by Run Diva
Well here we are, day 3! My race weekend has built up to the big enchilada! Or churro would be more like it! After participating in the Disneyland 5k on Friday and the 10K on Saturday, the third day in a row of waking up at 4am has come and boy oh boy am I getting a little tired, but still equally excited to earn my third and fourth medals for the weekend. Today I chose to by my favorite princess, Ariel.
And yes, those are fake eyelashes at 4am! But come on, when in Disney do as the Disney Princesses do! As my husband and baby girl were still snoozing I grabbed my Gu gels, bag of shredded wheat, and earphones and was off to run the big one!
The race started again at 5:30am and parking was such a big difference than the days before. It’s a good thing we left a little earlier, because we sat at one light for over 20 minutes. Once we got into Mickey and Friends, the walk down to the corrals only took about 5 minutes. The nice thing about doing the Dumbo Double Dare is that the course is different from the 10k to the half marathon. You immediately go into the backstage of California Adventures and circle around a bit differently than the day before. This gives you a chance to get some different pictures.
/We were trying to make our way through the crowds a little bit faster than the day before so we didn’t get as many picture stops with characters. When I saw Tiana though, I had to stop since I had yet to meet her!
(I know this picture came out a bit blurry. The cast member told us all to have our flashes on and it didn’t come out as well as I had hoped.)
The volunteers definitely make this race what it is. At each water stop they were chanting “Let’s go runners! *clap clap clap*” and that brought so many smiles to so many faces. For a lot of runners out there, this was their first half marathon and it makes me so happy that for them, this is their first experience running 13.1! As we left the parks around mile 4, the sun was starting to rise as we passed the over pass on Ball Road. Off to the side in the crowd of cheerers we did see some interesting faces we just had to take a picture with!
Running through miles 7 and 8 they had rows and rows of old fashioned cars lined up with people cheering as well as some wonderful people handing out orange slices, red vines, and wet sponges because it was getting a bit hot. Again, it’s the people who make this race wonderful!
Mile 9 was a Clif bar stop where they passed out energy gels (as many as you needed). This is just an added bonus that I like when it comes to a RunDisney race. I don’t know of many races that provide extra fuel in case you forgot yours or need extra. The next stop was incredible, we ran through Angel’s Stadium! And not just an empty stadium, the seats were PACKED! It was just the energy boost I needed to get me to the finish line.
Before I knew it I was back at the hotel with some new bling.
Which of course meant I deserved this…
Back at home my new medals are safe and sound, right where they belong.
If any of you out there are thinking of doing their first half marathon I highly encourage you to do so! I know it seems like a long time to be running, but if you stick to your training in just a few months you’ll be ready. Again I followed the RunDisney training schedule and just uploaded it to the calendar on my phone. If possible, get a few friends or family members to help by meeting you for a run, that is the best encouragement. And hey, maybe they’ll sign up too!
