Princess Half: Views from the Back of the Pack

I’m going to be honest here, I was not looking forward to this race much. Especially once I heard the reports that the weather was going to be very similar to last years race I was pretty mentally defeated. But none the less I laid out my flat Summer the night before and decided I’d just get through it.

My alarm was set for 2:10am and I got up amazingly easy considering I had just gone to bed about 3 hours before that #WestCoastProblems. I got dressed and was headed down to the buses a little after 3. I was staying at the Dolphin hotel and there were only about half a dozen people on the bus when I boarded so we ended up waiting for the bus to fill up, about 20 minutes, before we took off.

It was a very quick drive and I was in the EPCOT parking lot and on my way to the prerace staging area where I met up with DisBroad Kristen and DisBroad’s #1 fan Bonnie!! This was the first time I met either of them in person so I was pretty excited!! Quickly more and more of the DisBroads started to arrive and lots of pictures where being taken!

    DisBroad Kristen, Bonnie, DisBroad Patty, Me, and DisBroad Amy

DisBroad Amy and I were dressed as Alice and the Queen of Hearts so we took a few pics together and she demanded I curtsy to her. I now realize my curtsy needs some work. ;)

 

Eventually they started sending runners back based on the corrals they were assigned to. Since all of the Disbroads where in much lower corrals then me this was the last time I saw most of them. My friend, and running partner for the race, Kim and I held back until it was time for us back of the packers to head to the corrals as well.

I have to say being in the back of the pack was rough. Much like my Tink 10K experience we had no idea what was going on for most of the morning. We could barley hear the National Anthem and didn’t even know it had started until it was about half way through. We also stood there, not moving, for over half an hour after the first corral took off. This is because of the way the corrals were set up. They had to mostly clear corrals A-J before we could move over.  

Finally about 50 minutes after the start of the race we made our way to the start line!! At this point the countdown seemed pretty quick and we were off!! 

     

After seeing the first mile marker I noticed that this year they were very different then the ones they used in the past years so I decided I was going to take pictures of all of them. That also helped me roughly guess how long each mile was taking us since I have shoddy running math.  

As if my moral wasn’t down enough the winner passed us coming back on the other side between miles 1 & 2. I knew this was expected to happen, but it was still rough to witness it. Thankfully before too long we came up to the Magic Kingdom sign, which Kim and I both accused of being false advertising. Having both ran the race before we knew we had a good 2 miles ahead of us before entering Main Street.

Pretty much the whole race was made up of us doing a run/walk combo of pretty much whatever I wanted, which ended up being way more walking then running. My watch was set for 2/1 run/walk ratios, but we very rarely followed it. It ended up being more of a run until we got blocked by a wall of walkers and then walked until we found a way round them.

After mile 5 is where the fun began. We were IN the park and this is always one of my favorite parts of the race! I had hoped to use the real restrooms, as I had in pervious races, but being this far back I just didn’t feel like we had the time to spare to stand in the lines that were out the door and snaking around a bit so we had to pass them by.

Running through the castle is always a highlight of the race, but for us running was not an option. Heck walking wasn’t even an option. We had to result to more of a shuffle as it was wall to wall people and a narrow passage to get them all through. Not to mention those trying for the pictures opts coming out of the castle either stopping to pose or make their way across the wall of people. It wasn’t pretty I tell ya.

I had really wanted to get a pic with Royal Mickey and Minnie, but by the time I got to them in Fantasy Land I could not even see the end of the line that was at least about 50 people visibly deep. I have no idea how many where behind them that I couldn’t see and I knew I just didn’t have time to wait for it. In fact I ended up without any character pictures because the lines were just way too long.

It was very hot and humid. In fact I think Kim must be a saint for putting up with my complaints about the weather. I’m not even sure how many times I told her I was hot, and being from the Orlando area she did not seem to be struggling with it as much as I was.
I will give runDisney props, though, because the medics where all over us back of the packers like personal escorts from about mile 9 on.

From mile 10 on I really struggle with this course since that is where the “hills” come in. They are not real hills, but instead things like overpasses and on ramps and they seem to be back to back to back. After we were on the overpass a little bit after mile 10 we saw the infamous balloon ladies passing the mile 10 mark. In fact there was a lot of chatter around us as princesses were trying to determine if they were, in fact, the balloon ladies or not. I have heard rumors that if you make it pass mile 10 you are safe, and I would believe that to be true since I did not see any buses past that mark staged to take runner off the course. 

After mile 12 we headed in EPCOT and even though we had intended to run the last mile or so straight through we opted to walk it since there was no room to run and the park was getting crowded. I saw the occasional park goer hopping the rope and walking onto the course. This didn’t make me feel to safe about trying to make a mad dash to the finish so we decided to just sprint the last .1 instead.

Right before we came up to the choir I spotted DisBroads Patty and Julie and they joined us for a little bit until they stopped for another picture op and we kept on moving! I had told Kim how I missed the choir the first year I ran it and it baffled her how I could have not noticed them so she made sure to point them out to me this time.

Finally we saw the mile 13 sign so we stopped to take a pic and then it was a sprint to the finish line!! I saw Royal Minnie and her “handler” there and thought for half a second about stopping for a pic, but I was just too close to finishing now so I gave her a high five instead!

Once again I came in with another PW (personal worst) but I accomplished what I came there to do, which was to meet the rest of the DisBroads and to collect these little beauties!!

Outfits of Princess Half Marathons Past

There has been a slight evolution in my Princess Half race attire over the years, although I feel like I still am not up to DisBroad standards. Those ladies go all out!! Don’t believe me? How about this picture from the 2013 Wine & Dine half marathon??

I was told that DisBroad Tania wore the sombrero the whole way!! I totally believe it too since here she is at the 2014 Tinker Bell Half Marathon between mile 11 and 12 with DisBroad Patty cape on and light saber still in hand! I tell you the girl commits!!

 

2011 was the first year I ran the Princess half and my outfit consisted of this:

I made my own sparkle skirt using Simplicity pattern 2414  and adjusted the length and made an elastic waistband instead of a drawstring. I also bought the tiara Bondi Band, but decided it needed a little more bling so I traced the entire tiara with rhinestones!! I don’t suggest you do this, or if you do realize it is pretty much a one time use thing. After I washed the headband not only did the rhinestones fall off, but they also took most of the screen printing off with it!

During the 2011 race I saw a guy in my corral with the saying “I kissed a frog and I liked it” on his shirt and that inspired my 2012 outfit! I was going for a Tiana inspired outfit, but ended up having some issues executing it.

I had several different ideas for Tiana inspired tops, but grossly underestimated the amount of time it takes to make a petti skirt and ended up just buying a white tech top and adding a “princess” rhinestone transfer to it and calling it a day.

2013 was an off year for me. Since I was living in a hotel room at the time, and my sewing machine was packed away in storage with all my other belongings I went the entirely purchased route. I bought the Jasmine Sparkle Skirt and picked up a C9 top from Target. Viola I was Jasmine!

I had been planning on doing Jasmine for a long time and I was hoping to successfully pull off the midriff look, but alas it did not happen and you are very welcome because at that point it wouldn’t have been pretty.  

This year I am stepping it up bit and trying to fit in with the DisBraods so they don’t kick me out of the group for having a lame costume. ;) It is still in the works right now, yeah I better get on it, but here is a little preview of some of the items I have collected. I’m sure you can guess who I’ll be . . .

 

Do you like to dress in costumes for races? What is the favorite costume that you have worn?

The Race I Became a *Real* Runner Part III Princess Half Recap

I’ll be honest this race was rough for me. I trained in Houston all summer so I was use to humidity, but still the 95% humidity and 70 degree weather at the start line got to me a bit. I knew before I even started running that I would not be getting a PR.

I kept on trucking and I was doing okay. Not great, but also not as bad as I expected. The first part of the race was not all that eventful, but one of my favorite parts is when we head down Main Street around mile 5. I stopped here and had a volunteer take a picture for me in front of the castle, but unfortunately even though she took 3 they all came out blurry. Thankfully I checked them as I ran into Tomorrowland so I decided I would have to stop for a professional castle pic when I got there. This is where being in corral B comes in handy; I was able to run right up to one of the 4 photographers with no waiting and I was off on my way. Although as fate would have it, that one turned out horrible too. I looked really stiff and weird and it was too dark to see the castle so I guess it just wasn’t meant to be. Not long after leaving the Magic Kingdom we hit the half way mark where this sign was, and the theme song for this year was playing!


Normally I don’t see anyone during a race. I really get tunnel vision and I have been known to miss most of the course entertainment, including things like characters and choirs! Yes I have missed that very large choir just before mile 13 in the past. Shameful, I know. So you can imagine my surprise when I saw Sarah in a character line around mile 7 or 8. She started in corral A but took advantage of the photo ops along the way. I tapped her as I went by and she cheered me on.

The mile 10 marker was right before an interchange ramp that lead to an overpass where there was a man who yelled down to us “anyone can run 10 miles, but only a princess can do the last 3.1!” I thought that was very sweet and it made me smile. Not long after that interchange I started to fall apart. My right knee started to ache a bit, which really threw me for a loop since it’s usually the left side that gives me problems. Right around mile 11 there was a medical tent and I thought about grabbing some Tylenol, but instead I pressed on. I ended up walking most of the rest of the way because it just bothered me too much to run. About halfway between mile 11 and 12 you make a sharp U-turn and this is where I saw Sarah pass by me. I thought about calling out to her and finishing up together, but I just didn’t feel like I had it in me. I will also be honest and the thought had crossed my mind to just hop the cones and not go all the way around but I was good and didn’t do it.

After I saw the mile 12 marker I decided to try and finish it up as quickly as I could to get it over with so I started running again. It wasn’t extremely painful, but it just didn’t feel right. I told myself I was going to run the whole last mile straight, but when I came around the corner and saw that the real Fairy Godmother was standing there, not that fake one that has been there the last couple of years when I went by, I decided what the heck I’m stopping for my first ever race character pic! Yes that’s right, I have ran 5 runDisney events and this was the very  first time I stopped for a character pic during a race! ! She told me she loved my outfit and that it was Cinderella blue. I didn’t have the heart to tell her it was suppose to be Jasmine.


I wish I could say she waved her magic wand and I was able to finish strong, but that isn’t exactly how it happened. In fact, that stop kind of broke my momentum and I did a mix of walking and shuffling on to the finish line. I came in with my second worse time of 2:51, but I fulfilled my main goal and got my second Coast to Coast medal.

Isn’t it beautiful?

Just for the heck of it here is my trio, which I have to say I like even better then last year’s with the addition of the 5th anniversary medal for Princess.

Tinker Bell, C2C, and 5th anniversary Princess medals

The Race I Became a *Real* Runner Part II Princess Half Recap

This year’s Princess Half weekend was quite a bit different than all my previous races since I had the kiddos in tow this time. Since Officer P just recently switched duty locations he was unable to get the time off so it left just my mom and I with the 4 kids. We had decided that since my mom was not use to wrangling  watching after 4 kids, especially in a crowd, that they would all stay at the hotel while I ran. I still think this was the best choice, but I sure did miss seeing my mom out there cheering me on.

Since our recent relocation to California the 2 younger ones had become quite the night owls and the fact that Florida is 3 hours ahead of California did not help matters much. I usually try to go to bed between 10 and 10:30 the right before a race, but this time it ended up being closer to midnight, which was not great with my alarm set for 2:30 am. I laid out my “flat Summer” and headed off to get what little precious sleep I could.

Flat Summer on her magic carpet ride.

It felt like I barely even closed my eyes and it was time to get up and get going. I woke surprisingly easy and started getting ready. At first I had a sweater on, but after stepping out of the hotel room door I turned right around and took it off. I was staying at Port Orleans Riverside in a Royal Guest Room booked through Leigh with Mousekeplanner (that I LOVED BTW) and headed to the North Depot bus stop at 3:15.

A little secret many Princesses don’t seem to know is that event transportation picks up at ALL bus stops at POR. When I got to the bus stop a bus had just left and there were only me and 2 other princesses sitting there waiting when another bus came by and picked us up; we went on to the East Depot and then to the South Depot (Front Lobby). I have stayed at POR all 3 years I have ran the PHM and the South depot always has the longest line by far! This year was no exception. Since this was our last stop we only had a handful of seats left so it really is so much easier to use one of the other bus stops. We picked up about 6 or 7 more princess and were on our way.

I chatted up the princess who I was sitting next to, who happened to be from the San Fernando Valley, the whole way to EPCOT. I have to say the ride over went very smoothly this year and we arrived at the EPCOT parking lot around 3:40. I headed straight over to the event merchandise area to meet up with Patty and found Sarah was there too! ! We took some pre-race pics and were ready to head off to the corrals.

Sarah and I before the race.	Moms Run This Town (MRTT) Disney Group Pic (I’m back centerish)

When I went to take the MRTT pic I lost Patty again, I tell you she is slippery one, so I headed back alone. The walk back also went very smoothly so I had plenty of time to hit a port-o-potty and get into my corral ( B ) and still be toward the front. A little tip about the P-O-P is that at Disney there are always more so don’t use the first ones you come to, if you walk farther down there will be shorter lines, and cleaner potties. Trust me. 

As I was waiting in my corral I decided to tweet my very first #Run3rd dedication. I decided to “run for those who can’t, because I can.” Simple as that. After what felt like forever it was time to get the party started. We counted down and corral A was off. One thing that I love about WDW races, opposed to Disneyland, is that they send off each corral with their own set of fireworks! Corral B moved up, our fireworks went off and we were on our way . . .