26.2 Magical Miles Around the World Part 2: Kids Races and Charity Event

So one thing I love about Rundisney is that it keeps with the Disney idea of family! The Walt Disney Marathon Weekend has an event for all ages from 0-99!  I signed my daughter’s up for the kids races. My one year old Raven did the 100 meter dash, while my 8 year old daugther Sariyah ran the 400 meter dash!

The start time for the 100 meter was 11am. We got up had a buffet breakfast at Boma, which was amazing! The french toast and jungle juice was delicious! The hopped on the shuttle to the EPSN Zone!

Once we Arrived It was a bit chaotic, but in a fun sort of way. There were still tons off people coming for packet pick up for the marathon on Sunday.  The kids races took place on the grass  at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex on Walt Disney World property. Everyone had to walk through to the rear of the complex, and then around to the side entrance where everyone assembled on the infield. RunDisney did their best to keep everyone entertained with music.

There are no corrals. We had to find the flag with the corresponding distance and stand behind the rope, and then wait for the wave to start! Parents were given the option to run with their child or let them run on their own. I decided I would need to run with Raven.  My husband then took Sariyah down to her to her starting location.

So kinda like they do the adult races, they send the kids off in waves. Because there are so many little ones, it’s a great way to make sure they aren’t getting run over. I would guess they send about 10 -15 kids off at a time. Raven and I were in the 4th or 5th wave, and off we went to the finish! We started off with pretty good momentum, Raven didn’t want to hold my hand she was pretty caught up in the excitement. Then we saw Mickey Mouse, he was waving us into the finish!  Raven was not happy about Mickey and turned to run the opposite way and was in tears! After a few she calm down and raced to guy that I guess looked more friendly than Mickey and dashed passed the finish line! Raven had completed her very first race!

After the 100 meter dash it was about a  hour before the 400 meter dash before Sariyah would start. So we watched the other kids races before lining up again at the 400 meter flag. Once again they sent the kids off in waves , and Sariyah was in about the 5th, and because these kids were bigger and faster their waves had a little bit more time in between them. Finally it was her turn and although she was toward the back of the pack, she sprinted the entire way and didn’t give up! I was so proud of her! Sariyah had just completed her first Rundisney race!

After the races we did some more looking around the Expo and headed back to hotel for some poolside relaxation!

That evening we attended a pasta party to celebrate my fundraising commitments!  I raised fund for the organization A-T Children’s Project. The program raises funding to provide education and research to find a cure for children with Ataxia Telangiectasia, a very rare genetic disease that affects the nervous system, immune system and other body systems. There is no cure, and my initial goal was to raise $600 and I exceeded it and raised almost $1500! At the pasta party I was able to meet Jack(a boy with A-T that was I was sponsoring )  and his family!  There was also a pasta buffet and we got to meet and take pictures with some really cool Disney peeps!  Then it was off to bed, we had a 3 am wake up call!