The moon was shining bright this past Saturday night …
Photo by Jim Hill
… as more than 10,000 runners lined up at the toll plaza
for Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park …
Photo by Jim Hill
… eager to take part in the inaugural run of the Twilight
Zone Tower of Terror 10-Miler race.
Mind you, these folks had to wait a wee bit before they then
allowed to take part in this nighttime road race. But runDisney kept everyone
energized & entertained at the starting line with the help of a DJ who spun
tunes while sitting behind a rather familiar-looking front desk.
Photo by Jim Hill
Finally the race's 10 p.m. start time arrived. And after two
waves of wheelchair athletes headed out on the course …
Photo by Jim Hill
… it was finally time to enter the 5th dimension. And as
multiple interruptions of fireworks streaked across the sky, wave after wave of
runners raced off into the darkness …
Photo by Jim Hill
… on a journey that would take them out to the ESPN Wide
World of Sports Complex and up onto the Osceola Parkway before they then
returned to Disney's Hollywood Studios, past the set of the "Lights, Motors,
Action! Extreme Stunt Show" …
Photo by Jim Hill
… before reaching the finish line near DHS's Twilight Zone
Tower of Terror attraction.
Photo by Jim Hill
And all along this 10 mile-long race course, you could find
Walt Disney World Cast Members who were helping out with this runDisney event.
Whether it was setting up drink stations along the race route …
Photo by Jim Hill
… or getting those thousands of Twilight Zone Tower of
Terror-shaped medals ready to hand out to event participants …
Photo by Jim Hill
… these volunteers were everywhere.
Mind you, it didn't take all that long to hand out the first
medal. Juan Morales of Huntington Beach, CA. zoomed
across the finished line just 58 minutes after he started. And he was soon
joined by Kimberly Mueller of San Diego,
CA. Who completed the course with a race time of 1:04:50.
Juan Morales and Kimberly
Mueller, the male &
female winners of the Inaugural run of the
Twilight
Zone Tower of Terror 10-Miler.
Photo by Jim Hill
As the rest of the racers made their way across the finish
line, they then joined friends & family at the Disney Villains Hollywood
Bash, a special after-hours party at the
studio theme park which lasted until 4 a.m.
Photo by Jim Hill
Just so you know: This
nighttime race was just one component of the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
10-Miler Weekend. Over the course of
this two day-long event, amateur athletes from around the country could take
part in a Health & Fitness Expo, participate in the Disney Happy Haunted 5K
Trail Run and/or look on as their children joined in on the runDisney Kids'
Race.
Copyright Disney
Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved
And if this sounds like the sort of athletic event that you might like to part in … Well, runDisney
does have its Wine and Dine Half Marathon Weekend coming up on November 9th
& 10th. If you'd like further
information on this two day-long event (which also features a night-time race),
please click on this link.
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