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 10k

Instead of just a 5k and a Half Marathon for race weekend in Disneyland, runDisney added a new race--a 10k, and a new challenge--the Dumbo Double Dare!  When I first heard about this brand new challenge, I know I had to be a part of it!   The 10k was Saturday morning and then the half was Sunday morning.  Both were great races.  Today, I will tell you about the Disneyland 10k!

Like all runDisney events, this race started early--at 6:15 am.  It was still dark, but the sun had started rise over the Horizon.  I am always a tad nervous on race morning, but I can usually keep it in check until the first runners start.  I am a mid to back of the pack running, so I usually have a good 20ish minutes before the race officially starts and before I cross the starting line.  Of course, the announcers keep it fun--they play up beat songs, they tell silly jokes--its a fun way to pass the time.

Finally it was my turn to start!  In runDisney style, each corral gets a rock star send off with fireworks.  We were off and running!  First we ran the Disney hotels, then toward the Anaheim convention center.  I liked that this course was different than both the Disneyland Half Marathon course and the Tinkerbell Half course.  By the time we ran around the convention center and entered Disney's California Adventure, we were hitting mile two.  By now, the sun had risen and I got a glimpse of CA park.  The Paradise Pier area of the park is my favorite, so I was excited to run through it.  They were playing the "World of Color" song, so I sang along as I ran.  (World of Color is an amazing night time light/water show in CA park!)  Another fun thing for me in the California Adventure was the Monsters University characters/parade floats.  My kids love this movie, so I was so excited to see the characters.


After running in California Adventure, we race across to Disneyland!  That first glimpse of the castle always takes me breath away.  No matter how many times I do a runDisney event or how many times I enter the park gates, its always a special experience to me to see the castle.  One fun thing about a runDisney race is all the time you spend in the "back stage" areas.  For a Disney geek like me, its so cool to see all the behind the scenes stuff!  We got to see extra ride vehicles, parade floats, Christmas decorations in storage and the animals of Disney--so cool, typical park visitors never get to see thing kind of stuff.  After some time in the back stage around came mile five and the big event, the reason people do runDisney events--the run through the castle!  This time, I turned my iPhone around so you could run through the castle with me.  Check out my video.

After the castle run, runners made their way through New Orleans Square, then out of the park and through Down Town Disney to the finish.  Down Town Disney was lined with people cheering the running on.  I could see other runners who had finished wearing their medals.  I could not wait to get mine!  I ran into one of my running friends about a half mile from the finish line.  We decided to sprint to the finish together!  After high fiveing Mickey, I crossed the finish for the first ever runDisney 10k!

I got my medal, water and snacks and started to walk back to my hotel.  I saw another running friend alone the way who was cheering on the last of the finishers.  I decided to stay with her to cheer on the rest of the runners.  After a few minutes, I could see these little golf carts--the sweepers.  I was so happy for the people just in front of them, but sad for the
people on the golf carts.  After that is was off to the shower for me, then to Disneyland to meet my friends for a character breakfast!  Next up, the Disneyland Half Marathon!

A dream is a wish...

--Amy