ROCKFORD, Mich. — Imagine this... Traveling between Florida and California running 71 miles over two weekends. Would it make you grumpy, sleepy, or maybe even happy? One West Michigan woman did just that on the "Run Disney Challenge".
Meet Cindy Stegmeier who’s 62 years young running around the Disney parks with no signs of slowing down. Cindy Stegmeier’s love of disney started when she was a little girl, but her love of running only started recently.
“I started walking and then running and my kids were doing races and I said no, I don't want to do any races. I just want to keep it so it's just for me for exercise,” said Cindy Stegmeier, a Disney runner.
In 2012 all that changed at her first Disney races with her daughters. She finished a 5k and a half marathon race – 3.1 and 13.1 miles, respectively. From then on Cindy was hooked. She's now completed nearly 100 races at the Disney parks. The next challenge was running her first full marathon.
“I did my first one. I said one and done. I was done. Registration came in. I said I'm signing up next year and then I said to him, I’m never doing it again. Then this year came I did it again. So I’ve done three Dopeys,” said Stegmeier.
There are park-themed race challenges named after various Disney characters. The Dopey challenge - running a 5k Thursday, 10k Friday, Saturday half marathon, and Sunday a full marathon.
The dumbo challenge - a 5k on Friday, a 10k Saturday, and a half marathon Sunday.
In January Cindy did the Dopey challenge and immediately did the Dumbo challenge the next weekend. She started at Disney World in Florida and crossed the final finish line at Disneyland in California. That's 71 miles in 11 days.
“I just kind of run and it's just fun in it. I think it's the adrenaline. I think I just love Disney. I love being there with all the people,” said Stegmeier.
She says she will only stop when the end of race pace runners or better known as the balloon ladies at Disney races disqualify her from finishing a race.
“I think I'm going to keep doing all the races until the balloon ladies catch me. That's my goal,” said Stegmeier.
Cindy is already signed up for several more races this year and heads back to Florida later this week to keep up her training in the sunshine state.
