RunDisney 2013 Half Marathon Review

My 2nd half marathon and this was by far the most “FUN” and “EXCITING” race I have done so far. I don’t know what other races will come close to this. There’s a reason why this gets sold out 6+ months ahead of time (in about a day!)  and  $186!

#RunDisney

Day 1 Packet Pick Up [Friday]

I arrived at the Disneyland Hotel Resort around 11am and it was pure mayhem! I didn’t want to look for parking so I just went straight to the Valet and dropped off my car.

You need to keep comfortable right?

If all you wanted was the bib that only took about <5minutes but everyone wants the goods right? The Free Shirt and every free sample! I’m not a fan of collecting shoes and obviously I’m not a Sneakhead. But RunDisney’s marketing team knew exactly how to cater to me.

Run Disney New Balance

The first time I heard about Run Disney, this was the only thing the lured me in. Oh my Drool! You can tell I was already on it on this Instagram Post

In Macklemore’s Voice – Thrift Shop:

The expo was really packed that I didn’t get to hang around that much because every single booth was occupied and I just needed my space.

On the way out, I needed one of these pics so this is the only line I stayed in.

I needed the work out and kick me for my #randomness

Yes that’s a balloon on my back and the camelbak is for the actual adventure at Disneyland. I’m not going to cover the park in this post because it’s boring and not a run!

Race Day Prep [Saturday]

I regretted not doing Dumbo Double Dare but at the time, spending this much on a race was too much already.  I went from the hotel (Double Tree on 100 The City)  to Disneyland which came out to be exactly a 5k  one way! Not too bad but man! It was HOT and HUMID! I had never sweat like that before except when I was overseas.

CARB UP?

I stopped carbing up a few days before a race and usually just eat a good meal before race day.You know why I stopped? During my SF Marathon Training , I would run distances longer than a half marathon and didn’t even bother to carb and still did well in training.

Anyone want Thai Food? (4 miles away from Disneyland)

BBQ Chicken Dinner @ Cha Thai 

GEAR CHECK

Really overkill, the only thing I brought was 2 GU, 1 Clif Bar, salt packets (anti cramp) and the belt to hold my Fablet (Galaxy Note 2) lol!

@RunningMileCom Ready?

Of course this was posted on Instagram and everyone seems to like it. HAHA I normally don’t do these kind of poses but the Mickey Mouse Gloves made me pose that way! Wheeeee! #troll

RACE DAY!

Alarm rang at 3:35AM because I had to reach the shuttle. I probably had 2-3 hours of sleeps tops because I was too excited. About 20 runners and I waited at the Ayres Hotel for over half an hour. The ART Bus was LATE! It came around 4:50am vs the expected time which was 4:25. BOO! That was the only bad thing that happened.

At least we made it on time and at about 5:30ish, the National Anthem was sung and a beautiful fireworks display.

3…2…1 GO! So here I am running and trying to PR and there’s no doubt in my mind that I couldn’t do it.

BUT…

As soon as I saw this, it was over, I gave up trying to PR and this was no longer a competitive run for me, it was a run/walk enjoy!

I was able to score an awesome pic with #FurtherFasterForever aka FurtherFasterForever

I was also tagged with one of my fan and did see a few along the way but didn’t get a chance to take some pictures.

THE Disneyland Half Marathon COURSE:

It was relatively flat except for 2 inclines from a bridge but that was nothing! The cool thing was going inside the disneyland theme park and going through everything! Why did you need to buy tickets (separate from race) when you can just have fun and run through it?

Here is are the stats of my run from my garmin:

WOW! I’m surprised because that is the “super uber bad” time I have ever had.

The course was nice until you get to Anaheim BLVD all the way up to E Cerritos. It was pretty boring but once you hit the Angel’s Stadium. (BOO!, GO OAKLAND Athletics!) At least there was live music and a muscle car show which I do not have pictures of since my huge Mikey Gloves were a pain in the butt to remove.

OVERALL:

I’m signing up again! This was the best race ever!

Here’s an awesome picture of the Disneyland Medal