Official 2014 Tinker Bell Half Marathon

[longhorns2]

I had a wonderful Tinker Bell Race weekend with my friends and the weather was perfect for all three races. I have to admit that the most fun I had was during the 5K while wearing my Magic Carpet costume. I received so many wonderful comments and I can't count the amount of people who stopped me to take pictures. I can't wait to wear that costume again.

After completing Dopey the previous weekend and this weekend completing the 5K, 10K and half I logged 71 Disney Miles in 7 days.

I neeedddd to see this costume! It's on my list! Lol

 

[longhorns2]

I've done wine and dine and 3 princesses: give me dlr races any day!!!!

I love that its party in the front through the parks and after that I can settle into my groove and just do the work with less distractions. I love the bands. Red hats, dancers, signs in DTD, cars, stadium at dl half... Just more entertainment on the open stretches than WDW races.

For sure I'm a west coast running gal! Plus the weather is almost always better.

Here's my tink 10k and half recaps! So fun!

http://margaritasmilesandmouse.blogspot.com/2014/01/inaugural-tinker-bell-10k-race-recap.html

http://margaritasmilesandmouse.blogspot.com/2014/01/tinker-bell-half-marathon-2014-race.html

 

[kappyfamily]

Kappy - First let me say that I am not trying to tell you that you were wrong about the crowding. I just want to tell people that my experience was much different. There were several places on the course where I was literally the only person in a 5 or 6 foot radius. To me, that's not that crowded. I started in Corral B (thanks to a hard-earned 10k proof of time) so perhaps that had something to do with it. There were lots of people passing me too - it's not like I rocketed out of the start and flew by everyone (I run 12:30 pace for a half). And also, in my opinion, I enjoyed running the streets of Anaheim more than I do the highways of WDW. I've only ever done the wine & dine at WDW, so I've not been on the WDW highways during Princess, but as a first time visitor to Anaheim, I found it really cool to see some other parts of the city than just DL. Running through the palm tree-lined retail parts, seeing the high school (or college) bands and cheerleaders, and even the residential areas were interesting to me. I love running at WDW, but I wouldn't hesitate to run in DL again at all. At least not this course. I'm not sure I could go in May, but if they moved it back to January, I'd definitely do it again! Plus I felt like the park parts were better (i.e. longer), than the WDW courses (except the full). AND I have to say I enjoyed not having to be there 3 hours before the start and I thought the finish line was very well organized and found my DH and DS more easily than I thought I would. I am excited about princess though and experiencing a whole new WDW race weekend! See you there!

I can say 100% it was because you were in corral B, lucky you! I was in the back of D. This was my 16th half and have done some HUGE races before, this one was the most packed I had encountered. Glad you had a good race though!

 

[kirstie101]

I had a fabulous weekend! I did the 10K, half and DD did the kids race. All in all I felt that RunDisney put on a wonderful event!

We didn't get to the expo until Friday afternoon. We had zero lines for bib and shirt pickup. The expo was busy but not packed. Picked up a new sparkle skirt with no lines. Got some official merchandise with no lines. The only line I waited in was after the 10K I waited 1.5 hours to get taped up at the KT tape booth.

Man we lucked out and got some amazing weather!

The 10K was crowded for sure. But I think thats cause I started in the back of D and there were tons of walkers in front of me. In the end it was ok cause I wasn't trying to get a PR or anything. My friend and I had fun, took pics, ran when we could and just enjoyed the course. Caught up with Patty at one point too! We did fall behind the balloon lady (who had a flag and not a balloon) and had to sprint to get ahead of her coming out of DCA! Take about a nervous moment!

The kids races were organized well. They told us right where to line up. I stood in the line with DD and my mom went to the finish line to get her pic. my only complaint is that I didn't get to see her race. I didnt want to run with her as she's almost 7 and she wanted to do it by herself plus I was wearing my flip flops by that point. And after her line moved forward to the start there just wasnt a way for me to get to a spot to watch her. But she had a blast. She loved getting her medal. Picking her up at the finish went smoothly. If I get the chance to do another DL run I'll for sure sign her up for the kids race again.

The half went better than I thought it would. We started in C so we didn't have an issue with tons of walkers in front of us. We said we weren't gonna stop for pics but there were a couple lines we couldn't pass up like the Lost Boys and Marie! I enjoyed the changes to the course that were made inside the park. I could see better this year in the area near GRR and TMRR. Enjoyed my time in the parks immensely! The streets of Anaheim were decent too I thought. The highschool bands were fun. Love the red hat ladies. I was thrilled that the water stations all still had both water and powerade when we got there. And after the fiasco of a finish line that I experienced at Nike this past year it was so nice to experience the finish line at Tink this year! So well organized I thought.

And I think the cast members of the Disneyland resort were amazing. You know they saw thousands of people wearing their medals this weekend. Yet so many of them still took the time to say congrats and actually ask how the race went! It was genuine and it wasn't forced. I had at leat 5 CM's actually have a converstion with me that lasted 5 minutes or so about the race and my experience with it and they said they were considering doing it next year.

So all in all it was a truly magical weekend for me. I'm bummed about the race being moved to Mothers Day weekend. I just dont see a way for me to pull that off. Keeping my fingers crossed that DL is given another race on a weekend that I can make it!

RunDisney did an awesome job. I paid the same price for Nike as I did for Tink and the product that RD delivers is so superior to Nike. Dont get me wrong, Nike is a beautiful course with some great bling but RD just suprasses it in quality and customer service all the way around.

 

[kim3339]

RunDisney did an awesome job. I paid the same price for Nike as I did for Tink and the product that RD delivers is so superior to Nike. Dont get me wrong, Nike is a beautiful course with some great bling but RD just suprasses it in quality and customer service all the way around.

Agree w/ you there!

I did all 3 races and had a blast. As much as I love the DL 1/2 races, I really enjoy the 5k and 1/2 courses for Tink. I liked the 10k course, but like the 10k for the DL a tad better. I really liked that if you did all 3, you did a lot of the same areas in the parks, you kinda have to, but they were done a little differently each day so you didn't feel like deja vu each race. The weather was great and liked the high clouds at the end of the 1/2.

And can I say how awesome the CMs were too. It seemed like they added 2 other signs this year; I remember the one backstage last year by IASW, but not the one by Rivers of America or backstage by Indy.

Can't wait for next May!

 

[Kathymford]

Agree w/ you there!

I did all 3 races and had a blast. As much as I love the DL 1/2 races, I really enjoy the 5k and 1/2 courses for Tink. I liked the 10k course, but like the 10k for the DL a tad better. I really liked that if you did all 3, you did a lot of the same areas in the parks, you kinda have to, but they were done a little differently each day so you didn't feel like deja vu each race. The weather was great and liked the high clouds at the end of the 1/2.

And can I say how awesome the CMs were too. It seemed like they added 2 other signs this year; I remember the one backstage last year by IASW, but not the one by Rivers of America or backstage by Indy.

Can't wait for next May!

I am a very new runner and the DL 10k was my first RD race. I liked the Tink 10k course better since I got to run in the parks while I was still fresh. I didn't train as well for the DL 10k, so I was pretty broken by the time I got into the parks for that one. It will be interesting to see which course they use in August.

 

[StarGirl11]

I am a very new runner and the DL 10k was my first RD race. I liked the Tink 10k course better since I got to run in the parks while I was still fresh. I didn't train as well for the DL 10k, so I was pretty broken by the time I got into the parks for that one. It will be interesting to see which course they use in August.

They very rarely change courses outside of anniversary years with Disney so most likely the Disneyland 10k course is going to keep the course it had last year. I prefer the early miles outside the park because its less stress in the later miles for me but that's just me. Might not really matter this year since it will be a whole new ball game for me this year.

Anyway Tink went well for me! Not only did I run a negative split for my 10k (ran it a full minute faster than my 5k and this girl was not stopping for photos). But I managed to run the entirety of the last mile. Mind you the hill part made a portion of it really slow. But I still ran it! Never thought there would be a day I would actually get to say that. Been a very long road since I started running.

I didn't feel much of the crowd except a couple of times at the choke points. But for the most part I had an okay time with the crowd. Mainly because I managed to actually get to the front of E. And so when the corral started there was maybe 20-30 runners in front of me at most? So when I broke, I broke rediculously fast (covered a tenth of a mile in my first minute, only point in the race I did that). Hell at one point I was running pretty much with the 3 hour pacer, not sure if I ran my first two miles so quickly that I accidentally caught up with the C corallers for about a mile or so. Or if she slowed down a bit. Either way that was interesting.

I shaved 9 minutes off of my Wine and Dine time (ran a 3:41 half there, my time here was a 3:32). Even with missing a few weeks of training because of health issues. All I can say if this is what my trainer can do with three months of training (I started training under him in October) than I can't wait to see what I am going to be like at Dumbo! Might actually get that PR I've been seeking for the last two races!

ETA: Was watching the Run Disney video of the race. And it seems like I saw more than just the 3 hour pacer when I was in my early portion of the race that were in C. So I think I might have accidentally caught up with the C corral when I was in the parks? Because I know I started in E. I know I can move fast when I get going but this is still a bit of a surprise.

 

[ludari]

I neeedddd to see this costume! It's on my list! Lol

Here's a picture of the costume I made and wore for the 5K race during Tinker Bell Marathon Weekend. This picture was taken at Disneyland on Halloween last year and my friend who took pictures of me during the 5K race has yet to email me copies. I plan on wearing this costume to more Disney races since I received great feedback from people.

 

[buckeyecinderella]

Here's a picture of the costume I made and wore for the 5K race during Tinker Bell Marathon Weekend. This picture was taken at Disneyland on Halloween last year and my friend who took pictures of me during the 5K race has yet to email me copies. I plan on wearing this costume to more Disney races since I received great feedback from people.

That is an awesome costume! So creative!

One day I would like to run a multi race weekend and have a costume for each race. I really enjoyed the other costumes I've seen on races. But so far just getting through the races has been challenging enough for me. But I am pretty sure the next one I'll be in costume.

 

[Belle Ella]

That magic carpet costume you noticed this past Halloween at DLR was ME! I had just finished making it the day before Halloween and I wanted to show it off so on Halloween I headed to DLR and DCA. I have made and have many costumes but this magic carpet costume is my favorite and I plan on using it many more times at races.

Just saw the photo you posted, it was definitely you I saw when I was working in Off the Page at DCA. Awesome. I love that you actually ran in it. I keep telling myself I'll do a costume at some point, but I am so finicky about what I run in that I'll probably never actually get around to it.

 

[kim3339]

Here's a picture of the costume I made and wore for the 5K race during Tinker Bell Marathon Weekend. This picture was taken at Disneyland on Halloween last year and my friend who took pictures of me during the 5K race has yet to email me copies. I plan on wearing this costume to more Disney races since I received great feedback from people.

That is incredible! I love it!

 

[momto3gr8boys]

I had a wonderful Tinker Bell Race weekend with my friends and the weather was perfect for all three races. I have to admit that the most fun I had was during the 5K while wearing my Magic Carpet costume. I received so many wonderful comments and I can't count the amount of people who stopped me to take pictures. I can't wait to wear that costume again. After completing Dopey the previous weekend and this weekend completing the 5K, 10K and half I logged 71 Disney Miles in 7 days.

I saw you at the finish line. The line for pictures with you was almost as long as Peter Pan . GREAT costume!!

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[momto3gr8boys]

This was my second half at DL (DL 1/2 in 2012 and this years Tink) and have made up my mind that I will wait to do another DL run. I prefer WDW runs so much better! I'm from Oregon so trust me, so much easier to get to DL too. Both of DL races I've done were just crazy packed...the entire time. Never loosened up and was constantly trying to get around people, for 13 miles. Really don't mean to be a downer but I wasn't wowed by the course. Of course the first part was great thru the parks but it was all in the dark. Expo set up was good, got our bibs and tees quickly Friday around noon. Tink merchandise was already fairly limited. Why do they always make the women's shirts with those tiny little cap sleeves? I like the regular short sleeves! The long sleeve white shirt was super cute and thought about getting it, but it looked really thin and kind of see thru. On the course we saw several people wearing them and you could see the "pink" of their skin thru them! Yikes! Was glad I didn't get one, wish they came in other colors! Great support on the course, lots of bathrooms, great medals at the end too! Super cute! By the way the parks were insane yesterday (mlk day). Wow! With that said ready for princess in a few weeks!! Hope everyone had a great run!

This was my first Tink (and first trip to DL). I'm sorry you didn't have a great experience. After reading about the crowding, etc, I have to say I felt the opposite. I never had to stop and walk and I was able to run down Main Street and through the castle. I also enjoyed my "6 mile tour" of Anaheim because that was all I got to see of it lol. My kids were happy I stopped to take a pic of the Ducks training center. And the citizens of Anaheim were awesome!! All those kids out early playing music, and the red hat ladies, and even the woman in her bathrobe - what great local support! No, there wasn't Disney theming out there, but it was still much more than I see on other races I do.

I did the 5k and the half, was able to stop for tons of pictures and had the best time! Being from NY I will most likely not get to do this again, or at least for a long time, so I just enjoyed every minute of the whole experience....even the winding lines at the expo! I thought the taped lines were clever

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[momto3gr8boys]

AND I have to say I enjoyed not having to be there 3 hours before the start and I thought the finish line was very well organized and found my DH and DS more easily than I thought I would. I am excited about princess though and experiencing a whole new WDW race weekend! See you there!

Yes!!! When I kept hearing about everyone waking at 2am for Dopey, I was thrilled to be able to step out the front door of the GCH at 4:15 am and into my corral! We had a perfect view of the corrals from our balcony, so when it started to get crowded, we walked out. We also got to watch the 10k start (and then go back to bed lol).

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[mamastew]

Did anyone get a picture of Tink or the red hat ladies they would share? I missed both. Was Tink even at the race?

 

[momto3gr8boys]

Did anyone get a picture of Tink or the red hat ladies they would share? I missed both. Was Tink even at the race?

Mine is very blurry . I wasn't expecting so many of them! I'd love to see some pics as well. Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

ETA: Tink was at the half on top of the float with Captain Hook. She also flew for the start of the 5k (that I did get a good video of).

 

[mamastew]

Dang it, I missed her!!!!

 

[rachlovestv]

And the citizens of Anaheim were awesome!! All those kids out early playing music, and the red hat ladies, and even the woman in her bathrobe - what great local support!

I loved the bathrobe lady!! And I loved that she was standing right next to a cop with what appeared to be a mimosa in a champagne glass, yelling "Cheers to you!" One of my favorite parts of DL races is the random and awesome people of Anaheim that come out to cheer.

 

[VAfamily1998]

I loved the bathrobe lady!! And I loved that she was standing right next to a cop with what appeared to be a mimosa in a champagne glass, yelling "Cheers to you!" One of my favorite parts of DL races is the random and awesome people of Anaheim that come out to cheer.

I remember that bathrobe lady! Didn't she have a cast member pin, pinned to her robe?

 

[momto3gr8boys]

I remember that bathrobe lady! Didn't she have a cast member pin, pinned to her robe?

Yes, she did! I was on the other side of the street or I would have stopped to say hi and take a picture.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards