Ah Disney ... The most magical place on the planet. I have hundreds of memories from going to Disney as a child from ages 4 - 15, at least once a year, sometimes twice. Easily about 20 times in my lifetime. So having the chance to run into Magic Kingdom through Cinderella's castle, not to mention the amazing medals that you can get ... How can you turn that down?? After paying the bargain price of $350 to run a 10K and Half Marathon the training commenced (after I gave birth to an almost 10 pound baby!!).
One thing I have to say about Disney, their packet pickup and actual event is that they are extremely organized. After working with a local running company, and just participating in other races, no one has the organization or man power like Disney has. If you can afford it, staying within Disney property is worth it. They had specific transportation for the run to the expo and to the races itself. You don't have to worry about parking and the traffic to get to the expo or the race. The buses all had their own routes to get in and out.
The expo was very organized. It reminded me of a Bank of America packet pickup. Huge space, everything marked, easy to follow and fast. The only thing that was horrible was the line to pay if you were going to buy extra goodies and commemorative items. People were going crazy buying 2-3 dooney & Burke special "princess" edition purses. I personally thought they were quite cheesy and on the Facebook group for the Glass Slipper challenge, a lot of people had buyers remorse and we're trying to sell them.
10K race:
Organization was fantastic! Easy to find corrals, tons and tons of port-o-potties, water stations everywhere in case you needed to drink water prior to the race. It was chilly so I recommend you bring throw away layers or a garbage bag to keep you warm until you run. If you have a mylar wrap from the 5k (if you are running all three races - no special medal for all three, just the two), bring that instead since you get another one after the 10K. The ladies watching the last corral weren't really paying attention, a lot of people were jumping corrals. No one was busted. Biggest complaint is that it took forever to get going. If you were in the last corral like me (I forgot to submit proof of finishing time...pregnancy brain) you didn't start until about 45 minutes after the first set of people started. The course was great, you ran through Epcot and all the countries, and through the the boardwalk. There were several characters throughout, but I did not stop for any pictures. I do wish that they placed more port-o-potties along route. Lines to use them were very long and you worry about being swept. There were enough water stations so don't worry about bringing your own water.
Half Marathon:
I was anticipating that the start would be the same as the 10K, it more! It went faster considering there were a lot more people and corrals and the firework show before each corral took off ... awesome!! I have issues with this race ... there are so many miles of narrow parts and people start completely walking around mile 7 .. after Magic Kingdom. When the race was said and done, I did almost 14 miles because I had to weave in between the walkers. ARRGGHHH where is your walking etiquette ladies? There are so many points in the race where trying to run is a joke, you truly expend more energy trying to pass walkers. This is why I will not do this race for a very long time. The course is nice then it gets boring around mile 9. Highlights were the soldiers from Toy Story yelling at everyone to start running, they were on the ramp up to Epcot.
All in all, the race was good. I got my three medals, which is all I wanted anyway. I was able to do this race with only three months of training after I had my daughter that in itself was a pretty huge accomplishment. Would I do it again... possibly with my daughters when they are old enough, but not in the near future.
#rundisney #fitfluential #glassslipperchallenge
One thing I have to say about Disney, their packet pickup and actual event is that they are extremely organized. After working with a local running company, and just participating in other races, no one has the organization or man power like Disney has. If you can afford it, staying within Disney property is worth it. They had specific transportation for the run to the expo and to the races itself. You don't have to worry about parking and the traffic to get to the expo or the race. The buses all had their own routes to get in and out.
The expo was very organized. It reminded me of a Bank of America packet pickup. Huge space, everything marked, easy to follow and fast. The only thing that was horrible was the line to pay if you were going to buy extra goodies and commemorative items. People were going crazy buying 2-3 dooney & Burke special "princess" edition purses. I personally thought they were quite cheesy and on the Facebook group for the Glass Slipper challenge, a lot of people had buyers remorse and we're trying to sell them.
10K race:
Organization was fantastic! Easy to find corrals, tons and tons of port-o-potties, water stations everywhere in case you needed to drink water prior to the race. It was chilly so I recommend you bring throw away layers or a garbage bag to keep you warm until you run. If you have a mylar wrap from the 5k (if you are running all three races - no special medal for all three, just the two), bring that instead since you get another one after the 10K. The ladies watching the last corral weren't really paying attention, a lot of people were jumping corrals. No one was busted. Biggest complaint is that it took forever to get going. If you were in the last corral like me (I forgot to submit proof of finishing time...pregnancy brain) you didn't start until about 45 minutes after the first set of people started. The course was great, you ran through Epcot and all the countries, and through the the boardwalk. There were several characters throughout, but I did not stop for any pictures. I do wish that they placed more port-o-potties along route. Lines to use them were very long and you worry about being swept. There were enough water stations so don't worry about bringing your own water.
Half Marathon:
I was anticipating that the start would be the same as the 10K, it more! It went faster considering there were a lot more people and corrals and the firework show before each corral took off ... awesome!! I have issues with this race ... there are so many miles of narrow parts and people start completely walking around mile 7 .. after Magic Kingdom. When the race was said and done, I did almost 14 miles because I had to weave in between the walkers. ARRGGHHH where is your walking etiquette ladies? There are so many points in the race where trying to run is a joke, you truly expend more energy trying to pass walkers. This is why I will not do this race for a very long time. The course is nice then it gets boring around mile 9. Highlights were the soldiers from Toy Story yelling at everyone to start running, they were on the ramp up to Epcot.
All in all, the race was good. I got my three medals, which is all I wanted anyway. I was able to do this race with only three months of training after I had my daughter that in itself was a pretty huge accomplishment. Would I do it again... possibly with my daughters when they are old enough, but not in the near future.
#rundisney #fitfluential #glassslipperchallenge
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