Once again we had to get up super early, the race started at 5:30 and they wanted us in our corrals by 4:45, good thing we only had a short walk over, so Frank and I took our time getting up and out the door, we were old pros since we had done the same routine the day before.  We both got our race gear on, Frank was running the half also, and we were out the door.  It was dark and pretty warm 74 degrees, at 5am, hopefully it wouldn’t get as hot as it did on Saturday.  We wandered over towards the start, took a couple of photos and headed into our corrals, I was in Corral C and Frank was in corral E.  I met some super nice people in my corral, the thing about runners is that almost everyone I meet is nice and friendly and will talk to you all about running.  The two people I met, were also running the Disney Wine and Dine in November, so maybe I’ll see them there.

Disneyland 1/2 course

Frank and I getting ready to RUN!!!

Still dark, lots and lots of people waiting to run.

The race started on time, took about 12-15min from the start before my corral started and then we were off, I love the race atmosphere and this race didn’t disappoint, there were lots and lots of people cheering us on at the start and for the first few miles, just after mile 1 we were headed into the parks, we ran backstage for a bit and just before mile 2 we were in Disney California Adventures, it was still dark out and everything was lit up, it was so so pretty.  We ran past the water and the Ferris wheel which were both lit so pretty, then into my favorite area, Cars Land.  I stopped for a few pictures and loved all the neon and how it looked at night.

The first few stops in the park

Cars Land!

After California Adventures we headed into Disneyland for a couple miles, then into the streets of Anaheim, the sun was coming up and it was getting warmer and way more humid.  I ran on, there were several marching bands and pep bands along the way along with lots of cheerleaders, it so awesome to see all of their smiling faces.

A few more stops for pictures

Around mile 7 came the classic cars, it was so so cool, there were so so many I should have taken more pictures, I did see one 1969 GTO and got a quick pic and thanked the guy for being out there.

Lots of classic cars, and the 69 GTO

running past all the cars, wish I could have stopped to check them all out.

Shortly after all the cars we headed into Angles stadium, it was hot I was beat but I kept running on.  I did do a bit of walk running, my training for this sucked and I just wanted to finish feeling good.

outside of the stadium

In the stadium, so much fun!

The stadium was awesome, I took a couple of pics as we entered and then I looked to the stands, it was full of 100’s and 100’s of Girl Scouts, all wearing their uniforms and cheering us on, it was so so cool and inspiring.

After the stadium there was only about a 5K left to run, I was beat and tired, but I pushed on doing a little more run/walking… once again I saw Jeff Galloway, he was also run/walking the race at this point, I saw and passed him around mile 11, I was in the home stretch, just a little more to go.  Really wish there had been more crowds the last couple of miles, would have helped me run a bit stronger, the last stretch of the race was great, knowing the finish line was near made me run with all I had, I can’t believe I finished my very first race at Disneyland and couldn’t wait to see everyone after.

YES, I finished!

This was not my fastest or my slowest race, but I have to say it was a magical one with so many great memories.

2 of my medals

Met most of these folks on Friday, saw most of them during the race too!

All three of my medals, 10K, 1/2 and Dumbo

I really enjoyed the Run Disney experience, one of the best parts was going to the parks after the race and seeing everyone wearing their medals around the park.  So many people congratulated us or asked what the medal was for, such a cool experience, I can’t wait for Wine & Dine in Orlando.

All 3 up close

We had some breakfast at Mimi’s again after the race then hit the parks all day.  I took a million pics in the parks and spent as much time as possible in Cars Land.  Maybe I’ll post about that later, next race is just a couple weeks away!