Chase Your Dreams And Touch The Sky (Dopey Challenge 2018: Full)

While thinking about and "training for" and panicking about the Dopey Challenge, I was most worried about the Full Marathon. I'd crushed plenty of 5ks, I'd done a couple of 10ks, and had schleped my way through a couple of halfs, but A FULL MARATHON was a whole different beast. TWENTY-SIX POINT TWO MILES. At once. Seriously, it sounds terrifying.

As with the 5k, 10k, and the Half Marathon, Tasha and I rolled into Epcot really freakin' early. We got our character pictures and stood near the heaters until it was time to shuffle to the corrals. And then sat there and turned into little ice cubes with our friends from the previous day who were also worried about not finishing A FULL FREAKIN' MARATHON. 5:30 rolled around and we were off-- well, Corral A was off. We stood around for a little bit longer until it was finally our turn.

Pre-race photo and post-race photo-- there was an obvious temperature difference

Our strategy for the full was the same as the half-- run as far as we can out of the gate, and then continue with intervals until death was imminent. It was still FREEZING at the start of the full, so I was still wrapped up like a Chipotle burrito in my two Mylar blankets and one fleece blanket. I'm sure it was adorable, but it was super warm.

Things picked up around Magic Kingdom where we ran into our friends, the Flamingos, as well as Tasha's mom who was there with water and snacks. And let's be real, even though I had done it the day before, running down Main Street, towards the castle, was magical as heck.

My favorite moment of the entire weekend was when Tasha and I ran into Richard at the Grand. Richard worked as a greeter at the Grand Floridian since 1991 (!!!!) and was just the cutest little man. We saw him during the half and he wished us good luck, and we spent the rest of the race talking about how much we wished we had taken a picture with him, so it was literally a dream come true to be able to take a picture with him during the full.

 The second best moment was obviously when we got free snacks as we ran through Hollywood Studios. But really, can you blame me? We were at Mile 23ish, were going on 7ish hours, andddd had just zig-zagged approximately 4-5 miles throughout Wide World of Sports. That candy, however stale it was, was a godsend.

From the time we finished our candy until mile 26, we talked about how excited we were for the bags of ice waiting for us at the finish line. Seriously, who knew that stale candy and free bags of ice were all needed to make some girls happy?

Approximately 8 hours later (no one ever said we were fast), four bags of ice, 8 packages of stale candy, and countless snacks taken from strangers on the side of the road, Tasha and I crossed the finish line officially labeling me as a marathoner and both of us as Dopey.

THE moment we became Dopey

Honestly, almost a year later, I'm still shocked that it even happened. I mean, 48.6 miles in one weekend in wild. Doing it with little to no training (is ill advised and stupid) is even wilder. But it was actually fun. Tasha and I thought about crying a lot, thought about quitting a lot, and laughed a whole lot more.

Dopey,  you were awesome, and, in the nicest way possible, I hope that I never see you ever again.