Tag Archives: Disney world

Aug9

RunDisney Virtual Running Shorts 2017

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I’m not someone who partakes in “Virtual Races” much.  For those of you who don’t know what a virtual race is, it’s any event where you register to race the set distance but on your own course.  Some actual road races offer virtual options, which usually need to be completed and logged during a certain window of time.  And some companies put on virtual races just as events where people can log their times and earn a medal to commemorate the run.

The times I have done so was when I did a Digital Running Virtual Run to tack on to my RunDisney Dopey Challenge in 2014 (Hat Trick medal, Grand Slam medal), an “Interstate Challenge” (run a race in Canada and USA…easy!) which then led me to doing a “Time of the Season” challenge with them (run at least a km race in every month of 2014….HUGE four piece medal once done!)  I also did the Knotts Berry Farm Coaster Run 10km as a Virtual Race in 2015 solely for the Snoopy medal.  I mean, duh….

I would rather just be out running an actual race than doing a Virtual Race.  And a lot of the Virtual Races that I see people doing are through promoters in the USA, which then means its a US dollar registration fee, and since our exchange rate in Canada isn’t really that great at the moment it just gets pricey.  It has to be something special for me to consider a virtual event.

In Spring 2016, RunDisney announced their first “Virtual Running Shorts” which would take place in the summer.  There would be 3 different 5km virtual runs you could do, one for each month, with a different medal for each month plus a challenge medal if you did all three.  I was intrigued by this last year since I knew I couldn’t run that much distance in the summer, as my foot surgery was early June, but opted to not push myself post surgery with events (even if just a 5km virtual run).

This year, RunDisney offered the Virtual Shorts again and I jumped on board pretty quickly.  The price tag sort of made me contemplate if it was worth doing-each virtual race was either $40 a piece or you could pay $142 for all three plus the challenge medal and other goodies.  This was then when our Canadian dollar was really at its worse, so after the tax and fees and exchange rate, I did end up paying quite a bit for what is basically just appears to be 4 medals.  Would it be worth it?

I was impressed with that I received my package from RunDisney very early in June—even before some other people in the USA!  They mail you all four medals right away, each individually packed, plus the other goodies which was a collapsible dog bowl, dog tag, and cool towel.  The additional goodies were only for if you registered for the whole challenge, and are dog items since the mascot for the series was Pluto.  They are definitely not something on their own worth registering for, and if you don’t have a pet there really isn’t a use….but I have to say we used that dog bowl a lot this summer with all our travels to and from Calgary for Snoopy’s acupuncture!

 

I opted to keep all the medals in the box and would only remove each one as I completed a race.  What’s the point of hanging them all up right away?…I needed to earn them!


Since I wanted to be able to hang my medals early each month, I tend to chose early dates to complete my virtual run.  I also tried to choose days that were important to me, just to make them a bit more special.  I ran my June 5km on June 7th, which would have been the day of my dad’s 65th birthday.  I was 19 weeks pregnant at this point, and full of emotions, as Snoopy was not yet back to walking.  I finished this 5km in a time of 34:55.

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I opted to use the Canada Day Red Dress Run 5km event as my July digital run.  That event ended up being closer to 6km in length, but I made sure to stop my watch once I reached the 5km point so I had a time for my virtual run.  I had most fun doing this run as part of the RunDisney Virtual Running Shorts series mainly because I took the “Dress in Red & White for Canada Day” theme as the opportunity to wear my Minnie Mouse tutu!  It was also fun for it being during an event, as I pushed myself a bit more and ran a 31:45.  I was 22.5 weeks pregnant.

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I couldn’t wait any longer for my last medals, so once August 1st rolled around I went out and did my final event.  The whole month of July had been incredibly hot, but I had stuck with my 4 days a week training plan of running.  Honestly, having these little 5km virtual events each month helped keep me going through the heat and this pregnancy!  I was just shy of 27 weeks along in my pregnancy when I completed the final 5km, in a time of 35:41.

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All four medals are hanging proudly on my medal hanger, and I even made sure to hang them right by all my other RunDisney bling!  Participating in this virtual event was perfect for me, given that my last half marathon was end of May and that I wouldn’t be doing any other long races this summer during my pregnancy.  It helped keep me accountable this summer, when otherwise I may have just gotten frustrated that I wasn’t registered for any summer time 10km or half marathons.  If someone needs a little extra push, this race series may be a good option for you.  While I most likely won’t do it again next year (I’m doing Start Wars-The Dark Side and Disneyland Half Weekend, so I get the real deal!) I am happy that I registered for it this summer!

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Jul19

A Decade of Marathons 

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I have wanted to do this post for sometime, but haven’t found time to sit down and do it. So now I am finally sitting down and doing it! While Vancouver Marathon has come and gone, I can’t stop thinking about that race. The more I think about that race, the more I think about the races I did before it. And then I realize how long I have been actively running long distance races.  

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I ran my first full marathon in May 2005. 10 years ago! It was the Madison Marathon in Madison, Wisconsin. I trained with a plan my friend Matt had put together and was able to finish in a respectable time. I was sore and felt like junk afterwards though! My body wasn’t used to the beating it was put through. I honestly couldn’t lift my leg over the tub to get into the shower a few hours after the race! But, even with all that pain, I was hooked. It felt great to do something not everyone can do! I did my second marathon the following year in 2006, when I repeated that very event. The heat index was out of control and they actually closed the course after 5 hours and 15 minutes. Thankfully I had finished.  

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I did marathon number 3 that same year in October-The Chicago Marathon! It was my first BIG event! 40,000 runners…through the streets of a big city…amazing crowds….I broke 4 hours in this event and felt unstoppable! The next year I did Madison again, and I dropped a few more minutes off my Chicago time. Wow…maybe I can keep dropping time? Maybe in the future I could qualify for Boston? Well, reality hit when I ran the Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon in October 2007. I ran my second worse race, hadn’t really properly trained (I had been working at Badgerette during the summer running Pom Pon camps and not really taking training seriously in between). When I did Madison Marathon the following May 2008, I only dropped half a minute off my Lakefront time. Maybe I wasn’t meant to get any faster??

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Madison Marathon 2005—4 hours 27 minutes 38 seconds

Madison Marathon 2006—4 hours 47 minutes 48 seconds

Chicago Marathon 2006—3 hours 59 minutes 25 seconds

Madison Marathon 2007—3 hours 56 minutes 37 seconds

Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon 2007—4 hours 42 minutes 18 seconds

Madison Marathon 2008—4 hours 41 minutes 50 seconds

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Then I moved to Canada. And I trained in Lethbridge for my first marathon in Canada. While the training seemed to go well, my body wasn’t well adjusted to the elevation and I bonked. I did awful. This was the Calgary Marathon in 2009. And after this race I took a hiatus from full marathons until January 2014. This was when I ran the Walt Disney World Marathon to cap off my Dopey Challenge four race adventure! Now, I had trained extensively for this event, doing many 10km and half marathons in preparation. And during that time I had dropped down all my shorter race times and had gotten faster! And all that hard work paid off because I didn’t just break 4 hours, but I ran my fastest race yet! This got me thinking about the elusive Boston Marathon again. If I focused on training for full marathons again and took my training up a notch, maybe, just maybe I could drop enough time to make it there! I trained for the May 2014 Calgary Marathon. I ran in, running way better than I had in 2009. But it wasn’t good enough. I was frustrated. I quickly registered for the Edmonton Marathon in August 2014, hoping to shave enough time off. I faltered. And it hurt. Maybe it was time to retire after running 10 marathons…

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Calgary Marathon 2009—5 hours 3 minutes 37 seconds

Walt Disney World Marathon 2014—3 hours 50 minutes 52 seconds

Calgary Marathon 2014—3 hours 46 minutes 22 seconds

Edmonton Marathon 2014—3 hours 44 minutes 59 seconds

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I decided to give my Boston Qualifying attempt one last shot. I trained my ass off for my 11th marathon, the Vancouver Marathon held this past May 2015. I had a training plan made specifically for me, and took things more serious than I ever had before. It was all or nothing. And that attitude paid off. I not only made the 3:35.00 qualifying standard for Boston, but I smashed it by just over 10 minutes! After 10 years of running marathons, I had finally achieved what every runner wants-to qualify for the prestigious Boston Marathon. And while one would think that marathon 12 would be Boston in 2016, it actually was when I went back up to Calgary in the end of May 2015 for a little redemption. I ran the 50km Ultra during Marathon weekend in a time of 4:39.37….I ran 50km in Calgary faster than I ran 42.2 km in Calgary 2009! I even managed to podium in my age group! 

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Vancouver Marathon 2015—3 hours 24 minutes 56 seconds

Calgary Marathon 50km Ultra 2015, Marathon Split—3 hours 56 minutes 37 seconds

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So now what? Well, marathon #13 will in fact be Boston 2016. I register for that during the second day of rolling registrations, on September 16th, 2015. Running my qualifying time by over 10 minutes paid off! I am all but set to be running the 120th Boston Marathon. I cannot wait for marathon #13, as it will be so sweet. Spending over a decade of my life…my 30 years life….so 1/3 of my existence….running marathons has paid off. Yes, it is a hobby, but it is an important one. Running all these races have taught me determination, focus, resilience and mental toughness. I faced triumphs…and frustrations. But I never gave up. Never, ever give up.

Jan5

More Than a Year’s Worth of Effort…It Is Here!

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The event I set as the goal of my running career so far is almost here-Dan, my mom, and I leave for the Dopey Challenge in less 40 hours! Dan and I have to get through one day of work tomorrow (January 6th) before we head up to Calgary to catch our red-eye flight to Toronto, where we will then catch a flight to Orlando. My mom leaves on Tuesday AM, and if all our flights are on time :::fingers crossed::: we arrive within one hour of each other!

At the start of this journey, I talked about how I was made for this race. I have had the picture below posted a couple times, and it’s currently both my cover photo on Facebook and background on Twitter:

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The year was 1988. I am almost four years old. I am sprinting up the driveway after running up the hill with my dad. I am sporting a Walt Disney World shirt, a gift from my Uncle Chuck & Auntie Debbie. I had not been to Walt Disney World yet. Little did I know, that after 1 trip in 1991, I would become an addict.

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Disney World became our family vacation destination. The three of us took six fantastic trips together as a family, the last being in Spring 2003.

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My dad suffered a fatal heart attack the following Spring, on April 25th, 2004. My life and my mom’s life were turned upside down. I turned my energy to running, and ran my first half marathon on May 1st, 2004. I haven’t stopped running road races since.

I needed to find a way, a suitable way, to honor my dad. It was time. I was finally able to handle the loss, and knew honoring him was my last step. Running and Disney….that had to be the combination. I set out on January 2013 ready to raise money for heart disease research…setting up fundraising accounts with American Heart Association and Heart & Stroke Foundation. I blogged about my running and races and Disney World and family memories. I signed up for more races in 2013 than I ever have done in my life—I ran 22 unique races over the course of this year! And most importantly, I signed up for the Dopey Challenge, which is to be held on January 9-12, 2014, during WDW Marathon Weekend.

I was meant for this race. My whole life. I never knew it until this past year. This week, when I step into the Walt Disney World Resort with my husband and my mom….I will be ready to run…more than ever….my dad will be with me too.

Je Me Souviens! To Infinity & Beyond!

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If you are interested in donating in memory of my father, Andrew A. Lammers, please click on the “Charities” tab at the top of the page, and follow the links to my personal fundraising pages with American Heart Association or Heart & Stroke Foundation. Every little bit helps and is appreciated more than you know!

Nov16

Disney Wine & Dine Race Recap—-The Race and the Party!

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Just last week, I was down in Disney World for my first RunDisney event, the Wine & Dine Half Marathon. I already wrote about the day leading up to the race, so now onto the main event!
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My friends and I went out to the shuttle by the Yacht Club at 7 pm, and were on one of the first buses. The shuttle system was smooth and we arrived at ESPN Wide World of Sports in no time. Now, I was expecting large crowds, as I knew there was anywhere from 12,000-14,000 runners, but I guess it was still a shock to see the large masses congregating in the field that evening. We headed over to bag check and then proceeded to a line up for a photo with Chip & Dale.
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After that, we enjoyed the pre-race DJ and even rocked some dance moves during warmup. While the evening air felt cool for Florida standards, even just dancing around for a few minutes caused me to realize the humidity was lurking. Had to stop! At about 9 pm, I parted ways from Teresa and Kristen, got in the porta potty line up, and then headed to my corral.
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This was a night race, with the first corral starting at 10 pm. There were Corrals from the letters A-L. Runners were placed in corrals based on prior race time submissions. I was fortunate enough to start in Corral A, and was also lucky enough to be positioned right next to the main stage before the race! While I was standing over here for approximately 40 minutes, time flew by as I had tons to watch and listen to. I was just soaking it all in!
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Pretty soon after the National Anthem, the countdown started. Less than 2 minutes….1minute….30 seconds…..Runners, Setttttttttttttt……..GO!
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I barreled out of the corral and my net time ended up only being 4 seconds off of gun time. I had the motivation and mindset to aim for my PR, beating 1:41:07, and even going sub 1:40. Going to say right now, I really thought I could. But within 2 miles I could feel sweat pouring off my body like I was in a sauna with a fan on me. I was still going to give it my all though!

I knew from looking at RunDisney pictures, videos and other blogs online that the entertainment on course would be awesome. Yes, it is a little different on the highway portions since it is pitch black night outside, but as you neared each mile marker, bright lights and music welcomed you. Whenever there was a character meet and greet on the roadways, there would be giant lights by them, and you could see these blocks away. I just kept my head forward and eyes on the next “icon” coming up at all times.

This race goes through three of the four Disney parks—-Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios and Epcot. Going through Animal Kingdom at night was awesome as a Disney parks fan, since it is usually only opened each day until 5 or 7 pm! The big loop around the parking lot on our way out was visually tough and deceiving though—-felt like I would never be back on the road! When we got back on out, we headed to Hollywood Studios.

All the volunteers at water stops on the course were so friendly and excited. Since I was dressed up in costume, it was fun to hear the delayed reaction to that I was Mary Poppins! I think some people only got it when they saw my back!
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For as small as Hollywood Studios is, RunDisney really gets you to wind a lot through the park! I was very excited to see the Osbourne Christmas lights, as I have never been to Disney during the season. After exiting this park, in my eyes you were in the home stretch. The reason why—-you hit the path that takes you to Boardwalk, Swan & Dolphin and Yacht & Beach. This pathway is of extreme symbolic importance to me, as they built it when I was in high school, and my parents and I would often walk it to the Studios instead of taking the boat. I even wrote a blog reminiscing how my dad and I tried to “Beat the Boat.” You can find that here:
Beat the Boat!

With those memories in my mind, I mustered the energy to keep on trucking, even though that by now I knew I wouldn’t be making 1:40. My eyes swelled up with tears as I ran on the wooden walkway in front of Yacht Club, Stormalong Bay, Beach Club, and in around the backside of EPCOT’s World Showcase. As we entered into EPCOT next to Journey into Imagination, I knew I could push myself this last bit. It was very cool to run through Future World, because while running through the other parks and on property was awesome, you didn’t have the spectators there yelling for you. After running past Spaceship Earth I knew the end was near, since we were exiting and heading near parking lots. I couldn’t wait to finish!

Coming down the dark straightaway to the music blaring and the crowds screaming was incredible! The photo below was taken as I crossed the line, and I have ordered a collage from Marathon Foto capturing four on-route moments, two of which I included in this post. I finished with a 1:44:33, which is my second-best half marathon time.

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I was hot, sweaty, tired, shaking and a ball of emotions. My first RunDisney event was complete and I couldn’t have been more impressed. From the Expo, to the transportation between venues, to the entertainment and pre-race fun, the route itself, the medals, the swag…..it was definitely magical!
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The Wine & Dine Half caps off with a runner celebration in World Showcase, deemed as part of the “Ultimate Runner’s Night Out.” I changed in the provided change rooms, picked up my complimentary beverage, and wandered back to World Showcase. Since I was done rather early, I didn’t have much trouble making it to the back of the park, but anyone who ran this race will know that the “crosswalk” created to manage flow of traffic through the race was quite stressful. When I got in the back of the park, I texted Teresa and Kristen that there was no way I would be able to make it back to the front to find them when finished, as I made it to the point of no return. I told them to tell me what country to meet them at when finished.
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I could talk tons about the after party, but instead I will post the video created by RunDisney. As I waited for Teresa and Kristen, I wandered from Canada to France and back, where I got photos with the penguins from Mary Poppins, enjoyed some food and drink at the booths, and was interviewed by RunDisney! They had shot me greeting the penguins, but it wasn’t until after I had gotten a Leffe Brune beer from the Belgium booth and was texting Teresa when they approached me for an interview.

Click here to see my 15 minutes of fame—-my drinking, running and Disney “career” is now basically complete!

So what if the first thing I say is “I love beer!”? I do have to note that this whole “Beer, Disney, Running” mantra was written to me via email from my husband on Friday of the trip. He had said, quote “Booze, running and Disney. This crap really is tailor made for you.”

Cheers to a fantastic Wine & Dine Half Marathon 2013!

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Aug26

One of my All-Time Favorite Pictures….

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I am getting a little bit off on my Sunday entry schedule, and I apologize.. I have been writing more sports tidally each week and still try to manage a post each week, but I cannot always guarantee the day of week. For instance, I want to now do a race recap on my event from Sunday, but I would like to wait until I see all pictures from the course photographers and any my friends took. So that will wait until later. But until then, I will put out a short photo memory post.

The photo below is of my dad and I during Christmastime of 2002.. While my website strongly talks about my loves of running, Disney World, my dad, and how they all tie together, there are other moments I love to cherish from when my dad was alive. This moment is one of them.

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The American Club in Kohler, Wisconsin, is a hotel that can simply not be compared with many other hotels in the world. The main building used to house the immigrant workers for the Kohler Company (yes, the company that makes toilets and faucets!). It was converted to a historic hotel in the early 80s and has received much praise—it is a AAA five diamond hotel! And, after Walt Disney World, it is definitely my family’s favorite getaway.

My parents first went to American Club when I was in 8th grade, and they got hooked. They first brought me in 2001, during Christmas. It was our backup trip that year, as after 9/11 occurred, my mom wasn’t sure if our airline tickets for Jamaica would be holding true by December—it was hard telling what would be flying by then at that point in time. So a trip to the American Club occurred. We went back again that Easter for a night, and then the following Christmas, in 2002. That’s when this photo was taken. In the main building off of the front foyer and library is this little nook by a fireplace with a chess set. My dad taught me how to play chess when I was a little girl and it was a game we would always play. He had a carved set from the Philippines I learned to play on, and now I am the owner of my dad’s stone chess set from the Holy Lands.

This moment of us playing chess together freezes an important memory and moment forever in my mind. I will always cherish the times our family had up in Kohler at the American Club, and this simple act of playing chess before heading off to dinner is so special.

Jul31

A Runner’s Thoughts—Potty Training

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You get up to your alarm nice and early…eat breakfast, let your food settle, get ready and go out for a run…and even though you JUST went to the bathroom before locking the door…you have to go again.

Welcome to my demise.

I know, this may be a little TMI, and usually it just happens with nerves on race days. Anyone who has been to any race knows what it’s like at the porta-potties…lines longer than at Disney World. You have to get in line early so you have enough time before start time, but if you go too early, you have to go again. If you go too late, you might miss the start. If you don’t think you have to go, I guarantee by the time the gun goes and your timing chip starts timing, you will have to go.

And you men out there—-you all suck. Completely. I can’t tell you how many times, and I know any female long-distance runner will agree, I have seen men swerve off a marathon course, even at only 1/2 a mile in, into the bushes to let out their schlong.

Not. Even. Fair.

Where am I going with this? No where really, but just lamenting a common runner problem, and a deeper problem for women. Today I had a 10 mile training run to do, and I needed to do it early. See, I headed up to Calgary this afternoon to stay at a friend’s place, because my early morning flight to DISNEY WORLD is tomorrow! So yes, I have had excited jitters all day. All week really. And I think I actually went to the bathroom three times from when I woke up, to when I went on my run…all between 7:30 and 9:00 am. But, of course, I start running down my street and I got to pee. Maybe the two cups of coffee did something, or maybe all the red wine from last night did, but I digress…I refuse to turn around and go back home so I tailor my run through Copperwood neighborhood, over to The Crossings and the new high school and library—after three miles I arrive at my pit stop: the public library.

After this 3 mile stop, I was fine the final 7 miles, but I made sure to loop past public areas where restrooms were available—Tim Horton’s on the Westside and the public bathrooms at Nicholas Sheran Park. As I ran those first three miles, though, I remembered three races that bathroom stops and mental blocks absolutely ruined me-Calgary full 2009 and Edmonton Derby half 2011. When you gotta go, you gotta go. It just sucks when it happens at a race. And even most recently, at the Millarville half in June 2013, I got in the porta-potty line too late. There goes being able to focus on my run.

So, as I head off to the wonderful world of Disney tomorrow, I will be thinking lots about my upcoming RunDisney events—Wine & Dine Half Marathon and the Dopey Challenge. And I will be reminding myself how I don’t want to ruin the race experience for myself and that getting in line to go pee before the race, even more than once, is a key factor to having a magical race!

Jan17

Running without music…the anti-playlist

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I know there are many people who run dependent on their iPods. I don’t hold anything against you for that, and I am not trying to say that if you do this, you are a bad, bad person. I am just reflecting on why I don’t run with music. Yes, I admit I have, but 92% of the time, I don’t. Why not? Well, for starters, I hate carrying my iPod or using a strap on my arm. It’s annoying, gets in the way, and I always am worried I’m going to ruin it somehow while outside. Secondly, and most important, is I’d rather use my runs as times where my mind wanders and reflects. Take in the scenery. Play out a scenario in my mind.

I daydream.  Often about an upcoming trip, things I have to get done that evening, a past event…Sometimes about nothing in particular.  Lots of times I daydream and think about my dad and past memories.  I reach that ‘runner’s high’ and fall into a trance where I don’t realize where I am, my body involuntarily moving and turning as needed on a route. I don’t need my iPod as my fuel, as my motivation tool.  I don’t need a playlist of my favorite music.   My personal playlist is my mind and memories. 

 

I may not use music when I run, but my dad chose to use a classy-looking headset!

I may not use music when I run, but my dad chose to use a classy-looking headset!

Jan6

So, what am I all about?

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Hi everyone. You are reading my first “official” blog entry. Yes, there are three other posts previous to this, but they were trial runs, because I really have no idea what I am doing when it comes to web page stuff. I am planning on regularly updating this page every Sunday. I am trying to figure out and learn the best ways to keep people updated and notified, so be patient as I learn how this whole thing works. I am hoping to reach a wide audience beyond my close family and friends.

Those of you reading today, January 6, 2013, are probably either family or friends who clicked my link on Facebook. Hi! But, on the chance there are outside readers who stumbled upon this, I am going to start today by doing a little introduction. I am Andrea. I am 28 years old. I live in Lethbridge, Alberta, but am from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. My husband is Dan. He owns the landscape business Healthy Soils. We met while in vacation in the Bahamas in 2007 (Awwww). We have a beagle named Snoopy and two cats, named Faron and Woodstock. Saying I am a fan of Peanuts is an understatement! I teach high school math at WCHS.

I am an only child. My mom still lives in my childhood home in Franklin, Wisconsin. My parents and I took advantage of traveling and getaways whenever possible! Since October 1991, our favorite family vacation destination has been Walt Disney World. We went on six magical vacations together! I participated in track & field since middle school, but started running endurance races during my freshman year of college. Since then, I have competed in 7 full marathons (26.2 miles), 5 half marathons (13.1 miles), and numerous 5/10 kilometer races. My dad has never seen me run in any of my road races. On April 25, 2004, he passed away from a heart attack. He had just finished his Sunday morning run. He was 51 years old.

For the first 3 years after my dad passed away, I had no feeling. I now realize I was in denial, avoiding that this happened. I was in disbelief. After those years of being in shock passed, I felt anger, sadness, discouragement…I didn’t want to talk to anyone, partly because I didn’t know who to talk to. I was scared to talk to my mom, because I didn’t want her to be upset or sad herself. None of my close friends or family had gone through a situation like this, so I didn’t want to talk to them. It has now been close to 9 years and I am finally now finding ways to deal properly with this. I have always let my mind wander about ways to honour my dad in a way he’d appreciate.

For a few years now, I casually would look to see if there were any road races, 5/10/21/42 km, which raised money for heart disease research. There are none. American Heart Association and the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Canada have events like Hoops for Heart, Jump Rope for Heart, bike races, etc. Any of the half and full marathons I entered always had a choice charity to fundraise for. But they were never ones I was deeply passionate about. So I am taking matters into my own hands.

This year, I am embarking on a running journey. I am registering for more half marathon races than I usually run. I will try and participate in more 10km and 5 km races. I am going to join a running club. And I am signing up for the Walt Disney World “Goofy Challenge” in January 2014, where I will run a half marathon on Saturday and a full marathon on Sunday. This race has always been on my endurance race “bucket list” so there is no better time to do it than now. I am going to be raising money for heart disease research during this year. It’s not that I am taking pledges for miles run, or asking others to run with me. I am asking for YOU to support me in this racing journey as I run in memory of my late father, Andrew A. Lammers.

I will be updating this website throughout the year, chronicling my training journey. Like I said before, I plan to update this blog every Sunday, but I may update with short entries throughout the week that have general training information. I will also be posting reflections on past races, Disney vacations, and my dad. Everything strangely ties together. There have also been a lot of events from before my dad passed away and after that have helped lay the path to this very moment. By sharing this with the world, I hope that it will help me heal a little bit more.

Enjoy my site.
Je me souviens-Running in Memory of Andrew A. Lammers-To Infinity & Beyond!