Article provided by Jeff Dumas
Over the weekend of the USATF Cross Country National Championships, Mike and Nannette Wien had plans to take in the sights at Disney World in Orlando. The visit had been on Mike’s “bucket list” for years – maybe from when he was a teenager (close anyway: Disney World opened in 1972). But Mike’s bucket list was not to visit Space Mountain and the Magic Kingdom or to tour the Pirates of the Caribbean. Nope, he was there for the “Disney Marathon Weekend”. In fact, he was going to be there for four whole days of racing – called (most appropriately) the “Goofy & Dopey Challenge”. The “Goofy” is running the half-marathon on Saturday followed by running the Disney Marathon on Sunday. The “Dopey” is running in the “Goofy” challenge and adding a 5K on the previous Thursday and a 10K on the previous Friday. Theoretically, participants can compete in all four races and earn six unique (and, very Disneyesque) medals. Mike says that this was a bucket list event for him because it is as much a mental challenge (for pacing) as it is a physical challenge (logging the many miles!).
It turns out that Mike won three of his races that weekend – winning his age group in the 5K, the 10K, and the full marathon. In the half-marathon, Mike came in just 51 seconds behind the winner. But, of course, from day one, Mike had his eye on the finish line for the full marathon – which he won handily by finishing in 3:40, more than half an hour ahead of his nearest competitor! Ironically, Mike would have finished even faster – perhaps much faster – if he hadn’t been stopping along the way to have his photo taken with all the different Disney characters that line the route! As the RunDisney race apparel states, “A smile every mile”. And, as Mike (being a corporate marketing guru of long-standing) states in an obvious understatement: “Maybe the Disney marketing team got this one right.” Yep!
Incidentally, as with all his big races (think New York Marathon, Boston Marathon, and the USATF Club Cross Country Championships), Mike thanks the leader of his support team and cheering squad, Nannette for making this extraordinary weekend at Disney World possible. For example, Nannette insured that they could eat their meals in their condo during the entire four-day stay in Orlando – to better could practice “social distancing”. Nannette also saw to the laundry, etc., and ensured that Mike was getting to bed by 8:30 PM every night so he would be ready for his 3:00 am wakeup call each morning. Great job (again) Nannette!
Photos courtesy of Mike Wien
