The BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!

Now it's time for

THE BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!!!

Now I'm committed! (or is that I should be committed?)  I'm now registered for the 2012 Walt Disney World Half Marathon!  In order to take advantage of the lower price registration and Disney Rewards Discount, I've gone ahead and registered.


That's right, as of today, I have 256 Days to get ready for this event.  Of course, I don't have any of the other little details worked out.  Like how I'm getting there (airline doesn't have bookings ready for next January yet), where I'll be staying, ect.  I do now have the biggest goal set to now achieve in my quest to loose 100 lbs!


Here is a little info on the event:

Walt Disney World® Marathon Weekend presented by CIGNA

January 5-8, 2012

Imagine a weekend of runs where every mile is filled with Disney fun at the 2012 WALT DISNEY WORLD® Marathon Weekend presented by CIGNA on January 5-8, 2012. Join us for a weekend of races that are magical as they are memorable, from Disney's Health & Fitness Expo to running through all four Theme Parks in the Marathon and all-new Marathon Relay. Complete with medals of Mickey Mouse and his friends, you'd be, well, goofy to miss it!

This years event, nearly 22,000 people ran in the Half Marathon alone!  This is going to be an event at Disney World unlike anything I've ever experience.  I'm scared and excited all at the same time.

My initial plan on this will be to fly down on Thursday, January 5th and get the initial pickup and sign-in all done.  Most likely staying on WDW property to take advantage of services like Magical Express and on-property transportation.  Thursday and Friday I'll have to resist the temptation to over-do it by going to the parks too much! (Is there such a thing at WDW?) Saturday, January 7th is the half marathon.  Then I'd plan on returning home on Monday, January 8th (hey, if I'm going down, I'm going to get SOME play time in!)  I may be hobbling around Sunday, but it'll be worth it to get some play time in at the parks :)

There is another fact of this that I'll also have to accept.  IT'S EARLY!  We're talking like you need to be up a like 2 or 3am to make it to the starting corrals for the starting of the release waves!  So Friday evening is definitely a must turn in early night!

There are also some other cool things the do that weekend.  There are also "packages" for those that want to cheer on their friends and loved ones during the race.  They have what they call ChEAR Sqaud pacakges.  They also have a site dedicated to give people an estimate of where they can view people running the race, the Spectator Tools.  For me it'll probably be set for Half-Marathon and a pace of 15 Minutes.  If you are slower than a 16 minute pace, they "sweep" you from the event.

So, here's to Running to 2012... AND BEYOND!

Thanks for Reading!  Regards,

~Kipp