Today’s post was written by Rhett Safranek, who currently holds the Guiness World Record for the biggest Muppet memorabilia collection. You can see even more photos from the 5K and follow Rhett on Instagram, @ribbitrhettsmuppets. Thanks, Rhett!
This past weekend I got the opportunity to run in the runDisney Wine and Dine Swedish Chef 5K!
The trip started with the runDisney Health and Fitness Expo. The expo took place at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, and this was where you picked up your bib, purchased merchandise for the different races, and grabbed your free shirt. Between all the three buildings used, there was a shocking amount of Swedish Chef! Sure, it was mainly just the same clipart being used in slightly different ways, but it was still great to see! Chef was on the side of buildings, stickers on walls, huge standup picture areas, countless banners, and all over the merchandise.
I usually buy everything with even the smallest Muppet theming, but I couldn’t buy it all! If you wanted everything with Chef on it, you’d have to buy half the pieces in the building. I mainly just purchased the items that were themed for only the 5K. I did grab quite a bit of the general themed pieces, but there was still a lot I passed on.
Also available within one of the buildings was a photoshoot area where you could pose with a digitally added Kermit, Baby Animal, and Swedish Chef. I’m fairly certain Baby Animal wasn’t normally used, partly because I can’t see why they would, but mostly because the photographer told me she’d surprise me since I did the photoshoot twice. After the expo, I went and ate an early dinner before trying to get a good night’s sleep. But when you’re waking up at 2 AM to get ready, there’s only so much sleep you can get…
On the day of the race, I got to Epcot bright and early in my Swedish Chef outfit. It was my first runDisney race, so on top of normal nerves, I was also nervous because I didn’t fully know how early I needed to be there. Hoping for a Muppet themed photo opportunity, I got there around 3 AM. I’m so glad I did because there was a photo setup with three Muppet Chickens! I believe the chickens were from the short-lived Disney World live show, “The Muppets Present Great Moments in American History” and not screen used Muppet Chickens, but it was still amazing! The puppeteers did a great job keeping the chickens active and engaging throughout the whole morning. I don’t know if they had more than three puppeteers down there, but I hope they did. They were there performing the whole time I was at the event, and I was there for around three hours that morning!
After going through the Muppet Chicken line twice I went to my starting group. I was in Group A, which was the first group to take off, so I had to be there a little earlier than some others. Leading up to the race there were different prerecorded Muppet clips that played over the big screens. Before the race there were messages from Kermit and Miss Piggy, Fozzie and some vegetables, Animal and Floyd, Uncle Deadly, and Sam Eagle.
After the national anthem, which was introduced by a clip from Sam, the two on-stage hosts brought out the Swedish Chef! Chef talked with the hosts for a couple minutes about what he was “cookin’ for the jogging” and then answered a couple questions from the crowd. The first was about his favorite pre-race meal, which Chef responded with “Chicken!” while holding up a Muppet Chicken before throwing it back under the table. The next question was if he’d be running in the race, which Chef responded by saying no, but he’d be cheering everybody on. Chef then went back behind the counter to continue cooking. While back there he was throwing up random things in the air at the hosts. The hosts then threw some of the pieces to the crowd and I ended up catching one! So, I now have a tootsie roll from the Swedish Chef! Many didn’t understand why I wanted that piece of candy so much, but you’ll understand.
Chef then counted down the start of the race and we were off…to the Fraggle Rock Theme Song? Yeah, I don’t know why they played it, but I loved it! They did play “Rubber Duckie” earlier, so I guess it wasn’t entirely unexpected.
During the race there were several big screens with Muppet clips playing. Along with the characters in the pre-race videos, I saw clips with Lew Zealand and Muppet Chickens. Besides the videos, the only Muppet related piece to the race itself was Sweetums at the finish line. He was on the ground to congratulate the first couple of runners, then he moved to a staircase overlooking the finish line. Apparently I barely missed him on the ground, but was able to grab a quick selfie with him!
I was then handed my medal and had another chance to grab pictures with the chickens! After the race I also got to watch Sweetums rock out to Animal’s hit single from the 90s, “Wipe Out”.
Overall, I thought that Disney and everyone involved did a great job with the event. I was impressed by the amount of Muppet theming, and having Chef do a live appearance made traveling from Nebraska worth every penny. I was also blown away by how many Muppet costumes there were! While I expected to see costumes for the main characters, I didn’t think I’d see lesser known ones like Uncle Deadly, Lew Zealand, Janice, Scooter, and Bean Bunny!
Thanks again to Rhett for sharing his experience with us! Below are just a few videos of the event from TikTok.
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