Mrs. Darling's 2010 Half Marathon Trip:Yes, it does snow at Disney World

[dismagiclover]

Oh wow that looks so awesome running through Main St and seeing the Castle must have been really cool.

Love that pic of Buzz runing, bless him. Looking forward to seeing who else you bumped into along the way

Running up Main Street is one of the highlights for lots of racers. I love seeing all of the characters. There are many more to come!

How awesome to see the Christmas decorations!! Are they not normally up during marathon weekend? I'd love to be able to see them.

I'm pretty sure they leave the Christmas decorations up through Marathon weekend. Since this was my first marathon weekend I wasn't expecting it so it was a bit of a suprise. Now watch next year they will take them down when I'm expecting them up!

Thanks for the info on the other marathons, I'll have to look into them

Isn't Main Street suppossed to be empty that early in the day

So much for getting that castle shot with no one in it before park opening!

The castle is such a beautiful sight! I might take up running to run up Main St.

During rough training runs thinking of the castle is one of my motivations! Could work for you too

Wow! Great updates!!

I didn't realize that you got to run down Main Street!! That is so cool that you were able to see the castle and all the Christmas decorations!!

Ahh...that was so nice of your DH to let you take his jacket. But...poor Michael--feeling so bad that it was left behind.

Cute picture of Buzz!! Hmm...wondering who else you found???

Brrr....it still looks really cold!!

Lots more characters coming up and it was really cold. It never got any warmer

 

[carissanboys]

Ohhhh - I thought you'd run the half marathon before?

 

[dismagiclover]

Ohhhh - I thought you'd run the half marathon before?

I've run the Disneyland Half (in CA) and the Baltimore Half (here in good old MD), but this was my first Disney World Half (in FL). Wouldn't you know the Florida race was by far the coldest too

 

[carissanboys]

I've run the Disneyland Half (in CA) and the Baltimore Half (here in good old MD), but this was my first Disney World Half (in FL). Wouldn't you know the Florida race was by far the coldest too

Here's hoping next year is a bit warmer!

 

[Dolce27]

Here's hoping next year is a bit warmer!

But not too warm!

 

[carissanboys]

But not too warm!

Exactly! But, I think the chance of it being too warm that early in the morning during the month of January is pretty slim. Hope I didn't just jinx us.

January is my favorite month to visit WDW.

 

[mebbradley]

I can't wait to run the half-marathon in 2011

Ha. Disney Hills. Can we trade Disney hills for the hills here in Maryland/Delaware?

 

[dismagiclover]

Here's hoping next year is a bit warmer!

But not too warm!

Exactly! But, I think the chance of it being too warm that early in the morning during the month of January is pretty slim. Hope I didn't just jinx us.

January is my favorite month to visit WDW.

A couple of years ago it actually got up into the 80s during the full marathon I think you're probably right about the half though. It finishes early enough that it shouldn't get too hot.

I can't wait to run the half-marathon in 2011

Ha. Disney Hills. Can we trade Disney hills for the hills here in Maryland/Delaware?

It is a great race! I'd trade for those Disney hills anyday

 

[dismagiclover]

So at the end of our last installment we were heading for our first meet ‘n greet of the race. Who did we chat with?

It was the Queen of Hearts that got me. I’d never met her before and I am all about meeting new people. Alice is looking like she wants to climb right out of this rabbit hole isn’t she?

So we passed the Teacups and headed towards Dumbo (which was flying high)

Then we were waylaid by these scoundrels.

I told Captain Smee he was quite the gentleman when he took my arm and I think he fell a little bit in love. And Liz is charming Captain Hook by cuddling up close. (Men are such suckers!)

The Carousel was also in full swing

We made our way towards the castle

Trumpeters heralded our arrival

Looking backwards

We saw another pair we couldn’t pass up.

I insisted on standing by the Prince and Liz kindly agreed. I giddily approached and he kindly gave me his arm while I told him I don’t get pictures with Princes everyday. I think he may have liked me just a little. Liz was trying to pull me towards her side of the picture, but I was sticking with the Prince. As you can tell I was feeling the love, or maybe it’s just the cold rain making me loopy.

The Moment had arrived. It was our time to run through the castle. Every Disney runner pictures this moment in their head when training gets tough and it pretty much lives up to the expectation. As we came out the other side we hammed it up a bit for the course photographers.

And then we noticed a photographer that was actually taking posed shots in front of the castle. We were all over that.

After the castle we left the hub and headed into Liberty Square. (For those of you that know Sandy that is her in front of us).

Liz snapped of shot of Liberty Tree Tavern where we planned on having lunch.

We headed into Frontierland

There were some bears out

And some banjo players

And we hit Mile 6

In case you weren’t paying attention Mile 5 took us around 30 minutes. That is 2 miles an hour. I’m pretty sure my 93 year old grandma could walk that pace. Ain’t nothing wrong with a leisurely stroll through the Magic Kingdom on a cold blustery day. The only problem was Liz thought we were actually in a race. Would we ever speed up?

 

[carissanboys]

Love all of the pictures with the characters, but the one with the prince and the look on your face is priceless!!! Love it!!

I just noticed Liz was wearing a running skirt, too. Do you guys normally wear them without the "tights" when it's hot or are they to keep people from staring at your bottom??

 

[mla1977]

OMG! I was about a minute ahead of you at this point. I only stopped for the pictures at the bottom of the ramp though. You guys still finished faster than me.

 

[Stefy]

Oh wow, awesome post. Loving all the pics and look your very own fanfare of trumpets were playing to cheer you on and your Prince too

 

[UGAFan0829]

Hi, Jenny! I just stumbled upon your TR, and am love, love, loving it! It's so cool to read about your adventures during the race, as I'm planning to run the Princess 1/2 in March! I love that you look like you're having such a great time! I only hope that my run is as fun as yours looks!

 

[disneylovin24]

What scenary

 

[marcielm]

I am loving your TR!! I am thinking about doing the Princess Half in 2011, and this is just what I needed for motivation. I can't wait to hear about the end of the race!

 

[Happy Elf]

Great update! I would have stopped for the prince too!

 

[Dolce27]

As we came out the other side we hammed it up a bit for the course photographers.

I love this pic! You guys are too cute! - esp Liz! But... I don't think the man behind you is "hamming" it up. It's part of what makes this photo so great - you and Liz cheesing it for the camera and the poor guy so clueless, just begging to get to the Finish Line.

The posed photo of the two of you in front of the castle is really good. I didn't think they had done it for the full-marathon after hearing about these photos from people that ran the 1/2 .... then I just received a couple of pic's in the mail that I ordered. One was my castle pic and I can see what appears to be a line off to the right of the picture that must have been a line for a posed pic.

I didn't stop for any photos this year but next year I would like to stop for Alice and the Mad Hatter (she wasn't out with him when I ran by during the full) and the Wicked Stepmother and Sisters who were standing pretty much where you stopped for the Prince and Fairy Godmother. I'd like pic's with them...

I think that's my list.

Liz snapped of shot of Liberty Tree Tavern where we planned on having lunch.

Too funny that you managed to snap a pic of Sandy by taking that photo.

 

[dismagiclover]

Love all of the pictures with the characters, but the one with the prince and the look on your face is priceless!!! Love it!!

I just noticed Liz was wearing a running skirt, too. Do you guys normally wear them without the "tights" when it's hot or are they to keep people from staring at your bottom??

We wear them without tights normally. When I train in cold here I usually just wear the running tights, but I didn't want my pictures with just the running tights. That might have been too scary

OMG! I was about a minute ahead of you at this point. I only stopped for the pictures at the bottom of the ramp though. You guys still finished faster than me.

Wow you are close. Look for yourself in my pictures.

Oh wow, awesome post. Loving all the pics and look your very own fanfare of trumpets were playing to cheer you on and your Prince too

All the details and the characters are really what make Disney races so great!

Hi, Jenny! I just stumbled upon your TR, and am love, love, loving it! It's so cool to read about your adventures during the race, as I'm planning to run the Princess 1/2 in March! I love that you look like you're having such a great time! I only hope that my run is as fun as yours looks!

You will have so much fun in March! And I'd say chances are 100% that you will have better weather! Good luck in training and at the race!

What scenary

That's the reason I love Disney races.

 

[dismagiclover]

I am loving your TR!! I am thinking about doing the Princess Half in 2011, and this is just what I needed for motivation. I can't wait to hear about the end of the race!

I say definitely make the Princess a goal! It is a great motivator to have a Disney race to train for. And race day makes all of the training worth it!

Great update! I would have stopped for the prince too!

Couldn't pass up the prince and in the next update we get someone even better

I love this pic! You guys are too cute! - esp Liz! But... I don't think the man behind you is "hamming" it up. It's part of what makes this photo so great - you and Liz cheesing it for the camera and the poor guy so clueless, just begging to get to the Finish Line.Liz is funny doing a little jump for joy or something That man behind us really does look like he is having a tough time and we're not even half way there plus we are in the most inspiring part of the race. I hope he finished.

The posed photo of the two of you in front of the castle is really good. I didn't think they had done it for the full-marathon after hearing about these photos from people that ran the 1/2 .... then I just received a couple of pic's in the mail that I ordered. One was my castle pic and I can see what appears to be a line off to the right of the picture that must have been a line for a posed pic. The line was off of the course. I think it was Liz that noticed it. We only had to wait half a minute or so. It wasn't too bad

I didn't stop for any photos this year but next year I would like to stop for Alice and the Mad Hatter (she wasn't out with him when I ran by during the full) and the Wicked Stepmother and Sisters who were standing pretty much where you stopped for the Prince and Fairy Godmother. I'd like pic's with them...I think they do different characters each year and the characters rotate around. So you never know for sure who is going to be where. Gives you a reason to come back next year

I think that's my list.

Too funny that you managed to snap a pic of Sandy by taking that photo.

And we didn't even know it was her yet. We figure out who she is next mile.

 

[mla1977]

I've checking my pictures since you probably passed me at some point, but I haven't found you yet!