Disneyland Half Marathon: Day 3
The 5K ... My Very First RunDisney Race!
My Garmin watch and phone alarm woke me promptly at 4 a.m. - it's 5K day!! Frankly, I'd been awake for at least 15 minutes before my alarm went off, so I dressed quickly, chugged a bottle of water, grabbed my pre-packed SpiBelt and a Honey Stinger Waffle and was out the door at 4:15 for the walk across the Esplanade towards the Disneyland Hotel.
I think I've mentioned it before (and if I haven't here goes) ... but sometimes, in new running situations, my nerves can really get to me prior to the start of a race. I think the first time I've gone to a race and been totally fine and ready was my last half marathon here in Fort Worth. Why? Because that's the same stretch of 13 miles I run in my daily runs (more or less). I know where I can get water not at a water station. I know where there are real bathrooms. I know where it's shady, where it's not and I know where the terrain changes. It also doesn't hurt that I'd run two previous halfs with the same group of roughly 500-700 people - I have familiar faces around my pace time, and it's nice to see these people when I'm out running.
I've only done one "major" production race weekend, and that was the 10K in New Orleans produced by Rock 'n' Roll. Just because of the sheer numbers of bibs for both the 5K and the Half, I knew that even that race weekend would pale in comparison to what I was going in to. So, I was pretty nervous about how corralling worked, as well as bag drop and a host of other things just because of the sheer number of people.
That's one of the reasons I'm really glad that I did the 5K - it really helped prepare me mentally (well, as much as I could be) for what would happen on Sunday!
Anyway.
There was a small handful of people leaving from my side of Harbor for the walk to Disneyland. In an effort to calm my nerves, I threw in my headphones and listened to a bit of my favorite Sports Talk radio station here in DFW - 1310 The Ticket. They do more bits than sportsy stuff, so it was a great way to take my mind off of the race.
Bag check was smooth - all I had was my SpiBelt - but I did have to take it off so they could look in it. Took about 5 minutes and I was on my way through the Esplanade and into Downtown Disney. The white plastic gates were up to demarcate the path between the two parks and then back through Downtown Disney to the finish.
There was plenty of signage and people directing me to the starting area, so I feel like I made it to the starting area in about 15-17 minutes (sorry - I had a lot on my mind and pretty much lost track of time at this point).
I choked down my Honey Stinger Waffle and then did a quick perusal of the pre-race area while I had another small glass of water.
A little bit about Gear Check:
So - I did not check a bag for the 5K, but I knew the three of us would be checking bags for the Half Marathon. I decided to take a peek at how this all worked to prepare for the process on Sunday.
At the Expo, you're given a clear plastic bag AND a sticker for EACH race you will be participating in. The sticker will have a letter and then your bib number (so, in my case, it would say G - 41xxxx for the 5K ... G for my last name and the number of my bib). You'll walk over to a tent that corresponds with your Letter and drop your bag off. Easy peasy!
Around this time, they'd started calling for everyone to move to the corrals. I began my search for Corral A, and popped my headphones out to save my phone battery. As I approached the entrance to Corral A, I heard someone yell "Keels!" - and sure enough, right at the rail to Corral B was
@zanzibar138 and her husband!!! It was so great to see a friendly face, and all my nerves flew away. She was sweet enough to take a picture of me and then it was off to make my place in Corral A. And let me tell you - the pictures just don't do her Jessica Rabbit costume justice ... it was fierce. Just plain amazing! Great job!
I worked my way up towards the front of the corral (honestly, it was not very full) and was about 8 rows of people back from the start line - almost right in front of the stage. I was kinda mentally prepping and trying not to psych myself out when I felt a tap on my shoulder - it was
@mbwhitti! We'd played in the parks for a bit the day before, so I was excited to have someone to start the race off. We watched for cool costumes (though, I think we both agreed that running in a cardboard box is a BIT much), did a lot of cheering, high-fived and then it was time to go!
We were easily in the top 1/3rd, if not the top 1/4 or 1/5th of starters, so the running room was easy to come by and the pace was fast.
I had a goal in mind for this race - which was probably not realistic - but it was to be my first race since my 4th of July 5K fall. My goal for THAT race was to run as fast as I could for as long as I could. I knew there would be stops for pictures and all that, so I didn't have a time frame in mind, but I wanted to go hard and hopefully be back in my hotel room by 6:30.
The race heads out alongside the Disneyland Hotel and then takes a left turn that leads you to the DCA backstage area. What I loved about being up front is that this area was VERY wide, so there was plenty of room to get a good pace going and get in a groove before we would kick into the parks portion of the race (if I mention "room" a lot, there's a reason - I'll get to it more in my Half Marathon recap!).
We entered DCA in the back of CarsLand, along the sprint run area of Radiator Springs Racers! Of course, I stopped for a couple of selfies here and then sent them out on social media. Then it was down "Route 66" in CarsLand before making a left to make our way to Paradise Pier!
Taking a selfie in front of the World of Color fountains was probably the No. 1 thing on my to-do list during this race weekend - unfortunately, the 5K course didn't get as close to the fountain railing as I would like. But I still got my picture and it was roughly at the Mile 1 marker. But onward we go!
Then it was back down by Grizzly Springs before hitting Buena Vista Street on our way out of the park!
As soon as we ran through the park gates, it was awesome to see all the people lining the white plastic gates along the path to Disneyland. My first thought was "C'mon people! It's early! Why aren't you in bed?? Why aren't I in bed??".
A couple of high fives and we were through the gates and on to Main Street!
The 5K does not go through the castle, but there are plenty of opportunities to stop and get photos. I took selfies with a lit-up castle and the Partners statue, before the course veered to the right of the Castle and into Fantasyland. We went by the teacups, Dumbo and the carousel before heading out towards Frontierland.
And this is where my race took a little hit.
As we passed through Fantasyland and into the back area of Frontierland (behind Big Thunder Mountain), the terrain got pretty slick from the humidity and I found myself nearly slipping and falling at one point. Cue fear of falling in YET another 5K! So, I took it slow and walked for a minute or so until we got to the bridge-like terrain around Rivers of America and in to New Orleans Square.
I gave myself a pep talk that it would all be OK and set back out to run ... right when I look up at the bridge over Pirates of the Caribbean - and there is Maleficent! They had her miked and everything - and she was talking about how it was time and the villains were taking over. So cool. I loved that little nod to the following day's 10K and it made me even more jealous that I would not be running.
The course went through Critter Country and through a backstage area before turning back into Downtown Disney and finishing in a pretty narrow straightaway back at the Disneyland Hotel.
I made the turn and who did I see at the finish line? Pluto! He was my first "friend" when I went to work at Magic Kingdom, so it was pretty fitting that he was the finish line character for my first runDisney race. I veered over for a selfie (which, I guess we aren't supposed to do? Oh well - beg for forgiveness rather than ask for permission, right?) and then it was across the finish line!
Finish time for me was 36:28. Not my best 5K, but I easily lost 5 minutes walking through almost all of Frontierland because I'm a baby.
Got my amazing bling, took a couple of photos, got my snack box and an ice-cold Powerade (yum!) and then it was back off to my hotel.
I loved being able to take the walk back slowly and see some of the AMAZING costumes that people were wearing! Like the House from "Up", and the full, floor-length Anastasia and Drizella gowns - the gals were holding up their gowns and shuffling just like the Stepsisters! So awesome.
Next Post: My Overall Thoughts on the 2015 Disneyland 5K!
