Overall, I had a really good time for the
Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend. I did the Dumbo Double Dare, my wife joined me for the 10k and my 8-year-old daughter ran the 400m in the Kids Races.
We hit the expo around 5/6 p.m. on Friday. Packet pick up was pretty easy as there wasn't much of a crowd to contend with. We had to go to four different stations on the lower level to get all of our stuff -- my Dumbo bib, my wife's 10k bib & pin, my daughter's Kids Races bib and shirt, and my commemoratives (pins) at a final booth. We then made our way upstairs for a quick picture at the faux castle photo location, got our race shirts and looked around a bit.
We weren't buying any New Balance shoes but there didn't seem to be a line at that hour. Got the free art card from Lasting Commemoratives. Was disappointed at the Angels booth this year -- had to land on 1 out of 20(?) spots on the spin wheel to win anything, unlike last year where they gave you something for spinning and an assortment of better giveaways depending on whether you got a single, double, triple, etc. Walked through the official runDisney store but didn't see anything that I really had to have. We wound up buying my daughter a pair of the Kids Races ears, which I realized after getting home that I had pre-purchased but didn't receive at check-in. Bummer!
We were staying at the Tropicana on Harbor and my wife and I walked over early on Saturday morning for the 10k. Hung out at the dance party for a few minutes before they announced that the corrals were open. I was in Corral C and my wife was in D, so I moved down to be with her for the race. We were right behind the guy who ran as Kronk with the Yzma tower on his back. My wife got nervous when they said that walkers were welcome but should be in the last corral but I told her she was fine where she was but to stay off to the side. She decided she wanted to start out running anyway. It was a bit crowded but we had fun running for the first mile or so before she got tired. We walked most of the rest of the way with a few bursts of running, mainly to get around others. I liked the course a lot because so much of it was on Disney property but there were some definite pinch points, like the path from the cast member employee gate on Harbor to the Disneyland entrance, that I wouldn't have cared for if I was doing it for time. The running took its toll on my wife who struggled keeping pace after mile 5 but she made it through and was thrilled to hear the announcer say her name as we crossed the finish line.
We had a bit of trouble getting back to our hotel after the race to pick up our daughter for the Kids Races. As RnbwSktles said above, "The course through Downtown Disney for the 10k was a nightmare for spectators/runners returning to their hotels." We were stuck in place by the ESPN Zone for a long time and again in front of the Jazz Kitchen waiting for the final runner to come past before they opened up all the walkways so we could proceed. Luckily, they opened up part of the tent at the security checkpoint to people without bags and we were able to get into and through the esplanade quicker.
The Kids Races were fun to watch. Like my wife, it was my daughter's first runDisney race. She decided that she would run it on her own without Mommy or Daddy joining her. We were able to get a good spot past the finish line to watch the kids cross so we saw her at the end. Though my wife and I didn't dress up in costume for our races, my daughter was excited that she could and chose her Jasmine costume because she didn't want to trip on the longer dresses of the other princess costume she had. She was very excited to have her own medal at the end.
I got up early for Sunday's race and walked across Downtown Disney to get ready for the Half. As I approached the dance party area, the volunteers were telling us that the corrals were open so I skipped the festivities to stand in my corral. I was in Corral G and was early enough to be at the barricade. I spent the next hour an a half watching soooo many people with latter letters trying to get into our corral. It was equal parts interesting and sad. The poor volunteer who was trying to direct traffic was completely overwhelmed by the amount of people and so many people simply ignored her when she told them they couldn't come in with a lower letter. A runDisney representative had better luck checking letters and getting people to leave if they didn't belong in our corral.
As it got closer and closer to the start of the race, the massive amounts of people continuing to pour in were insane. Trying to get people into their proper corrals was proving impossible. So many people were squeezed into the corrals that there was no room for additional bodies. Eventually, I realized the National Anthem was being sung and everything finally came to a calm for a minute before becoming completely crazy once again. A and B were sent off. C and D were sent off and E and F were getting ready to go and the intersection was still completely full of people not in corrals. As the time for G to move forward approached, the hundreds of people in the intersection ahead of us were allowed to move to the start line ahead of us. Those of us at the front of the corral had been there waiting for an hour and a half and were forced to wait behind hundreds of people who had gotten there much closer to start time. It was poorly done in my opinion. Too few runDisney personnel on hand to keep things organized. Too many people being squeezed into too small of an area.
Because there were so many people ahead of me now -- many of them in lower corrals -- I did not get off to a great start time wise. After about a half mile, turning left on Katella, there was finally enough space to pick up my pace and I enjoyed a great run through the rest of the course. I needed a quick start if I was going to break 2 hours but I was never able to make up for lost time later in the race. After about Mile 8 when I realized that I wasn't going to break 2 hours, I slowed a bit and finished with a PR of 2:07:50. I was still pretty happy with my efforts and results.
Like I said to start, overall I had a really good time. It was fun to people watch, both those with good and bad behavior, as well as to see everyone's costumes and such.
This was my second Disneyland Half Marathon and my first Dumbo Double Dare. I'm now looking forward to January when I'll go to Walt Disney World to participate in my first full marathon and the Star Wars Half Marathon the following week to complete the Coast-to-Coast Challenge. Though my wife was tired and sore after her race, she's talking about getting into better shape and trying to run the 10k again next year. My daughter can't wait to be old enough to do the 10k and the Half in the future.
I thought the Princess expo selection was awful ( by the time we got there) I was surprised because I felt like the selection was far better at the WDW marathon weekend expo
We've been leaving our hotel (DI&S) at about 4:15am-4:30am and getting pretty close to the front of our corral.
THANK YOU ALL OF YOU 
If I liked coffee, I'd probably be drinking a lot of it!
. I felt fine during the races though so I don't think I tired myself out as much as I was worried I would. My official race times were my worst ever (is there an opposite of a PR? 
) but I expected that with all of the stops and congestion.
and the people with "ice cold" sponges...so welcome at that point as the humidity was pretty bad.
in there 
They are seriously strict at WDW about getting into the correct corral so this annoys me that people were allowed to get in corrals they didn't belong in.
