I have hit a roadblock already and surprisingly is has nothing to do with the running part. I haven’t even managed to register for the Disney Princess Half marathon and right away I have learned that when trying to organize a group of people who have vastly different schedules, income levels, and abilities to leave their jobs or families, you are going to have to get creative. Word spread of my super fun idea to run in the ½ marathon and my little group of three has ballooned and deflated a few times over. At this writing as many as 12 people think they want to do this with me. Fantastic, except that I really wanted a small, focused group who have the same goal in mind, at least for this first race. But at the same time there is no way that I can tell anyone no. With this large group of people comes the roadblocks.
The original idea was that we would arrive on Thursday, go to the Expo and Epcot on Friday, Magic Kingdom on Saturday, race on Sunday with a nice relaxing dinner in the evening to celebrate a race well run, and then depart on Monday. Well, now the newcomers want to arrive on varying days, go to the parks (or not), have the dining plan (or not), and some have lower expectations for their personal goals and only want to walk the 13.1 miles. With a race anywhere other than Disney World this may not prove to be so difficult, but as anyone who has booked a trip may know where this is going. When sharing a room, everyone must have the same variables to their package. From arrival day, to tickets, to dining plan options, we all have to agree, or at least find the right combination to match people up by rooms so that each person can have what they want. For a multitude of reasons this task falls on my shoulders. I am the common link between all of the people. Not everyone knows each other, everyone would prefer a certain roommate, but the biggest reason that I am left to sort this out is because I am the supposed Disney guru. Everyone I know comes to me when they have a question about a Disney trip and while I am nowhere near an expert, I am the closest thing to it as far as they are concerned.
When it is all said and I expect that my once happy trio will probably be a little group of six (maybe) and we (along with my ever patient TMFL agent, Jessica) will figure out a way to make this work.
Bridget (who is learning to be a runner).
Part 1 of Bridget’s “Princess in Preparation” Blog can be found here.