The final day of the challenge was upon us.  Another early morning.  Another bus ride to Epcot.

Today, I went as Dory.  I figured the motto for all week was “Just keep swimming,” or running as the case may be.  Plus, I saw those pants at a athletic store and they were perfect for Dory.

The marathon organization was much worse than last year.  We had to hike even farther to our corrals (and even farther still because cast members kept redirecting me).  I think all of this was made worse by the cocky announcers saying, “Some people JUST did Goofy this weekend.  There are some that ONLY did the marathon.”

When I finally got to my corral, I was standing next to a girl who was very proud to be running her first marathon.  She commented something like “ONLY a marathon?  A marathon is a big deal.” Way to make someone feel like crap for a big accomplishment, RunDisney.  By the time we say in our corral for what seemed like an hour, I was kind of sick of that “ONLY” a marathon stuff…and I was actually doing Dopey.

For the marathon, you run through all the parks.  In Animal Kingdom, Expedition Everest is open and you take the fast pass lane and ride if you’re a runner.  I was running with someone at the time and debating about whether I should ride or not. She said she didn’t want to, so I didn’t.

I probably did a better recap last year of the marathon.  Getting up early four days in a row made me too tired to think of much this year.

After the Race

Chef Mickey’s is my favorite after the race place.  You can wear your medals and have your photo taken with the characters.  The food isn’t that great, but it’s fun.

Would I Do Dopey Again?

I say no, but who knows.  The running isn’t that big of a deal.  The logistics is the killer with Dopey.  I feel like it cut down on my enjoyment of the trip considerably.  If you’re just there to run, it’s probably fine.  If you want to see the parks, I would say stick with one race or Goofy.  I drive 14-16 hours to get to Disney.  That coupled with the race logistics is  just too much.

Next year is Goofy’s anniversary so I will probably do Goofy (not Dopey).  I really love the 5k medal so I know part of me will regret it, but the other part of me will be so much happier.