been there, done that, got the t-shirt

Great success! (said in the Borat voice obviously) The 5K has been run. I am alive and had a great time. Emily Moore had a great time running?! I know weird, right? I'm sure you are thinking, "But you wasted so much time complaining." My response to that would be...erm well, true. Call me crazy. Think of it more like freaking out rather than complaining. Mmkay?

Let's start the story from the beginning: Once upon a time an imprudent girl named Emily signed up for a race.

Fast forward to February 26. Full from a supper of carbs, (everyday should be a race day so we can nom on carbs for dindin) I shot up awake at 4am. I tried to be in bed by 8pm the night before, but the roomies were not having it. Two hours of AFV (punch me in the face) and Kindle reading later, they were still not wanting to sleep. Have no fear, we all managed to doze off and get a few hours of sleep.

Now the story gets really great. Ann, sweet little Ann, has never gotten up before 10 am. While I am slightly teasing, she had a hard time accepting the fact that she had to be up by 5 am. (which technically means we should have started waking her up at 4 because that is how long it takes Ann's brain to process that she needs. to. wake. up.) At 5:09 I caught a glimpse of Ann sitting up in bed, squinty eyed and bushy haired, staring at the wall pondering what the meaning of life could possibly be at that hour. From that moment on, Ann forgot that time does in fact go on. She was stuck in 5 am land. Ann's response to everything that happened for the rest of the day, "because it's 5 am!"
Examples:

Person 1: "Why is the parking so weird?" A: "Because it's 5 AM!"
Person 2: "Why does everyone look so crazy?" A: "Because it's 5 AM!"
Person 3: "Why did my sunglasses just break?" A: "Because it's 5 AM!" ---p.s.-it was 6:30 at this point

Let me preface this part of the story by saying that Disney is superior to all other earthly places. I think I would go into shock if I ever ran a race anywhere else. Would there be a 6 am warm up dance party with a DJ? Would Belle and the Beast be hosting the race? Would the countdown to the race be Be Our Guest instead of 3-2-1? Would all the Disney princesses be lined up cheering me on? Would I get an endless supply of goody bags and food and Powerade? A true Disney win. No other place can compare. Many will try, many will fail. Brittany and I spent the hour before the race dancing the Macarena, doing the Hand Jive, Gettin Low, and Making it Rain. All pre-race necessities, of course.

The magic words, "Be Our Guest" were said and off we went! The first half mile was reminiscent to what running a race in a can of sardines must be like. Brittany and I acted out the game of Frogger by weaving in and out of traffic (a.k.a the walkers, dun dun dun). The course for the 5K was described as taking the runners "through the 11 countries of World Showcase, the Fountain of Nations, Spaceship Earth, and the Leave a Legacy monument." That was code for "through the wonders and mysteries of backstage at Epcot with a quick jog around a little bit of Epcot." It was actually really cool to go backstage and the whole course was lined up with cast members cheering you on and clapping. (Also with security guards to keep you from wandering off backstage...)

Once we ran the 1.5 miles getting to the countries, Brittany decided she felt great and would do a little leap every time we entered a new country. Really cute considering I was going for more of a fall to the floor and curl up in a ball every time. Photographers were sitting throughout the course snapping shots of the weezing runners. That's really cute, not. No one wants to see a picture of me sweating with a painful look of death on my face. To prevent this from happening, Brittany and I smiled and pretended to be easily prancing along without a care in the world. Now, I haven't seen the pictures yet, but I'm willing to bet they are fabulous. (And by fabulous I mean, they would have looked better if Brittany and I had not tried acting blissful and carefree. Cannot wait to see those beauties). 

By the 2.5 mile marker I started to slide behind, meaning I had a really great view of Brittany's back. Far off in the distance... The cheering cast members were starting to get annoying and I couldn't believe it was only 2.5 miles. Whyyyyyyyy? And that is when the Biebs saved me. My go-to pump up slash favorite song ever is shamefully "Baby." Who in their right mind wouldn't like Justin Bieber and Ludacris singing? So, during my impending hour of death, Justin told me to quit playin because we were an item and man oh man, that did it. I was going to finish. this. race. I quickly quit playin and caught up with Brittany before we hit the last 500 yards. We came around a curve and there it was standing in all its glory (with a heavenly light shining down on it): the finish line. I then got the world's third largest adrenaline rush. The clock read 00:34:35(36,37,38). I was not going to let that clock read 35 minutes without being on the other side of the finish line. I feel like I took one big 30 yard leap in 2 seconds and was done.

Whoa. Did I really just do that? Did Brittany and I just finish? YES. yes yes yes. We should have done the Yes dance. Instead we got our medal, got some blue Powerade, got our picture taken, got our food goody bag and met up with our chEARleaders. (Get it? Disney is so cutesies). Joseph even brought us some doughnut holes for our finish. He knows what's up.

All in all, this was an amazing experience. I am so glad I got through my complaining freaking out phase and did it. As good ole Walt said, "If you can dream it, you can do it." Word, Walt.

Here are some pictures!

Shout out to my chEARleaders Mom, Ann, and Joseph! Also to my running buddy, Brittany. I literally could not have done it without you. Seriously, I needed you leaping into every country to get me through this!

Shout out to anyone who actually read all of this! You're the best.