the tinkerbell half marathon race report.

a rundisney race was the second race i ever participated in and it changed my life forever:) now thats dramatic i know, but seriously disney knows how to put on a fantastic race. i started at disneyworld with the princess 1/2 marathon and have now completed 2 at disneyland. i cant lie, disneyworld set the bar high and has things california just cant compete with. keeping that in mind disneyland does an amazing job, its disney how could they not.

the tinkerbell 1/2 marathon was announced in april and the second i heard about it i called my mom and did the little bit of convincing i needed to have a partner in crime sign up with me. we decided to make it a girls weekend since it was an all-women's race and leave all the boys at home. it was a great decision and just what we both needed to get away. we stayed at a hotel just across the street from where we stayed the last time we did the disneyland 1/2 marathon a year and a half ago so we could take the shuttle back and forth, especially on race morning.

a 3am alarm is awfully early and loud. we had to be out the door by 345a so we could be at the shuttle 4a to be at the starting line in time. the shuttle dropped us off at the disneyland entrance meaning we had to get to the other side of downtown disney to drop off our stuff and get into the corrals. once we got to the pre-party we used the bathrooms, got our things together, and dropped our bag at the gear check then separating into our corrals. i had landed corral a and mom got into corral c! we were both wayyy excited about moving up for this race. they always want you to be in the corrals sooo early that there was a lot of cold standing around and waiting till we could get started. i ate my protein bar about 15 minutes before the start and was soooo ready to go.

at the pre-race party!

tinkerbell sent us off almost right on time. we headed around the park, did some weaving around the outside, then the inside, and finally got into the magic kingdom at mile 2. the best part of the race is getting to run through the park and see all the characters! its soooo cool and one of the greatest things about being in corral a is being in the front which meant much shorter lines at all the characters. i was pretty much able to walk right up or there was only 1 person in front.

the 1st stop was my favorite:)

heroes!

princess aruora and prince phillip.

captain jack.

pochontas!

we passed the 5k mark and i was feeling great. i was finally warm and super excited from all the character sightings. we made it out of the park and passed the 4 mile mark in downtown disney to round the corner by the disneyland hotel to be greeted by a huge group of ladies from the red hat society! they were cheering and clapping, it was so cool. finally out of the streets we weaved around the freeway and over to the ducks training center to find the 10k mark and i knew we were almost halfway. i was feeling good and loving the fact i had soo much space on the street after the packed vegas race. plus i had never seen so many tutus and wings in my life!

one of the greatest things about disney races is they always put cheerleaders/groups/bands near the mile markers so you can always hear when you are getting close and know you are about to check off another mile. after crossing mile 7 i knew all i had to do was run back to disneyland and cross the line. my hip started to hurt a little around mile 8 but i had a mental battle with myself to keep it in check till the race was over.

we headed around a corner to pass mile 9 and i was ready for some gu, i had started getting hungry just passed mile 7 but knew i had to be close. clif bar did a great job supplying plenty and having it very well marked instead of having people yelling flavors at you they had huge flags by each table with the flavors on them. i was super excited to grab the chocolate gu, gladly ripped it open, and quickly downed it. by mile 10 i had all the kick i needed to make it the last 5k. plus there was a dad cheering us on saying all we had to do was make it back to the park then we could enjoy churros! it was so funny and his 2 kids were very excited every time he mentioned churros.

finally we got to katella and headed down disney way toward mile 11. a girl caught up with me i had seen earlier in the day and we started talking about wearing the same skirt! she told me she was training for a 50 miler and i told her i was trying to beat 2:20. i was wayyy on track to beat the crap out of that time and it was great to talk to someone that late it pushed me to the end.

we headed into california adventure and i couldnt wait to see who was going to be out! i got so excited to see sully from monsters inc but the sun got in my picture and it didnt come out:( we weaved through the rest of the park and passed mile 12, embarking on the loooongest 1.1 mile ever. luckily we passed some pixar friends and got out of the back of the park.

i took this one just for richard:)

the army guys loved my green sleeves!

i kept passing spectators that said "the finish line is right around the corner." then there was another corner, and another one. finally i saw and heard the finish line! i threw up my hands and high-fived mickey mouse as i crossed the finish line! there were people and cameras everywhere but all i cared about was the time i saw on the clock while crossing the line. i knew i had beat my goal, actually i smoked it! 2:05:30:)!!

after grabbing my blanket and medal i stopped by the water tent to get something to drink and powerade. it was getting warm and there were people starting to flow in so i found a spot in the open area to wait for my mom. i started getting really hungry and uncomfortable sitting on the ground after a little bit. i tried to go get my phone out of my gear bag but had to get the whole thing instead (lame) and headed back to the open area to wait for her. luckily they now have runner tracking they can send to your phone so i knew when she would be crossing.

almost right on time, actually a few minutes early, i found her! she looked great and i was ready to get out of there. finally her time came over as we hobbled back down downtown disney at 3:14:31! she was going for sub-3:19, meaning she rocked it:)

we finished smoked it!

this race was seriously so fun! it was so women infused and celebratory. afterward we went to breakfast, took a nap, and headed to the park for the rest of the day. i wore my race shirt and everywhere we went we saw ladies with medals and people kept congratulating us on finishing. its a great spirit lifter! if you are a runner, this is definitely a race to put on your calendars:)