All You Need is a Little Drive - 2013 Tinker Bell Half Marathon Report! (New 3/12 x4)

[Eight]

Hello and welcome!

I’m Eight, or Rachel, and I’ll be your captain for this trip report from the Tinker Bell Half Marathon.

A little bit about me, I’m twentythree, I love Disney (wait, really?), and I’ve started to love running, something I never thought I would say.

I was at Disneyland with my mom from January 17th to the 22nd and I ran the Tinker Bell Half Marathon, all 13.1 miles of it (okay, okay, I walked some of it too. I’ve found that regular walk breaks prevent my exercised induced asthma from giving me too many problems). It was such a fun experience, and I am definitely hoping to run again next year!

For the recap I’m going to post one or two photos with text. It’s different than how I normally trip report, but I was able to write this a lot faster and honestly, it was more fun and less stressful than trying to recount every last little detail. Let me know how you feel about this style. Not that it’ll change much for this report, since I already finished it and just need to post the rest of the updates, but for future reference, you know?

We’ll start with the medal.

Spoiler Alert: I finished!

So here it is! As you might know, I’m not a fan of Tinker Bell, but I love the medal because it’s mostly about the wings, not her. And who doesn’t like wings and pretending they can fly?

Speaking of not liking Tinker Bell, I have to admit I was not thrilled with the selection of official merchandise, because it was ALL Tinker Bell. Everything had her on it, which is not surprising considering it’s called the Tinker Bell Half Marathon, but I was hoping it would be more subtle, you know?
Which is why I love the tech shirt you got (even if it’s a super weird shade of green!), because, like the medal, she isn’t the main focus.

Not the best picture of it, I took it with my phone, and while it’s still a weird shade of green, it’s not the same weird green it is in real life. Anyway though.

This was my first half marathon, and I am very proud of myself for finishing. I didn’t have a super fast time, but considering all the things that happened in the months and weeks prior, considering that I didn’t train as much as I probably should have because of those things, considering my stomach was bothering me for the first five miles, considering I was always the slowest runner in PE, and considering several other things, I am happy with it.

Table of Contents:
Prologue: Spoiler Alert: I Finished! (aka this post)
I Couldn't Stop Staring At It
I Think This Thing Knows I Hate It
Disney Parks Blog runDisney Meet Up Part 1 (The Run)
Disney Parks Blog runDisney Meet Up Part 2 (Photo Ops)
Disney Parks Blog runDisney Meet Up Part 3 (The Ultimate Fast Pass)
Expo
People Might Get Crazy Over Shoes

Captain of the Columbia
The Costume (aka finish my costume the night before actually worked out!)
Corral-ing Around
Things I Actually Remember About the Run Because Most Of It Is A Blur
You Already Know I Finished
This Might Be the Most Stressful Disney Day
"I Can Do the Choreography To This!"
And Then We Had to Go Home
One Last Picture

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[cristyhas3]

I'm in!! I ran the Princess Half Marathon at WDW last year. I can't wait to read about your trip.

 

[Eight]

I'm in!! I ran the Princess Half Marathon at WDW last year. I can't wait to read about your trip.

Great! I'm glad to have my first reader!
I'm doing the Princess two weeks from today, and I'm pretty excited. How did you like it?

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

I'm in! I ran the Tower of Terror 10 mile at WDW last year, and I am interested to hear about DL races in case I want to go coast to coast sometime.

I am also not really a runner. I was always one of the slowest in gym class too. I still haven't quite figured out why i signed up for the 10 mile, because I really don't enjoy running. Maybe I just like torturing myself

 

[cristyhas3]

Great! I'm glad to have my first reader!
I'm doing the Princess two weeks from today, and I'm pretty excited. How did you like it?

I LOVED IT!! At the expo, Fairy Godmothers in training douse you in fairy dust, there are great characters all along the route, running through Cinderella's castle is uh.maze.ing. I cried. I hope you have an amazing time.

This is me in front of the castle, during the race:

 

[Eight]

I'm in! I ran the Tower of Terror 10 mile at WDW last year, and I am interested to hear about DL races in case I want to go coast to coast sometime.

I am also not really a runner. I was always one of the slowest in gym class too. I still haven't quite figured out why i signed up for the 10 mile, because I really don't enjoy running. Maybe I just like torturing myself

You did? So did I! I didn't really include much of a comparison between the races in this report, but if there's anything I don't cover about the Tink Half that you want to know, please feel free to ask!

Sometimes I wonder why I signed up for the Ten Miler too. I had never really liked running, but it felt like a good thing to try. And more importantly, ten miles seemed way less intimidating than going for a half marathon. Go figure.
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I LOVED IT!! At the expo, Fairy Godmothers in training douse you in fairy dust, there are great characters all along the route, running through Cinderella's castle is uh.maze.ing. I cried. I hope you have an amazing time.

This is me in front of the castle, during the race:

That sounds amazing! That's a great picture too! You look happy to be there. One of my biggest disappointments from Tinker Bell was not getting any sort of picture near the castle. Definitely going to make a point of it at the Princess!
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[Eight]

On many trips I’ve taken, one of the first things I’ll do is take a self portrait in a mirror because I’m happy to be there and done with traveling. I think it may have started with the 2007 trip to Tanzania. (if you look closely, you may notice I wore my ToT Ten Miler shirt that morning)

As you can see, this trip was no exception. I was so thrilled to be there. We arrived around 10am, it was a beautiful, sunny morning in California (compared to grey Seattle), and you know that feeling on the first day of vacation, where everything is still a possibility and you have the whole trip ahead of you? That's the best.

One of the reasons I was so excited to get there was that I knew one of the first things I would be doing was getting my Premier Annual Pass.

Which I would later lose on Monday, but I’ll get to that story in time.

I have wanted to get one of these since they came out, but seeing as I don’t live in California or Florida, it didn’t make much sense.

I got a deluxe annual pass when I went to Disneyland in September, because I was going then and I planned on doing the Tinker Bell Half. I unexpectedly went to Disneyland in November as well, so it ended up being a good thing I bought one.

Then, when I decided I would also do the Princess Half Marathon at Walt Disney World, it made sense to get a Premier because of how many days I would be spending, plus the discount I would get on the room.

In addition, I'll be doing the inaugural Dumbo Double Dare at the Disneyland Half Marathon right before it expires, so I think I'll have gotten some good use out of it.

Naturally, the first thing I did upon buying it was to take pictures of it.

It’s so pretty!

That probably sounds weird, but it is pretty. It’s sort of shimmery and lovely, and I am not totally exaggerating when I say I couldn't stop staring at it when I got it.

The next thing I did upon getting my Premier Annual Pass was enter Disney California Adventure.

And walked down to Paradise Pier while staring at my pass.

If memory serves, I didn’t ride anything, but I got lunch, some Radiator Springs Racers fast passes (some of the very last of the day!), and watched part of the Five & Dime set.

I also watched the Red Car News Boys, but for some reason, it stopped half-way through. It was probably a good thing because I needed to get back to the room by 1:10 to head off and do some things related to going back to college, and I was cutting it short already.

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[Eight]

After taking care of some of the college business, it was time to go back to the parks!

I think we rode Pirates, and maybe something else? I don’t remember.

I do remember that we were heading out of the park when we realized it was almost time for the parade.

I wasn’t sure if I wanted to stay for it, especially considering we had Radiator Springs Racers fast passes, but my mom noticed there was just enough space for us at the end of Main Street.

What a cool view! I’ve never sat there for the parade before.

This thing (for lack of a better word) came up and stared at me for several moments.

Confession: As much as I love Soundsational, this little thing has always made me nervous with its spinning. Part of me thinks it's awesome, but I am always slightly worried that one day it will spin out of control and shoot in to the crowd or something. I have no idea. It's probably just me.

After that thing spun away from away, I leaned over to my mom and said, I think this thing knows I hate it.

I definitely wished I had my DSLR with me, instead of a point and shoot. Most of my photos were pretty blurry.

After the parade, there was just enough time to run over to DCA and ride Radiator Springs Racers (or as I like to call it, Radiacers). We lost the race though. I’m pretty sure I’ve lost more times than I’ve won on that ride.

I don’t know what time we got back to the hotel at, I think it was around 9PM maybe, but I was exhausted, having been up at that 3 that morning. I went to bed right away, which was a wise decision seeing as I had to be up at 5AM for the runDisney meet up.
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[stacy~**]

and you know that feeling on the first day of vacation, where everything is still a possibility and you have the whole trip ahead of you? That's the best.

​

LOVE this feeling!!

Joining in. I have been thinking about doing a Disney run in the next year or two so I am excited to hear about your experience!

 

[Eight]

LOVE this feeling!!

Joining in. I have been thinking about doing a Disney run in the next year or two so I am excited to hear about your experience!

Glad to have you reading!
What run are you thinking of doing? And if you have any questions about runDisney, I may be able to help.
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[Eight]

The next morning I had to be up at 5 for the Disney Parks Blog runDisney meet up.

I got there around 5:45 and was given a runDisney tech shirt. It didn’t officially start until 6:30AM, so I had to wait around for a while.
It was so cold! I had brought a jacket, but made a mistake by putting it in the bag we would get back at the end. I also made a mistake by putting my phone and camera in there, but I’ll explain more about that in the next post.
Around 6:30 we started our run through Downtown Disney, Disneyland, and Disney California Adventure.

It was cool being able to run through parks with no one there except our group and the cast members getting ready for the day.

It was a 30 second/30 second run/walk ratio, which was great because it didn’t aggravate my asthma, and I had been worried about that.

I like this picture because it almost looks like I’m leading the pack, which is funny because I’m not a fast runner at all. In case you can’t tell, I’m the one wearing purple shorts, grey and blue shoes, and a white headband.

I don’t know exactly how many miles it was, because I had forgotten my watch in the hotel room. I think maybe two miles? It felt short. Or maybe that's because I was having so much fun running through the parks.

It ended on Buena Vista Street where we were met with water bottles and a few famous friends.

The photos in the post were taken by runDisney.
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[Eight]

I will be leaving for the Princess Half Marathon on Thursday! I don't think I'll get the rest of this report up entirely before then, but I will get it done when I get home. I am so excited! I can only hope it's as much fun as the Tinker Bell Half was!
​

As they posed us in front of the Red Car Trolley for a group picture, we noticed a few friends who hadn’t been on the run entering the trolley to join us for the picture.

Can you spot me?
Here’s a few hints.

I’m still wearing what I wore in the previous post.

I’m in the front row, close to the center.

I’m incredibly pale.

Now do you see me?

Also, while running through Disneyland, we stopped in groups to get a picture with Tinker Bell.

It was the first time I had ever been in the Pixie Hollow area, it was kind of cute.

One more photo opp I had while on the run was with Sean Astin.

I had been a big fan of the Lord of the Rings movies when I was in middle school. My inner 12 year old was definitely excited at that moment.

(Everyone else seemed to think of him as being from Rudy or The Goonies, but I’ve actually never seen either of those movies.)

After the group picture, we had some time before “our next surprise!” and were able to get pictures with the characters.

Remember how I left my camera in the bag that I would get back? I hadn’t gotten it back yet, and now I wanted it!

I had thought we might get our bags back after the run, but they were nowhere to be seen.

Thankfully, the other women at the meet-up were very generous and took pictures for me and sent them to me.

So here’s an important note: if you ever go to a runDisney meet-up and there is even a chance you might want to take pictures, take your camera with you! Don’t make the same mistake I did.

I have a question. Is Minnie ever out on Buena Vista Street in this outfit? It’s cute, and I’ve seen a picture or two of it, but never actually in person before this?
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[Jaimiebear5]

Joining in and excited to hear more. I have started training for next years Tinkerbell half marathon! I am very out of shape so I need all the time I can get. Hope you had a blast at the Princess half!

 

[Eight]

Joining in and excited to hear more. I have started training for next years Tinkerbell half marathon! I am very out of shape so I need all the time I can get. Hope you had a blast at the Princess half!

Welcome! And thank you for reading.
I hope your training for Tinker Bell is going well!
And thank you, I did have a great time. Now I have to decide if I want to do a trip report for that that. Hm...

 

[Eight]

Alright, I am back from WDW and the Princess Half. Had a wonderful time, currently trying to decide if I'll do a TR for that one too. I'm also doing a guest blog post about it, so I have a lot of writing to do! Better get to it!
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Our next surprise was “the ultimate fast pass” to Radiator Springs Racers.
A little weird to see Cars Land without the crowds, but nice. I could definitely get used to it.

I was on the second car of the morning.

The first picture was taken by our photographer of the morning who took all the other pictures that I’ve posted that don’t look like they were taken with a phone. I think I was trying to make sure my headband didn’t fly off.

The second picture was our “no crazy dance moves while on the ride” picture.

Sadly, we lost the race. Like I said, I tend to lose this race.

After riding Radiator Springs Racers, we went to Napa Rose for breakfast, listened to several guest speakers (Sean Astin, Jeff Galloway, Tara Gidus, Ali Vincent, and someone from New Balance who’s name I don’t remember), and saw a cooking demonstration.

There were also a few giveaways but alas, I did not win anything.
I think the meet-up was supposed to end around 9AM, but I think it was closer to 9:45 when we were actually done.

We were also given a free 1 day parkhopper ticket that was only valid Friday/Saturday/Sunday. I hoped that one of my friends who lived in LA would be able to use it, but everyone seemed to be busy or sick that weekend. It was unfortunate.
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[Eight]

After the meet-up, I met my mom at the Disneyland Hotel to go to the expo to pick up my bib and scope out the merchandise.

We had an early admission voucher so we were able to get in an hour ahead of everyone else. Definitely a nice perk, it got very busy there later in the day.

As I already mentioned, I was a little disappointed that all the official merchandise was ALL Tinker Bell. There was a nice mug, but it said it wasn’t dishwasher safe, and seriously, who wants a mug they can’t put in the dishwasher? I never understood the point of making cups and mugs that you can only hand-wash. Maybe I’m just lazy.

We did have to wait a while to pick up my bib, but it wasn’t bad.
I also submitted a proof of time to move up a corral, I was in E since I hadn’t submitted one when I registered, and got moved up to B. I didn’t think that seemed right, but I didn’t argue since you can always move back a corral, but you can’t move up.
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[Eight]

A pair of the New Balance runDisney shoes also found their way home with me.

I swear I don’t know how it happened.

I had seen pictures of them online before I left, and honestly, I didn’t think they were that cool.

Then, a few women at the meet-up had them on, and I saw the appeal. They are much better in person.

I was very happy and surprised to see they even had my size. I have pretty small feet, like a size 5, and it can be very hard to find shoes that small.

It was funny because to get the shoes, you had to get a voucher. To get the voucher, you had to try on the shoes (same model but different color) and then they would give you the voucher with your size that you could take back to the New Balance booth.

But apparently 5 and 5.5 isn’t a common size because they didn’t have that size out to try on and had to bring out the actual runDisney shoes.

They told me to guard them carefully.

People get crazy over shoes, I guess.

They had only made 1000 pairs, and I think only had 250 pairs there? They were super popular! They made more for the Princess Half, and I heard it wasn't as crazy.

I have to say though, I wore the shoes the next few days in the parks, and they are super comfy! It was a good investment since I didn’t pack great shoes to walk around in all day.
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[Eight]

I don’t know what I did Friday night.

After going to the expo, we drove to LA for more college related business, but we were back by 4PM, I believe.

And I really don’t remember what we did after that. I want to say we went back to Disneyland.

I know we went to bed early though, seeing as I had gotten up at 5 that morning.

Anyway, the next day, while walking to the parks, I saw the starting line!
I had seen it driving the day before, but wasn’t able to get a good picture of it.

All I could think was, wow, in about 24 hours, I will have hopefully completed my first half marathon!

Once we got to Disneyland, the first thing we needed to do was get fast passes for Indiana Jones.

And I really wanted to see Tiana’s Mardi Gras Celebration since I had heard it was like a similar, but very scaled back, version of Tiana’s Showboat Jubilee, which I was obsessed with.

Okay, I still love Tiana’s Showboat Jubilee. It got me through my first finals week at college.

So while walking over to see what time Tiana’s Mardi Gras Celebration was, we noticed the Columbia was out.

My mom and I couldn’t remember the last time we had been on that, or if we had ever been on it, so we decided to board the ship.

A very good decision. It was cooler than I expected. I didn’t know you could go below deck.

I had way too much fun posing and taking pictures.

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[Eight]

I was able to see Tiana’s Mardi Gras Celebration, which I loved, though I was a little disappointed there was no Dr. Facilier.

We got lunch, ran in to someone I had met the day before at the meet-up, and probably did some other stuff.

Honestly, this trip is mostly a blur to me. It felt like it went by so fast, and the two days before the race are kind of fuzzy. Maybe because I was still a little stressed about running 13.1 miles.

Anyway, we left the parks that afternoon, because I needed to finish my costume! Yeah, I hadn’t finished it before I left. Ooops. We actually stopped at a craft store Thursday afternoon to pick up the final supplies.

My mom claims she can’t sew, but she did a better job than I would have at putting on the buttons, the suspenders and the bow tie.

After running the Tower of Terror Ten Miler in September, I decided I needed a costume or at the very least, a fun outfit.

Since I don’t consider myself a Tinker Bell fan and I was afraid doing something like Peter Pan might be overdone as well, I decided to go with a tribute to everyone’s favorite mouse as seen on Buena Vista Street.

Why not?

You might recognize the lyrics on the back as being from the Red Car News Boys. When I did the ToT Ten Miler, the other thing I decided was that I liked it when people had stuff on the back of their outfits for me to look at, whether it be text or a picture. It made staring at the backs of people more interesting.

I debated using a Walt Disney quote, but ultimately decided on these lyrics because it fit with the Buena Vista Street theme.
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[magichusky]

OMG at meeting Sean Astin!!! That's hilarious! I've never seen "Rudy," but you should definitely watch "The Goonies." Definitely one of my all time favorite movies actually.

That running meet-up looked super awesome! When I did the DL 1/2 marathon in 2008 I didn't bring my camera (b/c why would anyone want to cart around a camera w/ them on a 13 mile run??) but was super bummed I hadn't b/c everyone else was stopping to take pics w/ characters and rides and stuff.

And I'm still super bummed that we couldn't have our DIS-meet that week! Next time! I need to research this "Dumbo Double Dare" thing- it sounds intriguing, but maybe that's just b/c I was obsessed w/ appearing on "Family Double Dare" on Nickelodeon as a child haha.

Oh and I almost forgot- you have the GOLDEN PASS!!!!!!!!! It's so stinkin' fabulous I can't even stand it!

And lastly- that Tinkerbell 1/2 marathon t-shirt is indeed the strangest shade of green I've ever seen. I feel like it would clash with pretty much everything.