Midnight Run - The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror 13k Race Report

Author's note: Sorry about the delay in posting this. Racing in the middle of vacation can be an issue, what with the lack of access, and then real-life piling on once you get back. But finally, here it is.

I've done a night race once before. Actually, that's not exactly true, since it was an untimed run, but it was Central Park at midnight. Needless to say, these don't pop up too often on the schedule, so pre-race preparations are a bit different. I spent the morning with my wife at Epcot, then had lunch at the Italian pavillion, before relaxing for the afternoon back at our resort. I caught the bus to the start area around 8, and was in the holding pen by 8:15, leaving over two hours to cool my heels. And so, I relaxed and took in the atmosphere.

One thing I enjoy about the Disney races is the easy-going attitude. There aren't a lot of people there to truly "race" (although I guess I fall in that category), most are happy to finish and enjoy the experience. To make it a bit more fun for those people, they've added a few interesting elements to the night. In the start area there was a big "hotel registry" where all the racers could "sign in". So somewhere there's a big piece of cardboard with a few thousand signatures. Over the course of the race, there was a mystery to solve, as well. Since I knew I wasn't going to be taking part in that, I didn't pay much attention, but there was an apparent kidnapping of a Hollywood star, and a list of suspects on our bibs. Clues along the course would eliminate various suspects, and the culprit revealed at the finish. That would be fun for the less-competitive crowd. I, on the other hand, would be so short of breath that trying to solve a crime would potentially cause an aneurysm.

Since it was Halloween week, there were some costumes out and about, including a guy dressed as a girl scout (who I narrowly beat), various superheroes, lots of skeletons, and a guy dressed up as the Tower of Terror.

I set out for a warm-up jog with some openers, and to get a feel for the weather. Even though the sun had set hours earlier, it was still about 75F when the gun went off. There was a slight breeze that helped to cool a little, and the humidity wasn't as bad as it was in the mornings, so I liked that. Once the 5k race was sent off, I lined up right near the front to get a reasonably clear start. Lots of singlets from the local running clubs, so you could see who was here to race. And when the fireworks went off, it was time to race.

I had a few rough goals for the race, some within my control, some not so much:
1. Not go out like an idiot and burn all my matches in the first mile.
2. Finish in ~51:30, about 3:57/km.
3. Finish top 25 overall (on the first page of results), and top 3 in my age group.

It's hard not to get swept up in the initial rush off the line, but I did my best to manage. I kept an eye on my Garmin so I wouldn't end up at 3:30/km. A lot of people blew past me to start, but I was reeling them back before we hit the first mile marker. My first kilometre went in 3:58, so everything was right on pace. Much of the first part of the run is on closed highway, which might be a little depressing if you could see into the distance, but in the dark it was kind of nice to have nothing else to worry about. I kept slowly moving up the ranks, knocking out kilometres in 3:54-3:58. All of this bodes very well for a good finish. I'm working, but not having to push yet. Although I have been soaked with sweat since 3km.

As we approach the Wide World of Sports complex, the race turns onto a gravel road for a while (an interesting change of pace, hard to get the rhythm here), then to the 400m track to do a lap (tracks are springy and fast and so much fun to run on). By this point we were around halfway through, and my effort has getting a bit harder. I was still in 3:58-4:02/km range, but I could feel things slipping. Then we were back on the highways returning to Hollywood Studios.

With most of the last 3km inside the park, I had mentally divided the course at that point. Just get to 3km, then it was twelve minutes of Go Time left. The trick here was that once inside the park, there are a lot of corners and mild elevation changes that seem to hit the legs. As we passed a volunteer, I swear he called out "You're in the top fifteen", although it must have been top 50. Buoyed by my imaginary news, I kept the pressure on during the twelfth kilometre. I felt slow during 11, so I went that little bit harder. Unfortunately, the jets only had about 1.5km of juice in them, and the last kilometre was a struggle. It was there that we hit the only real rises of the day, and it felt like I had run into a wall. Just as the finish line came into sight, I was caught and passed, and a voice said, "He did the work to catch up, let him have it", then another voice said, "Screw that noise, sprint it home", so I did, beating him to the line.

Official results:
Gun time: 52:35, Chip time: 52:33
32/3247 overall, 5/249 AG (really 6/250 if you include the Open winners)

I'm a little torn about how I feel about this race. I didn't quite make my goals, but it's hard to be too disappointed. On the good side, I didn't bolt out of the gate costing me the day. I also stayed close to even pacing all the way through. I didn't have the one or two horrible splits that plagued so many of my races. And hey, top 1% is hardly a bad day. Sure, you have click to page 2 to find me, and I won't be getting a trophy. I know I lost some time due to the climate, but probably not the minute I missed my goal by, so there's fitness left to build.

The Garmin was great, although I'll need to compensate for not running the tangent in the future. It claims I ran 13.1km, so assuming about 0.5-1% margin of error, I'll need to adjust my target paces in the future (1-2 sec/km). I also need to work on developing more power in my stride. My cadence was 98-102 spm through the race, which is at least a little too high, so it looks like a diet of striders and hill sprints for much of the winter/spring.

Now I'll take a few weeks of semi-recovery before swim club starts back up (and pre-season mentality along with it). Next year won't have nearly as much on the calendar, giving me a chance to build some serious base then speed, which I can unleash in a big way in coming seasons.