Disneyland Half Marathon 2013

By race morning, I was already exhausted!  With the first part of the Dumbo Double Dare, the 10k, the day before, a day of flying cross country and two days taking in the parks--I was one tired runner!  Good thing the Disneyland Half is a west coast race--it felt like I got to sleep in a little, but a 4 am wake up call is still a 4 am wake up call no matter the time zone.  At the last minute, I decided to dress as Rapunzel--check out this Raw Threads top.  A few days before the race, I donated 12 inches of my hair to Locks of Love.  With this awesome shirt, I got my hair back!  So many people recognized me on the course from my new, shorter 'do.


Staying at a Disney resort made getting to the start a piece of cake!  We rolled out of our room at 5 am for a 5:30 start...it does not get easier than that.  I got to my corral and meet up with some Endurance Sports Connection. This group is such a hoot!  It is easy to pick them out in a crowd--they run with pig balloons. They are always elaborately dressed up and a bunch of fun to hang out with.  This race's costumes--Dumbo and company of course.  The time till the start and until my corral's turn to start went fast with good company.  My corral (D) got our Ready, Set, Go!  Complete with fireworks just for us!
friends at the

The first mile of the race was out and around the back of Disney's California Adventure park.  After about 1.5 miles, we were in the park!  By this time, the sun was coming up.  We entered the park at the end of the Paradise Pier section, right where they show World of Color!  They had the World of Color music playing--I loved it!  Next, we ran through Cars Land, and then Hollywood Land.  Then it was on to Disneyland!  Running up Main Street and toward the castle is always my favorite part of a runDisney event.  It takes my breath away every time.  A big highlight of the Disneyland Half Marathon this year for me was running with Jeff Galloway!  I just happen to see him at the top of Main Street, as we were turning toward Adventureland.  I was so excited to see him!  He is such a personable, and I feel like he made running possible for so many--me included.  I chit chatted with him for a bit.  How cool is that--I ran with an Olympian!

While I was running with Jeff, I also ran into my friend Jackie.  We do lots of local events together, so it was great to see her.  We ended up running the rest of the race together.  We ran through the castle, and of course got some awesome castle pics.  Then it was on past the Matterhorn, then Small World, some "back stage" areas, then out of the park.  In my opinion, this is the down side of the Disneyland races--the first few miles in the parks are amazing, but then there is lots of miles outside of the parks, in Anaheim.

This weekend in Disneyland, it was ridiculously hot and humid!  I have read reports that by 9 am race day it was from 90-94 degrees, 70-80% humidity.  I, like many others, was not prepared for this weather--at all!  Even the water on the course was warm.  It was hot, sticky and miserable.  The sun shined down on us blindingly as we were running toward it.  The conditions were out of anyone's control, the conditions were brutal.

After 5 miles through the streets of Anaheim, we approached mile 9 and could see Angel's Stadium.  This was a fun part of the race--the crowd was amazing!  You feel like a rock star running through a stadium full of fans cheering for you.  After the stadium, we hit mile 10!  I started looking for signs of Disneyland--the Tower of Terror and the Matterhorn.  After about a mile, I could finally see the Matterhorn--I knew I was almost there.  As we got closer and closer to the finish, the crowd started to get thicker.  As we ran again behind California Adventure park, there was a high school marching band paying for us.  It brought me back to my high school days as a cheerleader and gave me a second wind!  I really need that.  After a few more minutes, I saw the mile 13 sign.  Jackie and I started to sprint to the finish!  After a high five from Mickey, I crossed the finish line!

Jackie and I got our Disneyland Half Marathon medal, then our Dumbo Double Dare medal.  The thing I was most thankful for at the finish was a nice cold towel.  After getting some water, Gatorade and some snacks, I headed back to my room for a nice cool shower!  My race clothes were so sweaty, I looked like I
just jumped into the pool.  Like all runDisney events--the Disneyland Half Marathon was a fun race that I was happy to be part of!  I can't wait to runDisney again in January at the Tinkerbell Half Marathon!

Have you done a runDisney event?  Which one was
your favorite?

A dream is a wish...

--Amy

Disneyland Half Marathon Expo

My friend Michele and I waiting in line

This past weekend I had the opportunity to run the inaugural runDisney Dumbo Double Dare!  Like many attendees, I traveled to California on Thursday, so I could attend the Disneyland Half Marathon expo on Friday--the first day it opened.

I got to the expo around 8:30 am where I meet some friends.  The expo did not open until 10 am, but with the time difference I could not sleep past 6:30 am.  After some breakfast, we decided to just wait in the already long time to get into the expo.  Why was the line so long already?  In the past, runDisney official merchandise has gone very, very quickly at the expos.  If you want something, you better get there early!  With this being the inaugural Dumbo Double Dare, merchandise for it was in even higher demand.  My plan of attack was this:  Know what I want, grab it and get in the check out line!  It worked.  I got what I wanted and waited less than 5 minutes to pay.  If I would have gotten into the line five minutes later, I would have waited over and hour--yes!  Over an hour to pay.

Limited Edition pins! 

After hitting the official merch area, I made a quick circle around the expo and hit the vendors I wanted to
see.  My first stop--the runDisney booth!  I had to see all the new medals that were released.  The brand new medal for the runDisney Wine and Dine half and well as the all new medals the marathon weekend events were debuted that morning.  I had to see them first hand.  What do you think of them?  

My favorite vendor at the expo was the Disney Wedding display.  They had the pumpkin coach!  One day, someday I will have a vowel renewal at Walt Disney World.  I rounded the corner from the runDisney booth and there it was.  I had to do a double take, it took my breath away.  I just stood there and stared for a few seconds.  It was so cool to see in person, it was cool to see so close up.

Some of the new medals! 

After a few more vendor stops, it was time to pick up my packet--which meant more time in line.  I spent about 45 minutes in the pack pickup line.  It was starting to get hot and runner were getting grumpy!  After getting my pack, I had to get into another 45 minute line just to get out of the packet area and into the expo/shirt pickup
area.  After about two hours--I was so ready to get out of there!

I went back to the expo on Saturday around noon to exchange my shirts.  The shirts this year were cut really big, so I need to size down.  I was really worried about a crazy line and I almost did not
bother.  When I got there Saturday, I was happily surprised to find everything orderly with no crazy busy lines.  I exchanged my shirts with no problems and even made another trip around an uncrowded expo.

This was by far the craziest, most crowded runDisney expo I have ever been to!  I have a few idea why... First, people are so scared they will miss out on the official merchandise, so stocking more of it would be very helpful.  Also, having the 5k, 10k and the first leg of the DDD the same day created the problem of so many runners being required to hit
the expo on Friday.  It seams this problem will take care of it's self because in the foreseeable future, runDisney has the 5k on Friday morning instead of both the 5k and 10k on Saturday morning.  The expos will be opening the day before the 5k, so a three day expo should cut down on the crowd too.  

Besides the crazy hot, crazy long lines, I enjoyed the Disneyland Half Marathon expo.  I love the sunrises like the new medals and the pumpkin coach, and old favorites like meeting Jeff Galloway at the runDisney booth.  Did you go the the Disneyland Half Marathon Expo?  What where the highlights for you?

A dream is a wish...

--Amy