Our cross-country team took a trip to Disney to compete at the Disney Cross- Country Classic at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex.  What a great trip it was!  We took a charter bus down to Florida and had a fantastic bus driver, Ray.  He was very funny and encouraging and made the long bus ride down there a lot more enjoyable! 

We arrived at Florida the day before the race and took a look at the course.  The humidity and heat hit us as soon as we stepped off the bus!  We were sweating before we had even started running.  We ran parts of the course and Coach Layne even ran with us, asking if “anyone else felt like they were sucking in small, furry animals?” It was ridiculously hot and there was a heat index of 105! 

That night we stayed at the most amazing hotel, the Gaylord Palms.  It was a true privilege to be able to stay the night there.  There were walkways, waterfalls, streams, a castle, a ship, shops, restaurants, and even real fish and alligators all inside our hotel!  The inside of our hotel was literally a small jungle!  That night the team ate at Olive Garden, where we all ate endless amounts of pasta, breadsticks, and salad.

The next morning we were up bright and early for our race.  As the team climbed onto the bus to go to the course, our wonderful bus driver, Ray, turned on the pep talk scene in the movie, Radio.  It got us all pumped up and ready to race.  We ran well, but the times weren’t at what we wanted them to be, which will only give us incentive to work harder for next time.  After the race we cooled down and packed back onto the bus, headed to St. Augustine.

Our hotel was right across from the beach, the weather was perfect and we all had a great time there!  The waves were big and kept rolling in one after the other; they were great for body surfing!  The entire rest of the day was spent at the beach, it definitely made up for the short fall break we had!  The next day we made the long trek home to Milligan after a morning run on the beach.   It was a fantastic trip!

Go Lady Buffs!

Catie McMahon (Class of 2013)