Last month I joined my friends from around the country for the 2nd annual Tinker Bell half marathon race through Disneyland. I'm happy to say I successfully completed my first half marathon of the year!
Here are three of the five of us with our bibs two days before the race.
L-R: Me, Kacia and Amanda. Krista (who took the picture) did not to run this year due to illness and Angie came down later to get her race gear.
Sunday at 5am the race got underway. I started this year in the B corral - and we were so late and it was so crowded I couldn't get into position until the first wave left. This year things were more crowded, but a lot more faster paced.
See that heard of people... that's all my group B fellow runners making our way toward the start. At the beginning we had the send-off by Daisy and Minnie.
The route this year was a little different, and I have to say much better and more scenic. We started out making our way in front of the Disneyland hotel and then onto the streets of Anaheim briefly before entering the back lot of California Adventure. It was here that I ran into my friend Angie who got there ahead of us.
I have to say the highlight of California Adventure was running through Cars Land! It didn't open until last June - so we didn't see any of it last year.
After leaving Cars Land/Radiator Springs we went through more back lots and around the pier inside California Adventure. What you can't tell is I started running this race with wings...
But they were falling apart so badly you can no longer see them in the above photo.
So I hit the last bathroom in the park where it took me maybe 10 minutes to untie the darned wings from my shirt (I had a razorback tank and I tied them up pretty good).
Finally wing free, I left California Adventure to make my way through the Disneyland Park - about 4 miles in I believe. But not before being greeted by my cheering section along the aisles between the two parks - my Mom, My Aunt Connie, Aunt Ardy and cousin Jodi.
Then it's time to hit up Disneyland!
We ran down Main Street and then through Tomorrow Land and more back lots where employees cheered us on. It's such an awesome feeling to have that as well as to see things you never see when you visit the parks.
Another highlight we saw this year was It's A Small World still lit up with the Christmas lights. Last year the race was a week later and you couldn't see Small World because it was "under construction" while they removed the lights. We made it this year by 2 days :)
We then circled around and came through the backside of Sleeping Beauty's Castle...
And look who I saw on the front side of the Castle!!
This is my first and only character stop. They have nearly every character out on the race course, but the lines are ridiculously long and I was trying to run for time. But I noticed there were only 2 people in line when I had turned around to take shot of the castle. Score!
After leaving Disneyland - about mile 5 I believe - we ran through Downtown Disney where I again spot my cheering section. So awesome to see someone familiar among all those faces!
We then ran through the streets of Anaheim for miles 6-11ish.
Boy it feels good to reach the 10 mile mark and know you only have a 5K left (3.1 miles). At this point I was really hurting and feeling the mileage.
At about mile 11 we made our way back into the backlots of California Adventure again - this time we could actually see where we were going!
Only.one-tenth.mile.left.
Thank goodness for the finish line! My final time 3:00:09. Worst time ever, but it turns out according to my RunKeeper app I ran about 1.5 miles more... with all the bobbing, weaving and picture taking. That makes me feel a little better.
And we all made it to the finish line!!
L-R: Amanda, Angie, Me, Kacia
This was Amanda and Kacia's first race ever and they started with a half marathon and FINISHED!! We were all so proud of ourselves - and them!
And the reason we run these races...
...it's all about the bling.
My goal is to run another half marathon at Disney World this year so I can earn not only another Disney medal but the Coast to Coast - a 3rd medal for running 2 Disney races in one calendar year.
We were powered by Pixie Dust!
