Hodgkins Runs Disney

BOULDER – For most, a trip to Disney World is typically filled with rides, food and a little shopping, followed by more rides because, after all, it is Disney World.

But when University of Colorado junior golfer Kirsty Hodgkins visited the "The Most Magical Place on Earth," January 10-13, she wasn't there for any of those reasons. She was there to run 48.6 miles in four consecutive days as part of Run Disney's Dopey Challenge, which includes a 5k, 10k, half marathon and a full marathon.

With one event a day, participants work their way up in mileage before finishing a 26.2-mile marathon. Over the course of the four days, runners will race through four of Disney Worlds' parks. Medals are handed out for completing each event, but there are extra medals to earn. The Goofy's Race and a Half Challenge includes the half and full marathons, while the Dopey Challenge includes all four races.

Hodgkins, along with her older sister, Bianca, had this event in their sights for a while and finally decided to pull the trigger. "My sister and I have seen photos every year from Run Disney and the Dopey Challenge. We thought it looked like a lot of fun and we really wanted to do it. I had this break, so we decided, 'Why not? Let's do it.'"

Getting through the first two races was pretty easy for the duo. They ran the 5k in 36 minutes, 57 seconds and clocked in just over 1 hour and 12 minutes for their 10k. But during the half marathon on the third day, things started to get a little 'iffy.' Hodgkins said her legs started hurting about half way through the 13.1-mile race, but they still managed to finish with a decent time of 2:52.30.

Hodgkins, as well as her sister, have run plenty of races before, but this was a very special experience for them. "For the first three races, my sister and I stuck together, so it was good to finally do a run together and have each other along the race, but then for the full (marathon) we decided to go our separate ways. The main goal to just to finish for the marathon," Hodgkins said.

And finish they did. Kirsty clocked in at 5:45.26, while Bianca recorded a time of 5:15:30.

64940 — Kirsty Hodgkins and her sister Bianca
show off their 12 medals

Making this even more impressive than the 48.6 miles in four days is the fact that Hodgkins had to fit all of her training in during the fall golf season. So sometime between classes, practice and traveling for tournaments, she would squeeze in runs to make sure she was prepared for the challenge.

"I had a lot of sleepless nights," she said. "I'm an engineering student, so sometimes if I couldn't study; I would head out for a run. The workouts we do with golf help with the strength side of running, so that helped. During the week, I would do shorter runs and leave the longer runs for the weekends when I had a bit more time."

Now that school is back is session, it is time for Hodgkins to shift her focus back to golf and school, which will not be hard. She has been a very consistent player for the Buffs and during the fall season, she recorded a pair of top-five finishes, including a tie for third at the Pac-12 Preview. She ranked second on the team with her stroke average of 73.00, behind former teammate Robyn Choi (71.44).

With the recent departure of Choi, who turned pro after completing the fall semester, Hodgkins will likely move into the No. 1 slot of the Buffs when the season gets underway on February 3. But with all of Hodgkins' experience, it should not affect her level of play, although she said behind second to Robyn "would push me to do better and try to beat her."

Like her teammates, Hodgkins is ready to get back on the course and is very excited about the first tournament in Palos Verdes Country Club in California. The Ohio State University will serve as the host and the field of competition should include some of the best teams in the country.

"I'm really excited about our first tournament in California," she said. "We will play against a really good field, probably one of the best fields we will face before regionals and nationals. I'm also excited to head somewhere new in March when we go to the Dominican Republic."

With six medals under her belt to start 2019, albeit from a different sport, it is safe to say Hodgkins will be looking to add more to her collection, this time from golf.

"I want to get another win under my belt," she said. "Hopefully that will happen at Pac-12s or regionals; that would be really nice. Individually and as a team, I would like to go to nationals again. We've got a pretty good team, so hopefully we can pull it together for regionals."

Players Mentioned

Robyn Choi

Kirsty Hodgkins

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