In 1996, my future wife and I went on our first trip together. Disneyworld. We had no kids, were just out of college, and rather than go to a beach or some party city, we chose the Magic Kingdom. Disney is a part of the lives of millions of around the world so we aren’t that unusual.
Over the years we’ve been to Disneyland Paris, Disneyland (California), and Aulani – Disney’s Hawaii resort. We are Disney Vacation Club members. Yes, we are a Disney family.
In 2016 I told my wife I wanted to run the Disneyworld Marathon. “oh no you aren’t, not without me” she said. Huh. I’ll get her. So when Marathon registration opened up, I went online and signed her and I up. She’s a teacher, so in the middle of class she gets an email saying she was registered for the 2017 Disneyworld marathon. THAT generated an interesting response.
The deal was she would do it, but I couldn’t tell anyone. She was petrified she would not finish. I was confident she would. The week before the race, we told her mother (somebody had to watch the kids when we were at Disney). Her mother had a suspicion – mother’s have that intuition no matter what the age.
Marathon morning at Disneyworld was the coldest marathon morning I had ever had. January in Florida this year was MUCH colder than normal – colder than the early November NYC Marathon I had done just two months ago and cooler than the late November Philadelphia marathon I had done just 7 weeks before.
We wore three layers of clothes and were finally off. It was truly a great experience. Running through all four Disney parks – places we had been numerous times, was just such a thrill. Disney says every mile is magic. It sure was.
Now I’m married to a marathon runner. How cool is that!
Morbidly Obese to MARATHON Runner 