SAFD: We went to WDW for our 10th Anniversary and, of course, had great time. That was early Dec 2011. That holiday season, I got real sick (nothing serious, just the flu but prolonged and the worst I've ever had it). I gained A LOT of weight during January...lots of milkshakes and ice cream to numb my sore throat (that was stupid but ‾\_(ツ)_/‾ ).
So, being sick and already tired of the cold weather, I was missing Disney. I was looking at YouTube videos of Disney stuff and stumbled across Lee Hoedl's (sp?) videos of the WDW marathon. It ran through the castle and even backstage...I was hooked! It looked like so much fun!
I played old man baseball (no, not softball) at the time and usually started running in March to get back into shape by May. But my running was not more than 3 miles. I ran one half-marathon about 10 years before that but that was the extent of my running - never attempted a marathon. I researched the WDW races and read about the Goofy Challenge and the Coast-to-Coast. And then I saw the medals!!! That really got me excited about starting running again.
All of that (Disney, wanting to lose wight, medals) got me interested in starting to run again but the one, single thing that MADE me run the 2013 Goofy is the following true story:
Me: (watching YouTube videos of the WDW marathon)
Wife: What are you doing?
Me: Did you know Disney has a marathon? It runs through all four parks - you even get to run through the castle!
Wife: You can't run a marathon.
And THAT ladies and gentlemen is why I have now run 17 marathons including being perfectly Dopey....all because my wife said I couldn't.
Don't get me wrong - I love my wife with every fiber of my being but, dang, that sure got under my skin. I'm not a speed demon but I ran my first marathon in October of that year and we've done WDW Marathon weekend every year since!