2019 WDW Marathon Weekend: Cigna Blogger Meet Up

Earlier this month I was invited to the Cigna Blogger Meet Up at the Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend.

Each year, the wonderful folks at Cigna partner with the WDW Marathon Weekend to bring a whole host of activities to the race weekend, including an always-interesting blogger meet up.

From a cook-off, to a scavenger hunt through the parks, to minute-to-win it games complete with karaoke, Cigna somehow manages to keep the meet ups uniquely creative year after year!

What's happening here?? Read on for the details! Photo courtesy of Cigna.

This year, the meet up was focused on one of Cigna's services: health screenings- in fact, you could get your free health screening at the expo, courtesy of Cigna. I actually get a screening every year for work but did it again at the expo. With just a little pinch of blood from my finger (and a few other biometrics), I got a full run down of all my health "numbers" including BMI, blood sugar, blood pressure, cholesterol, and more. It was a fun way to make sure I was in good health before I tackled 26.2 miles later in the weekend!

Anyway, back to the blogger meet up!

This year, the meet up was held in the GM Conference & Training Center inside Test Track- yes, you read that right, the meet up was INSIDE the ride! Well, the building that houses the ride, but you know what I mean.

Bloggers, start your engines... or vegetables? Photo courtesy of Cigna.

What a view, right?!

So, this year, the gist of the meet up was similar to year's past- bloggers team up, answer trivia questions, and then face off in some kind of crazy competition. This year? Race cars made out of vegetables!

After joining my team and actually dominating the trivia portion of the event, my team quickly started building our car, "The Health Nut," built out of a butternut squash.

Planning our course of action. Photo courtesy of Cigna.

While we were building our cars, we had the chance to compete in more trivia questions to win additional car parts. I honestly learned so much about health screenings from the trivia part of the meet up. For example, did you know that while 85% of pet owners know when their pet is due for shots, less than 20% actually know their own health numbers? Or that while 80% of Americans know preventative care is important, only 53% get their annual check up? We have a long way to go in this country with regard to preventative health care and I'm glad that Cigna is helping folks know their numbers with their free screenings- they've done over 25,000 free screenings since they started the Health Improvement Tour in October 2016!

Picking out the fastest gourds. Photo courtesy of Cigna.

Emelia's got a hunch on a fast one. 😉 Photo courtesy of Cigna.

After we'd created our cars, each team got the chance to present their car and some information about health screening. Then we raced them against each other tournament style to figure out who among us had the fastest vegetable race car.

TFW you realize your car is going sideways on the track. 😆 Photo courtesy of Cigna.

Needless to say, our poor car didn't even make it down the track! 😜

Though we didn't win, we had a blast hanging out with each other, learning more about health screenings, and playing with our food, literally.

The main mice and the bloggers who love them. Photo courtesy of Cigna.

As usual, it was a blast seeing all my blogger/social media friends: Emelia from Half Crazy Mama, Gelcys from Runner Unleashed, Justin from Always Running Forward, Anne from Out Running The Fork, Gail and Kim from Run All The Races, and Kristin from Bama Girl Runs. Runner friends are what make this weekend so incredibly great.

💜 Photo courtesy of Gelcys.

Photo courtesy of Emelia. Photo bomb courtesy of Gail. 

Two of my favorites. Photo courtesy of Cigna.

Every year, the blogger meet up gets more competitive, more interesting, and more fun. Thank you, Cigna, for the free health screening and the awesome meet up! Hope to "see ya real soon!"

All the blogger race cars. The cucumber on the bottom right won! Photo courtesy of Cigna.

After the meet up, I met Matthew in the park, snapped a few quick pics with some friends, and then headed back to the resort to rest before Matthew's half marathon on Saturday.

Any day spent with friends and friends with "character" is a day well spent. 😍

Stay tuned for recaps of the WDW Marathon Weekend expo, the WDW Half Marathon, and the WDW Marathon!