A Texas man ran from Disneyland to Disney World. Here’s why

A Texas man, wanting to raise awareness of diabetes, just finished running from Disneyland in Southern California to Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida.

Don Muchow, 59, started his goal of running across the United States in February 2020. He didn’t have a specific plan involving both Disney parks, but Muchow told CNN affiliate WESH that after a conversation with a friend he decided to include them.

“He said, “So I assume you’re running from Disneyland to Disney World?” And I actually hadn’t thought about it that way,” he said.

Muchow started long-distance running to bring awareness to Type 1 diabetes, a disease he has been living with since 1972, according to his website.

He hoped to finish the daunting feat by May, but as we all know, Covid-19 had other plans.

In March 2020 he had to put his run on hold due to the start of the pandemic, according to his website. He picked it up again in Texas on September 24 and ran to the Texas/Arkansas border, where he had to pause for a second time due to spikes in the virus in October.

He restarted his final push to finish on March 2 and made it to Disney World on April 5, a trip of more than 2,500 miles.

“I’ve been on cloud nine ever since,” Muchow told WESH.

According to the run’s designated Facebook page, when he arrived at the park, Disney security, cast members and guests cheered and loaded him down with a custom Mickey Mouse cap, balloons and more. He then was assigned an official photographer and guest relations representative who took them into the park to the front of his favorite ride — “It’s a Small World.”

Before leaving, Muchow was granted his one request — a Mickey Mouse ice cream cone.

Two days later, Muchow finally made it to the Atlantic Ocean, completing his mission.