The New *Official 2013 Disney Princess Half Marathon Thread*

[WsPrincess]

If this has been discussed already - sorry. I just found the thread a couple of days ago and haven't been able to read through it.

I thought it was interesting that all the disney resorts were listed as host resorts so I called rundisney to ask about it. I was told that the race had gotten so big that they have to use all the resorts as hosts.

I was confused though because I was told that if I didn't book through rundisney that I would not be guaranteed transportation. (I have an AP and want to use that discount to book a room.) The agent told me they were considering using vouchers or something that you get at check-in that would give you access to transportation.

Has anyone else heard this?

Merci

I find it that unlikely that there wouldn't be transport for those who don't use Run Disney for their rooms. We are DVC and are staying at the BCV on points. The website says that there is transport for all host hotels as a perk of doing the race. It doesn't say that you have to book through them. Just my two cents....

We are also DVC and staying on points. I don't see how Disney could do this since for Marathon and Princess people have already booked. I don't think you can change the rules once things are in motion. Seems like another Disney CM not really knowing what is going on. I mean how can they have people register and then say "We were just kidding, unless your room is from RunDisney you can't get transportation". I think it would lead to a complete Disney nightmare.

Is it feasible to stay off property and still feel like you got at least most of the experience or is it just a total pain in the you know where?

If staying on property for 2 nights, for just the hotel room-- what's the price range per night at minimum?

Would you rather stay on property and forego the Retreat OR do the Retreat and stay off property?

Do you dress up for the race? Why / why not out of curiosity?

Have you done it alone? What was your experience?

Thanks for your help!

We are onsite people and never rent a car. So for me I would forego the race retreat and stay onsite. Just less stress for me.

I am dressing up!! Snow White here I come

I am running alone and I am 100% OK with it. I know I will not be alone on the course and I also do not really like running with someone since that means I have to match their pace.

I am so excited to find this thread! I had always wanted to do a Disney Marathon, but I was always such a weakling I never thought I could. But due to recent events in my life, I have to make a change! I have to make myself shape up and work hard! So I have signed up for the race in secret. I have not told my family yet, they would laugh at me and say that I'd never do it. But I am SO doing it!
I have some questions for you all, as this is all new to me. 1- I have been running on a jogging trail through the woods near my home. Is this okay, or should I really be running on pavement? What do you think? The whole half marathon is on pavement is in it? 2- How soon before the race do you guys start wearing a new pair of shoes? I had to ditch my old pair because they fell apart when I started really running, so I just started on a new pair, but the woman at the store call me if I was going to be running many miles a day, they would definitely wear out before February. 3- Does everyone wear a costume?
Thanks all!

Welcome!!! This is my first race too. Is your jogging trail paved at all? I think I would mix it up but I don't think it matters. Some people train inside and do great!

I plan to get my new shoes in December so I can break them in properly before the race!

 

[ellajeansmom]

Hi all

I will be running/walking the PHM this year!!!

I am trying to get back in shape after putting on weight when I quit smoking so I have started the conditioning program and hope to at least run some of the PHM

This year is pretty special, not only is it the 5 year anniversary of the PHM but Feb 11th will be 5 years since I quit smoking to go to Disney!!!

I really appreciate all the tips and help in this thread

One question. Someone wrote something about jelly beans on race day.. what are the jelly beans for?

I will be running as Ariel!!!

Hi Natalie, great to see you here! I followed your and Tracy's Spooktacular TR, although I wasn't very good at commenting. Congratulations on quitting smoking, that is definitely a 5 year anniversary worth celebrating! I see you have a PTR for race weekend, I will have to check it out

I just finished my last long run before my 10 k race - it went pretty well, I thought the weather was going to be great for a run as the temp was around 70 and it was overcast but once out there I realized it was pretty humid. I also realized I didn't drink enough water yesterday as I got a side cramp at around 3k. Anyways I kept going and was pleased to hit the 10k mark at 1 hr 5 m then kept going (much slower) for another km after that. Between now and the 10k race day I think I'm going to concentrate on picking up the pace on my walk segments.

Hope everyone has a great weekend

 

[Danhockey04]

I got myself a Rapunzel costume for an adult for this race. And I finally have had time again to start running with last week doing 8.5 miles and today I got 14.5 miles in this morning at 2:12. First real long runs this season after having too long off in the summer, so I am pleased with these results. Keep up the good work. We still have 6 months to train, improve or just get the distance. I am only going longer since I am trying to improve and PR the marathon this year.

 

[acourtwdw]

Tomorrow I go for 6 miles. Hopefully I can get my lazy self out of bed and do it before it warms up again. Tomorrow it is supposed to be 80 here.

 

[Tinkermom76]

Hi Natalie, great to see you here! I followed your and Tracy's Spooktacular TR, although I wasn't very good at commenting. Congratulations on quitting smoking, that is definitely a 5 year anniversary worth celebrating! I see you have a PTR for race weekend, I will have to check it out



Hope everyone has a great weekend

Hey there I do remember you! Love to have you follow my PTR!!!!

Just finished my tutu for the race, wanted to share it with you all

 

[VickiHD]

Just finished my tutu for the race, wanted to share it with you all

Love the tutu !!!!! How did you do it ???

 

[cantwaitvaca09]

Hey there I do remember you! Love to have you follow my PTR!!!!

Just finished my tutu for the race, wanted to share it with you all

Very Nice!!!

 

[TinyDancer]

I was doing the same thing, thinking, "That looks so nice, all of that cool rain!"

I signed up for RR - two reasons:
1. private potties
2. I'm a FL girl - a couple hours in temps below 60 will leave me freezing! And I was there that awful morning a couple years ago when the wind-chill was in the teens and ti snowed. Yes, SNOWED! Okay, it was closer to sleet, but still - I want shelter for as long as possible, just in case!

+1 But if I'm doing more than 6 miles, I have to start early - I start at 2 miles and re-fuel every 2 from there. I use Shot Blocks and Honey Stingers and take two chews every 2 miles.

O.M.G. Let me share my Saturday long run..

9 miles was the goal - conditions were surprisingly "cool" for west-central FL: low-80s and humidity around 70% at 6:45am. First half was in full shade and not bad at all - I actually felt really good and strong through mile 5. By mile 6, the sun was up and it was hard to find shade, and the temp was around 90. Tunnel vision, chest constricted, nausea, despite taking in 30 ounces of Nuun during my run, on top of 16 ounces pre-run and lots and lots of water the day before. By mile 7 I felt like I was sweating pure salt and it was burning the heck out of my eye, lips and cheeks. Lots more walking than I wanted to do over those last few miles and at mile 8, I stopped at my pool, pulled off socks, sneakers and iPhone and jumped in for a couple minutes. It cooled me down enough to finish the last mile.

I got into an ice bath immediately after a cool-down walk and sucked down Gatorade 3 and water. All told, I lost 5 pounds on that run, battled a pounding headache for another 12 hours, and am only now starting to feel "normal" again.

So here's my lesson learned/ advice for others: SLOW. IT. DOWN. Yeah, yeah, I already knew that; but I didn't do it. Not enough, anyway. On my short, fast runs, I average just over a 12:00/mile pace; that awful 9 miles averaged a 12:56/mile. Looking at the data, I was running around a sub-10:00 pace during a lot of my run intervals. In retrospect, I was overheated, not under hydrated, and probably pushed it close to the edge of being dangerous.

Ladies, don't be me.

I hereby vow to take more frequent and longer walk breaks on my next run and will run slower, focusing only on completing the distance, not going for speed.

That sounds horrible!! I'm glad you are ok! My goodness

 

[christinascreative]

I am dressing up!! Snow White here I come

I am running alone and I am 100% OK with it. I know I will not be alone on the course and I also do not really like running with someone since that means I have to match their pace.

Ok well now I'm dressing up... Hm.. either Rapunzel or Ariel. Decisions, decisions!

The only question I have about running alone is.. photo ops? Are there CM's around who can take pics or do you ask other runners? Are there photopass photogs around? THAT would be awesome if there were!

 

[Tinkermom76]

Love the tutu !!!!! How did you do it ???

Very Nice!!!

Thanks... I love the way it turned out!!!

I will PM you the video, I don't think it can be posted here. If anyone else wants to see how to do it just google "No sew tutu video"

 

[WsPrincess]

Ok well now I'm dressing up... Hm.. either Rapunzel or Ariel. Decisions, decisions!

The only question I have about running alone is.. photo ops? Are there CM's around who can take pics or do you ask other runners? Are there photopass photogs around? THAT would be awesome if there were!

This is my first Disney race so I am going with what I have read. Brightroom does the photos at the race. I am not sure if they are at the characters but you can ask the handlers and other people in line to use your camera. After the race, you can go to the Brightroom site and you can find your pictures by your bib number and order them as a package or individually. I know others will chime in with more personal experience.

 

[DeerIsleDisney]

Yay!!! Glad you decided to do it!!

Amy (DeerIsle) are you doing it, or did you decide not too since you are doing the DL 1/2? Any other NH/ME/MA area princesses interested in joining us?

We've been on a camping trip... just getting back to internet and catching up on this thread. I'm afraid I'm not going to be able to the the Rockfest Half in September. Bummer because it would have been fun to meet some of you New England ladies. My race budget and time away are all getting spent for the Disneyland Half...no more races after that until the Princess.

 

[blackdogg]

i'm trying to look into booking today and it seems all resorts are host resorts when i called... but beyond that NO rooms are still available with the run dis pkg??? does that sound right? and also are there any better locations to stay at than others given all resorts are now open for transportation? thanks so much!

 

[VickiHD]

i'm trying to look into booking today and it seems all resorts are host resorts when i called... but beyond that NO rooms are still available with the run dis pkg??? does that sound right? and also are there any better locations to stay at than others given all resorts are now open for transportation? thanks so much!

Some of us have found that you can get a better discount booking directly, even using your AAA (Auto Assoc.) discount. We saved 10 % using our AAA.
Good luck and hope this helps.

 

[VickiHD]

Thanks... I love the way it turned out!!!

I will PM you the video, I don't think it can be posted here. If anyone else wants to see how to do it just google "No sew tutu video"

Thank you !!! I'm going to give it a try.

 

[tinkeramy]

Some of us have found that you can get a better discount booking directly, even using your AAA (Auto Assoc.) discount. We saved 10 % using our AAA.
Good luck and hope this helps.

Yes, RunDisney doesn't exactly spread the hotel discount love.....

The park ticket discount is good, but the room rates? Not so much. Depending on how long you are planning to stay or if you want to visit WDW again within a year, you might want to consider an annual pass. My running buddy Julie had one last year since she knew she was making multiple trips to WDW / DL that year. When the AP room rates came out - early fall? - we got a pretty good deal for a room at POFQ.

 

[longhorns2]

Yes, RunDisney doesn't exactly spread the hotel discount love.....

The park ticket discount is good, but the room rates? Not so much. Depending on how long you are planning to stay or if you want to visit WDW again within a year, you might want to consider an annual pass. My running buddy Julie had one last year since she knew she was making multiple trips to WDW / DL that year. When the AP room rates came out - early fall? - we got a pretty good deal for a room at POFQ.

I did that last year too. If you think you will do two Princesses in a row, and stay for 4-5 days each visit, the AP plus room discount will save you the most money. If you are only staying something like 2 days or they don't offer the AP room discount, then it may not be as good a deal.

I bought the AP last year for the Princess, for the room discount, and had 30% off my POR room (which then turned into an extra score when I was upgraded to the Poly at the 30% off moderate price!) I'm pretty sure AP discounts for that time frame were released early Oct. You don't have to buy an AP until you show up at the parks (have to have it for check in, but not to make a reservation)

 

[MoonFaerie]

I did that last year too. If you think you will do two Princesses in a row, and stay for 4-5 days each visit, the AP plus room discount will save you the most money. If you are only staying something like 2 days or they don't offer the AP room discount, then it may not be as good a deal.

I bought the AP last year for the Princess, for the room discount, and had 30% off my POR room (which then turned into an extra score when I was upgraded to the Poly at the 30% off moderate price!) I'm pretty sure AP discounts for that time frame were released early Oct. You don't have to buy an AP until you show up at the parks (have to have it for check in, but not to make a reservation)

I was wondering when we'd see the AP rates. Of course, I'm still waiting on them to release them for this Oct, so I don't know why I'm getting antsy for Feb rates. I forgot about bounceback, so maybe I'll get a bounceback offer that I can use for the Princess...

 

[DisneyDanielle85]

This will be my first Princess race and my first 1/2 Marathon. I'm a beginner runner so i am a little bit nervous but I'm really excited about it. I've been going the gym a little bit but I'm starting Galloway's DP training plan a little bit early. Starting tomorrow. At this point my plan is to do intervals of walking and running but goal is to just keep a 15 mpm time. I'm so excited to take part in this this year and I can't wait to get into training. I think I might dress up in a yellow Tutu for Belle! I'm doing a 5K here next month and one in October just so i can get used to be around people! Looking so forward to my first (hopefully of many) Run Disney Events!

 

[blackdogg]

thanks for the resort tips... i priced out a few with our mil discount so that should do it. i'm really on the fence about trying the 1/2 marathon this year. i am not a runner but this is on my big goal list i am not currently in running shape however did a 5k last month with a time of 35 minutes... did i mention im not a runner my husband and brother were planning on running with me for this and making a big family trip of it but i'm getting cold feet! reservations look good though so maybe, just maybe i'll commit to the plunge. 13.1 definitely would be a major jump for me!