Ok so this is basically C&P'd from an email I sent out to my friends once I got home. None of them have done a rundisney race yet so I'm trying to convince them they need to do one! I did teh 10K, Half and DD did the kids race so this is kinda long.
So the weekend was awesome.
Ive said it once and Ill say it again, RunDisney puts on a fantastic race. FANTASTIC. Theyre organized, they dont run out of stuff, theyre fun. Theyre worth the money. Especially when you start comparing it to Nike!
The expo was great. There was zero line to pick up the bibs and T-shirts and goodie bags by the time we got there. On Saturday I did wait 1.5 hours in line to have someone tape up my ankle at the KT tape booth but it was needed and worth it. I made an attempt to get the Minnie mouse shoes on Friday but it didnt work out. So I decided it wasnt meant to be. Sounds like I could have gotten them on Sunday but I didnt try. Mommy bought me a cute new sparkle skirt to run in with my Niners Jersey on Sunday. Love it! So cute!
The trip was overall a great trip. We stayed on property at the Paradise Pier hote which is the cheapest of the 3 disney hotels but its also the one closest to the start/finish line for the races. The races all literally finished behind the hotel in the parking lot so my walk back after my 2 races and Brynns kids race was maybe 100 yards. Normally I woldnt pay the $ to stay at a Disney hotel but if I ever do a Disney race again I will totally fork out the $ to stay here. Saved me at least 10 miles of walking back and forth over the course of the weekend. And it saved me a couple hours of sleep too cause I was able to sleep in a bit longer since my walk to the races was so short.
Saturday morning my alarm was set for 5:00am. Headed down about 5:30. Found my friend and went to our corrals. Race started at 6:00. We had fun with it. Took pics when we wanted to take pics. Waited in lines for Characters and took pics with them. We even ran into some of our other friends while in character lines. It was a blast. My complaints are that we were in the last corral and kinda far back so there were a LOT of walkers in front of us. Especially the first half of the race. It was very hard to run. But we werent looking to PR or anything so not a big deal. At one point we were in line to take a picture with Mater and McQueen in DCA and the official pacer aka the balloon lady passed us! We had to sprint to get ahead of her. Fortunately we did. But we heard on Facebook that like 500 people behind us got swept around the 4 mile mark! Never want to be that close to the sweeper again lol. Our time for the 10K was a very sad 1:43:38. But it didnt matter. We had fun and earned our medals. After the 10K we had DDs kids race. She wasnt feeling good but she was still excited. My mom got a picture of her running but I missed it. But she was super proud of her medal! After that I gave her some childrens Tylenol and she was feeling better in a couple of hours. After hanging out in the room a bit and getting taped up at the expo we went to
Disneyland for lunch and a very chill afternoon. Only did 1 ride (teacups) lol. But just took everything in and watched shows and stuff.
Sunday morning my alarm was set for 4:00am. Headed down at 4:30. Again found my friend. Shes faster than me but we were in the same corral. I assumed shed take off and leave me in the dust but I guess she likes to chat when she runs and so she stuck with me for almost the entire race. Even though we said we werent gonna stop for pics during the half there were a couple we couldnt pass up lol. I cant explain how much fun it is to run inside the parks. Its amazing. I love it. The time goes by so fast. AND you get to use real bathrooms!!! After we were out of the parks we both needed to stop at the first aid station. I had some chafing on my arms from the jersey I was wearing. And her toe nail had cut into her other toe and it was bleeding. So we got that taken care of and then proceeded on the streets of Anaheim. She kept me going doing 2:1 intervals. Around mile 8 or 9 she needed the aid tent again so she stopped and I kept going. We assumed shed catch back up with me but she never did. She did hook up with some of our other friends though and they were about 5 minutes behind me. It was harder not having her with me but I put in my headphones and tried to get into the music. At points I stopped paying attention to intervals and just ran cause running hurt less than walking at that point. At mile 11 I called mom and told her that Id be crossing the finish line is 30min. So at the very end when I was in the chute for the finish line I was trying to spot them in the crowd. The spectators were lined up along the fence line or whatever you call it and they were 5-10 people deep. But some Disney magic came my way and I saw Brynn dart over to this one area where you werent allowed to stand and so it was clear. She had gone up to a worker to ask her a question. So I stopped along the fence there and yelled to her. The worker saw me and got Brynns attention so Brynn was able to run right up to the fence where I was and I gave her a quick kiss and then ran a few more yards to the finish line. I sure did high 5 Mickey on my way across.
Post race was super organized. The exact opposite of Nike. Tons of room to walk after the initial end of the race. Then you got your medal from the 10 or so people who were handing them out so there were no lines. Then you could get a space blanket if you wanted. And then you could grab water and/or powerade. Then you could go take your pic with the Tinkerbell half marathon banner behind you. I chose not to and just walked up and got my box of food instead. They had a family waiting area set up like many races do but I hurt so I just texted mom and Brynn to meet me at the hotel rom. Seriously 5 - 10minutes after crossing the finish line I was back in my room stretching out. It was awesome.
My finish time was 3:24:01. So not my best but not my worst. Ok so it IS my second worst time. Its 15 minutes slower than I was last year but Im fine with it all things considered. And I had a blast which is whats important. So being as I was a late finisher I can say that I was very happy that every water station had both water and powerade still. The Cliff station still had gels when I went through. They never ran out of anything which is how it should be!
And more props for Disney here. The employees are awesome. I know they saw thousands of women in the parks wearing their medals over the course of the weekend. But they still make a point to congratulate me and ask me how it went. Some talked to me for like 5 minutes about it! And you know DD LOVED the attention she got from them when she had her medal on! It was quite cute! Our very last ride Sunday night was Little Mermaid. I wasnt even wearing my medal at that point, just the race shirt. Its 8 or so at night so the medals/shirts have been in the parks for hours now. Its not new to anyone at this point. But still I get on my shell and the guy checks that my bar is down and locked and then he takes an extra second to say Congratulations on your marathon by the way. You are awesome. I mean what a way to end the trip. It wasnt fake or forced. It was sincere. It was Disney through and through.
Mom, DD and I all had a great time. For this years race I was in a better place mentally but a worse place physically. And it all worked out great. I got to see my friends I made at last years Tink which was the icing on the cake for me. I'm so sad I dont think I can do next years Tink. But thats ok. I'll always remember this years!
It was really nice speaking with you in line for Tink. Boy we spent the day gathering autographs. Hope your flight back was smooth. Now you've got to sign up for the DL 1/2 then you and your coach could come back out to CA. With the way I'm feeling now...I'm looking forward to next wks surgery.
