couple weeks before the race and I was given all the information about my transportation and where to go at the race, and where to go when I finished. For both races, I was to go to the information tent and there would be someone to help me. For the 5K, I handed Saber over to the volunteers there and was directed where to go by a RunDisney employee; she had told the volunteers guarding Corral A to watch for me and let me and my friends in right before the masses. Of course, pictures happened....

A very nice volunteer took this picture for us

I was the only wheelchair for the 5K, so I started with a bike escort, but she left me when the first place runner passed by. I think either I had blocked out the terrain in Animal Kingdom or my lack of training made it seem worse, but I didn't feel like I was doing very well until a Rabbit passed by and proclaimed I was farther along than when she passed me last year. Not that I felt much better after that, but it was good to hear. Soon, a Turtle passed me as well, but I made sure to keep him in sight... at certain points the Rabbit was still in sight as well. Once we hit the out and back, I moved much better and tried to catch up. I got close then lost him at the turnaround. With less than a mile left, I punched it to try to chase him down, but ended up right behind him at the finish.... and right in front of us the Rabbit got first place again! And the Turtle ended up with a PR!! I was just glad to finish ;)

After a stop at the hotel for showers, we decided to take the boat over to Magic Kingdom. We were staying the Wilderness Lodge and the boat is different from the others I've been on. This one they just load as many people into the seats as they can and fill the empty spaces with wheelchairs and scooters. I got into a side part since I could actually get in there, then ended up with a couple scooters in the aisle behind me. It made it rather interesting to get off since some of the scooter drivers weren't great at maneuvering in the tight area, but the Cast Members were great at helping everyone out.

  Inside the park, we went straight to the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train to get it written onto my DAS card.. the wait time was at an hour (hour and a half when we went back!). Of courrrrrrrrse Haunted Mansion was the first choice to go to while we waited, then Pirates and a bit of exploring, shopping, lunch, and wandering mixed in before we went back over. With the DAS, we entered through the FastPass line, then got directed to the wheelchair door. Take note, if you use a wheelchair I hope you like going fast because the wheelchair door puts you in the last car... it was fun though! That's the only spoiler I'm giving out for those that haven't ridden, but it's definitely a fun ride and you should try it. Aaaaaaaaaaand soon it was time to head back for a nap and dinner.

The Wine & Dine Half Marathon starts at 10pm, our shuttle was coming at 8pm. There were some problems getting to the race; our driver headed for the exit that was closed for the race so that was our first turnaround, then we were waved off at the shuttle entrance. The driver stopped after the turn when I told him we needed to go in with the other shuttles, and that forced someone to come talk to us. She told him to take us back to Epcot to catch a shuttle there, then argued with me when I told her we were in the shuttle we were supposed to be in. She quickly backtracked when I told her I was a wheelchair athlete and told the driver to go turn around and they would let us through.... they still tried to wave us off, but he insistent this time. We were a bit later than I would have liked so my Rabbit friend took our drop bags while my Turtle friend helped me get to the Information booth. During the races I have done in DisneyWorld with the wheelchair, we have made friends with the volunteers that are assigned to help us so I got hugs from them, plus the friends that were waiting to take pictures, aaaaaand another friend that stopped in to say hi before he headed to his corral. I got to talk to my hand cycling friend and meet a woman that was new to the hand cycle. We also got to talk to the Race Director for a bit before we all headed up to the start.

About 2 seconds after the start, it was raining.... and it lasted pretty much until after we left the after-party. I have never run in the rain in a wheelchair. I had put about six coats of the tackifying spray on my rims and my gloves (I had done two for the 5K and didn't notice much difference, so I just kept spraying before the half) and I had an excellent squeak with each hit, but I also had enough traction to keep going. My bike escort stayed with me the entire time for this race, making sure to tell me turns and to keep runners out of my path. After a couple miles, I basically had no brakes because everything was too wet. It made for a fun downhill with a turn at the end of it.... I almost slid off the course, but was able to save myself before it got entirely dangerous. My escort was sure to tell me about turns after that so I could slow down before I was going too fast to stop. I had told her about my Rabbit friend and how she kept convincing to sign up for these races, so when a Rabbit passed by with a cheer about me being Evel Kneivel then ran straight through a massive puddle, my escort proclaimed she liked her and could definitely be friends. 

  As we were headed towards Animal Kingdom, another hand cycling friend passed by; he hadn't made it to the start (we found out later he had the same shuttle problem I did, but later) so I was glad to see him. We had briefly met last year for the 5K, and I just happened to catch back up to him on the hill just inside Animal Kingdom... right about the same place as last year. I cheered him on and confirmed we had met there last year. We leap frogged for much of the race after that; he was faster pretty much everywhere except the uphills, so that's where I was able to catch up with him and cheer some more.

  I held onto my traction until a little after mile 11, which is also when my energy started to wain. And both were going down fast. My hands hurt from the different stroke and my lack of training from the shoulder problems were taking their toll. My escort had to make sure I didn't fall back on a couple hills, especially the one near the end, and then basically cheered me through Epcot until she broke away so I could head to the finish. On my own, I was only heading for my friends waiting for me and the promise of Saber and dry clothes. One of the guys that usually helps with the volunteers caught me (literally... no brakes, remember?) after crossing the finish to say hello, cover me with blanket, and hand me off to the volunteer there to escort me to the medical tent where a Rabbit, another volunteer, and Saber were waiting to help put me back together. After switching to Saber, they decided to pull me into the tent for a few minutes to get me out of the rain. When I turned around inside the tent, I saw that a Turtle had caught up as well. And well, my hands were purple. My gloves have never been wet before..... My volunteer got a medical guy to help and he had me clean my hands with hand sanitizer and paper towels. After three times, I proclaimed it good enough; "at least they're sanitized!" And then dry clothes called to all of us so we headed out. I gave my friends hugs, and followed the others to bag check and the changing tents. Whoever set up this area was mean; the changing tent was uphill. In the grass. A very nice gentleman helped me up to the entrance.

  Aaaaaaand into the party!! But it was wet and cold, so we got all the foods we had been dreaming of then headed off to bed.

We did stop by to pick up my award first... I had missed the ceremony in preference for cleaning my hands and getting into dry clothes, but there were still some people there and they were happy to load me down with all this stuff.

Sunday (after we finally emerged in the morning) and Monday were spent going to the parks, going to shows, playing miniature golf, figuring out how to walk to a couple parks from one of the hotels, finally getting onto Tower of Terror, and we maybe spent too much time in Dinosaur Land because for the rest of that day everything was an "-osaurus".... we also went back over to Epcot to make sure we didn't miss any food before the festival closed down. Monday night, the others went to the Christmas Party at Magic Kingdom, so I decided to go back to Hollywood Studios. I'm not a fan of Christmas, but one of the things I do still enjoy is Christmas lights and this was my last chance of the trip to sit and watch the Osbourne Family Dancing Christmas Lights. I found a clear area to sit for while, then took a break from the crowd to wander through the park and found Wandering Oaken's Trading Post; a Frozen store with a snowy play area behind it. I couldn't actually go into the snow play area.. well, I didn't have much interest to try to go into the snow, plus there was a line.. but it was cold enough back there that I'm pretty sure it was very snow-like. After the Magic Hours started up, I went back to the Christmas Lights to watch for a bit so I could avoid both closing crowds (I went back to the bus about halfway between the park close and the Magic Hours close). It was still crowded, but probably not as bad as it would have been. I ended up on the bus with another wheelchair, they usually put me in the forward wheelchair spot when this happens because I can maneuver really well. In this case it caused some problems because I was the first to get off and couldn't get past the other chair. Once I realized what the driver was implying, I stopped him from taking off the other chair so I could get out and told him I could just jump out the front door. He lowered the bus as much as he could and I jumped out to the cheers of the people waiting to get on the bus.

And they made it snow right as I got there!

Tuesday, we didn't have to go to the airport until mid-afternoon so we went to catch a bus.. Epcot pulled up as we were almost there so that's the park we chose. It was nice to see the place without all the Food & Wine Festival stuff and crowds, so we could actually go into the different countries and look around. And then, of course, is always the trip back home that no one actually wants to take.

The race was kind of horrible as my first run in the rain, but it was a good experience. While I'm sure it'll happen at some point again, I really don't want to run in the rain again. I'm glad I had my escort with me, a Rabbit to cheer as she flew by, and the comfort of a Turtle ready to help me if I was unable to push in the rain (he ended up getting a PR for the half too!!). And this race is crossed off the list I think.. definitely one to officially experience, but now I'm good. I may be convinced again in the future if only in the hopes of trying it without the rain..