EPCOT, is an acronym for Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow, a utopian city of the future planned by Walt Disney, often interchanging “city” and “community.”
The model community of Celebration, Florida has been mentioned as a realization of Disney’s original vision, but Celebration is based on concepts of new urbanism — radically different from Disney’s modernist & futurist visions.
Early start Sunday, missed bib pick-up the day before (EPCOT day 🙂 ). 5:30am meet-up in Celebration Park, race start an hour-half later. Humid Florida morning – expecting showers Sunday 2nd half. Magic Kingdom ‘Poncho’ day.
Flat 2-lap course. Crowded start, 80% of participants running the Half. National Anthem. Ready ready to run.
Bunched around the 4:30 pace group. I always go out fast, then nothing in the tank later. Maybe if I force myself slow, I’ll finish with a smile. Worth a try. Short on my miles past 2 weeks, I’ll take a slower/happy finish – FAMILY in Magic Kingdom later.
Work/life struggle all month, no consistency since Hawaii. Lotta livin’ 1st Half, lotta workin’ 2nd Half. Notta lotta balance.
Digged hangin’ with a Pace Group. Easy 8 miles. Ran ahead of Pacer Dave, hit miles 12 & 13 hard, 2:02 first Half. “Made haste for the waste“, a much-needed porta-potty stop. 10 minutes ahead: expected to see my clique soon after.
Miles 14, 15, 16: no familiar faces. Ho, hum. Started to drag, put on some tunes. Mile 18. Still no rain, hyper-sweating in the tropics. Saw three folks from my 4:30 group dragging the sign. Pacer Dave had dropped. How often does that happen?
Wiped, lack of energy. Stopped to snap shots of my Florida journey. Drop, drop, drop – more sweat. Ran into my eyes, burned.
Thick muggy air, warm drizzle, high HUMIDITY. Slow-walked, just didn’t have it in me. Combination of hearty ‘Disney Plan’ meals & yesterday’s EPCOT walkathon. Heard the announcer. Day’s Finish across the Lake, 2 more miles. Felt like it’d never end 🙁
Blood pressure: 80 over 50. Spent my post-Finish with EMTs in the medic tent. Dehydrated (puking since mile 22).
Car, shower, shuttle bus, amusement park. Quick turnaround. Arrived 20 minutes before our all-American Liberty Tree Tavern lunch reservation. Would rain the remainder of my last Disney day. Spent 3 hours shuffling between indoor venues: the Hall of Presidents, Mickey’s PhilharMagic, Pirates of Caribbean, Under the Sea (Little Mermaid) & the Haunted Mansion.
Monday morning: Orlando, Florida. Work afternoon: Boulder, Colorado. Crazy fast-paced world. #noregretlife
CELEBRATION MARATHON & HALF MARATHON
Celebration, Florida
Sunday, January 28, 2018
MARATHON RESULTS
238 K R Haga Louisville CO 5:15:34
Magic Kingdom 2018
Dream. Set goals. Take action. Faith/unwavering Belief/bit of Luck & those Dreams, probabilities. Recipe for LIFE SUCCESS.
- Actionable Dreams = Successful Goals
It’s NOT like winning the lottery, it doesn’t happen by CHANCE. Often a bit of LUCK’s involved however, I wholeheartedly believe we create our own LUCK. Putting ourselves in WINNING positions/CREATING OPPORTUNITY by taking ACTION on our DREAMS.
My short story: Rural background, no funds, personal life complications. Re-started university after my peers had already graduated. Bachelors, Masters, worked thru college, all degrees Finance-related – not my Dream but me/my family needed to eat.
In addition to traditional business courses, I studied German, Swedish, French & English. 2 semesters of Spanish, one semester Italian. I wanted to see the WORLD. Didn’t know how that was possible but called it out to the Universe.
Opportunity struck. Four years outta college, work-transferred to Russia. Europe, North Africa, trip to Asia. Fast-forward 20 years: gonna marathon ALL 7 continents. Making this Dream actionable. April 8th: São Paulo, Brazil.
But first TODAY…walking ‘round the World. EPCOT World Showcase, my fave of all the Disney Parks 🙂
Breakfast in Norway, buffet dinner in Germany. Fave ride: Test Track.
Whole lotta walking, walking ’round the World. Probably not the BEST prep for a morning Marathon. Yep, he said Marathon. Don’t fly anywhere without adding another 26.2 to the tally. FAMILY meet-up in the afternoon. It’s a Small Small World ♩ ♪ ♫ ♬ ♭ ♮ ♯
EPCOT World Showcase
Finding it harder & harder to coordinate FAMILY time, as the Hagas ‘Next Generation’ get older & older. I get it, I also was 20 once. Hmm…. Think… If you buy them, they will come. Disney World tickets, of course 🙂
[ALL the Next Gens were Disney-introduced early in life, each still in diapers. It’s one commonality they share ❤]
Hopped a late Thursday nite flight to Orlando. Rental car pick-up, hotel check-in, sleeps: 2am Florida time. Yikes! Morning plans? Breakfast, groceries & a hair cut. True story. Personal life/work. Hard to fit EVERYTHING in sometimes. #noregretlife
Connecticut FAMILY meet-up: 11am. Next stop: Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
Star Wars Stormtroopers (FUN), Sci-Fi Diner (FOOD), whole lotta live-action shows (WOW) – Little Mermaid, Beauty & the Beast and Frozen. Half-day Disney FULL. Hotel by 8pm, Epcot in the morning. Breakfasting in Norway. FAAANNNNTASTIC!
Hollywood Studios 2018