Today, we take a look at Deven’s second attempt at the RunDisney Goofy Race and a Half Challenge.  This challenge, run at Walt Disney World, consists of running a 1/2 marathon on Saturday and a full marathon on Sunday.

In 2008, Deven signed up for the challenge.  She was not a runner but thought it would be a fun event.  Having never participated in a race before, she hardly trained at all.  She said of her first attempt, “I finished the 1/2 marathon but my hips were killing me.  I decided to try the full marathon, anyway, and had to stop at mile 14.  Not only were my hips still hurting but my toes were killing me.  Word to the wise…something that someone told me AFTER the race…buy running shoes a size to large because your feet will swell during a run.  It turns out that my toes were rubbing against the front of my shoes.  I lost a few toenails that trip.”

Not liking the feeling of defeat, she decided that she would make it back to try again and 2013 was the year.  With just three hours of sleep, she flew to Florida that Friday morning to pick up the race packet.  The adrenaline of the weekend kept her up Friday night, and, once she finally fell asleep, it was only three hours until the 3:30 a.m. wake-up call.  Exhausted, she headed out for the 1/2 marathon.  The Deven Times had a chance to interview Deven after she completed the first race.  “I love running at Disney”, she said.  “All of the volunteers are amazing.  I love reading all the signs they make up. One couple around mile 4 had signs that read “you’re over half way there” and “<- he’s really bad at math”. And of course the characters are a fun distraction as well.”

It’s not all fun and games all of the time, though.  She told us of one trouble she ran into.  “Unfortunately, they ran out of food for the racers at the back of the pack. That means that I ran the entire thing on an empty stomach! Not good! By mile 12, I was very close to quitting. I felt my feet not responding like they should and I was starting to feel delirious. I knew that they had food at the finish line, though, so I pushed myself to finish.”

Not wanting to find herself without food again, Deven purchased snacks, Saturday afternoon, to carry with her during the marathon.  Another three hours of sleep later found that same 3:30 wake-up call ringing again.  She started the marathon off strong.  She found the pacer that was the one to follow in order to finish the race in 6 and a half hours.  She followed his pace for the first 5 miles.  Then things suddenly changed.  She told The Deven Times, “After mile 5, I suddenly felt all of the energy drain from my body.  It was a significant and immediate shift.  I couldn’t explain it.  All I could think was that my body had not recovered from the lack of food the day before.  I decided to walk the rest of the way, hoping my energy would come back.  At the mile 14 marker, I had to tell the volunteer that I had to stop.”

We asked Deven if she felt disappointed that she did not finish the race again.  In fact, she had to stop at the exact same point as the first attempt.  She shared, “I don’t feel defeated this time because I feel that I really proved how strong I was, yesterday.  I am very proud of what I accomplished this time. Besides that, except for the lack of energy, I felt fine. My legs and hips didn’t hurt at all.”

UPDATE: About a week after the race weekend, Deven reached out to us with an update.  “When I got to the airport that night, I noticed my throat was scratchy. Not even 45 minutes later, I was shivering on the plane. By the next morning, I was running a 104.2 fever. Turns out the reason I was so sluggish during the race was that I actually had the flu. That made me feel even better about things. I mean, I ran 13.1 miles on an empty stomach and 14 miles with the flu. I am one strong chica.”

She informed us that she was planning a trip to Disneyland in August for the Dumbo Double Dare (a 10k on Saturday and 1/2 marathon on Sunday).  The Deven Times will be sure to be there to chronicle the weekend.