I don’t think it’s ever taken me this long to write a race recap, I apologize! I wanted to share my experience running my first post COVID runDisney race with you all, so you know what to expect for the foreseeable future. As always, let me know if you have any questions. Enjoy my runDisney wine and dine 10k recap!
We arrived on our flight the day before the race, and it was pouring rain and had turned cold. Of course early November in Orlando is usually very warm so I guess we were just unlucky this time. The morning of the race was set to be very windy, raining, and in the upper 40’s, which I wasn’t really prepared for with my costume. Thankfully I was exhausted from our travel day and running in the rain at the expo, so I had no qualms with going to bed early and neither did my family. I knew from past runDisney Wine and Dine experiences to lay EVERYTHING out the night before so that you can just grab your stuff and go and not have to think a lot, so I laid out my clothes, bib, safety pins, etc. and went to sleep about 7:30.
I got up at 2:45, and planned to be walking out the door by 3:15. Normally I wouldn’t leave until closer to 4:00, but I wasn’t sure what was going to happen with any new COVID procedures so I wanted to make sure I had plenty of time. In hindsight, with the weather being the way it was, I could have left 30-45 minutes later and still been totally fine time-wise and missed some of the cold and rain. Oh well.
I snapped a pic, grabbed a towel to wrap around me, and started the walk to the front of Pop Century to get on a bus. That’s when I realized it was going to be a long, cold, wet morning. It was misting rain and SO windy. I had one of those “why am I doing this again?” moments that I often have on runDisney race mornings, that always goes away once the race starts.
I waited for a bus for about 5 minutes, and then was on my way. Masks were required on the bus, they had extras, but I had brought one with me. Interestingly enough, they were filling up the buses to capacity. I was just thankful to be out of the wind for a few minutes. We pulled up to the start in the Magic Kingdom parking lot and were let off into the rain and wind. You could see it blowing in the lights, I took some video to post on my Instagram stories. It was so windy that my Minnie ears would not stay on so I ended up carrying them the whole race and put them on right before the finish line for my picture.
I didn’t have a bag with me, so I went easily through security and straight for a bathroom line, which was very short. I realized it was not even 4:00, and that I probably shouldn’t have gotten there so early. I decided to just go ahead and get in my corral, wave 2, which was different from what I was used to where corrals used to go from A-P for the larger races. I usually was somewhere around B-D, so I guess I figured starting group 2 was correct. But with only 4-5 groups I was curious how there were going to space us out. I found out eventually haha.
I got in my corral at 4:00, and just stood there for an hour trying to “hide” behind tall people that could block the wind. I would be lying if I didn’t say it was just downright miserable. Finally we moved up as the race started, but I still couldn’t tell how they were spacing everyone out. Starting group one seemed to have about 7-10 waves all starting a couple minutes apart.
Our group finally made it to the front and I realized how they were doing it. They had two cast members holding tape and they would run it across in between groups of people signifying the “break” in the wave. I ended up being in the very front of the second wave of my group as the tape ran across right in front of me.
This actually ended up being pretty cool because I got to be at the very front and get a great picture of the starting line. I was all like “this must be how the elite runners feel” with not a sole in front of them. Very cool.
The adrenaline started pumping, and I was ready to go so that I could get warmed up. I had not trained a lot for this race since I didn’t find out I was doing it until about 5 weeks beforehand, so my goal was to just push myself the best I can and try not to take a lot of walk breaks. I had run 5 miles once but that was the extent of my training (and I had walk breaks in the 5 mile run.)
It was finally our turn, I took off fast, too fast. It was just so cool being in the front and it had been a hot minute since I raced, so it’s like I had forgotten how to pace myself. It felt so good and fun that first quarter mile, then I realized there was no way I could sustain, so I backed off. It took a solid two miles for me to warm up, and then the cold wasn’t so bad. The rain on the other hand had picked up from a mist to an all out assault, pelting me in the face and eyes. My socks and shoes were soaked and I prayed I wouldn’t get blisters. I didn’t stop for photos because honestly, I just wanted to get it done, and since my training was lacking I was nervous about my abilities so stopping was something I just didn’t want to do this time.
I did enjoy looking at the characters as I passed them, and was so thankful to have the opportunity to be racing in my favorite place again. The blessing was not lost on me even despite the weather, and I truly enjoyed the run. I was also super proud of myself because I only walked twice. Once going around a big overpass to film some video for Instagram, and once when I got into Hollywood Studios to run into a “real” bathroom.
I love running through any park, and even though it was cold and wet, the cast members were so happy and cheering so loud for us which was much appreciated. I had a huge smile on my face running through that part, and then quickly I was out of the park on moving on to the pathway to the boardwalk.
Normally I love this pathway just as a park goer, but as a runner it’s a pretty narrow bottleneck. Thankfully it wasn’t too bad, but I did have to do a little dodging and weaving. I grabbed water at a water stop and kept moving as I went around the Boardwalk, another favorite place to run.
My favorite part of the race however was coming into EPCOT. It gives me chills when the torches are lit, the music is playing and it just opens up into the World Showcase. It’s simply amazing.
I knew I was close so I pushed myself a little to use all the gas in the tank. When I made it around that familiar curve and saw the finish line, I gunned it and crossed with a smile on my face. I did it! And I did so much better than anticipated. You can see the rain coming down in the pic below.
A friend snapped this after I crossed the finish line. Hooray!
I grabbed my medal, food box and drinks and headed to the buses. It did make me sad that there wasn’t a big party in the family reunion area, but I was also a little too tired to care. I bee lined it for my bus, and was so thankful to sit down. I made it back to Pop before 7:00 am, and by then my body had gotten cold and so the walk all the way back to the room was pretty miserable. It was still dark which made me laugh.
I made it back to the room, and Emma Kate was awake but Bobby was still asleep. I took selfie pics and jumped into the hottest shower I could manage, but was still shivering when I got out. I climbed back in bed still shivering, and instantly fell asleep for almost two blissful hours.
It was very reminiscent of my first half marathon where it sleeted and I couldn’t warm up for two days. I felt cold for several days after this race no matter what I did, it’s like it chilled me to the bone. We got up and dressed and headed to brunch. I hadn’t eaten yet that day and it was the most glorious meal ever! We played in Epcot and I wore my medal proudly. Sure it wasn’t any kind of PR, but considering my back injury and all the issues I have had plus no real “training” for this race, I am SO proud of myself. I’m so thankful runDisney is back, and that I had the opportunity to run the runDisney Wine and Dine 10k.
Please let me know if you have any questions about the runDisney Wine and Dine 10k, or any of their races in general! Be sure to check out my runDisney information page for lots of race recaps and tips!
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