2019 Princess Half Marathon Weekend

... I don't recall any mention of fireworks other than the ones they shoot off the start line for each wave. Good to know for the future -- if they are a regular feature of this (or any other) race weekend.
This was my first runDisney race, but I saw others mention that the fireworks being set off regularly during the race from the centre of the course were a new "feature" this year.
 
This was my first runDisney race, but I saw others mention that the fireworks being set off regularly during the race from the centre of the course were a new "feature" this year.

Interesting. I just ran the 5K/10K this year so I didn’t experience this. I did experience a loud BOOM right near me during a Star Wars show I was walking by in DHS which scared the bejeezers out of me.
 


So... I started following this thread because I graduated from high school with Jackie, the winner. This doesn't really have anything to do with the Disney races, but I've seen at least one post along the lines of, "Oh, well, I walked most of it, so..." as if that makes it any less of a finish. May I please share a condensed version of my story? (Well, you're going to get it anyway, but you can stop reading here if you'd like... I'll never know! :) )

When I was born, I had a bunch of physical problems that no one could figure out. I was very far behind in gross motor milestones and didn't walk until I was about 2 1/2. In elementary school, I had an IEP (individual education plan) only for physical reasons. Then when I was nine, I had major hip surgery for developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH). They had checked for DDH when I was born, but didn't noticed anything then, so it wasn't caught until I was nine. (They don't think that's why I walked so late.) After the surgery, I was in a "hip spica" cast that went from my ankles, up both my legs (spread apart in a V shape) to the bottom of my rib cage, for over a month. Then it was almost like I had to re-learn how to walk. Things were going well for me until my late 20s, when I started having hip pain. (I never had pain when I was younger). At age 27, I found out I had severe arthritis in my left hip, and at 29, I had a hip replacement. Yes, that's young. I know. :)

I had always wanted to complete (not really compete in...) a 5k. I discovered the Color Run 5k has essentially no time limit. 1 year and 2 months after my hip replacement, I completed my first 5k. I walked the entire thing, and it took me nearly an hour and a half. I've done 3 more (about to be 4 more) Color Runs since, and in each of those I have/will walk in honor of a child going through DDH, where I walk with a sign on my back that says "Walking for [name] and DDH awareness." I still can't run really at all. It still takes me almost an hour and a half to complete a 5k (though I can't really say I train much for it.) But I finish!

Bottom line: Don't feel bad if you have/had to walk. You still did it! And you were still probably faster than me. ;)

If you'd like to hear my full story, please respond here or send me a PM. I love sharing my full story with others.

K. I'm done now. Back to your regularly scheduled race talk.
 
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I seem to remember people in years past being able to go in and look at unassigned pictures. Maybe the photopass software is having a hard time recognizing your bib or tagged you as someone else.

You finished the races and did so honestly. You are, most definitely, not a fraud. From a fellow slow runner who does a lot of walking as well in races, don't feel like a fraud. Anyone who tries to make you feel like a fraud is wrong.

I would email photopass. If you have the approximate time and a description of what you were wearing, they may be able to find the missing photos. It may also help to send them a picture from your camera from that day if you have any because that may help them find some. I learned from experience that you can inadvertently cover up a bib number and "lose" photos.

I've been running for many years now. While I've always felt good to cross that finish line, I only felt the elusive runners high once. And that was at the end of the marathon in January. For some the runners high comes more often, but as @bumbershoot noted, sometimes it doesn't come.

Thanks for the help guys. I know there is no guarantee about the number of pictures you are going to get. And I know I got photobombed badly in front of the castle (I wished people would realize when they do that and stop they are essentially depriving someone else of the same photo -- and by stop, I mean totally stop), but I should have some finish line photos and I have NONE.
 


This is a shameless plug for my trip report, now in progress:
Oo-de-lally, oo-de-lally, golly, what a day! - Princess Half Marathon 2019 TR

I really enjoyed reading marathon weekend trip reports in my last weeks of training and preparation prior to my first runDisney event. Mine won't be as exciting as those (no Dopey challenges, DIS-meets, DATW or #pandamonium, although I did have some #jambalaya at the POFQ food court!). I hope some find it interesting. It at least gives me an excuse to dwell on my memories of the trip a bit longer and recall green grass and warmer temperatures.
 
So... I started following this thread because I graduated from high school with Jackie, the winner. This doesn't really have anything to do with the Disney races, but I've seen at least one post along the lines of, "Oh, well, I walked most of it, so..." as if that makes it any less of a finish. May I please share a condensed version of my story? (Well, you're going to get it anyway, but you can stop reading here if you'd like... I'll never know! :) )

When I was born, I had a bunch of physical problems that no one could figure out. I was very far behind in gross motor "milestones" and didn't walk until I was about 2 1/2. In elementary school, I had an IEP (individual education plan) only for physical reasons. Then when I was nine, I had major hip surgery for developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH). They had checked for DDH when I was born, but didn't noticed anything then, so it wasnt' caught until I was nine. (They don't think that's why I walked so late.) After the surgery, I was in a "hip spica" cast that went from my ankles, up both my legs (spread apart in a V shape) to the bottom of my rib cage, for over a month. Then it was almost like I had to re-learn how to walk. Things were going well for me until my late 20s, when I started having hip pain. (I never had pain when I was younger). At age 27, I found out I had severe arthritis in my left hip, and at 29, I had a hip replacement. Yes, that's young. I know. :)

I had always wanted to complete (not really compete in...) a 5k. I discovered the Color Run 5k has essentially no time limit. 1 year and 2 months after my hip replacement, I completed my first 5k. I walked the entire thing, and it took me nearly an hour and a half. Since then, I've done 3 more (about to be 4 more) Color Runs since, and in each of those I have/will walk in honor of a child going through DDH, where I walk with a sign on my back that says "Walking for [first name] and DDH awareness." I still can't run really at all. It still takes me almost an hour and a half to complete a 5k (though I can't really say I train much for it.) But I finished!

Bottom line: Don't feel bad if you have/had to walk. You still did it! And you were still probably faster than me. ;)

If you'd like to hear my full story, please respond here or send me a PM. I love sharing my full story with others.

K. I'm done now. Back to your reguarly scheduled race talk.
Thank you for sharing! Your toughness, determination and support for others are a great example for all of us. It is too easy sometimes to get caught up in our own frustrations and minor set-backs and loose perspective.
 
This is a shameless plug for my trip report, now in progress:
Oo-de-lally, oo-de-lally, golly, what a day! - Princess Half Marathon 2019 TR

I really enjoyed reading marathon weekend trip reports in my last weeks of training and preparation prior to my first runDisney event. Mine won't be as exciting as those (no Dopey challenges, DIS-meets, DATW or #pandamonium, although I did have some #jambalaya at the POFQ food court!). I hope some find it interesting. It at least gives me an excuse to dwell on my memories of the trip a bit longer and recall green grass and warmer temperatures.

Thank you! I've been looking for some of these to read :goodvibes
 

Yeah I saw it directly on marathon investigator. It really sucks. I wonder how Dave was getting all the bibs. I can't believe that there would be than many people on facebook not picking up their bibs. I also wonder how he was able to pick it up without her ID. IS Dave really good at Social Engineering or is he a volunteer that might have had access?
 
it was all over the fb group that weekend. screw "Dave" lol
This was awful!!! I had a so called "friend" who wanted me to do a bib swop in the corral for the 5 & 10 K .I was in A and she had not trained so worried she would get swept. She wanted me to go into the corral wearing both bibs and then pass mine out to her.. How she thought that would work i don't know. I refused avoided her the whole trip and now we are no longer friends!!!
 
Has anyone provided POT from a course that was not USATF certified and it was accepted?
I have, and it was. The results were posted on-line, and that seemed to be good enough. This was for a race in Dec 2018 for this year's Star Wars half.
 
I have, and it was. The results were posted on-line, and that seemed to be good enough. This was for a race in Dec 2018 for this year's Star Wars half.
Awesome! Thanks! I really don’t want to have to travel 2 hours just for a certified course.
 
Considering people from all over the world apply, yes. My proof of time was just a community run, and I don't live in America. As long as you have a chip time that is available online, you're good.
 
Considering people from all over the world apply, yes. My proof of time was just a community run, and I don't live in America. As long as you have a chip time that is available online, you're good.

I haven't turned in a time in years, but that's what I thought. I don't remember if it always said that in the requirements though.
 

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