runDisney/runICOT/cheerICOT Weekend Wrap-Up

Thought I'd copy and paste my Facebook post (with a few edits) over here. What a great weekend!!!!

Whew! What a week, truthfully full of ups and downs, but amazing nonetheless. It started with us finding out that John, our fearless INTERCOT leader, would not be able to come because of sad circumstances. Even though we all knew he was where he should and needed to be, he was sorely missed. We enjoyed Skyping daily updates with him though, and hope that helped him feel a part of this event he'd planned for over a year. We hope we represented him, and our fundraising efforts for THYCA (Thyroid Cancer Awareness), well!

I finally escaped the snowstorm in DC and made it to sunny FL to end Carol's ‪#‎whereismel‬ campaign, and we then had a great first full day in Animal Kingdom with our ICOT pals. Something I never thought would happen in my lifetime - I spent time in Animal Kingdom with Ian Mitchell! What a fun afternoon with Carol, Ian, Gary (dpamac), Jennifer (jennsky), Carolyn (Buttercup) and Sally Mae (badkitty). I needed the great company and fun after a stressful couple of days.

The next day started the races, and the start of sleep deprived, totally fun craziness! I love being a part of runDisney events, as a participant and cheering for all those participating (either for a cause dear to them, or as a personal goal, or even those running for the awesome bling!), but I have to say that Thursday morning's 5K was challenging. It's hard to convey to those who were in the Northeast last week dealing with the negative wind chills just how cold we were that morning, but I'll just say that if our CANADA gals were cold, it was cold! We were miserable, and I feel like the participants were luckier than the cheerers, because at least we got to finally start running and warm up a bit. Man, was it cold! So cold, it was hard to represent in our pink THYCA/‪#‎runICOT‬ shirts, but we tried! After warming up and spending a great day at the MK, we had an AMAZING turnout for our Tambu Lounge meet. So great to see Ed and his awesome wife Yvonne, and new Florida transplant Heather (BeachClubBabe). Longtime INTERCOTees are the best! A huge shout out to our CM server Chris at Tambu. He handled our group like a champ and with a wicked sense of humor. Love him!

The next morning, ‪#‎cheerICOT‬ rocked the Boardwalk on teal THYCA/#runICOT day. This is my favorite morning to cheer, and thank goodness it was much warmer than the previous morning. Thanks to Carol, Ian, Gary, Carolyn, Jennifer, Marci (Disney4us2), Marci's daughter Jessica, Michael (NotaGeek), Quentin, Dawn (tiggerears) and Justin (yungbuck73) for representing. So proud of our 10Kers - the entire Kemmer family (Spencer, ICOTee mariak and their girls), Natalie (BrerGnat) and her hubby Angel, Mel (JMTStone), Sally Mae (badkitty), Cindy (AgentC - running and rockin' her very first 10K!), and my hubby James. I call the morning a success after waking up some of the Boardwalk folks with ‪#‎morecowbell‬.

Saturday brought purple THYCA/#runICOT day, and cheering the Half Marathoners on Main Street USA! Although logistically this day can be a bit of a challenge, it all worked out and no T.I.M. in sight, and it's truly magical seeing the runners and how they love running up Main Street towards Cinderella Castle. Although our number of runners dwindle on Saturday and Sunday, the #cheerICOT crew still has plenty of passion for those left, and thanks to Gary, and new awareness for Team In Training (Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.) We hope our little cheer crew made a difference every time we yelled "GO TEAM!" After seeing James, Spencer and Mel in the MK, we all headed to our new favorite spot near the Epcot bus depot to see the runners again at about mile 12. Day 3 was a success!

INTERCOT's Gary's Column meet that afternoon was a great success! What a huge turnout. I was especially happy to see Lizzy and to meet Magical Journeys Denise. Also great to see Nikki (disneykidssince1970), freshly back in the US from her fabulous Switzerland holiday (we didn't get to visit enough!). Always a good time at Column.

Sunday was already here, and it was INTERCOT blue/#runICOT day. It was a big day for our Dopey Challenge runners (James, Spencer and new INTERCOTee Robert aka Rufuscube) and a milestone day for Christine. 26.2 miles is an astounding accomplishment, but can you imagine running 22.4 in the 3 days prior as well? Amazing job to James, Spencer and Robert! You're all COMPLETELY Dopey, and James is now perfectly Dopey, having completed it in it's first two years. We'll see if the tradition continues. I love you, babe! You always rock it!

According to a stat I found online, only 0.5% of the US population has run a marathon. Girlfriend, you are now a part of that very select few. So awesome! Christine set this as a goal for herself, wanting to run every distance runDisney offered. Mentally she powered through, telling her body to hush up, and although she was hurting yesterday (and maybe still even today ), she should be so proud. We sure were, and loved cheering you along the route. We hope we didn't interfere in your reunion with your biggest cheerleader, John (alongfortheride), but we just wanted to see you finish and let you know how happy we were!

So there is my NOVEL! Whew. It was a great, inspiring weekend, and I always enjoy spending time with ICOT pals. I love you all!!! Who knew when I went looking for some Disney vacation planning help on the internet 12 or so years ago, that you all would be so very important to me. When is our next get together?!?!