The Happiest race on earth...right?

At exactly this moment 1 week ago, I was having a moment. It should have been a good moment, but it really wasn't. I was approaching mile 5 on the Disneyland 1/2 marathon and things weren't looking so rosy any more. So what is the Disneyland 1/2 and why do I do it? Billed as the 'happiest race on earth' (those Disney marketeers are propaganda MACHINES!!), it starts out happy enough. 10,487 (the official count) runners all lined up in corrals based upon their estimated finish time...watches synced, headphones situated and muscles stretched. It is still dark outside but the masses will not be daunted. Amid a cheering crowd of onlookers, Disney characters dressed in smart little running outfits and fireworks - the race begins.

My friend Connie (of former Jamba and now Clif fame) and I were doing the event together for the second year in a row. For Connie, she was present to (these are her words) "redeem myself for the horrible showing that I had last year." I am not sure that I agree with Connie - she finished against what I would tout as considerable odds last year, the greatest of which was the 106 degree temperature that we finished in (the coolest point of the morning had been 85 at 4:30 am). I walked with Connie last year, chatting incessantly to keep her occupied while the skin on the bottom of our feet was seared by the blasting heat from the pavement...but I digress.

2008 thankfully was considerably better in terms of temperature and Connie, along with her daughter (Kim), sister (Debbie) and brother-in-law (Steve) all made the trek down to So Cal do show the Mouse who's boss and to truly embrace the happiest race on earth. We stood around for about 25 minutes or so after the race began before our group moved into position, and then we were off. The first portion goes straight into Disneyland (through the main gate and the arch that takes you right into the park!). We run through portions of Main Street, end up behind the scenes in some areas and generally wind through the entire park where many different employees gather to cheer and call us out by name (again, the Mouse machine makes a brilliant move by printing our name on the racing bibs so that people can make that 'personal connection' with us - and here all along I thought that this was really a cheering section for ME!!) Life is good, the course is easy, the scenery interesting and one finds themselves believing that it IS the happiest race on earth.

Exit the park. Begin the next section of the run. Dullsville. If you have never been on the streets of Anaheim, I am here to tell you that there isn't much to look at. Thank goodness for the local area school cheerleaders and bands who lined portions of the route, as well as the gazillion boy and girl scout troops who stood in the parking lot of Angel stadium because otherwise the runners would have had to gouge their eyes out for entertainment on that VERY long and VERY dull stretch of road.

Let's get back to mile 5. We are out on the street running up the overpass (speeding cars below on the 5 not the thrill you might think them to be) and I start to feel weird. Like not right. Like where's the medic. I have made myself keenly aware of the signs of dehydration over the years because I have seen people at various events get carted off to the hospital and have vowed never to be that person. I drink a decent amount of water under normal conditions, but when I have an event looming I up it to about 120 ounces for a couple of days prior, carry a 20-oz bottle with me and make sure that I drink regularly. Granted, it was humid like you wouldn't believe, but with all of my preparation, HOW could I be getting dehydrated? Two of the classic symptoms were there - nausea and feeling cold (when I clearly was NOT). Missing was the disorientation, so I decided that since I had my faculties about me, and was still drinking water, so I would continue, but I was going to have to slow it down.

Connie was a ROCK STAR here. She has done an amazing job training in this last year and could have (SHOULD have) easily run on ahead and finished the race in record time. Instead, she stayed with me and matched her trotting pace to my long-legged-full-stride walking pace that I had to do intermittently. We continued this practice for the duration of the run as I ran for a bit and then did the crazy walk and there was Connie, right along side chatting it up with me as we caught up on essentially a year of events. While no stellar record (completion time was 2:49), it was only about 20 minutes off pace for my usual time (I'm not fast, remember?) and I did not get sent to the hospital or have to quit the event.

Add to the sweet success of completion the fact that my fine friends Elizabeth and Kris (of Shepherd of the Hills UMC and England notoriety) had braved the massive crowds to greet and cheer us in, as well as take a few photos...nice. I suspect that the happiest race on earth is more of a mindset and less of a location. If that is true, then thanks to my very good friends and support network, I would have to concur that indeed this was one of the best!