So as you probably already know because you were either
there or read on social media, the 5k was cold. Like really cold. For anyone
who has visited WDW when it’s cold, 30 degrees feels waaay colder in WDW than
anywhere else. There was wind. There was cold. There was darkness.
My dad and I got ready and headed to the bus around 4:30.
We waited for a little bit and then hopped right on and were at the race in no time. We then followed the
huddled masses to the main area where normally everyone is dancing, laughing,
chatting, and taking pictures but not this time. It looked like a barren waste
land in front of the DJ because everyone was huddled around buildings to keep
warm.
My dad and I decided to brave the cold in search of
coffee and came across the massage tent which they had opened up for people to
keep warm in. This was amazing and thank you so much runDisney!!! We never did
find that coffee though.
The start of the race was at 6:15 and my dad and I were
starting in corral F, the very last corral. We waited until about 6 to go to
our corral and then tried to huddle close to others but the wind just whipped
into the group and we froze. This year they had changed where the start line
was and honestly, I thought it was fine. Lining up there was fine. I don’t
really see a large advantage but if runDisney thinks it works better than I’ll
defer to their judgment since it didn’t really change my race experience.
Since we had to wait for all the other corrals we didn’t
get to cross the start until just before 7 and so it was a very long and cold
hour of just standing there. My legs were stiff and my feet completely numb by
the time we started. I actually let my hair down to keep the back of my neck
warm which is big for me!
When we got to the first mile marker, my feet were
starting to thaw as we walked at a fairly fast clip. The best part of the 5k
is the sunrise in Epcot. It is just beautiful looking over World Showcase lagoon
and seeing the sun peaking up. Beautiful!
