Tower of Terror Race Recap

Two weeks after the fact here is my Tower of Terror recap! (yes, that does rhyme and yes, I thought about it).  My overall impression? Thrilled to have finished.  But let's start from the beginning.

We arrived at the Port Orleans Resort (Riverside) on Friday afternoon and after getting settled in our wonderful room, we headed out for the Expo.  We should have taken Disney transporation because we had to park football fields away and got caught in the rain. But we made it inside and picked up our race bibs.  DH (J) was ready to take on the 5k with me in the morning and chEAR me on for the 10 miler that night.

I picked up a great race shirt at the Disney merchandise area, registered for the Princess half marathon and found a perfect sparkly headband for my evening costume. We headed back to the hotel for dinner and to lay out our frog costumes for the morning. 

Frogs 2012

We were in Corral D for the 5k and with the narrow course we had to walk most of the way. It was rocky, slippery, and a bit difficult to run but J loved it.  The course was light on characters and heavy on humidity but it had a fantastic atmosphere and everyone was in a festive mood.  After the 5k we headed to Kona Cafe for a delicious and carb-laden breakfast in preparation for this evening.  I know, I know the nutrition guides say that those extra sugars won't manifest themselves in your long-term glycogen stores, but hey I was looking for an excuse to try the Tonga Toast and a 10 miler at night seemed to fit the bill.



I caught one of the last buses to Hollywood studios and met some great folks along the way.  After meeting up with the wonderful ROTEr's I headed to my corral.  Somehow after showing a new proof of time at the expo I managed to get into Corral A (!).  They marched us down a long path to the starting line and we were off.  While I train running 4 minutes walking 1, for some reason I can't seem to implement that theory in a race.  So for races (even though I think adding a walk break could make me faster) I run, then walk through the water stations.  The on-course support for the 10k was great.  I saw J at ESPN and it really pushed me onward.

Disney had hyped the run through the stadium, sending out a youtube video talking about a dangerous storm.  I had it pegged as the hitchhiking ghosts from the Haunted Mansion Ride, you know- these guys.  I know, I know I was asking for a lot but hey, it is Disney after all!  Well sad to say no holographic Tupac-style ghostly baseball game.  Just a bunch of gear at each of the bases so it looked like the players had disappeared.  I missed it completely.


Back to the run- I found a great "running partner" in a woman with a glow in the dark hair tie and as we moved towards the finish line I just followed her.  She kept me motivated the whole way.  As we came into the entrance for Hollywood Studios the DJ shouted out "7 miles down, 3 to go".    If looks could kill!  We were at 8 miles and you do not tell runners in 80% humidity that they have an extra mile ahead of them!   Running through the park was great, but I must have looked terrible because people were being supportive but at the same time seemed concerned that I might pass out along the way.  I crossed the finish line and received my first long distance medal.  What a thrill! 

After heading to bag check and walking down stairs that were menacing at that moment in time, I changed my clothes, cleaned up and went out to explore.  While in line to chat with Darth Vader, J showed up behind me as a total surprise!   We explored the park until my legs threatened immobility and then hopped on the bus back to the hotel.  All in all, the race was great and I plan on doing it again next year.