Mars resident wins race at Disney
MARS — An active lifestyle runs in her family. So does winning distance races at Disney World.
But Mars resident Emily Hensel, 32, took it to extremes this time.
Nine months after giving birth to her son, Hensel decided to compete in her fifth road race at Disney World in Orlando, Fla.. She wound up winning the facility’s Toy Story 10-Miler, crossing the finish line in 1 hour, 5.37 minutes last Sunday. She bested a field of 8,000 female runners.
“That felt so amazing,” Hensel said of breaking the tape at the end. “That race is so much fun. You get up at 2:15 in the morning and go run it because the race has to be completed before the park opens.
“It’s dark, but the park is all lit up ... It’s a magical experience.”
Hensel previously competed in Disney races with her mother, Val Wolfarth, a longtime runner in her own right. The duo combined to win the mother/daughter division of the Princess Half-Marathon at Disney in 2012 and 2013.
Wolfarth has since had three back surgeries, including a spinal fusion, and no longer competes as a runner. She swims every day, however.
“I got my passion for running and swimming from my mother,” Hensel said. “We ran those races together at Disney as a bonding thing. Those are great memories.”
They’ve both run the Boston Marathon twice. Hensel has run other half-marathons as well.
Her mother’s surgeries and Hensel’s pregnancy put a halt to the running for a while. She was not allowed to run for six weeks once her son, Henry, came into the world.
“When the baby went down for a nap, I’d work out a little bit,” she said. “My husband (Justin) would take care of him if I wanted to go out for a long run. I slowly got myself back into a routine.
“I ran a Pittsburgh 10-miler in the fall and did OK there. That gave me some confidence. Then a friend of mine who signed up for this Disney race talked me into signing up, too. My parents, husband and the baby all came down. We made a vacation of it.”
She described her mother as “my biggest cheerleader.”
Wolfarth had no argument there.
“Absolutely, I was,” her mother said. “When that race started, I cried because I’ve missed running with Emily. I was able to track her progress on a device. At the 5k split, she was even with another girl. At the 10k split, they were still even.
“I knew Emily wasn’t gonna let that girl beat her. She pulled away from her in the final 30 yards. I cried so hard when she won, absolute tears of joy ... so proud.”
Hensel didn’t give herself much rest the day before the race. She joined her family in spending the day at Disney World and Epcot Center.
“We did a lot of walking that day,” she said.
Hensel is a 2008 Seneca Valley graduate. She competed in cross country and track and field for the Raiders, advancing to the state meets. She was a distance swimmer on the SV swim team as well.
Hensel and three others still hold the Seneca Valley school record in the 4x800 meter relay.
She attended Penn State University and joined the Nittany Lions swim team.
“I knew I could pick up running again after college, which I obviously did,” Hensel said. “I wanted to try swimming competitively in college. I was somewhere in the midlde there (with her times).”
Hensel plans on running the Pittsburgh Marathon in May.
“Running is still a big part of my life,” Hensel said. “I have a huge support system for that and I’m grateful for it.”
“A beautiful family, now this (win) at Disney ... God has truly blessed her,” Wolfarth said.
