Doug has ran the marathon many times. I have missed it EVERY TIME due to work. Finally, this year, I was in the clear! I had no meeting to attend and we bought flights.
Our plan was to arrive on Wednesday so I could be there for all of Doug’s Runs. Did I mention he was doing the “Dopey”. It is a 5k on Thursday, a 10k on Friday, a half marathon on Saturday and a full marathon on Sunday. Whew.
Two weeks before we left, I found out I had to be in Dallas for a meeting. They were gracious enough to let me leave early since I had plans prior to the meeting. I arrived in Orlando at 11:30 pm (late because of a delay) and finally to the hotel at 1:30 am (due to the not-so-magical-express). When I finally got into the hotel room, Doug had been asleep for hours and was waking up at 4 am.
He was glad I made it safe and fell back asleep. I finally crashed that night close to 2 am. By the time I woke up the next morning, Doug had already ran the half marathon. What a jerk. 
There I was just sleeping away and he was running 13.1 miles. Bah.
Here he is resting after the half:
Notice the seashell headboard – we stayed in the Ariel buildings as she is DB’s favorite princess.
We got ready and went to get picked up for a lunch date. See how pumped DB was!
Katie and Chris came by to pick us up! They brought us to Celebration for lunch at a sushi restaurant. We just love Katie and Chris. You learned all about their wedding in Michigan this past year, remember?
As we were about to walk into the sushi restaurant we stopped to let some people exit the restaurant. When I saw who it was, I screamed. Legit. Screamed. It was TIM!
Tim was with his entire family and we had plans to hang, but when I had to be in Dallas instead of Orlando Wednesday through Friday, we had to cancel. So Tim walks out, I scream, and then hugs and introductions are made. I finally got to meet his beautiful wife and see his adorable daughter again.
I then asked for this photo as we all worked on Main Street in the Magic Kingdom together. 
Then I got a photo with Tim’s fam with DB and I. They are so sweet.
After all that excitement ended, Chris, Katie, Doug and I enjoyed a fabulous sushi lunch and caught up since the wedding. Doug and I just love them. I wish we lived closer!
We had an early night planned as DB had to go to bed around 8 pm to get up for 3:20 am for the Marathon. 
Doug was in an early corral and I planned to go watch him around the Wild World of Sports for a few reasons.
1. Because it is where a boring stretch occurs in the Marathon.
2. I can see him two spots – Mile 16 and 21 happen pass by the same corner. More bang for my buck.
3. I wanted to catch him around mile 21 because that is when runners usually hit the “wall”.
4. Mile 16 means I did not have to get up while it was still before dawn. Close, but not quite.
5. It was close to the hotel. No driving required.
I walked/hiked the mile from the hotel to the corner of Victory Way and Osceola Parkway. The ground was wet and it was chilly. My feet got wed within 5 minutes of walked. If you know me, you know that is not a good thing. I trudged on. 
I got there, set up the go pro on a sign and waited 45+ minutes for DB. It was then I saw the most motivating runner of my life. Near the front of the pack came two guys running very close. Much closer than normal. When they got next to me I realized they were tethered together. THEN I saw one of the guys had a shirt on that said “blind”. BLIND! It gave me chills. By the time I realized what was going on he was gone and I did not get a chance to cheer him on. I am just dumbstruck. He is my hero. 
I stood on the corner listening to the same two songs and these terrible announcers
for what felt like hours until DB ran by…
He ran up, gave me a kiss and kept going. The video of the whole encounter is below…notice at the end how I wipe my face. Ha!
and off he went into the Wide World of Sports.
A little while later, he emerged from the a tough part of the marathon. I had put the go pro on my head so you can see his approach here:
Then he was off again!
Check him out on the big screen…
And he was off again! Sadly, he did hit a bit of a wall around mile 23, but he handled it and kept going.
He finished the marathon under 4:30 and was pumped! I am so proud of him and that time. DB did beat Sean Astin’s time, but I was more excited about that than he was.
Here are the photos he took on the route: (consider he is picky and only stops for NEW or exciting characters..ha)
After the marathon, DB came back to the hotel, got a massage, swam in the pool, ate a huge lunch and rested.
After enough rest, it was time to be social again!! We went to dinner with Matthew and Felix. Matthew and I became friends on the Disney College Program in 2002. It was so great catching up with him and meeting Felix. We had a blast.
The next day we flew home, and went to eat at Izzo’s. While there we sat by two young girls about to leave on the Disney College Program. I gave them some advice and relived those thoughts for a bit. I hope they have fun.
Overall, it was a great trip! I am so glad I FINALLY got to see DB run the Disney. He was already talking about doing it next year so I am sure he will sign up in April. I hope I can go next year for the whole visit. We shall see.
Love and Hugs, Lizzie
Go DB GO!! That time is awesome! (And, as a person who has announced several marathons, even from that snippet I concur) ~Jackie
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