If local runners were hoping to escape the Chicago area's cold weather at the Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend in Orlando, FL this past Saturday and Sunday, they were headed to the wrong place. But even unseasonable race morning lows in the 30s could not chill the spirit of this destination event that takes thousands of runners through the resort's theme parks, starting and finishing at Epcot Center.

Tim Keller (photo), 24, a graduate of West Chicago High School (IL) and University of Wisconsin, turned in a runner-up performance in his debut at the marathon distance, clocking 2:31:33. Keller, a former standout distance runner on both the high school and collegiate levels, participated along with his dad and his brother while on a family vacation. Having logged only one 20-miler in preparation for the race, Keller heeded the advice of his training partner, Olympic Trials marathoner Dan Held.

"I wanted to run 2:30," said Keller, who now lives and works in Milwaukee. "Dan told me not to do anything stupid and to have fun."

The top local female finisher in the marathon was Heather Ryndak, 32, of Chicago, who completed the course in 3:13:40, which was good for 10th among the women and first in her age group. Disney was Ryndak's 12th marathon, but the first in her hometown of Orlando.

Local runner Karen Galvin, 24, of Chicago, trained with the Joints in Motion charity group for her first Disney Marathon. She carried her camera during the race to capture memories along the route and finished in 4:10:56.

"If the whole race was through the Magic Kingdom I think I would have run a lot faster," said Galvin, noting her favorite part of the course. Mark Roberts, 38, of East Peoria, IL, who finished in 4:13:06, said, "This was most fun I have ever had running a marathon. Disney really puts on a show."

New to the event in 2006 was holding the half marathon on Saturday, apart from the marathon on Sunday. Jeremy Borling, 25, of Chicago ( Chicago Athlete's Assistant Editor), who placed third overall in last year's Disney Marathon, opted to run the half and finished fourth in 1:09:08. Borling ran with the eventual top three finishers from the Hansons-Brooks team for the first 10 miles.

"The Hansons guys were doing a training run between 5:15 and 5:20 pace and I just tagged along," said Borling. "But once we hit the 10-mile marker they started to really drop the pace, and I just tried to hang on."

The top Illinois woman in the half marathon was Mt. Prospect's Jennifer Tamas, 21. Tamas finished in a time of 1:40:18, placing fifth in her age group and 58th among the women.

For more coverage of this event, check out:
www.runningnetwork.com/features/disney06list.html