The third day of the Dopey Challenge brought us the half marathon, much larger crowds and AMAZING fireworks to send off each and every corral.

The atmosphere today was serious. Fewer costumes by a lot , many runners who were tackling the half distance for the very first time in their lives, Goofy Challenge runners who were nervous and anxious to start their journey, then us Dopey Challenge participants who were visibly tired, not necessarily even from the running but the travel, ridiculously early wake-ups for multiple days in a row and sleeping in hotels/condos, etc where we aren’t really resting like would at home. As for my Dopey Rockstar pals, we had a 2am wake-up {1am Chicago time} and were on the road by 2:30 to make sure we were in the park with plenty of time to spare. We waited, then waited some more, then hit the potty 15x, then tried to flub our way thru a “muscle” photo and just kinda fell flat all together. Here is our lame attempt at muscles. Sorry, it was the best we had at the time.

Along with the change in atmosphere, the numbers increased four fold. We were at about 10,000 runners for each of the last two races and today we moved up to the about 38,000 participants. There were people as far as you could see in any {and every} direction. Then Donald Duck and a slew of fireworks sent us on our way. Hey, Donald!!

Then we ran. Along the highway, which had plenty of room. Along the backroads thru the Magic Kingdom and Epcot. UNDER the entrance sign for the Magic Kingdom.

Under a pond in Magic Kingdom where the runDisney sign was displayed.

Down Main Street with amazing spectators who had to get out of bed WAY too early to come cheer for us and breathtaking views of Cinderella’s castle.

I really, really enjoyed the run today. I had some tummy troubles that required 3 potty stops but we were just running leisurely anyhow and having fun so it didn’t make me panic cuz of the time I was loosing or anything which was nice. Judy and I even stopped to take a photo with Lilo & Stich. Thanks, Judy! Thanks, Lilo & Stitch! I’m a big fan. 🙂

We finished in 2:23 with smiles on our faces. Then we collected our medals featuring Donald Duck.

Grabbed a new wristband.

Then we headed home to eat and nap. We were all well aware that today was the most important day of the Dopey Challenge. The one where we need to slow our roll. Stay hydrated. Fuel. Avoid pooing our pants. And basically stay ON TOP of the game so that we can come back tomorrow and complete the challenge with the full marathon. Today was huge and we finished happy and relatively pain free. We are ready do ROCK the marathon tomorrow. And for those of you who are contemplating the Dopey Challenge for 2015, I want to let you know that you can do it. Just take each day easy. Don’t take yourself or your running too seriously cuz that’s just laughable here and SUPER boring. Don’t get overwhelmed by the entire challenge but focus on each task at hand individually. Run the race you’re in, don’t think about tomorrow. Enjoy the journey.

** Always Believe ** Amanda – TooTall Fritz **