This was an extremely early morning – we were getting up when a younger version of myself would have just been heading to bed…But I was okay with it – this was our entire reason for this trip! It was 10k day!

Luke woke up around 2:45am so he could eat his yogurt parfait and cereal he had picked up the night before, and start getting himself hydrated. I heard him get up, but I refused to open my eyes and swing my legs over the side of the bed until 3:30. I quickly brushed my teeth, threw my hair up into a messy ponytail and we left the room about 15 minutes later. When we got to the front of the hotel where bus-pick up was, there was already a bus for the race sitting there waiting so we walked directly on (seriously, Disney transport had been so good to us so far on this trip!). It was a short drive to the parking lot at Epcot, and then we got into the line for people carrying bags. It moved really quickly, and it did not take us long before we were in the main area for the race. There were so many people! While we walked around a bit, it started raining – good thing I was wearing my rain coat! Around 5am Luke had to head to the starting corrals, so I gave him a hug, wished him good luck and told him to not worry about his time and just enjoy every minute of the race! I went around to the spectator viewing area to watch the start of the race.

At exactly 5:25am, the first countdown was held and the wheelchair athletes were off! At 5:30 the actual competitive athletes (Corral A) took off. Each 10 minutes, another group had their chance to leave the start gate and set out on their 10km, and with each group there were fireworks set off.

Eventually, Group D was led into the starting corral!

I was texting Luke, and let him know where I was so he could wave to me as he went by to start his race After I watched him go through the start gate, I made my way over to the finish line. I knew he’d be at least an hour and a half, since he did want to stop and meet a few characters (because seriously, where else can he do that during a race?!). It was raining this entire time, and it was kind of cold but luckily I had dressed in layers. I found a spot to sit on the grandstands beside the finish line, set Luke’s sweater down so I could keep my bum dry haha, and made myself comfortable. I did have a great view of this:

Luke’s group started the race at 6am, and it rained until a little after 7:30 or so. I actually got to sit there and watch the sunrise around Spaceship Earth – so cool!

I had taken my bookbag with me, I was planning on using the time to write down my notes of everything that we did the day before in the new travel journal my mom had bought me for Christmas but the rain put a damper on that. I was not bored at all though, it was a ton of fun to just people watch! Some of the costumes were phenomenal! People put so much effort into their outfits, and they all looked great! Some people just have so much creativity! Luke was texting me every so often, and stopping to update his Facebook to let our families and friends know how he was doing with pictures like this one:

Just past the 4 mile marker, he texted to say he was going to stop to meet his first character – Remy from Ratatouille! About 10 minutes later, I had this picture sent to me:

So cute! I love how happy Luke looks in this picture!

Around the 5 mile mark, Luke texted me again to say he was stopping for another character picture – this time with Mike and Sulley dressed in Monsters University gear.

It stopped raining right before this. I also knew that Luke was getting close to the end of the race, so I had my camera out and ready to take pictures of him on the last stretch of his first Disney 10km.

After crossing the finish line, Luke received his medal, a mylar blanket, a box full of food and a bottle of water and a bottle of Powerade. After this he exited the runner’s area, so I was finally able to see him and congratulate him on completing his first run in another country. He asked me to take his picture with his medal so he could post it on his facebook for his family to see.

After this, we headed to the buses to go back to our hotel. There happened to be one there waiting – once again zero wait time! The bus was fairly full and we weren’t able to get seats together, but it wasn’t a very far drive to All Star Music so we didn’t mind. We were back to our hotel in about 10-15 minutes. Once we got to our room, I peeled off my soaking wet clothes and put on warm clothes, then climbed under the blankets to warm up. Luke went for a shower. We ate a few snacks, including opening up Luke’s goodie box from the race – which included a banana, an energy bar, corn chips and cheese dip, cookies, etc.

Next: Hollywood Studios