Dopey Challenge – WDW 5K

January 4 was the beginning of the Dopey Challenge, starting with the 5K. Pluto was the host of the 5K and the medal depicted him and his best pal Mickey Mouse.

I participated this run with my best pal and husband Rick. By doing this Rick would have completed a coast to coast 5K.

The race started at 5:30 AM, but we had to travel to the start which is located at EPCOT. Since we stayed off resort we had to use the charted service of the hotel. We’ve used them to transport us from the hotel so we knew them well. We met a couple of runners in the lobby and they joined us for the ride to the park.

We arrived at EPCOT, and it was freezing. We were lucky to have packed warm clothes for the run. We went through security with no problem and also met up with Nanette before we headed to the corrals.

I was placed in corral C, Rick was in E. I joined him in his corral and the waiting began. Within the corrals they made mini corrals which they released every 2 minutes, which seemed to make it go faster. The quicker we started the better so that the blood would start pumping and get us warmer!

Once we went through the outskirts of the parking lot and a side street outside the EPCOT park for about a mile. Soon after the first mile we entered the park through World Showcase between Mexico and Norway. We passed through China, Germany, Italy, The American Adventure, Japan, Morocco and France. The routed us a little bit outside of the park, where we saw some construction and pass the second mile marker. We entered the park again through the United Kingdom and Canada to complete our tour around the countries at World Showcase.

We were then routed through Future World and saw Spaceship Earth. Just past the fountain we veered left and made our way to the Land, where you can find “Soaring around the World” and “Living the Land” rides and the Seas where the attractions are Finding Nemo/Dory themed and also houses the Coral Reef restaurant. After a short tour of the area we found ourselves back in Future World and made our way to Spaceship Earth and to the end.

We hit the three mile mark just outside the park, and finished the 5K back in the EPCOT parking lot. I finished in 1hr 11min 21sec and Rick finished a few seconds after. The lines were very long along the course for the characters so we just took some selfies along the course. The had characters at the finish area and we waited for Dopey before we headed back to the hotel, while we were waiting we saw Dave Mari. Besides the weather being very cold, I had a fun time and participating with Rick was a treat. After cleaning up at the hotel, we spent the day at EPCOT. We met up with my cousin Nanette and Our nephew Nicholas and had dinner with them before going back to the hotel and get some sleep before I have to do this all over again!