OCTOBER 2009 ENTERTAINMENT

Seldom do my wife and I have the opportunity to simply get out of town f

or any reason, regardless if it’s for entertainment purposes, family obligations, or a simple change-of-scenery drive. Too many work days or other commitments keep us mainly in the South Broward area for weeks upon weeks. If it were not for our daily workouts and Netflix movies, Life could become rather humdrum.

Two weekends in October, however, ended up being welcomed exceptions. 

The weekend of October 10th and 11th found us in Walt Disney World with three of our wonderful friends, Tina C. and Ron and Pam H. All five of us had previously signed up to run the final Race for the Taste 10k held annually in Walt Disney World during EPCOT’s International Food and Wine Festival.

The tasting came directly after running and walking 6.2 miles along Disney’s picturesque Boardwalk, through entertaining Hollywood Studios, and then through much of the world showcase in EPCOT. The run ended in the parking lot of EPCOT, where Disney had food and beverage tents lined up for our dining pleasure.

The remainder of Sunday was spent in EPCOT browsing through many of the world showcase lands, braving a daring excursion on EPCOT’s Test Track, and then ending with an exhilarating ride on Disney’s Soarin’. All five of us had a blast!

Tina, Pam and Ron had to leave Walt Disney World that evening, so we said our goodbyes after walking through the exit turnstiles of EPCOT. After bidding our friends a farewell and a safe trip home, Jan and I hopped aboard a Disney transport bus back to our room at the All Star Music Resort.

After picking up our race packets at Disney’s Wide World of Sports around noon the previous day, the day before the race, we checked into our respected resort rooms and then made our way to Downtown Disney using Disney’s convenient transportation system. After walking around Downtown Disney for a short while, checking out the hordes of people and wide range of stores, we then enjoyed a delicious meal together at the Rain Forest Café celebrating our 24th wedding anniversary, even though our anniversary was actually on the 5th of October.

A funny thing happened when we checked into our room at Disney’s All Star Music Resort.

Noticing that it was our 24 wedding anniversary, the pleasant Asian receptionist at the check-in desk handed Jan and I two colorful Happy Anniversary buttons to pin on our shirts. When making the reservations back in February, I recall telling the telephone reservationist that our October visit was in celebration of our 24th wedding anniversary, along with running the Race for the Taste 10k.

Anyway, upon opening the door to our assigned room, we were shocked to see one king sized bed instead of the expected two double beds. All other times that we stayed in a Disney Resort we had two doubles, so we assumed that this time would be no exception.

Ordinarily, one king sized bed would be perfect. But this time around, we had invited Tina to bunk in with us during her one night stay in Disney World. We figured that it would be ridiculous for her to put out her hard-earned money just to participate in a 10k event, when Jan and I already had a room with a spare bed.

Anyhow, realizing that one bed would not work out well, no matter its size, I called the front desk and explained to them that I had an annoying head cold, and that although it was our wedding anniversary, we were attempting to remain apart until my cold dissipated to the point of being non-contagious. They bought my story and assigned us a different room in a different building, which meant that we had to tote our luggage back to our truck, go back into the resort’s lobby, and then obtain new room key cards for our replacement room.

Our new room had two double beds, so everything ended well. Except for me, that is. I actually did have an embarrassing head cold.

And how did the actual race turn out? It was hot and humid, probably the most uncomfortable running event I’ve ever participated in. I don’t know what it is about Walt Disney World in October, but that place sure feels like a stifling oven in the early part of the month.

Apart from the heat and high humidity, the run went well for all five of us. Tina, of course, crossed the finish line first, followed by Ron and Pam then Janet and me.

Incidentally, the last four miles of the 10k is exactly like the final four miles of the Walt Disney World full marathon.

With 2009 being the final year for the Race for the Taste 10k, Disney is planning on substituting the shorter 10k with an October 2nd, 2010 Wine and Dine Half Marathon. We may consider doing it!

After spending one more night in the All Star Music Resort, Jan and I pulled out of Walt Disney World around 8am the next morning after first enjoying a quick food court breakfast. We wanted to arrive home early so that we could rest up for Landshark Stadium’s Monday Night NFL football game. We were also anxious to get back home to our two cats, Gi Gi and Santana.

I’ll tell you what, folks, nothing is better than beating the New York Jets in a Monday night football game in your home stadium, and witnessing the entire event from the opening kickoff to the post game celebration.

Whether it was the Miami Dolphin’s orange jersey winning streak that helped generate the win, or the fact that they played good ole fashioned rock ‘em sock ‘em football, our Miami Dolphins defeated the despised New York JETS in a see-saw battle that ended with the Dolphins scoring the go-ahead touchdown with 6 seconds remaining on the game clock.

What a fabulous way to end an incredible weekend.

But wait, the fun wasn’t over with yet, at least not for me.

Even though I knew that Janet had to go back to work at Wal-Mart, at her prompting I had scheduled myself to run the Beachside Half Marathon in Vero Beach, Florida on the 17th of October, just six days after running the Walt Disney World Race for the Taste 10k. Chris and Tina, who live in the Vero Beach area, offered to let me stay at their place Friday night before the Saturday race so that I wouldn’t have to drive up early Saturday morning. I took them up on their kind and generous offer. I’ll always be grateful to Chris and Tina for their loving hospitality and exceptional accommodations.

At 6:30 sharp Saturday morning, October the 17th, the gun sounded for the start of the inaugural Beachside Half Marathon.

A small half marathon by comparison, the Beachside Half Marathon had approximately 255 runners of all sizes, shapes, and ages take off in the direction of one of two rather long, high bridges. Each bridge was approximately one mile long.

Bridge number one, called the Merrill Barber Bridge, which was roughly ¼ of a mile from the start, was crossed in total darkness, while bridge number two, the 17th street Bridge, was crossed as the sun began to rise over the Atlantic Ocean directly to the east. The scenery from atop bridge number two was magnificent.

The remaining eight miles of the 13.1 mile course was run on eastern Vero Beach residential streets, some of which passed along the beautiful sandy beaches of Vero Beach. One street in particular was completely covered with a canopy of overhanging limbs creating a tunnel effect.

Traffic was surprisingly light, and the event’s volunteer police officers regularly greeted each runner with an encouraging smile and a clear path across the main streets.

All volunteers were helpful and friendly, the weather, although not as cool as we would have liked, was a pleasant 74 degrees at the start, and the small crowd of runners and walkers were just as cordial as they were competitive.

Completing the run in beautiful Riverside Park, where the race folks had a large table full of bananas, small bagels and fresh orange juice, each runner was greeted with cheers and congratulations from the volunteers as well as many of the other runners and walkers.

The Beachside Half Marathon was not a large event, but it was by far one of the most friendly and least confusing. If possible, I’ll do it again next year. Only next year, I must insist that Janet put in for that day off no matter what. I would love to share those picturesque 13.1 miles with my lovely wife in 2010.

Even though the event’s organizers did not have the funds for age group awards, or a generous offering of post race food, I still rate this half marathon a five out of five.

My finishing time was nothing to brag about, but Tina’s was. She ran an impressive 2:07.

Me? Well, let’s just say that it was no problem winning my age division (65 to 69) with a slow time of 2:52.

Come to find out, though, I was the only runner or walker in my age group. In fact, I was the oldest competitor in the entire event. How cool is that?

A special thanks goes to Ron and Pam, as well as Tina and Chris, for making our weekends what they were – Sensational!