RunDisney's Princess 5K Recap

On February 19, I was up before the sun to kick off runDisney's Princess Half Marathon weekend with the Princess 5K.  While runDisney races have exceptionally early wake-up calls, they also have exceptional race excitement.  There's nothing like stumbling to the buses knowing that you're surrounded by others who are just as Disney crazy as you! 

I wasn't planning on running the 5K on this trip, but once my cousin signed up, I knew I would be there anyway to cheer her on, so I thought I might as well join in on the fun.  For this race, I was dressed up like Ariel from The Little Mermaid in the "Kiss the Girl" scene and Ann was Rapunzel.

(We were dressed in our princess-y best)

(A great start to Princess Weekend)

We were about to grab coffee from the concession stand when we noticed that the characters had come out.  We immediately hopped in line to take our picture with Sebastian!

Before long, it was time to say goodbye to each other and head to our corrals.  Luckily, I was in "A" corral for this race, so I was able to get up close to the start line.

(I love that Ariel was the focus princess for this race!)

Before long, it was time for the race to begin.  My foot and knee were bothering me a few days before the races, so I had no idea what kind of pace I would be running, so I decided to run whatever was comfortable for me and to stop for characters if I felt so inclined.  I was able to stop for lots of character pictures!

(Please ignore the crazy eyes, it was super early in the morning!)

(Vacation Genie was at all 3 races)

I ended up making great time with minimal knee time.  Even though the race wasn't timed, I was still pleased with my time, even with the character stops!  My family who came to cheer us on told me that I finished in the top 10 women!

(My mom and I while we waited for Ann)

Ann did great as well, and now she has the runDisney bug too!  

After the race, we were off to Disney's Hollywood Studios for the day!

(Some bling to wear around the park)

My thoughts on the runDisney Registration Madness

After the intense registration process that was Wine and Dine last week, I've taken a week to process and think about it.  Particularly, the reaction on Facebook, Twitter and other forms of social media regarding the event.

First, let me say that I was one of the lucky ones.  Not only was I able to secure registration for runDisney's Wine and Dine Half Marathon for the third year in a row, my mom, my dad, and I were all able to get registrations for the Jingle Jungle 5k (the first time running this event for all of us!).  We were all working on separate computers and entered the queue right at noon.  Each one of us had to wait anywhere from 7-12 minutes to complete our registrations.  My mom got through for the 5K first, then I got into the half.  I quickly also registered for the 5K and finally my dad got into the 5K as well.  It took us all about 15 minutes to all complete our registration processes.  I was flabbergasted when the registration filled up in a little over half an hour.  I thought my insistence that we all register at noon was my own special brand of runDisney crazy.  Nope!

 

The start line of the Wine and Dine Half Marathon last year

Having participated in runDisney the past couple of years, it definitely is true that "every mile is magic." One of the most special aspects of runDisney is all of the other participants.  runDisney events are possibly the most beginner friendly races I have ever seen.  runDisney is often the motivation for people to take up running and feel that sense of accomplishment crossing the finish line.  Last year, I had to line up in my corral by myself.  I was immediately making new friends and talking to other runners.  It is just an awesome experience.

Which is why it's so sad to hear all the negative things people have to say on social media.  Yes. The registration process was STRESSFUL.  Yes, it's awful to only have some family members get in.  Yes, it's awful to be shut out entirely.  I also recognize that I'm writing from the place of all of us getting into our desired races.  HOWEVER...

runDisney is supposed to be fun.  It is not a place to complain about others.  So what if people walk the races.  So what if people run the whole way.  I've seen so much complaining from front of the packers about back of the packers and the same from the other way around.  First of all, we should be encouraging everyone to get fit and healthy, and if runDisney is the thing that does it, that's fantastic!  Second, I really feel if you are running a Disney race for time, you're missing out on the fun.  I worked very hard last year for a good proof of time to end up in Corral A, just for the sake of better pictures (foiled of course by Splash 'n' Dash).  Finally, I've heard people complain about people that get swept.  ANYTHING can happen during the training for a race or during the race itself.  You have to respect the distance.  How about we show a little compassion and a little kindness to others? Just some food for thought.

Here's some FUN pictures from the past couple of years (last year's recap will be up soon...or at least before this year's Wine and Dine) :)

 My dad and I during the Animal Kingdom portion of Wine and Dine in 2013

Hanging out with Buzz & Woody in the Studios (and happy to get out of the rain) at Splash N Dash 2014

Wine & Dine Half Marathon (Splash & Dash) 2014 -The Expo

Life has been absolutely nuts with the holidays sneaking up on me so quickly and getting out of my routine.  Things are finally calming down, just in time for Christmas to make everything busy again!

About a month ago I ran rundisney's Wine and DIne Half Marathon which has been renamed the "Splash and Dash" half marathon. I'll recap that race soon, but I'll start at the beginning with this post...the EXPO!

It was so much fun to spend this weekend with my BFF from college, Andrew.  About a year ago, I convinced him that running a half marathon was an excellent idea and that we should go to Disney to do it.  Luckily for me he agreed, and we spent the better part of the last year texting each other (we live 11 hours apart) conversations like this:

K: Remember that time we're going to Disney World?
A: I know!!!

I arrived in Orlando late Thursday night and then eagerly and impatiently waited for Andrew's flight to arrive.  Finally, I saw him heading toward the Magical Express terminal, our designated meeting place!

Soon we were on our way to Saratoga Springs.  Andrew is DVC so we booked through his membership, and Saratoga was a host resort.  Having run this race last year, that was a relief for me.

After getting lost in the dark trying to find the room, we finally arrived.  One of my favorite touches is the mouse ears left by Mousekeeping!

Having never stayed at Saratoga Springs before, I took pictures of everything, including the room number!

We were in the Carousel building.

Such a pretty resort, just after sunrise.

We planned to get to the expo as soon as it opened at 10:00AM on Friday.  I absolutely require breakfast in the morning and I was so excited for some Mickey waffles.  I loved that there were three small waffles rather than one big one, everyone knows the ears are the best part!

Everything tastes better when shaped like Mickey, am I right?

After breakfast, we headed over to the bus stop and waited in the first line of our trip:

Race weekend transportation is the number one reason to stay at a host resort.

Before long, we were on our way to the expo.  Once the bus arrived, the line moved rather quickly and we arrived at Wide World of Sports just before the expo opened.

 

One thing to know about the Wine & Dine Expo is that packet pick up is in a separate location from shirt pick up, vendors and the rest of the expo.  While it initially sounds like a pain, it really helps to dissipate some of the crowding. We headed to packet pick up first. I didn't have much of a line to pick up my packet:

I'm still so proud of myself for being in Corral A!

I was very excited for the countdown...Andrew, not so much!

When we headed to the shirt pick up location, I was surprised that it wasn't that crowded.  Bonus points for having women's sizes this year...my shirt actually fits me! It was then that I realized where all the crowds were: at the official merchandise booth!  What a zoo!  I fought through the crowds and decided to tempt fate by buying the I Did It! shirt.  Yes, I was one of those souls that bought the shirt with the backwards arrows...not going to lie, it makes me love it that much more!

Finally we left the expo because we had Fastpass reservations at Disney's Animal Kingdom to be getting to.  But not before taking a quick picture:

I loved these backdrops!  Thanks for taking the picture kind stranger!

If you're here, thanks for reading this long post!  More recaps of this trip will be coming your way soon!

Wine and Dine Corral Assignments Released

When I ran last year's Wine and Dine half marathon with my dad I was stoked to discover that my first half marathon time had placed me into Corral B. I didn't end up running out of this corral, instead choosing to run with my dad, but it was exciting to know that I could have been in that corral.  It was exciting UNTIL I discovered that I had just missed the cutoff for getting into Corral A. 

Since then, I have been working very hard to have a faster half marathon time, not just for the new PR satisfaction but also to get into the elusive A Corral.  This July, I ran the Shoreline Multisport Festival Half Marathon with the goal of getting a time to submit.  I'm so happy I did because the 1:41:39 I turned in gave me my Corral A ticket.

When the Corral information was released and I realized I got into Corral A, I practically skipped around my office.  I was so happy!!! 

Now it's just time to count down the days.  27 days until I'm on my way to Walt Disney World for the 2014 RunDisney Wine and Dine half marathon!

You can check your corral placement here: Wine and Dine 2014 Corrals