2012 Marathon/2011 Princess Half Marathon Weekend Trip Report! 8/21 - 2013 TRAINING!

[Ariel484]

Hi -- sorry to butt in, but as a fellow Seattleite who has been lucky enough to run the WDW Half, WDW Full, DL Half, and Tinker Bell half, I just wanted to say how much more fun the races are in Florida. Sure, there are plenty of blah highway miles in Florida between the parks, but at least they're leafy and green and Disney owns them -- so they can put characters and other things on them. In Anaheim, once you're out of the parks, you are pretty much wandering through the wilds of Anaheim... past tile merchants, flea markets, industrial parks...

Don't get me wrong -- we'll be back for Tinker Bell 2013 so we can pick up our Coast-to-Coast medal after staggering through the Goofy -- but if you can swing it at all, go to WDW!!!!

I have heard that about the Disneyland races...I guess that's what happens when they have just the 2 parks. You're right that Disney does a good job with the back roads portions of the course.

Now returning you to Ariel484's awesome race report, already in progress....

Why thank you!

Your brother had only trained up to 14 miles before the marathon???
I will have to stay tuned to see how he felt at the end of it. Must be nice to be a young guy! I don't think I'd be too confident in myself getting to the finish in one piece if I had only trained up to 14 miles!

If I do the marathon, I would totally jump on Everest if time allows! Where else can you ride a roller coaster mid-marathon? Hopefully AK will open in time that day to get in a spin on EE.

Yep, 14. He's nuts! Ugh, boys...after the Princess Half he was seriously hurting because, in his words, he "pretty much just got up off the couch to run the race" (NO training at all)...but he still finished. If that were me they would've have to carry me off the course on a stretcher.

I've heard that Cast Members let runners in through the Fastpass line, so it seems like a ride on Everest wouldn't even take that long. Hmm... Definitely something to think about!

 

[DisneyParrothead]

Yes, sweet sweet Biofreeze. I needed some during the Princess this year and got it at mile 8, after stupidly passing up on some at mile 6-ish.

 

[Eight]

Hmm...this is a tough one! I honestly don't think that I liked one better than the other. Helpful, right? The Princess Half was my first-ever Disney race, but the marathon was my first marathon, so they both are special to me and I really enjoyed both. Both races were really positive, fun environments. I guess you'd have to think about...

1. Which environment do you think you'd prefer - one that is "geared toward women" (i.e. lots of "girl-power" type stuff around, pink, sparkle, etc.) or not so much geared toward women?

2. Is any time of year better for you to go to Florida, since it's a cross-country flight? The weather may be different too, but for us it seemed like the February 2011 weather and the January 2012 weather was pretty similar (i.e. awesome). That hasn't always been the case though.

3. They are both big races, but I think the WDW Half is going to have more runners (~20,000 vs. ~16,000 for the Princess Half). And then there's the full marathon as well, so there would be, I think, 40,000 people there for marathon weekend, so there's a change you'd get more crowds overall. The other way to look at this is there is more of a "buzz" around marathon weekend - more people there to run so (I thought) a little more excitement all weekend as a whole compared to the Princess Half weekend - not to say that there wasn't excitement surrounding the Princess Half, because there was!

4. Theme of the race - princess-centered vs. general WDW sporty-type theme (not sure how else to describe marathon weekend themes?!) - so I guess similar to #1 above

5. ...do you want a tiara medal or a Donald medal? Princess shirt or Donald shirt? It sounds silly, but I like getting the stuff, so it's something to consider!

6. If you stay on property, all resorts are host resorts for marathon weekend (they provide transportation to and from the expo and race), but only a select few are host resorts for the Princess Half, so that will narrow your selection if you're going to rely on Disney transportation. Same thing for the 10-miler. Probably not a huge deal, but it is a difference between the two weekends.


Honestly, I can't think of any other differences off the top of my head. In both instances - the Princess Half and the WDW Half - you're going to have an ungodly early wake-up call (you'd also get this with the Tinkerbell/Disneyland Half marathons), and both courses are exactly the same - so either way you'll get to run down Main Street toward the castle, then back through it. I think it'll really come down to when you can go to WDW - early January vs. late February - and what theme you prefer.

I haven't run a race in Disneyland (yet) so I can't really comment on those. Maybe google "Tinkerbell Half Marathon Race Report" or something like that and see what comes up.

And thanks for the Goofy encouragement! I'm nervous but looking forward to it!

Thank you for all the information! That gives me a lot to think about! I think right now I'm leaning toward the Princess, because of the slightly smaller size, and this probably is a silly reason, but I've never liked Donald. And I think I'd rather take on the Marathon weekend when I can actually do the full marathon. Maybe 2014?

Thank you again, I really appreciate you taking the time to write all that!

Hi -- sorry to butt in, but as a fellow Seattleite who has been lucky enough to run the WDW Half, WDW Full, DL Half, and Tinker Bell half, I just wanted to say how much more fun the races are in Florida. Sure, there are plenty of blah highway miles in Florida between the parks, but at least they're leafy and green and Disney owns them -- so they can put characters and other things on them. In Anaheim, once you're out of the parks, you are pretty much wandering through the wilds of Anaheim... past tile merchants, flea markets, industrial parks...

Don't get me wrong -- we'll be back for Tinker Bell 2013 so we can pick up our Coast-to-Coast medal after staggering through the Goofy -- but if you can swing it at all, go to WDW!!!!

Now returning you to Ariel484's awesome race report, already in progress....

Thank you too! It's awesome to hear from another Seattleite!
That confirms the impression I had about the Tinker Bell versus the WDW races. Kind of disappointing since Disneyland is so much closer, but hey, I'll take any reason to go to WDW!

And woah, you're doing the Goofy too? That's so cool!


But yes, back to Ariel484's trip report..

I used to feel awkward posing with characters, but then I start imitating their pose, and while sometimes it doesn't work if they're not doing an active pose (like they just have their arm around you) or something that's hard to imitate, most the time it works pretty well. I don't know if that makes sense, but I have a picture of me imitating Sulley on the first post of my PTR (link in my signature) if you want an example.

I was wondering how that worked if you were racing in the park when there were people there. Was it like a parade route, where they let non-racers across at certain points?

That's so great that people would ride Expedition Everest! I think I'd be pretty tempted, it's one of my favorite rides. And if the line was short enough..

 

[Ariel484]

Yes, sweet sweet Biofreeze. I needed some during the Princess this year and got it at mile 8, after stupidly passing up on some at mile 6-ish.

During the Princess Half I didn't think it helped much...but I definitely felt it during the marathon! Ahh...

Thank you for all the information! That gives me a lot to think about! I think right now I'm leaning toward the Princess, because of the slightly smaller size, and this probably is a silly reason, but I've never liked Donald. And I think I'd rather take on the Marathon weekend when I can actually do the full marathon. Maybe 2014?

Thank you again, I really appreciate you taking the time to write all that!

You're welcome! To be honest, I think what you mentioned - the size of the race and Donald vs. Princesses - is what made me go with the Princess Half first. But really, whichever one you pick, you'll be running at Disney! Can't get much better than that!

But yes, back to Ariel484's trip report..

I used to feel awkward posing with characters, but then I start imitating their pose, and while sometimes it doesn't work if they're not doing an active pose (like they just have their arm around you) or something that's hard to imitate, most the time it works pretty well. I don't know if that makes sense, but I have a picture of me imitating Sulley on the first post of my PTR (link in my signature) if you want an example.

Super cute picture of you with Sulley! Thanks for the tips...something for me to keep in mind for next time. I think I just didn't want every picture with us just standing next to the characters so I tried to mix it up. Lesson learned!

I was wondering how that worked if you were racing in the park when there were people there. Was it like a parade route, where they let non-racers across at certain points?

That's so great that people would ride Expedition Everest! I think I'd be pretty tempted, it's one of my favorite rides. And if the line was short enough..

Yeah, the comparison to the parade route is a good one. They don't show up in the picture, but there were CMs holding people back. Most were okay with it, but I heard a story from a friend that someone insisted he didn't have to wait and just barged across the race course. Oooookay. But I think instances like that are pretty rare.

 

[Ariel484]

Day 3: Sunday, June 8 - WALT DISNEY WORLD MARATHON! Miles 17-20

Mile Marker 17 was in Dinoland, and this was a big one…9.2 miles to go! We’re in the single digits!

After Mile Marker 17, I briefly lost Craig again - the slippery little bugger - long enough that he wasn’t in the photo with Jammin’ Jungle Minnie (one that I’d really been hoping for after reading old marathon reports). Hooray! And just like that, it was time to say good-bye to Animal Kingdom.

We exited the park from some side entrance and ran past the park entrance and down the sidewalk near the bus stops. There was great crowd support here, but boy, that sidewalk was narrow. Yikes!

Now we had reached mile 18 and the dreaded Osceola Parkway. This marked the farthest distance I’d ran during training and was the beginning of the second part of the course I was really not looking forward to (miles 18-21). I don’t think it was any coincidence that this was the point in the race where I began to struggle:

There were many things that made me nervous about this part of the course – it would be the farthest I’d ever run, it was not in a park, there was not a lot of shade, I was afraid of “hitting the wall” (which never actually happened...awww yeah ) and this portion of the course ended with a long out-and-back. Side note: my favorite thing about the new marathon course for 2013 is that this out-and-back is sort of gone. It's now broken up by a trip through WWoS. Woohoo!

I was feeling the pain a bit more by then, sure, but I still felt better than I’d felt during the Princess Half in 2011. Running is a very mental sport, and I think the amount of I dread I felt regarding this area of the course made this part of the race more challenging than it should have been. It was definitely the most difficult portion of the course for me. Something to be prepared for in the future, I guess...i.e. I just need to put on my big girl pants and suck it up next time.

At least it started off great with Jammin’ Jungle Mickey!

Craig wanted to skip this one because the line was long, but come on...who skips a photo-op with Mickey Mouse?! Blasphemy, I tell you. Both I and the girl in front of us rightfully scolded him for suggesting such a thing. Silly boy.

Up next was a pretty long line for some Haunted Mansion gravediggers. Every single person in front of us laid down in front of the graves, but there was no guarantee I’d get up if I did that, so I decided against it. Craig agreed.

By now we were 19 miles in…those 2 long lines we’d waited in had helped produce an 18.5-minute mile:

There was a band after mile 19 playing “I’m Gonna Be (500 miles)” by the Proclaimers, which gave me a little mental boost (any How I Met Your Mother fans out there?! ). The lyrics were changed a bit for the race (“When I finish, well I know I’m gonna be, I’m gonna be the man that celebrates with you!” – see what they did there? ). It was super cheesy and fun.

As we approached the next food stop (I hadn’t used any of them up to that point) I whined to Nurse-Man Craiggy that I was having some stomach cramping, and he barked back “Potassium!” so I grabbed a banana. I’d never eaten bananas during training runs and was nervous that my stomach wouldn't like it, but it helped the cramping a lot. Plus, I was starving at that point and was really looking forward to the next Chomp break at mile 20. And here it is!

We stepped over the timing mat and the 4th text message split was sent out: 20 miles in 4:49:09, a 14:27 pace. Estimated finish time of 6:18:51.

Continued in Next Post

 

[BigEeyore]

I am sitting here dreading your out and back on Osceola and I didn't even run it! I can see how big of a mental challenge that would be, especially this far in to the race. Glad to hear you are still feeling pretty good at this point though!

Did not know bananas would help stomach cramps. What kind of food did they have at the food tents? In the princess it was just Clif gels (I just can't do gels, I usually do the chomps or clif blocks).

 

[Ariel484]

I am sitting here dreading your out and back on Osceola and I didn't even run it! I can see how big of a mental challenge that would be, especially this far in to the race. Glad to hear you are still feeling pretty good at this point though!

Did not know bananas would help stomach cramps. What kind of food did they have at the food tents? In the princess it was just Clif gels (I just can't do gels, I usually do the chomps or clif blocks).

The out-and-back was definitely my least favorite part of the race...I am SO glad they changed it. People have pointed out that it's technically still there but it's not like it was before. So that's a win in my book.

Yeah, bananas...who knew?! I looked at the program from last year and here's what they had:

Mile 8: Clif gels
Mile 14: Bananas
Mile 17.5: Sponges
Mile 19: Clif gels and bananas
Mile 23: Candy
And of course the water stops with water and Powerade (lemon-lime only from what I remember...blech)

If I remember correctly, the sponges at mile 17.5 were literally that - wet sponges. I do remember passing that stop but not getting a sponge, which was stupid. That would have been heavenly. I don't remember seeing the mile 8, 14 or 23 food stops, but I'm pretty sure the candy at mile 23 was Hershey Bars. And looking in the program it looks like there was just a clif gel stop during the half, same as the Princess.

I'm with you on the fuel ...I used to just take Gu gels, but I like the chomps much better. Nice to have something sort of solid. I never thought a banana would work out though, it almost seemed too heavy I guess. I think by that point in the race I was starting to get pretty hungry though, so along with the cramping it was perfect.

 

[Ariel484]

Day 3: Sunday, June 8 - WALT DISNEY WORLD MARATHON! Miles 21-24

I was hoping some magical switch would get flipped at mile 20 (only a 10k to go!) but now we were at the out-and-back near the ESPN Wide World of Sports. I like out-and-backs during training runs, but I HATE them during races. I find it demoralizing to run past and away from the mile-marker I’m trying to get to and see all of the people that are ahead of me running back toward me, if that makes any sense (I can't come up with a clearer/more sensible way to write this out...sorry!). And the waiting for the turn-around point…woof. Add to that the fact that the weather was continuing to get warmer and the sun was beating down on us…I was getting really mentally whiny.

Anyhoo, after mile 20 I ran out about a half a mile and did eventually make it to the turn-around point. There was a large screen with a live feed of runners and 2 sportscaster-type guys trading witty (that is to say, awful) banter. They kept saying that we were appearing live on Sportscenter, but somehow, I don’t really think that was true.

Finally, the out-and-back ends!

We turned right off of Osceola Parkway (hooray! ) and were heading toward the Studios. But first, we got another character photo on my wish list…Sarge!

We’d just missed him during the Princess Half, so I was pleased to get this picture.

As we ran down the road to the Studios entrance, cars were honking at us and cheering. "Sweet Caroline" was blasting from some speakers and we were singing - er, shouting - along at the top of our lungs…it was great!

We found Mile Marker 22 just before entering the park:

Is this a Pixar Pals Countdown float? :shrug: Never seen it before:

The back of the Tower of Terror greeted us...only the best ride EVER!

When we entered the park, we saw (and skipped) Mr. Incredible and Carl Fredrickson and I got a shot of the Earful Tower:

We ran through a cool, dark tunnel (which felt AMAZING after all that sun) in the costuming department and skipped a meet and greet with Mike and Sulley. Mile Marker 23 was just outside the Streets of America:

With my blessing, Craig took off for the last 3 miles alone. We were both feeling pretty good, but I was taking an extra walk break during each mile and didn’t want to hold him back. So yeah, despite the fact that he'd trained much, MUCH less than I did, he was in better shape than I was at this point. *sigh.* Boys.

Next up, the runners headed down the Streets of America…the CMs were not messing around in regards to when people could cross the race course. I saw one girl begin to cross in front of me and suddenly a CM grabbed her arm and yanked her back so I could pass. Intense!

I don’t know what it is, but the dude in the 11 shirt cracks me up.

My second video was taken after I passed the BAH…I run through right at the beginning on the left side. Blink and you’ll miss me!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ddMORmtXUE

Video evidence that I wasn’t dead at this point! Huzzah!

Just before leaving the park through a backstage entrance, I stopped in a guest bathroom and held my breath as I rounded the corner to the CM-only area where we’d exit the park. In a marathon trip report from last year, I saw a picture of a runner (dismagiclover, I think) with the entire cast of the Beauty and the Beast stage show, and man, how I wanted that picture. And who was there waiting for me? Max. Freaking Max. LAME. Nothing against Max, but I was so mad at this point and quickly decided that the Studios was my least favorite park experience during the race. The crowd support there was great and there were lots of characters, but none were new to me (I know Carl Fredrickson is a rare one nowadays, but I was lucky to meet him, Russell, Dug and Kevin in November 2009). Plus I think I was just starting to get tired and crabby at that point. But still, boo!

Okay, let’s calm ourselves…we left the park and made our way toward the path that leads to the Epcot resorts – the very path I’d walked down the first night of this trip.

We were passing the parking lots and suddenly I saw my mom!

We both jumped up and down excitedly…this was the boost that I needed. Yay, mom!

She let me know that Craig was about 5 minutes ahead of me and that I was almost to mile 24! We said good-bye and I broke into a run again, feeling much more energized. Let’s do this!

Continued in Next Post

 

[Ariel484]

Day 3: Sunday, June 8 - WALT DISNEY WORLD MARATHON! To the Finish Line!

After passing the Boardwalk, we crossed the bridge near the Swan and Dolphin:

The course took us past the Yacht & Beach Club Resorts and the International Gateway, and we entered Epcot through a CM-only area in England. I remember wanting to run here, but not being able to – everyone in front of me was walking and I couldn’t squeeze through.

Eventually I reached Mile Marker 25 in France!

Marie was out, but I didn’t stop to say hi.

After taking the above picture, I turned the camera off and told myself, This is it. You’re going to finish this thing. Run it in! My strategy – if you could call it that - all race long had been to run to the mile markers, take a picture, and then walk for a minute or so (also walking through the water stops and waiting for any character photos I wanted ), so by now I had walked to, I think, Morocco. I began to run, but only made it 2 or 3 steps before I pulled up lame. Throughout the race, I’d occasionally been feeling a small amount of pain in my knees, back and butt. I don’t think I mentioned it much in previous posts because it really wasn’t that bad, and if it did irk me enough, I’d slap some Biofreeze on the affected area and be fine a few minutes later. Really, up to this point, I’d been thrilled with how good I felt. But trying to run those first few steps in the 26th mile, I felt like I had majorly injured, of all places, the left side of my butt.

Oh my god, I’ve actually torn my left @#$ muscle, I thought. Nothing was actually torn, but that’s what it felt like at first. It was more like a spasm or something. I limped a few steps and after a few more spasms it eventually felt better, so using my Garmin, I began alternating run and walk intervals (run 0.1 miles/walk 0.05 miles) to get myself through the World Showcase. During the walk breaks I was rubbing my butt and surely giving those around me a good laugh. Oh well, I had to do what I had to do.

During my hobbling, I passed Jasmine in Morocco, Snow White in Germany, Mushu in China, and Panchito again in Mexico. I didn’t stop for any of them…I’d met them all before and at this point I was sort of bummed about how I was feeling and just wanted to finish.

I am really, really thankful that the spectator support was so great here. I mean, people were taking a minute out of their vacation to cheer us runners on (“Shannon, you look great!” LIES, ALL LIES!! . How cool is that?! It was wonderful and helped me so much during that last mile.

Upon leaving the World Showcase we were back at the tree (whoops, I cut off the angel):

We left Epcot, and before I knew it, there was a gospel choir to my right…

…and Mile Marker 26 to my left!

In the grand scheme of things, 0.2 miles is not a long way to run, but I was expecting it to take forever since it was right at the end of the race. So I was very surprised to round the corner and, what felt like seconds later, see the finish line.

I started to cry a bit at this point. The whole moment was completely overwhelming. I was simultaneously proud of myself and in disbelief that I was actually going to finish...thrilled to be done, yet sad that the experience was over. But most of all I remember thinking “I wish that Will was here.” We’re both still sad that he wasn’t. Geez, I’m getting choked up again just writing this out! What a baby.

Anyway, back at the Magnolia Golf Course, Donald and Goofy had evidently stolen Mickey’s golf cart and changed into their track gear to greet me at the finish…it would have been rude not to stop for a photo. You can see in the picture that any sadness I’d been feeling had quickly disappeared. I was completely thrilled and grinning like a fool. This picture ties with the villains picture from earlier that day as my favorite from the race.

And here’s my third and final video from the race, which definitely shows my devotion to getting character photos. In the beginning of the video, I’m getting the above picture taken. I then check my camera to make sure that the picture came out okay – priorities, people! - then practically skip across the finish line, stupidly raising my arms in triumph. This all happens in the first 10-15 seconds of the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytuldMh2mrg

Another neat thing about the video is that you can see the winner of the wheelchair – push rim division crossing the finish line as well! I remember seeing race officials unrolling the tape for her to cross but it didn’t occur to me why they were doing that until later.

So anyway, like I said, I crossed the finish line, where I started to cry again…and I am not a crier.

But I am a marathoner!

Continued in Next Post

 

[CAStevens218]

CONGRATULATIONS!

I've been reading along and I really enjoyed you detailed description of the marathon!

That villians picture is AMAZING, by the way!!

 

[Ariel484]

CONGRATULATIONS!

I've been reading along and I really enjoyed you detailed description of the marathon!

That villians picture is AMAZING, by the way!!

Thanks for the congrats and for reading along!

Oh yes, the villains picture...I don't think I will ever top that one!

 

[BigEeyore]

That is such a great picture of you with Goofy and Donald at the finish!
I got emotional too at the end of the Princess half - it was my first half, and it had been such a great experience - and I am not usually a crier either.
Way to go! What an amazing accomplishment

 

[BurleyGirl]

I teared up right along with you while reading the portion about missing Will...
Congrats on such a wonderful accomplishment, and such fine trip reporting skills!

 

[lovegrumpy]

Congrats on finishing the race

 

[kaj1436]

This has been the most inspiring race report I have read yet. Great job on the race and on writing the report. Now I just need to figure out what I'm going to do. The half or the full? I just don't know if I'm ready for the full quite yet. I want to decide before the price increase.

 

[annabanna]

I loved reading along with your report - you are such an inspiration to me! It was your half marathon report that prompted me to decide that I CAN do this! I have my first 5K in Saturday.

Thank you so much for sharing, I gained a lot of knowledge about how the race works. whenever I need motivation to get out run, I just read through a few miles of your report!

 

[Liliesinthevalley]

Congrats!! What accomplishments

I have really enjoyed reading your reports (this and the Princess Half Marathon), they have truly been inspirational. I am training for the Wine and Dine Half Marathon in November and your experiences have given me so much insight into what to expect. I have never been a runner, but a half marathon is something I have wanted to do and decided to get up off my butt and do it!

I pretty much want to now plan trips around the marathons just to cheer the runners on!

I can't say I will ever do the full marathon, but who knows We'll see how I fare after the half

 

[DisneyParrothead]

Woo-hoo! I've enjoyed reading about both races, though I'm partial to the Princess since I did it this year. I'm contemplating doing the full marathon in a couple years, and I know it won't quite be the same since they changed the course, but since it's Disney, they could change it again.

 

[Ariel484]

That is such a great picture of you with Goofy and Donald at the finish!
I got emotional too at the end of the Princess half - it was my first half, and it had been such a great experience - and I am not usually a crier either.
Way to go! What an amazing accomplishment

Yep, I'm sure most would think it's crazy to stop right before the finish line to get a picture, but I thought it was worth it! It's one of my favorites EVER!

What is it about these races that make us cry?! I'm glad you're with me on that one!

Thanks for reading!

I teared up right along with you while reading the portion about missing Will...
Congrats on such a wonderful accomplishment, and such fine trip reporting skills!

I was still a little emotional about him not being there for a few weeks after the trip. I know he was too...like I said, that's part of the reason I bought the photo package. That way he could sort of "see" me at the finish line. But he'll be there in 2013, so yay!

Thanks for the congrats and for reading the report! I'm glad you enjoyed it!

Congrats on finishing the race

Thank you so much! Thanks for reading my report.

This has been the most inspiring race report I have read yet. Great job on the race and on writing the report. Now I just need to figure out what I'm going to do. The half or the full? I just don't know if I'm ready for the full quite yet. I want to decide before the price increase.

Thank you very much! What a nice thing to say.

Ah...decisions, decisions. At least you still have the weekend to mull it over! No matter what you decide though, you will have a blast!

 

[Ariel484]

I loved reading along with your report - you are such an inspiration to me! It was your half marathon report that prompted me to decide that I CAN do this! I have my first 5K in Saturday.

Thank you so much for sharing, I gained a lot of knowledge about how the race works. whenever I need motivation to get out run, I just read through a few miles of your report!

Wow, that's so nice! Congrats on tackling your first 5K! I hope that you have a fabulous time. There is really something special about being in the racing environment, in my opinion. I hope you have fun!

I'm glad you found the race information helpful. I didn't even know Disney had races until I read a trip report from a friend of mine (she completed the marathon in 2009). Without her, I would've been totally lost!

Happy running!!!

Congrats!! What accomplishments

I have really enjoyed reading your reports (this and the Princess Half Marathon), they have truly been inspirational. I am training for the Wine and Dine Half Marathon in November and your experiences have given me so much insight into what to expect. I have never been a runner, but a half marathon is something I have wanted to do and decided to get up off my butt and do it!

I pretty much want to now plan trips around the marathons just to cheer the runners on!

I can't say I will ever do the full marathon, but who knows We'll see how I fare after the half

Thank you so much for the congrats! (if it's not already obvious by my overuse of this smiley, I'll state it now...he's my fave )

Lucky you, getting to run the Wine & Dine! I SO want to run that one...some day, some day. Anyhoo, from what I have heard the process for the night races is similar to the morning ones, except for, obviously, the time difference - go to the expo for your packet, Disney buses you in from host resorts, you wait around in the corrals, and then 3 2 1 GO! I have a friend (same friend I referenced above) that ran it in 2011 and she did say there were not as many characters out on the course, so be prepared for that possibility. ANYWAY...that is so great that you are going for it. I hope you have a wonderful time!

That's so nice that you love to cheer runners on! It definitely helps.

And yeah, you never know about the full marathon...if you had told me 4 years ago (the year I ran my first 5K) that I'd run a marathon, I would've given you the side-eye. And here I am! You just never know.

Woo-hoo! I've enjoyed reading about both races, though I'm partial to the Princess since I did it this year. I'm contemplating doing the full marathon in a couple years, and I know it won't quite be the same since they changed the course, but since it's Disney, they could change it again.

Thanks for reading, and glad you have enjoyed the reports! The Princess definitely holds a special place in my heart too, since it was my first half AND my first race at Disney. I'd love to do it again some day.

Yeah, the changes to the course...we'll see. I understand why they did it, and I can see good and bad things about the change. At first I was disappointed, but really, at the end of the day I'm still running (something that was on my mind a lot in the wake of Will's health issues - that is, I'm grateful to be healthy enough to run) and still running AT Disney, so that's all that matters! Happy thoughts!