No Matter How You Slice It, 3:15 is Early!

We set various phone alarms and requested a wake up call for 3:05-3:15 AM. I anticipated being able to wake up due to the excitement of the race. I was more worried about later. We turned off the light at 9:30, but I didn't fall asleep until closer to 10:30.  True to form I woke up at 2:30 AM, I was able to snooze a little bit until the alarms started ringing. Laura jumped out of bed and started getting ready. I was a little slower on the draw, but pulled together my Tiana outfit. I had everything laid out, so it was easy to get ready.  Somehow in the space of 3 feet I lost my hairband. Figured it would show up afterwards, but it never did. :(

Soon we were in line for the bus and ready to go! It was crazy once we got off the bus. People everywhere.

We passed over what felt like a red carpet and between panes of stained glass. I am sure they would have made for cute pictures, but it was DARK and crowded. There were several team tents and a series of tents labeled with letters for post race meet ups. Almost immediately after we went through the reception area they were calling for corrals to line up.

I walked through the tents to the corral line up with Laura and Sandie. Laura was in corral B and Sandie in E, I was alone in F. I walked with Laura for quite awhile and then the road split. I knew I would see them at the finish, but we still had quite a bit of time to wait.

There was lots of time to sit, but it was plenty warm and so much more comfortable then so many races I have been at. There were corrals A-H. A-E were in the first lane of the road and then the 2nd lane held F and beyond. They had big screens playing the live broadcast from the start line. The folks did a great job keeping things upbeat.

I got teary listening to some of the interviews, including one from the woman who crossed the finish line last at the Tinkerbell Half. She was back to run this race and was clearly a little nervous, but confident. We sang the national anthem, and the Fairy Godmother started the celebration.

Each corral received a countdown and fireworks! We left 5-10 minutes after the one prior.

Photo courtesy of Run Disney

About 6:30 my corral was off. More tomorrow.