Official Tinker Bell Half Marathon 2012 thread

[momof3lovebugs]

Hi everyone, just finished the Wine & Dine, and getting ready to start training for the Tinkerbell. This will be my first visit to Disneyland and I'm staying at Best Western Park Place Inn & Mini Suites. Does anyone know if that's close to the start of the race? I'm not familiar with the area at all.

Jennifer

Jennifer! congrats on the F&W!!! I plan on doing it next year -hopefully with my bff who lives in Altamonte-to get my C2C!!
I believe the PPI is directly across from the shuttle area that leads into the Main Entry plaza between DCA and DL. It is a fair bit of a walk, but they have shuttles at many good neighbor hotels. I am not sure if this is one? Anyone else know?

 

[kim3339]

I'm staying at Best Western Park Place Inn & Mini Suites. Does anyone know if that's close to the start of the race? I'm not familiar with the area at all.

That's where I'm staying too!! It's not close, but not far away from the start line. There's 2 ways to get to the start from the hotel. You can either walk down Harbor to Katella and down Katella to Disneyland Drive, where the start is. The other way is to go through DTD and either cut through the Grand Californian or through the parking lot at Paradise Pier. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I think this way is a little shorter than the 1st. The website says that there is no race shuttle, but ART shuttles that pick up and drop off if you stay at some hotels. Unfortunately, the drop off area is directly across from BWPPI, so you would still have to walk.

But the up side is that you're directly away from the parks so that walk will be really short!

 

[sunshine269]

Jennifer! congrats on the F&W!!! I plan on doing it next year -hopefully with my bff who lives in Altamonte-to get my C2C!!
I believe the PPI is directly across from the shuttle area that leads into the Main Entry plaza between DCA and DL. It is a fair bit of a walk, but they have shuttles at many good neighbor hotels. I am not sure if this is one? Anyone else know?

Thank you!! F&W was my first. Now getting excited for Disneyland.
F&W was fun, but not sure if I'll do it next year or not.

Jennifer

 

[sunshine269]

That's where I'm staying too!! It's not close, but not far away from the start line. There's 2 ways to get to the start from the hotel. You can either walk down Harbor to Katella and down Katella to Disneyland Drive, where the start is. The other way is to go through DTD and either cut through the Grand Californian or through the parking lot at Paradise Pier. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I think this way is a little shorter than the 1st. The website says that there is no race shuttle, but ART shuttles that pick up and drop off if you stay at some hotels. Unfortunately, the drop off area is directly across from BWPPI, so you would still have to walk.

But the up side is that you're directly away from the parks so that walk will be really short!

Well, I guess if I can do 13 miles and can manage the walk ahead of time
I hope to enjoy the parks after, might be the only time I get to go. I've never been good with directions, so hopefully there will be plenty of people for me to follow, wouldn't want to get lost

Jennifer

 

[momof3lovebugs]

Anyone running the TB half gluten free?? If so,wondering what you eat for breakfast on early runs.....I normally eat yogurt and berries w/agave syrup for breakfast, but I am an evening runner. I can't imagine eating yogurt before a run. And do y'all pack food with you to eat on the way? I am brand new to the longer run scene-haven't actually even done one more than 8 miles-so running for 3 hours is going to be a totally new experience!

 

[kim3339]

Well, I guess if I can do 13 miles and can manage the walk ahead of time
I hope to enjoy the parks after, might be the only time I get to go. I've never been good with directions, so hopefully there will be plenty of people for me to follow, wouldn't want to get lost

Don't worry! It sounds confusing, but it's really not, all the hotels kinda of circle around DL and DCA. And as for the morning of... just follow all the huge plastic race bags.

 

[momof3lovebugs]

Don't worry! It sounds confusing, but it's really not, all the hotels kinda of circle around DL and DCA. And as for the morning of... just follow all the huge plastic race bags.

wondering about those race bags...are you referring to the clear plastic bags we are supposed to put our stuff in? I was completely confuzzled by this!! Are we supposed to be carrying clear plastic bags while we run??

 

[kim3339]

Yes, the clear bag I was talking about is the race bag they give us, but don't worry, we don't have to run w/ it. When we get to the staging area, there are tents set up where we drop off the bags. They hold them while we run adn we pick them up when we finish. Most of the time the tents/drop off area is alphabetical, Disney is, but once in a while they do it by bib number.

We get the bags when we check in at the staging area. There is a section where we pick up our bibs, and in a separate area we pick up our t-shirt and clear bag. There are things inside the bag for us as well~ fliers for other races or race items, samples companies give out, that type of thing.

 

[lisah0711]

If you are a WDW vet and have never been to Disneyland it is hard to picture how close everything is together.

Here is a link to the webcam at the Howard Johnson's Hotel on Harbor Blvd.

http://www.hojoanaheim.com/take-a-tour/webcam

It cycles through several views so keep watching until you see the same view again.

For example, in the view with Space Mountain you see the Grand Californian and then Paradise Pier in the same shot to the left. Where you see the buses turning in is Harbor Blvd and probably very close to where we will be running through to get into the Disneyland part of the run.

How is everyone's training going?

Mine is off to a slow start due to doing a half a couple of weeks ago. I have a 10K on Sunday to help me get going.

 

[moonbill2002]

How is everyone's training going?

Training is going well....I just did a 5k this past weekend (Race for the Cure) and was a little disappointed at my time of 37:05 but I also had to give myself credit as there were hills and I don't train with hills AT ALL! So this morning, I was on the treadmill, doing a 6% incline at about 5mph. I managed to squeak out about 2.3 miles in 30 minutes before my legs said enough! I have another 5k this weekend and then a 10k in November; overall, I feel pretty good. In the past 4 weeks, I've lost about 5lbs, 3% bodyfat, and a total of 8 inches. I'm following the Jeff Galloway training program for new runners so we'll see how it progresses!

On a more exciting note....we booked our hotel! We are staying at the Disneyland Hotel Thursday through Monday!! So excited because this will be our 10th wedding anniversary celebration, in addition to my running the marathon and our first time without the 3 kids in 10 years!!! Yay!!! It's a splurge but we have never stayed onsite so I'm really, really excited I cannot wait to have a nice, "grown up" time in a "grown up" restaurant with "grown up" conversation!

 

[VickiHD]

moonbill2002....Be sure and let the DL Hotel know it's your 10 year anniversary. You never know...they may give you a upgrade just because. It can't hurt to ask and try. At least the hotel renovations will be done by your stay.

My training is going really well and even doing more than my training program wants. I am starting to have "creaky knee sounds" so I'm off to a Sports Med. Dr to check my knees out next week.

 

[sunshine269]

If you are a WDW vet and have never been to Disneyland it is hard to picture how close everything is together.

Here is a link to the webcam at the Howard Johnson's Hotel on Harbor Blvd.

http://www.hojoanaheim.com/take-a-tour/webcam

It cycles through several views so keep watching until you see the same view again.

For example, in the view with Space Mountain you see the Grand Californian and then Paradise Pier in the same shot to the left. Where you see the buses turning in is Harbor Blvd and probably very close to where we will be running through to get into the Disneyland part of the run.

How is everyone's training going?

Mine is off to a slow start due to doing a half a couple of weeks ago. I have a 10K on Sunday to help me get going.

Thanks for the link, everything does seem super close

I start training for next week, hoping it goes well

Jennifer

 

[momof3lovebugs]

How do they do corral assignments? If you haven't run a half before and don't have a qualifying time, do you get placed in corrals based on when you registered or when you pick up your packets?
Someone please explain!

 

[kim3339]

How do they do corral assignments? If you haven't run a half before and don't have a qualifying time, do you get placed in corrals based on when you registered or when you pick up your packets?

The corrals/bib numbers for the 1/2 are based on the time you entered when you registered. If you didn't enter a time, you'll be in the last corral usually. If you run a race 10K or longer that's faster than the time you submitted, you can email Disney and they'll make a corral change for you. Or you can also take proof to the expo and they'll put a sticker on your bib number w/ the new corral. I think you have until the beginning of January if you have a change. About a month before the race, you will be able to print out your waiver to take to the expo and it'll have your race # listed so you can guestimate where you'll be corral-wise.

 

[Cripey]

I'm back from the Wine & Dine half and ready to start all over and jump into the Tinkerbell training...looking forward to training in the cooler temps since the summer has been so brutal!

 

[jeanigor]

I'm back from the Wine & Dine half and ready to start all over and jump into the Tinkerbell training...looking forward to training in the cooler temps since the summer has been so brutal!

I hear ya! I am glad that it wasn't as blooming hot as it was last year. I was also quite pleased with the temps for the Disneyland Half.

 

[momof3lovebugs]

The corrals/bib numbers for the 1/2 are based on the time you entered when you registered. If you didn't enter a time, you'll be in the last corral usually. If you run a race 10K or longer that's faster than the time you submitted, you can email Disney and they'll make a corral change for you. Or you can also take proof to the expo and they'll put a sticker on your bib number w/ the new corral. I think you have until the beginning of January if you have a change. About a month before the race, you will be able to print out your waiver to take to the expo and it'll have your race # listed so you can guestimate where you'll be corral-wise.

Ahhh, okay! So if I have a 10K in Nov. I can guestimate what my time will be for the half and email them? Do I have to bring my official time with me? or send it in to someone?
Sorry to seem so daft!

 

[kim3339]

No worries. You can just email them after the race w/ the race name, date and your time from the 10k you should be fine. Don't know if it makes a difference, it couldn't hurt, but you might want to add your personal info like address and phone so they have the right person. I know you email the time to the trackshop, the company that handles all that kind of stuff for disney, but not sure what the address is. It might be on the race website, if not, email disney at the contact address on the race page and they'll be able to give you the right address.

 

[sunshine269]

I'm back from the Wine & Dine half and ready to start all over and jump into the Tinkerbell training...looking forward to training in the cooler temps since the summer has been so brutal!

Me too

I officially start on Monday. While at the Wine & Dine expo, I registered for The Princess. That will make my C2C, then taking a long break

Jennifer

 

[SummerIrmoma2_3]

I'm back from the Wine & Dine half and ready to start all over and jump into the Tinkerbell training...looking forward to training in the cooler temps since the summer has been so brutal!

I feel you. I think it is sad that I think an 80* run is "cool weather".

How did the back to back races work for you? I am a little nervous about doing the Tink and Princess, but I am already committed.

I know you email the time to the trackshop, the company that handles all that kind of stuff for disney, but not sure what the address is. It might be on the race website, if not, email disney at the contact address on the race page and they'll be able to give you the right address.

I sent mine to the email address on the registration paper. I think it is on the race page also. It is a runDisney address. I got an email confirming they got it and I also go an email from Active.com saying that they added the new time to my registration.

Me too

I officially start on Monday. While at the Wine & Dine expo, I registered for The Princess. That will make my C2C, then taking a long break

Jennifer

Me too!! LoL. I want to do W&D next year, but I am not sure I will be able to swing it.