The now infamous Madeleine and Brian debut run took place on Saturday night at the Disneyworld Wine and Dine Half Marathon Relay. I am happy to report that we posted a respectable time of under three hours thanks to my husband’s very long legs.
As many of you know, this whole thing started months ago as a dare from my younger brother, Mark. It then evolved into an intervention trip to cheer me up when Danielle left for college. Mark has been running for over twenty years. My sister-in-law, Pam, ran the NYC Marathon last year to celebrate turning 40. Brian, we found out, can run a 10-minute mile, which he did for six consecutive miles on Saturday night. Since he trained very little it was a surprise to us all. I always thought my children got their athletic ability from me. Anyway, I knew I needed a serious training regime to compete with these overachievers.
I was supposed to start training in January. I tried for a month or so and then I decided I had plenty of time so why hurt myself? Next thing I knew, it was June. I got winded running to the mailbox. During the summer I ran as often as I could, hating almost every minute of it.
So here we were in Orlando, with four days to get ready for the race. Here’s what happened. Pam and I sat by the pool on Wednesday and then treated ourselves to a lovely dinner and a fireworks display. We did a training run Thursday morning at 7:30 am. Having never run in such humidity, I was pretty sure my lungs were going to come out my nose. Then we spent the rest of the day in two Disney Parks (the men met us mid-day) and enjoyed a late dinner. On Friday, we made sure we were amongst the first to arrive at ESPN Sports Center to pick up our race packets, as we needed to go and conquer both parks at Universal. After that we went to Disney Village and then enjoyed another late dinner. At this point, I figured that having aching feet was part of the training prep for seasoned runners. I was wrong. No one else had aching feet.
Saturday arrives and we head back to ESPN to get ready for the race. After two hours of listening to peppy Disney cast members leading everyone in song and dance, we were corralled to our various areas. My group started at 10:20 pm. Within a few minutes of running, I felt a searing pain run up my right Achilles tendon. This was a tad concerning as I ruptured my left one six years ago. Luckily, after two miles, my legs were numb so the pain was gone.
At around mile 3, I just started to run as hard as I could. I may not have run like the wind, but certainly like a small draft. Soon enough, we entered Animal Kingdom and I could see the relay line where Brian was waiting to start his leg of the race. Once he took off, I crossed my finish line and a medal was placed over my head. How I love bling!!!! I got in line to get my picture taken with my medal.
Then something unexpected happened. I started to cry. Whilst the first 40 years of my life were pretty darned charmed, the past six have not been much of a picnic. I’m certainly not complaining, as I know life happens to everyone. I cried for the daughter I miss terribly and for the daughter who dances en pointe despite toes curled by a cruel disease. I cried for our parents’ health struggles and for my 97-year old grandmother who lies patiently waiting for God to call her home.
I didn’t realize how much of myself was invested in this race until it was over. I left Florida on Sunday feeling grateful for all of the blessings I do have – family that loves me, children that still need me, friends who support me in ways that I will never be able to repay.
The most important result of this adventure is that it is my turn to set the dare. So, Mark, here it is. All four of us will run the full 13.1 miles next year but this time, you will be wearing a tutu and wings. I get to pick the color.