Running... From Coast to Coast and Back Again - Tink 1/2 TR, Princess TR
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20thingamabobs
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Thanks! We did have alot of fun and this is defnitely one of my favorite most memorable trips.
We really do just keep going. It's funny how at Disney you don't realize how tired you are until you get on the plane to go home. I'm sure once Claire gets a little older you'll be able to go at a faster pace. It's easy when there's no kids involved.
amazingact21
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Your DHS sounds like it was a lot of fun!
Both of you and your DF's scores on TSM were so good; I'm really jealous!
The best I've ever done is 124,000-ish. DF kicks my butt every time.
By the way, your ring looks so gorgeous in that pic of you on the TSM ride!
Both of you and your DF's scores on TSM were so good; I'm really jealous!
The best I've ever done is 124,000-ish. DF kicks my butt every time. By the way, your ring looks so gorgeous in that pic of you on the TSM ride!
20thingamabobs
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Day 2: May 7, 2011 - Hollywood Studios / Relaxation / Race Day
When I left off, we finished up our morning at Hollywood Studios and were headed back to our hotel for some rest before our race. We took some pictures on our way to find some lunch:
Once we enjoyed the animals a little, we decided to have lunch at:
Id never ate at Sanaa before and was a little anxious about trying it. But, we went for it. We didnt have a reservation so I went up to the podium and asked for availability. They said would be just a moment. We waited about 3-4 minutes before being seated. The hostess congratulated us on our engagement as she showed us to our table. Shortly after being seated, our waited approached us and also congratulated and then asked for our IDs. We presented them to him and he said hed be back in a moment to take our drink order. I was a little confused about this until he came back with this:
Complimentary champagne to toast our engagement! I thought this was so nice. Its one of those things that they dont need to do but that help make Disney so special! They gave us a minute so I took some pics of the restaurant:
Then we placed our order. DF got the salad sampler and the grilled lamb kefta. I tried to order turkey club sandwich but the waiter told me that I could get a turkey club anywhere and that I needed to order something else. I nervously picked the chicken tandoori and the waiter assured me that if I didnt like it, he would get me something else. DFs salad sampler came out quickly; he got the ones consisting of Chickpeas with cucumber and tomato, Kachumbar (cucumber) , and the Watermelon, lime, and radish. He liked them. I tried them and ended up spitting it back out. All three salads were made with a lot of cilantro and I HATE cilantro so I didnt like them at all. Then, it was time for our meals.
My Chicken Tandoori:
I thought I took a pic of DF's but I must not have...
I actually really liked mine! DF really liked his too. I cant say it was one of my favorite meals and Im not sure I would give up trying another restaurant to go back but Im definitely glad I gave it a shot and would recommend others trying it. The greens were minted and every once in a while I would get a really minty piece which was kind of weird but when it wasnt overly potent and it was very tasty!
I gave them my Tables in Wonderland card and then we paid our bill and headed out. It was a short walk back to our room. This was the first chance we really got to sit out on our balcony during the day time so we grabbed some pictures of the animals and a picture of us standing in the place where we got engaged:
We were both pretty tired by this point so we decided to take a nap. I set my alarm so we would get about 2 hours of sleep. Unfortunately, for about the first 40 minutes we had to deal with various phone calls and messages and didnt get much sleep. Finally, I got to fall asleep and we ended up resetting the alarm after it went off for an additional 30 minutes. We eventually woke up around 3:30pm and decided to head down to the pool for a little bit. On our way to the elevator, DF spotted this guy and took a pic because he thought it looked like Stitch:
We took the elevator down two flights, walked through the lobby and then headed to the right over to the pool. Heres the shots we took as we walked around finding a seat:
I didnt really want to sit in the sun because I was afraid it would drain me before the race so we found two seats that were partially shaded. DF pulled his chair into the sun for a little but I stayed back in the shade. Here we are relaxing:
By the time wed gotten down to the pool, it was a little after 4pm and we only stayed out until 5:15pm. When our pool time came to an end, we headed back into the lobby. We stopped in the gift shop and picked up a bottle of water, two bananas, and two PB&J uncrustables. Once back in our room, we headed out onto the balcony to eat our snack. Once we finished eating, we headed back inside our room to get ready for the race.
Next up, race time How will we like the Expedition Everest Challenge?
When I left off, we finished up our morning at Hollywood Studios and were headed back to our hotel for some rest before our race. We took some pictures on our way to find some lunch:
Once we enjoyed the animals a little, we decided to have lunch at:
Id never ate at Sanaa before and was a little anxious about trying it. But, we went for it. We didnt have a reservation so I went up to the podium and asked for availability. They said would be just a moment. We waited about 3-4 minutes before being seated. The hostess congratulated us on our engagement as she showed us to our table. Shortly after being seated, our waited approached us and also congratulated and then asked for our IDs. We presented them to him and he said hed be back in a moment to take our drink order. I was a little confused about this until he came back with this:
Complimentary champagne to toast our engagement! I thought this was so nice. Its one of those things that they dont need to do but that help make Disney so special! They gave us a minute so I took some pics of the restaurant:
Then we placed our order. DF got the salad sampler and the grilled lamb kefta. I tried to order turkey club sandwich but the waiter told me that I could get a turkey club anywhere and that I needed to order something else. I nervously picked the chicken tandoori and the waiter assured me that if I didnt like it, he would get me something else. DFs salad sampler came out quickly; he got the ones consisting of Chickpeas with cucumber and tomato, Kachumbar (cucumber) , and the Watermelon, lime, and radish. He liked them. I tried them and ended up spitting it back out. All three salads were made with a lot of cilantro and I HATE cilantro so I didnt like them at all. Then, it was time for our meals.
My Chicken Tandoori:
I thought I took a pic of DF's but I must not have...
I actually really liked mine! DF really liked his too. I cant say it was one of my favorite meals and Im not sure I would give up trying another restaurant to go back but Im definitely glad I gave it a shot and would recommend others trying it. The greens were minted and every once in a while I would get a really minty piece which was kind of weird but when it wasnt overly potent and it was very tasty!
I gave them my Tables in Wonderland card and then we paid our bill and headed out. It was a short walk back to our room. This was the first chance we really got to sit out on our balcony during the day time so we grabbed some pictures of the animals and a picture of us standing in the place where we got engaged:
We were both pretty tired by this point so we decided to take a nap. I set my alarm so we would get about 2 hours of sleep. Unfortunately, for about the first 40 minutes we had to deal with various phone calls and messages and didnt get much sleep. Finally, I got to fall asleep and we ended up resetting the alarm after it went off for an additional 30 minutes. We eventually woke up around 3:30pm and decided to head down to the pool for a little bit. On our way to the elevator, DF spotted this guy and took a pic because he thought it looked like Stitch:
We took the elevator down two flights, walked through the lobby and then headed to the right over to the pool. Heres the shots we took as we walked around finding a seat:
I didnt really want to sit in the sun because I was afraid it would drain me before the race so we found two seats that were partially shaded. DF pulled his chair into the sun for a little but I stayed back in the shade. Here we are relaxing:
By the time wed gotten down to the pool, it was a little after 4pm and we only stayed out until 5:15pm. When our pool time came to an end, we headed back into the lobby. We stopped in the gift shop and picked up a bottle of water, two bananas, and two PB&J uncrustables. Once back in our room, we headed out onto the balcony to eat our snack. Once we finished eating, we headed back inside our room to get ready for the race.
Next up, race time How will we like the Expedition Everest Challenge?
Dsnygrl1205
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The pool at Kidani looks beautiful! I can't wait to here about the race. I hope you took lots of pictures!
I hope you took lots of pictures!
amazingact21
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Your balcony view looked gorgeous!
My DF is way too picky to try Sanaa out, but I'm hoping to go to it one day. Your dish looked really good, but I'm not sure if I'd like minted leaves with my chicken.
Can't wait to hear what you thought of the EEC!
My DF is way too picky to try Sanaa out, but I'm hoping to go to it one day. Your dish looked really good, but I'm not sure if I'd like minted leaves with my chicken.
Can't wait to hear what you thought of the EEC!
How sweet of them to bring you some champagne to toast with 
Your lunch looked good, DF's lunch does not sound too appealing to me personally either but glad that he liked it
That little statue thing is so cute, it does look like it belongs to Stitch's family or something!! The pool is beautiful there!! I am excited to read about your race experience!
Your lunch looked good, DF's lunch does not sound too appealing to me personally either but glad that he liked it
That little statue thing is so cute, it does look like it belongs to Stitch's family or something!! The pool is beautiful there!! I am excited to read about your race experience!
Mickey_Mom
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Ahhhhhhhh!!!!!!
Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!I'm catching up everywhere and haven't finished reading here yet but just had to cyber scream CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!
Mickey_Mom
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OK, now I'm caught up. Great DHS time... looking forward to seeing your Goofy drawing. Sanaa wouldn't normally be somewhere I'd go either, but if I do, I'm ordering what you did! 
Very sweet of them to bring you the champagne.... I love touches like that!
That figure really DOES look like Stitch!
Great DHS time... looking forward to seeing your Goofy drawing. Sanaa wouldn't normally be somewhere I'd go either, but if I do, I'm ordering what you did! Very sweet of them to bring you the champagne.... I love touches like that!That figure really DOES look like Stitch!
20thingamabobs
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The pool at Kidani looks beautiful! I can't wait to here about the race.
It was beautiful, I was so glad that we had time to enjoy it for at least a little bit. The race is coming up, I took some pics during the race but the first few came out blurry because I forgot to turn my flash on. I'll tell you now that I don't have any pics of the scavenger hunt. It was very flustering and frustrating and picture taking went out the window unfortunately...
Your balcony view looked gorgeous!
My DF is way too picky to try Sanaa out, but I'm hoping to go to it one day. Your dish looked really good, but I'm not sure if I'd like minted leaves with my chicken.
Can't wait to hear what you thought of the EEC!
I LOVED our view. It was especially nice because we didn't get to spend any time at AK except for during the race. I was nervous about eating here and the minted leaves as well but it turned out really good and there was only one bite where I could really taste the mint at all.
Yea, I was really nervous when the waiter talked me out of the turkey club but I'm glad I tried it!
How sweet of them to bring you some champagne to toast with
Your lunch looked good, DF's lunch does not sound too appealing to me personally either but glad that he liked it
That little statue thing is so cute, it does look like it belongs to Stitch's family or something!! The pool is beautiful there!! I am excited to read about your race experience!
Yea, I love the little touches Disney takes to make things special. DF's meal really was not very good I didn't think. I thought it would be just like mine only with lamb but it wasn't at all. If I had ordered it, I would have definitely sent it back andgot the turkey club
I loved that little statue, I looked at every time we were waiting for the elevator. The race was so much fun, we will definitely be back if they do it again!Ahhhhhhhh!!!!!!
I'm catching up everywhere and haven't finished reading here yet but just had to cyber scream CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!
OK, now I'm caught up.
That figure really DOES look like Stitch!
Thank You! I love the little touches Disney adds too! I'm going to take pictures of my Goofy drawings and all our EEC stuff now.
Doesn't it?? I looked at it every time we went past it!
20thingamabobs
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Seeing as this is also a PTR for my other trips, I felt like I should do an update on how those trips are coming along as well.
Disneyland Half Marathon Trip:
Dates: Sept 1-Sept 5, 2011
Days Away: 73
We're on Week 7 of our 17 week training program. Our longest run thus far was 6.5 miles but we have 8 miles planned for this weekend. We finished our 6.5 in about one hour and 9 minutes. I thought this was an okay time considering it was really hot out and we ran around our neighborhood where there are a lot of hills. I would still like to drop the time a little though.
Wine & Dine Half Marathon Trip:
Dates: Sept 30-Oct 3, 2011 (decided to add a day! - Thanks Mickey-Mom)
Days Away: 102
There's approximately 25 days between arriving home from California before I leave for Florida and I haven't quite made up my mind how I plan to train in between the two. I'm sure I'll stick to my 3 mile runs on Tuesdays and Thursdays then on Saturdays I think I'll do 4, 6, 4 for the three weekends in between. That first week after is going to be key though. I know I'll still be a little sore and tired but pushing through is going to matter the most. So we'll see how it goes.
Disneyland Half Marathon Trip:
Dates: Sept 1-Sept 5, 2011
Days Away: 73
We're on Week 7 of our 17 week training program. Our longest run thus far was 6.5 miles but we have 8 miles planned for this weekend. We finished our 6.5 in about one hour and 9 minutes. I thought this was an okay time considering it was really hot out and we ran around our neighborhood where there are a lot of hills. I would still like to drop the time a little though.
Wine & Dine Half Marathon Trip:
Dates: Sept 30-Oct 3, 2011 (decided to add a day! - Thanks Mickey-Mom)
Days Away: 102
There's approximately 25 days between arriving home from California before I leave for Florida and I haven't quite made up my mind how I plan to train in between the two. I'm sure I'll stick to my 3 mile runs on Tuesdays and Thursdays then on Saturdays I think I'll do 4, 6, 4 for the three weekends in between. That first week after is going to be key though. I know I'll still be a little sore and tired but pushing through is going to matter the most. So we'll see how it goes.
20thingamabobs
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I just finished writing up my report on the race. I just need to upload a few last pictures and then I'll be making the post! So, hopefully I'll have that up tomorrow or the next day. In other news, DF and I celebrated our 25th Birthday yesterday (yes, we have the same birthday... it's crazy).
I have started a small collection of vinylmations. Rather than collecting a series, I have decided to just collect the ones I like from various series. I currently have Big Baby from Toy Story, Shan-yu from the Villians, Pete from the Villians, and Alice from the Animation Series. I plan to trade all of these except Pete when I go to Disneyland in September. For my birthday, DF bought me another one from the Animation series. This time I got Dodger from Oliver & Company. I can't really say I'm a fan but when I told DF that I planned to trade him, he got very upset
So, Dodger has joined the other "keepers" on the shelf in my home school/craft room 
. He also bought me a cute pair of switch flops (the flip flops that you can change the straps on).
I hope everyone had a fun weekend and is planning more fun for the 4th of July and Canada Day coming up later this week!
Oh, I forgot to add, DF and I will be starting our movie nights again this week and tomorrow will be our first one and we're going to see Cars 2! I can't wait! 10 weeks till Disneyland Half Marathon!
I have started a small collection of vinylmations. Rather than collecting a series, I have decided to just collect the ones I like from various series. I currently have Big Baby from Toy Story, Shan-yu from the Villians, Pete from the Villians, and Alice from the Animation Series. I plan to trade all of these except Pete when I go to Disneyland in September. For my birthday, DF bought me another one from the Animation series. This time I got Dodger from Oliver & Company. I can't really say I'm a fan but when I told DF that I planned to trade him, he got very upset
So, Dodger has joined the other "keepers" on the shelf in my home school/craft room . He also bought me a cute pair of switch flops (the flip flops that you can change the straps on).I hope everyone had a fun weekend and is planning more fun for the 4th of July and Canada Day coming up later this week!
Oh, I forgot to add, DF and I will be starting our movie nights again this week and tomorrow will be our first one and we're going to see Cars 2! I can't wait! 10 weeks till Disneyland Half Marathon!
Brancaneve
That means Snow White in another language.
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Sign me up...WDW, Kidani Village, running and romance! Couldn't get any better than that! 
Mickey_Mom
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First off, your welcome on the extra day.
Second of all, even though I will be there during your second trip, I'm still jealous you're going on another trip before then. I can't believe how quickly it's coming!
Lastly, I forgot to say in my PTR for our Little Mermaid night that when Ariana and I were singing along to Part of Your World, when I got to the part that says, "..you want thingamabobs? I got twenty!" - I was saying that line much louder than the others. The kids just gave me funny looks!
I'm not up to snuff on the Vinylmations but are they boxed up and you don't know who you have until you open them? Too sweet your DF didn't want you to trade Dodger -- but I'd trade him too.
Second of all, even though I will be there during your second trip, I'm still jealous you're going on another trip before then. I can't believe how quickly it's coming!
Lastly, I forgot to say in my PTR for our Little Mermaid night that when Ariana and I were singing along to Part of Your World, when I got to the part that says, "..you want thingamabobs? I got twenty!" - I was saying that line much louder than the others.
The kids just gave me funny looks!I just finished writing up my report on the race. I just need to upload a few last pictures and then I'll be making the post! So, hopefully I'll have that up tomorrow or the next day. In other news, DF and I celebrated our 25th Birthday yesterday (yes, we have the same birthday... it's crazy).
Yay for the race post!
Happy Birthday!!
I have started a small collection of vinylmations. Rather than collecting a series, I have decided to just collect the ones I like from various series. I currently have Big Baby from Toy Story, Shan-yu from the Villians, Pete from the Villians, and Alice from the Animation Series. I plan to trade all of these except Pete when I go to Disneyland in September. For my birthday, DF bought me another one from the Animation series. This time I got Dodger from Oliver & Company. I can't really say I'm a fan but when I told DF that I planned to trade him, he got very upset
I hope everyone had a fun weekend and is planning more fun for the 4th of July and Canada Day coming up later this week!
Oh, I forgot to add, DF and I will be starting our movie nights again this week and tomorrow will be our first one and we're going to see Cars 2! I can't wait! 10 weeks till Disneyland Half Marathon!
I'm not up to snuff on the Vinylmations but are they boxed up and you don't know who you have until you open them? Too sweet your DF didn't want you to trade Dodger -- but I'd trade him too.
20thingamabobs
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Sign me up...WDW, Kidani Village, running and romance! Couldn't get any better than that!
Welcome! It really was an amazing weekend! I wish I could do it all over again!
First off, your welcome on the extra day.
Second of all, even though I will be there during your second trip, I'm still jealous you're going on another trip before then. I can't believe how quickly it's coming!
Lastly, I forgot to say in my PTR for our Little Mermaid night that when Ariana and I were singing along to Part of Your World, when I got to the part that says, "..you want thingamabobs? I got twenty!" - I was saying that line much louder than the others.
I'm not up to snuff on the Vinylmations but are they boxed up and you don't know who you have until you open them? Too sweet your DF didn't want you to trade Dodger -- but I'd trade him too.
Haha yes, THANK YOU!! I'm so excited and now we have some awesome plans for that extra night too! and thank you for the birthday wishes too!
It's crazy that I have two trips coming so quickly but our California trip is a little different because it's mostly visiting my brother with a little Disney mixed in rather than a full blown Disney trip.
That's too funny about you singing that part louder
I always have to hold back when I'm watching Mickey's PhilharMagic because I want to sing it but of course don't want disrupt the other guests either Yes, the vinylmations are a complete surprise until you open them to see what you're getting. I think that's what makes them so addicting. It was cute that DF wanted me to keep Dodger so of course I had to. I have since got some more that I like better so I'm excited about that too!
I can't believe you are doing two more disney trips before I get to my one this year
OUr Disneyland trip is more to visit my brother with a little Disney sprinkled in. We're heading over to Anaheim the night before and will probably have dinner at Downtown Disney then we'll spend the day in the parks after the race but that'll really be it. And unfortuntaly, I don't think I'm going to get much park time in my Sept/Oct trip either which I'll talk more about later....
Either way though, I'm excited for the races!20thingamabobs
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After we finished our pb&j and bananas, it was time to get ready to go. I changed into my costume, put on my bib, attached our D-Tag (timing device) onto DFs shoe (only one per team) and made sure my running pack was ready to go. Finally, I decided not to wear my ring. I wasnt sure what the obstacles and stuff would entail so I figured it was safer to leave it behind. Once we were both ready, we headed over to the elevator. We were riding with two sisters that asked if wed ever participated before and we said no and they went on and on about how much fun it is which just made me even more excited to get going. We made our way through the lobby and out the front. We walked straight out the door to the other side of the main drive thru area. It wasnt hard to figure out where to go because there were so many people waiting and they had signs this time:
We asked a couple standing next to us to take our pic:
Since we were staying at AKL, it was a short drive over to AK. We got off the bus and took a minute to orient ourselves. We decided to head over to bag check. I had brought my backpack with our cell phones and little bit of money and we left them with bag check for after the race. Heres a picture walking towards the crowds:
There was a DJ talking and playing music. We grabbed a picture of the finished board that everyone signed at the Expo the day before. Heres the finished product:
And a close up of our names again:
Then heres some pictures of other things they had set up:
There were two picture spots that you could wait in line for; one was a plane and the other was a polar bear. We decided to do the plane. I was hoping to maybe do both but the polar bear line was really long so we just skipped it. While we were waiting in line, two hosts came on the stage and just did a review of the course and what to expect. It was all basic information. Once we were done with our picture, we decided we should probably take a potty break. We headed over to the where the porta potties were lined and got into one of the many lines. Wed been waiting for a minute when a boy around our age walked up and asked if I was on the disboards. I was a little caught off guard at first because I couldnt figure out how he knew since I wasnt wearing a lime green Mickey head or any other identifying thing. I answered yes and he explained that his fiancé reads my report. I asked what her name was and tried to quickly think who it could be. I asked if she had recognized my outfit (since it finally dawned on me that was probably how she recognized me) and he said yea. By this time it was almost DF and Is turn to use the bathroom so we said our goodbyes. I looked over towards where the other guy had walked and saw him talking to his fiancé and I realized who it was. I felt bad that I hadnt got to talk to her and get our picture but by the time I came out of the bathroom, I didnt see them again. Once we finished, we headed over near the area were you enter the gates to the starting line. We were in the 5th corral out of 7 so we had a general idea of where we should stand. We just spent some time talking and stretching until finally it started to get dark and they started filtering everyone into the line. We stood right next to the woman holding the sign for our corral to ensure we would be towards the front. Heres a pic of the start line with all the corrals in front of us:
Finally, after much anticipation, the countdown began for the start of corral 1. When it was time, the whole crowd counted down 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
Fireworks! And Group 1 was off. This continued to be the pattern every 5 minutes. Our group slowly moved closer and closer to the start as each preceding wave moved across the start line. Finally, we made it to the front. We were standing right on the start line awaiting our own countdown. My mind flashed back to the start of the half marathon and I got a new wave excitement. Finally it was time for our countdown. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
Fireworks! And we were off. The first mile of the race is completely outside the park and to be honest, its rather boring. We were just running around the outskirts of the parking lot. The only fun part was waving at all the people in their cars that were waiting to park. Right before we made it to the entrance to the mark, we hit our first obstacle. There about 5 rows of small rectangular hay barrels that runners had to hurdle. We made it through this obstacle quickly and were on our way. Shortly after we saw Mile Marker 1:
I forgot to turn on my flash so my first 3 or so pictures are really blurry, sorry Then almost immediately after, we were entering into Animal Kingdom:
Again, no flash... sorry its blurry. After we entered the park, we headed to the left around the Oasis. Then we ran across the bridge to Discovery Island. Blurry picture of the Tree of Life (I promise these get better):
At the Tree we made another left towards Africa. We ran past the road that leads to Camp Minnie Mickey then arrived in Africa. At this point, we headed into a backstage area located somewhere between Africa and Rafikis Planet Watch. While we were back there, we ran into Baloo and Im assuming was making his way to the after party. We also saw Minnie and Mickey on top of their Safari vehicle they ride out on for the opening ceremony. My first pic came out blurry and I finally realized what the problem was and turned my flash on. Right after we passed Minnie and Mickey, we made a U-Turn and headed back the same direction so I had the chance to take this picture (the people are heading the opposite direction I was):
Just a minute or so later, we hit our second obstacle. This time we had to run through tires. There were again about 5 rows. It was just 1, 2 step step, 1, 2, step step, 1, 2 step step, 1, 2, step step, 1, 2, 3, run again.
Once again, we found Mile Marker 2 right after the obstacle:
Once we returned from backstage into the park, we ran past the entrance to Asia before running past A Bugs Life exit and then back past the Tree of Life. We headed back towards the Oasis but at the last minute slid to the left out a backstage entrance instead of going through the main gate. It was a paved road that Im assuming is used by CMs but Im not entirely sure? We ran through this area for a while before finally seeing this:
Immediately after we past the marker, we reached our last obstacle. There were CMs yelling that everyone had three options. You could crawl in sand under a net, climb up a net and over then climb back down the other side, or just run around them. We chose to go up and over. It was probably about 5-6 feet up and an easy climb. You just had to be careful that no one stepped on your hands since it was rather crowded. Once we got to the bottom on the other side, we ran the remaining 30-40 feet or so across the finish line for the 5k portion of the challenge. We grabbed a quick drink of water and were handed three things. The first two were a map of AK and a key chain holding a small sharpie along with a small flashlight (one for each of us). Then we were handed our clue. I had full intentions of taking pictures during the scavenger hunt but as youll soon find out, that just didnt happen nor was it really possible.
Continued Next post...
We asked a couple standing next to us to take our pic:
Since we were staying at AKL, it was a short drive over to AK. We got off the bus and took a minute to orient ourselves. We decided to head over to bag check. I had brought my backpack with our cell phones and little bit of money and we left them with bag check for after the race. Heres a picture walking towards the crowds:
There was a DJ talking and playing music. We grabbed a picture of the finished board that everyone signed at the Expo the day before. Heres the finished product:
And a close up of our names again:
Then heres some pictures of other things they had set up:
There were two picture spots that you could wait in line for; one was a plane and the other was a polar bear. We decided to do the plane. I was hoping to maybe do both but the polar bear line was really long so we just skipped it. While we were waiting in line, two hosts came on the stage and just did a review of the course and what to expect. It was all basic information. Once we were done with our picture, we decided we should probably take a potty break. We headed over to the where the porta potties were lined and got into one of the many lines. Wed been waiting for a minute when a boy around our age walked up and asked if I was on the disboards. I was a little caught off guard at first because I couldnt figure out how he knew since I wasnt wearing a lime green Mickey head or any other identifying thing. I answered yes and he explained that his fiancé reads my report. I asked what her name was and tried to quickly think who it could be. I asked if she had recognized my outfit (since it finally dawned on me that was probably how she recognized me) and he said yea. By this time it was almost DF and Is turn to use the bathroom so we said our goodbyes. I looked over towards where the other guy had walked and saw him talking to his fiancé and I realized who it was. I felt bad that I hadnt got to talk to her and get our picture but by the time I came out of the bathroom, I didnt see them again. Once we finished, we headed over near the area were you enter the gates to the starting line. We were in the 5th corral out of 7 so we had a general idea of where we should stand. We just spent some time talking and stretching until finally it started to get dark and they started filtering everyone into the line. We stood right next to the woman holding the sign for our corral to ensure we would be towards the front. Heres a pic of the start line with all the corrals in front of us:
Finally, after much anticipation, the countdown began for the start of corral 1. When it was time, the whole crowd counted down 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
Fireworks! And Group 1 was off. This continued to be the pattern every 5 minutes. Our group slowly moved closer and closer to the start as each preceding wave moved across the start line. Finally, we made it to the front. We were standing right on the start line awaiting our own countdown. My mind flashed back to the start of the half marathon and I got a new wave excitement. Finally it was time for our countdown. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
Fireworks! And we were off. The first mile of the race is completely outside the park and to be honest, its rather boring. We were just running around the outskirts of the parking lot. The only fun part was waving at all the people in their cars that were waiting to park. Right before we made it to the entrance to the mark, we hit our first obstacle. There about 5 rows of small rectangular hay barrels that runners had to hurdle. We made it through this obstacle quickly and were on our way. Shortly after we saw Mile Marker 1:
I forgot to turn on my flash so my first 3 or so pictures are really blurry, sorry Then almost immediately after, we were entering into Animal Kingdom:
Again, no flash... sorry its blurry. After we entered the park, we headed to the left around the Oasis. Then we ran across the bridge to Discovery Island. Blurry picture of the Tree of Life (I promise these get better):
At the Tree we made another left towards Africa. We ran past the road that leads to Camp Minnie Mickey then arrived in Africa. At this point, we headed into a backstage area located somewhere between Africa and Rafikis Planet Watch. While we were back there, we ran into Baloo and Im assuming was making his way to the after party. We also saw Minnie and Mickey on top of their Safari vehicle they ride out on for the opening ceremony. My first pic came out blurry and I finally realized what the problem was and turned my flash on. Right after we passed Minnie and Mickey, we made a U-Turn and headed back the same direction so I had the chance to take this picture (the people are heading the opposite direction I was):
Just a minute or so later, we hit our second obstacle. This time we had to run through tires. There were again about 5 rows. It was just 1, 2 step step, 1, 2, step step, 1, 2 step step, 1, 2, step step, 1, 2, 3, run again.
Once again, we found Mile Marker 2 right after the obstacle:
Once we returned from backstage into the park, we ran past the entrance to Asia before running past A Bugs Life exit and then back past the Tree of Life. We headed back towards the Oasis but at the last minute slid to the left out a backstage entrance instead of going through the main gate. It was a paved road that Im assuming is used by CMs but Im not entirely sure? We ran through this area for a while before finally seeing this:
Immediately after we past the marker, we reached our last obstacle. There were CMs yelling that everyone had three options. You could crawl in sand under a net, climb up a net and over then climb back down the other side, or just run around them. We chose to go up and over. It was probably about 5-6 feet up and an easy climb. You just had to be careful that no one stepped on your hands since it was rather crowded. Once we got to the bottom on the other side, we ran the remaining 30-40 feet or so across the finish line for the 5k portion of the challenge. We grabbed a quick drink of water and were handed three things. The first two were a map of AK and a key chain holding a small sharpie along with a small flashlight (one for each of us). Then we were handed our clue. I had full intentions of taking pictures during the scavenger hunt but as youll soon find out, that just didnt happen nor was it really possible.
Continued Next post...
Mickey_Mom
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