The Dopey Challenge - 48.6 miles in 4 days

Our Dopey Challenge –

In August I got a phone call from our friend Brandt telling me he wanted to do the Dopey Challenge at Walt Disney World.  The way he sold it to me was by telling me think how cold it is in Utah every year in January and how nice it will be in sunny Florida! Brad and I are always up for an adventure, and the allure of 6 sweet finisher medals was too much to pass up, so of course we said “why not?” We recruited a few more friends to join, and after 5 quick months with not nearly enough training, we all traveled to Orlando to participate in a week of races, theme parks, and too much food (at the end of the week Brad said “I think I somehow gained weight this week.”)

The Dopey Challenge starts on Thursday with a quick 5k, followed by a 10k on Friday, a half marathon on Saturday, and finally a marathon on Sunday--if you’re adding this up with me, that’s a total of 48.6 miles in 4 days.

All races (with the exception of the 5k which starts at 6:15) kick off with fireworks, Disney music and enthusiastic MC’s, WELL before sunrise at 5:30AM.  This meant 4 AM wake up calls to make the trek through traffic, balmy 40 degree Florida weather, crowds of 26,000 costumed runners, and the mile walk from the parking lot to be in our corral by the time the races started. Waking up so early and the lack of sleep was rough, but the energy at the start line was electric, and by the time we started running our excitement outweighed exhaustion, even on Sunday morning before the Marathon.

Just Brad and I did the 5k and the 10k. After only a couple hours of sleep we had to get to the start of the 5k an hour and a half early to get our bibs. Brandt was wrong, IT WAS FREEZING! 39 degree with 18mph winds that made it feel much colder. We were not prepared for that temp at all. We ran the 5k and the 10k with several shirts, and jackets on to try and keep warm. After we were done running we went back to the Cabin, climbed under all of our blankets with heated water bottles to try and get warm.

Epcot at sunrise

That day we went to the Nike running store to buy running tights, which I wore under my jeans to stay warm while we went to the disney parks during the day. 

The Half marathon and Marathon Tauni and I ran together while Brad, Brandt and Nina ran these together at a much faster speed. 

Disney really knows how to put on a logistically seamless event, which required us to get creative sneaking (totally justified) Nina into the earlier starting corral with us after she was assigned the (totally not justified) last wave. The race courses were really fun and had great distractions such as DJ’s, music, Disney characters, zoo animals, tuxedoed men, acrobats, stilt walkers, comedians—I could go on—every half mile to help keep you from questioning why running 50 miles in four days ever seemed like a good idea. You get to run through all the Disney Parks, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, Epcot, Animal Kingdom and ESPN before they open and before sunrise in some cases, which was very cool. A highlight was running down Main Street in the Magic Kingdom towards the castle covered in Christmas lights with crowds of supporters cheering us on with handmade signs, candy, water, and encouragement. 

In addition to the already tough challenge of 50 miles in 40 days, I also broke my toe 2 weeks before we ran. We all agreed it was the hardest thing any of us had done to this point. Going in, we all HONESTLY questioned whether we could complete the challenge but we maintained the attitude of “Even if we fail, at least we’ll have fun failing together.”

I have been talking about doing 40 miles for my 40th birthday for a few years. I have a route all planned out that goes past significant places from my life. During the marathon when we got to mile 18, I told Tauni that was my 40th mile that weekend and I was not going to be running 40 miles for my 40th. I didn't ever want to run that much again. So we stopped, took a picture, said happy 40th birthday and mile to me before we continued on. 

Brad said we can go and bike the 40 mile route for my birthday. 

On the half marathon, Tauni's knee started hurting at about mile 10. We ended up walk/running the last 3 miles hoping that it would be okay for the marathon the next day. 

As we started out the marathon I was amazed at how good I felt, I really wanted to run and was going at a decent pace. About a half mile into it, Tauni told me that she might not be able to do it because her knee was locking up and hurt. We stopped so she could fix her knee brace, continued on to the first aid station at mile one. They wrapped her knee. 

As we left the aid station, she kept telling me I don't think I can do this, you may have to leave me. Of course I would never leave her or let her quit. I told her even if we walk the entire thing we will still make the cutoff times. So we walk/ ran from that point on. We had some pretty good stretches where she was able to run a couple of miles without walking. AND we had some times where I wondered if we really would be able to finish. It was hard to go that slow for that many miles. When we got to mile 23 she told me that she was just done and would have to walk the rest of the race. I texted Nina, Brandt and Brad to let them know that we were going to be awhile, they were all sending encouraging texts to Tauni that I would read to her. (Did I mention that at this point it was raining really hard on us too.) I also filled the time by telling Tauni all of the things I would do for her when she was laid up in bed after knee surgery. 

It wasn't pretty and it wasn't fast but together we finished! In tears we crossed the finish line to cheers from strangers and our loved ones. 

I love that we match in every way in this photo from the misery on our faces to our outfits. Tauni kept saying I just have to keep running until we are out of the ESPN field. 

There's an old African proverb that says, "If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go with others." We learned so much this weekend, not about racing or running, but about mental fortitude and the strength we can find within ourselves when we know we have others supporting us. As we successively crossed the finish line Sunday morning, we each felt that the reward for finishing was something far greater than 6 sweet finisher medals. We each gained the knowledge and confidence that with determination our bodies and spirits can do far more than we think is possible. 

The Dopey Challenge was brutally hard physically, but the tears on our faces as we finished were not from pain, but from the joy we felt in realizing that we had the strength to overcome pain. We all left saying, “Now that we’ve done this, what’s our next challenge? What is our limit? What more are we capable of?” 

The day we got home I signed Brad and I up for a half Iron Man and the brutal 50k Speedgoat. We are going to push our limits again with these. 

Don't waste your time considering and analyzing the potential problems you might encounter. People who experience the greatest victories accept the risks that accompany the search for success. In the game of life, you are either a player or a spectator. Don't let life pass you by, make sure you don't end up becoming one of those people who in their final days will only manage to look back with regret and sorrow at all of the opportunities they could have had but didn't. Take on every new adventure with renewed excitement. Challenge the norm. Break a few rules. Worries, fears, and doubts do nothing but rob you of your dreams and keep you tied to a life of mediocrity. Always remember that it's not failure that will keep you from success; it's mediocrity. 

There is just so much life to live. And we can. 

Let’s go live our lives to the fullest and push beyond what we think we can. Have you found your limit yet?