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Saturday, October 26, 2013

Celebration 10k Race Report

Rather than staying overnight at  an el-cheapo hotel, I decided that we should just drive down for the day.  I think we left the house around 4 – I was hoping to get to the parking lot no later than 6. 

We got to the Celebration Fire House (and parking lot) around 6:15.  It was already VERY busy at the packet pickup, and it took about 20 minutes to actually get my stuff.

The line for packet pickup - and a Princess Posse Sparkle Skirt!
I hustled back to the car so that I could take my swag photos and gear up before heading to the start line. 

Unisex Navy Blue Tech Tee - not bad
A sticker, a Give Kids the World pin and yummy chocolate
While I was taking photos, a local hot air balloon company started launching balloons – at one point, there were at least a dozen in the air.

There are at least 10 more in the sky behind where I was standing
Hubby took my photo, and then we headed towards the start line, which was about ½ mile from the parking lot. 

My ears were cold, so I pulled my Bondi down
It was a beautiful morning, with perfect weather.

Standing in the grass near the starting line
I ran into other Posse girls Sarah and Maryanne, so we took a quick photo before we were off and racing!

Random Dude, me, Sarah and Maryanne
I’ve never been to Celebration before, and I was amazed at how pretty it was. Extremely “Stepford,” but beautiful nonetheless. 

  
Mile 1 came and went (no photo for some reason), and I was in the back. That actually worked in my favor, though, as we came to this bridge. We had to stay on the sidewalk, so if there had been other runners, it would have been very tight. 


At the end of the sidewalk after you crossed the bridge, there was one of those “Speed Limit by Radar” signs. I thought it was funny. No, I wasn’t going 25mph.


Continuing on, we passed the Celebration Golf Course, which was also pristine and beautiful!

That tower in the distance is where I parked the car
I passed Mile 2 and then began heading into neighborhoods.


Even their drainage canals are pretty....
They had some local cheerleaders out for support.

He's in the sky...He's our sun guy... Ra Ra Ra!
At Mile 2.8, the 10k group separated from the 5k group, and Shelly Williams (fellow SparkleSister) was out with a sign for the local Moms Run This Town (MRTT) girls.

Sparkle Sister Shelley Williams - 10k goes Left; 5k went straight to the finish line
I missed the Mile 3 sign, but I passed it and continued down the LONGEST sidewalk I think I’ve ever been on. It kept on going (for niles and niles and niles…..) There was a road on the right and more golf course on the left.

How do they grow 'em so straight?
At Mile 4, I passed the DVC building, which was really cool to see. It’s an awesome Art Deco style.  I also began to see people coming back from the turn-around, like Betty, Curly Blonde Girl, Red Shirt Sister and Maryanne. (I’m sure these other people have names, but damn if I can remember them now! I guess I should look them up at some point.)



Betty - my very first Run Buddy!

Curly Blonde Princess Posse Princess!
Tall SparkleSister; Maryanne in the back
After the golf course disappeared, I started seeing more neighborhoods, and then some construction. Hell, even the construction workers here are nice! No whistling or catcalling us chicks at all. Kind of made me sad…

It's artsy cuz it's tilted...
I’m realizing at this point two things:  1) I’m last and 2) I really wish I brought my inhaler (I was wheezing bad).

I trudged on to the turn-around spot and headed back the super-long sidewalk to the finish line, doing my intervals when I could, passing Mile 5.

You can't see her, she's hiding behind a tree, but there IS someone behind me!
 After I passed Mile 5, I also passed another runner! Yippee!!! I’m not last!!  I gave her a “you’re awesome!” as I passed her and kept on trucking.


FINALLY, I get back to the end of the long sidewalk of doom (missing the Mile 6 sign), and there are more cheerleaders. I told them that there is another woman behind me, about a mile back, and that when she comes in to cheer like hell for her.


Hubby and the Kiddo are near the finish line, and the Kiddo decides to run in with me. (Can I be honest here?  This is MY moment, back up and let me enjoy it!)

Go away! This is my moment!
Anyway, finish!  I missed my PR by just over a minute, but I’m so okay with that! 

So pretty!
My medal is gorgeous, and I got my hug from Hubby, then a bunch of us SparkleSisters took a group photo before I headed over to the Fire House for the Rotary Pancake Breakfast.  

Sarah, Neon Luv SparkleSister, Maryanne, Tall Red Shirt SparkleSister, Swirly Blue Sparkle Sister, Shelley, Me, Betty, Curly Blonde Posse Princess
It was very crowded, and Hubby was grousing that he was hungry and wanted to go eat something. I wanted to junk punch him and tell him to shut up – I wanted to enjoy my post-race party. He still doesn’t understand that there is more to a race then the race. He thinks that when you cross the finish line, you leave. WRONG! He’s got a lot to learn, and he better, because soon he may get punched.

Anyway, we walked around and saw that there was juice and milk, so I grabbed some OJ and got a cool photo with a tiny alligator from Gatorland. 

He felt like a cold, squishy purse. No, seriously, that's exactly what he felt like!
Finally, though, it was time to change and head to Disney.  I went into what is the fanciest Porta-Pottie I’ve ever seen and changed clothes.  Runner Etiquette to remember for the future – don’t do this!  There was a line when I got out and I felt bad…

"Real" flushing toilet, clean toilet paper

Working sink with running water, fancy basket of paper towels, a Febreeze, hand soap and a little flower (and a big mirror)
As we walked back to the car, we started talking about what we wanted to do for breakfast, and our first idea was Slurpees and Gas Station Nachos from the nearby 7-Eleven, but as we exited Celebration, I saw a Publix and I desperately wanted a doughnut.  So we all went in (used their restrooms) and checked out the bakery and deli area.

This Publix is so much nicer than mine at home. They had a make-your-own salad bar and a hot bar, with things like Asian noodles and whatnot.

Is this a good price for a salad bar? No idea!

They were filling this while we wandered around. You can see there are 12 items for sale. 
Over in the bakery bread case, they had pretzel bread! I should’ve gotten one to see if it was any good, compared to LeCellier.

Good price for a pretzel roll!
 After wandering and wandering and wandering, we settled on 2 slices of chocolate ganache cake for them and a jumbo filled cupcake for me. Also, we grabbed fountain drinks, then headed back to eat our yummies in the car.

Publix Chocolate Ganache Cake (bar) - Cake, Mousse, Ganache, repeat
Publix Jumbo Filled Vanilla Cupcake - Yellow Cake w/Buttercream Frosting (inside and out)

Our next stop? Disney, of course!  Who comes to Central FL and doesn’t go to Disney!  We hopped on 192 and headed out. While sitting at a red light, we saw this…. So, okay. Fuckin’ Bubbles!

Freakin' bubbles!

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