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?

Pink Coast to Coast Medal For Me . . . Yes Please

For those of you who may not know, each year runDisney has a Coast to Coast challenge that states that if you run a half marathon or longer at both Disney World and Disneyland in the same calendar year you will receive an additional “Coast to Coast” medal after completing the second race. Currently the only 2 options at Disneyland is the Tinker Bell half and the Disneyland half, but rumor has it at least one, if not two more races are being added next year!



The last 2 years I have taken this challenge by completing the Tinker Bell half and Princess Half in back to back months, but I was not planning on going for a three-peat this year. Of course my resolve changed a bit when runDisney announced that this year there will be a special edition PINK coast to coast medal exclusively for all the fairy princesses out there!! 

Photo Courtesy of April at Run the Great Wide Somewhere 

I really wanted that medal, but decided to stick to my original plan to not run the PHM again this year. That was until I was given a last minute opportunity to join in the weekends festivities!! Now I'm happy to say that medal will be mine!

Of course with the addition of this new, special edition, medal there were lots of details to be worked out and concerns being voiced all over the internet. Personally, I think runDisney came up with the perfect solution that is fair to everyone involved.

In past years it was runDisney’s police to only allow 1 coast to coast medal a year, thus making those who #RunAllTheRaces choose between the pink and the traditional blue coast to coast medals. This year they are giving you the opportunity to earn BOTH medals instead!

Under the new policy if you complete Tink and Princess you will receive the pink medal, and you will still be eligible to complete another pair of races, one on each coast, to receive the blue medal as well. I have to say it is a rather tempting challenge to take, but I think this year I’ll be passing.
   
Will you be earning a pink coast to coast medal this year? If so will it be your first coast to coast challenge, or are you a repeater?

Don’t forget to check out the Princess Half virtual blog hop to learn you all you need to know about the upcoming race weekend! You have questions? Most of the answers can be found right here.

Tinker Bell Half Marathon 2014

Last year the Tinker Bell half marathon made me cry. I should have gotten a PR but I didn’t and  watching my PR slip away was heartbreaking. It was the first and only race that literally brought me to tears, but I am happy to report that this year that was not the case.

Since I had known my training had been lacking I wasn’t expecting much and decided that this year I wanted to PR in fun and I did just that!



I’m still not a fan of the 5 am start time, but once I’m up and going I’m glad to get it done early and still have all day to spend in the parks! Unlike the 10k the morning before there was no flat Summer laid out. Instead there was a balled up Summer laying on the sofa in the room, and when my alarm went off at 3:45 I grumbled a bit and begrudgingly rolled out of bed. After getting dressed and downing a protein shake I was ready to head down to the lobby to meet up with Kirsten again.

I have to say that the lobby was much busier that morning and the feel of the half marathon was very different than that of the 10k for sure! You definitely knew what the main event was, and we were hoping we were ready for it! We both have ran several half marathons before, but with the vision of the 10k sweepers still fresh in our minds we weren’t as confident as we normally would have been. In fact I posted this status update on Facebook and being blessed with awesome friends they had some wonderful answers for me!

 

After settling into corral C and taking the obligatory corral selfie I was feeling a little better about the mileage ahead of me, but only a little. The national anthem was sang with fireworks a blazing and shortly after that the wheelchair racer took off. For some reason this always chokes me up a bit, and usually brings a tear or two to my eye.

After the wheelchair racer was well on their way corral A was off, followed closely by corral B, and before I knew it was time for us to head out on our own 13.1 mile journey through the Disneyland Resort Parks and the streets of downtown Anaheim.


After making a loop around Disneyland resort we headed back stage, and then into California Adventure where the fountains for World of Color were on and absolutely beautiful!



From here we headed towards Cars Land, which is just amazing to run through when it is all lit up! I would also like to give runDisney huge props for the slight change of course from last year, and the added light to the paths that were really dark in the past! It was greatly appreciated!



This sign made me giggle a bit so I had to get a picture of it in case I needed to use it somewhere down the line. The other side said “Not Slow” but I couldn’t get the picture to come out with the spotlight shinning on the “sl”

After running around most of California Adventure we hit the 5k mark as we exited the park and headed across the way to the Disneyland park! It was in the area between parks that I noticed another great change runDisney added to control the flow of cross traffic, similar to what they do on the parade route, and that was greatly appreciated too, as there has been more then once that I almost plowed into a spectator trying to run across the course in front of me.

Once in Disneyland there were character picture ops aplenty, but after the run in with the sweepers the day before I opted to skip all of them but this one, that I mostly took for #3 since she loves puppies and kitties and is known to try and use “cute paws” on me.

 
After running through Disneyland, and hitting the last real restroom, under the Hungry Bear Restaurant, we were on our way through Downtown Disney and toward the amazing Red Hat ladies! I was completely surprised by them the first year, and I greatly anticipate seeing them every year, and they did not disappoint! They are hands down the most amazingly enthusiastic group of spectators I have ever seen!

  

After leaving the Red Hat Ladies and Downtown Disney behind it gets pretty quiet, and I knew there was nothing but the streets of Anaheim left to see. A little after mile 6 we stopped at the medical tent so I could get a band aid. When we were back stage at Disneyland I could feel that one of my toe nails were cutting the toe next to it so I wanted to prevent any further damage. I was a bit surprised to see as much blood as there was, but I put the band aid on and thankfully my shoe went back on with no issues and we were off again. These were some of my favorite signs from the neighborhood portion of the run.



There was also this sign in the business area of the course. Don’t worry my mom taught me well and I did not take the candy from the nice strangers on the street corner, but I did take a couple of the orange slices and they were quite heavenly!



Around mile 9 I stopped at another med tent, this time for some Tylenol. My hip had held up really well, but it was giving me some itchy sensations off and on so I wanted to be a bit proactive and take it before I absolutely needed it. It was at this stop that I lost Kirsten. She kept running and told me to catch up when I was done and I somehow passed her without seeing her. #SadTrombone

But I did find a couple of people from one of my Facebook running groups at the med tent and they invited me to run with them, so I did.  Just before mile 11 I happened to check my phone and noticed I had a missed call from DisBroad Patty, silly lady. I will text, Facebook, and tweet during a race, but I draw the line at answering the phone. ;)

There happened to be a text from her as well checking where I was. I was actually just behind her and the rest of the Tink DisBroads so she told me to stay at the mile 11 sign until I see them. As we approached the mile 11 sign I said good bye to my running partners and ran toward the sign when I heard a loud cheer yelling "Summer" and there they were! DisBroads April, Patty, Amy and Tania were already at the sign waiting for me!


With just over 2 miles left to go we decided to finish the race together, using the motto #NoDisBroadLeftBehind and in this case that DisBroad was me!! As we finished the race together, spirit fingers in the air, we were diverted to one side as there was a runner down receiving medical attention and I could feel tears welling up in my eyes. Yes, I'm that girl who cries over everything! His wife later posted in one of the Facebook groups I am a member calling him the "Lost Boy who tried to go to Neverland" and reported that he ended up having open heart surgery, but is expected to make a full recovery and their goal is to get him completely rehabilitated in time to run the Wine & Dine half in November!! Again this made me tear up a bit, but I was glad to hear was going home and doing well.

As we exited the finish line area and made our way toward the medals we came across runDisney’s Bob Hitchcock and he very graciously posed for a picture with us! He was so nice and his lighting crew even offered to light up our cell phone picture for us!! It was a very brief, but wonderful experience.



Now with an absolutely amazing race behind us what is in the DisBroads future? Rumor has it we will ALL be in Disney World next month for the Princess Half marathon!! #TureStory The word epic is being thrown around, and we hope you will be there to join us!

The Inaugural Tinker Bell 10k

After getting a glimpse of the medal for the Tinker Bell 10k I decided there was no way I was going to let my friends get the medal and not have one myself so I added the race to my line up a little late, and I’m sure glad I did!

If you saw the preview picture on Instagram of my Anna costume, I ended up making a few last minute changes so that there would be no mistaking who I was suppose to be, and with flat Summer laid out I was off to bed around 11 o’clock, for an early 4:45 wake up.



I can never say that I am so not a morning person enough!! I’m really not! I purposely stay at Paradise Pier every year so that I can roll out of bed, look out my window to check the corrals, fall into my costume and slither to the start line! This year was no exception, but thankfully I had a partner in crime who had the same game plan!

I met my friend Kirsten in the lobby at about 5:30 for a 6 am start time and we headed to the corrals together. For some reason, even though we were in the same corral for the half, Kirsten’s bib was for corral D so I decided I would drop back and join her. I’m a really social runner and having someone to talk to really makes all the difference to me.

If I’m being honest I wasn’t too thrilled with corral D. The company was great, don’t get me wrong, but we had no idea what the heck was going on ahead of us! We couldn’t hear the announcers, and didn’t even hear the start of the national anthem either! I was a bit disappointed with that. We also seemed to be held in the same place for a very long time! I am use to being in the earlier corrals and moving up after each corral left, but that didn’t seem to be the case this time.

Finally, after what felt like a really long time, it was our turn to go!! Again I was feeling like dropping back to corral D wasn’t that great of an idea because we were constantly stuck behind walkers. Now I have no issues with walkers, especially since I do run/walk intervals, but it added a new challenge as most of the paths were pretty narrow and quite difficult to pass on. I ended up going even slower then I had originally anticipated, but I reminded myself that I still had the half to run the next day so it was better to take it easy anyway!

After taking a pretty long tour of the backstage area we came into the park next to It’s a Small World in all it’s holiday glory!! Since we hadn’t taken any pics up to this point we decided this would be a great one to take, plus it didn’t require standing in a line!!



The 1 mile marker was set up right as we were exiting Toon Town to head back stage again and this bottle necked really bad! There was no running through it, and even walking posed a challenge.
After entering back into the parks near Splash Mountain, and running around the boarded up Thunder Mountain we were making our way into Fantasy Land when we spotted DisBroad Patty waiting outside the bathroom for DisBroad April, who is pregnant and was visiting all the restrooms along the way. We also spotted these fun peeps and decided to stop for a pic with them!



In all my trips to Disney I am fairly certain this was actually my very first picture with Jolly Holiday Mary, or Mary Poppins at all for that matter!! So I was very glad I stopped, and really the line wasn’t all that bad! After Kirsten and I took our pics with Mary and Bert we waited for DisBroads Amy, April, and Patty to do them same! Then we were off again and quickly lost them on the course. I told you it was pretty crowded!

After making a quick circle around Tomorrow Land and heading down Main Street USA we were on our way over to California Adventure! Once we hit Cars Land I looked at Kirsten and asked her if she wanted to take pics with Mater and Lightening McQueen, and of course her answer was YES!! The line didn’t look that long, but it ended up taking longer then I had expected, and that is when it happened! We were only a couple people from our turn and we saw the 16 min/mil pacer pass us!!



In all of the runDisney races I have done I have never even seen a pacer, more less been passed by one! We quickly got our photo and decided we needed to haul buns to get ahead of that little orange flag of death! Which was a bit of a chore since there was quite a crowd around her!

Thankfully we were able to get well in front of her before leaving the parks and never saw her again!
I really felt that the 10k was harder then it should have been for me and that started making me very nervous about doing the half marathon the next day! Kirsten and I both agreed to mostly walk the last 2 miles and we finished way slower then we had planned, but we finished none the less. Even though the race hadn’t gone as I had planned I was quite pleased to add this beauty to my collection!

          

What are your thoughts on runDisney adding the 10k distance to most of their race weekends? Have you had the chance to run a runDisney 10k yet?