Okay, I survived and didn't get swept, although only because I started at the front of corral D. This is going to be kind of stream-of-consciousness because I'm still coming down off the race.
I'm not sure I'm a fan of the new course, but I'm sure it makes security easier - they just run you through the Epcot security scanners.
It was stupid hot today. My phone was claiming 74 before sunrise. Also humid and occasionally raining.
I estimated I'd have about half an hour of slack - I think it was more like 23 minutes. At least, I didn't hear any more fireworks after about 23 minutes after I started.
I figured that with a decent start I could stay ahead and not get swept, and that's how it worked out. My speed was flagging by mile 4. Add in that my sleeves were rubbing the insides of my arms raw by mile 3, and the blister briefly made its presence known around mile 6. The blister sorted itself out; the arms are going to hurt for a while. I think it may finally be time to retire that 2017 Star Wars Rebel Challenge shirt that has been my primary racing and training shirt for almost six years now.
The Garmin was giving distances about 2% long - not sure if it was GPS twitch or just hopping around to dodge people. My splits started around 14:30, but by mile 5 they were at 17:00.
Around mile 8, there's a switchback that's about half a mile long, and as I got to the end of it, I saw the balloon ladies coming down the ramp toward the other side, so I knew I was a good mile ahead of them. Shortly after that I stopped for my only photo of the run - I couldn't pass up Ferb. Ferb's worth the 3 minutes it took.
There was another spot around mile 11 where I could see that I had a good lead of at least a half mile on the balloon ladies. I knew I wouldn't be swept at that point, and dropped to a walk. Mile 12's split was 21:00.
I tried to keep ahead of the 3:30 pace group as we went through Epcot, but they finally passed me as we were leaving the park.
The balloon ladies had almost caught up to me as we were approaching mile 13, but I had enough left to run the rest of the way. (Not that they'd sweep me at mile 13, just the principle of the thing.)
Final time, 3:49:50, my worst half marathon by twenty-nine minutes and fifty-nine seconds, and over an hour off my PR. But, as I've commented elsewhere, infinitely better than the races I didn't run.
I've been working with a health coach on diet, mostly as someone I can be accountable to. I may start talking to her about running accountability as well.