Goofy Challenge
Saturday, January 6, 2007
and
Sunday, January 7, 2007
at Disney World, Florida

On Saturday, January 6, 2007 and Sunday, January 7, 2007 I race walked the Goofy Challenge at Disney World. I enjoy doing the Disney events even though the entry fee has become somewhat high. The races are always extremely well organized and the entertainment and volunteers along the routes are top notch. I always like seeing the Disney characters as well as the Disney Theme Parks. The finisher's medals are impressive. There are always plenty of spectators to cheer you along. Your name is printed on your bib number so the crowds cheer you by name often. The crowd and traffic control are also first rate as are the medical stations.
The event started on Saturday with Donald's Half Marathon. Fireworks started the first wave at 6:00 AM; the second wave started at 6:10 AM; the third wave started at 6:30 AM. It was warm, windless, and cloudy. The course started on the road by Epcot, went through the Magic Kingdom, and finished in the Epcot parking lot after winding through some of Epcot itself. There were around 11000 who finished under the 3.5 hour time limit.
It took about two miles for the large field to spread out. After that time the course had many competitors, but wasn't too crowded except there was much congestion at the water stations because most people tried to get water at the first tables. I thoroughly enjoyed the day.
Sunday saw the Mickey Marathon which also started at 6:00 AM by fireworks on the road near Epcot; however, it used two simultaneous starts on two, three-lane sections of highway. This spread the field out quickly. However both start groups did different sections of Epcot before joining as one group just after 3 miles which made about a half of mile of crowded conditions. After that only the water stations and a couple of paths in the theme parks were congested. From Epcot the race proceeded through Magic Kingdom, the Animal Kingdom, MGM Studios, and back through Epcot to the finish line in the parking lot. The day was extremely hot as it was almost cloudless, windless, and reached near 85 degrees. I was really doing quite well through the first 20 miles; however, I started becoming too dehydrated even though I was drinking 2 or 3 glasses of Powerade at each water station after mile 11. I finally reached the point at mile 21 where I thought it best to start walking over 15 minute miles instead of the under 12 minute miles that I usually do. It was a good decision as safety is more important than time. There were over 11000 in the marathon who finished under the 7 hour time limit.
I earned a Donald Duck medal for finishing the Half Marathon; a Mickey Mouse medal for finishing the Marathon; and a Goofy medal for finishing both. This is the second year for the Goofy Challenge and I was successful each time. The entries for the 2008 Goofy Challenge openned on Monday, January 8, 2007 and I entered already.