5 for Friday / Princess Half Marathon Edition

1.  The 2013 Disney Princess Half Marathon weekend in upon us!  Good times ahead.  This will be my fourth weekend at Disney for the race.  I am not running this year, but I will be cheering everyone on.

2.  Check out my recaps from 2011 & 2012.  Both years I had a blast!  My pictures are terrible from last year though, so blurry.  It's because I uploaded them from my iPad via some crappy blogger app.  I need to re-upload (is that word?) those.

3. Best tips for a Disney race:  Don't be late, there will be a lot of people / HAVE FUN!

4.  Let's all hope that 30% chance of rain for Sunday morning passes right by Disney World.  I don't want to spectate in the rain and you don't want to run in the rain :)  I happily admit I am a baby about the rain.

5.  Good luck to all you Princesses out there!  Especially Annette, Martha, Sue, Daniella & Kelly!

2012 Tower of Terror 10 Miler

I decided to do a quick recap of the runDisney Tower of Terror 10 miler I participated in back in September.  I do realize this was 4 months ago, but I like having these recaps to look back on. :)

So here we go.
The inaugural runDisney Tower of Terror 10 Miler was held on September 29th.  It is a night time, Disney villian themed run that takes place at Disney's Hollywood Studios.
Annette & Brian were also running.

Packet pick up was at the expo held at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.  All easy to navigate and very organized.
I bought an orange sparkly headband from Sparkly Soul.  It was my first headband from this company and I really loved it.  Loved that the sparkles were around the whole band.  I wore it for the first time during the 10 Miler and it stayed in place perfectly!

The race started at 10pm and unfortunately the weather that night was so hot and humid.  That is pretty much what I remember from the night, just sweating my a** off!

The course was decent.  The out and back on Osceola Parkway was a little boring.  It gives me appreciation for the Wine & Dine half marathon where the out and back on Osceola is broken up by the run through the Animal Kingdom.  There are rolling "hills" here, so my Florida-flat running legs were kind of tired by the time I got to the ESPN complex.
Several Disney "scary" characters dotted the course and the mile marker signs look dark and ominous.
I enjoyed running through the ESPN Wide World of Sports.  It was something different for me and I liked it a lot.  I also liked running through Champion Stadium.  While it was not as exciting as running through Angel Stadium at the Disneyland half, I still thought it was great.
There were some complaints that the road leading into the ESPN complex was too narrow.  It was narrow, no denying that, but you were on a dirt trail surrounded by trees and I thought it was appropriate theming for the race.

The finish line was next to the Tower of Terror attraction at Hollywood Studios.
Once crossing the finish line, you received your medal and then had to continue walking out to Sunset Boulevard.

I heard a lot of complaining around me about the (very) small hill we had to walk up in order to reach Sunset Boulevard.  I thought the short walk from the finish line to Sunset Boulevard was necessary in order to spread out the thousands of people crossing the finish line.  It was very organized.
runDisney had suggested that you make plans to meet up with your family over in the "hub" of the park, where the Scorer's Hat is, but per usual people do not listen and many were crowded into the area where the runners exit the finish chute.

Bag check was located across the park at the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular venue.
This was a very smart move on Disney's part.  Sure you had to walk 10 minutes to get your bag, but it really helped the crowding.  People were, of course, complaining about the walk to get your bags and then they had to walk down a few stairs (can you imagine?!) to actually collect their bag.
I feel like if you have just run 10 miles you are more than capable of walking 10 additional minutes and down a couple of stairs.  I have no doubt people were sore after the 10 miler, but the set up for the After Party was great because it really alleviated an overcrowding clusterf*ck.
While I love the runDisney events so much, I am getting tired of people complaining over stupid things.  You see it everywhere - Facebook, Twitter, hear it in person.  I realize Disney is a company that epitomizes guest service, but sometimes people need to do things for themselves... like walk 10 minutes to get their bag!  That's my venting for the day :)

I love the night time races.  I am pretty sure I have mentioned this before :)
The park was open until 4am and we were able to go on a few rides.  Plus the Disney Villians were spread around the park for photo opportunities.

runDisney TV on YouTube.  Have you checked out the runDisney video recaps of their events?
You totally should, they do a great job putting them together.  They are a great way to share your runDisney experience with friends & family!
Here is their recap of the 10 Miler:

The Tower of Terror 10 Miler is definitely a runDisney race worth checking out!

All registered for Expedition Everest!

Team 'All About the Medal' is all signed up for our 4th go round at Disney's Expedition Everest Challenge!

It takes place on Saturday May 4th - can't wait!

In the Women's Team category we came in 49th in 2010, 15th in 2011 and 11th in 2012.

We want to finish in the top 3 this year!  It's going to be a 5K kind of spring - working on the speed :)

On a sad runDisney note, neither I, nor my friends (there were 5 of us), were able to register in time for the Dumbo Double Dare at Disneyland this fall :(

BUT the silver lining is that we are now going to try for the San Francisco Nike Women's Half.  We are going to put together a group once the registration process starts.  Let me know if you would be interested in joining!

Have you ever taken part in a scavenger hunt type of race?

Volunteering & Spectating at the 2013 Disney World Marathon

Volunteering
Volunteering with Disney's Sports Enthusiast program is always a good time.  They are so organized and treat their volunteers great.  While I have only volunteered for runDisney events, the Sports Enthusiasts participate in almost all the events that come to the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.  If I lived in Orlando I would totally volunteer with them more.

On Sunday I volunteered for 2013 Disney World Marathon.
When you volunteer for one of the runDisney half marathons or the marathon, you are required to pick up an event credential prior to your shift.  Pick up can be done either at the Health & Fitness Expo, or at an offsite location the week prior to the event.
I picked up my credential at the Expo on Saturday afternoon.

I was scheduled for 1:30am to 7:30am on Sunday morning.
They ask that volunteers arrive to Downtown Disney (where the volunteer parking and check in tent is located) 20-30 minutes before your shift starts.  At this time they scan your credential to check you in, you receive your volunteer jacket, you are handed a snack bag and then off you go to the buses to your volunteer location.

I was working the Refreshment Tent, which is where all the runners would filter through after they finished to collect their snack box, bananas, candy, etc. 
We stacked a lot of bananas and snack boxes.

 In case you are wondering, those boxes are stacked 8 across, 9 tall and 6 deep :)
Our team was done with the set up by 4:30am.  We were able to check out with our Team Lead and then we could go watch the start.  We were not able to go home at that point because the road the buses used to get from the Epcot start line area back to Downtown Disney were closed.
The road the buses travel on is actually the road the runners use to walk out to the start corrals.

This was fine by me, I knew I was going to stay after my shift was over to watch some of the race.

Spectating
By 4:30am, the pre race area of the marathon was pretty crowded.  I did a quick scan of the area for a couple of ladies whose blogs I read in the hopes of meeting them in person, but was not able to find them (insert sad face).

I then headed out to the start line viewing area to watch the start.
How cute is this Mickey start line banner?

The race started right on time with the wheelchair competitiors at 5:30am.  They were followed by the first corral of runners at 5:35am.  After that, every 7 minutes another corral was released onto the course for a total of 8 corrals!  It took one hour for the race start to be completed.  There were thousands of runners in each wave.  It was really cool to watch.
The crowd support right beyond the start line was kind of dull.  I had my cow bell out and was ringing it as every runner went by.  So if you heard a cowbell after the start line, it was me :)
I definitely annoyed the old couple next to me, but I really could not have cared less.  These runners were setting out to tackle 26.2 miles, some support is necessary. 

Once the start was completed I wandered around the, now quiet, start area.  I bought a cute runDisney pin which I will put on the "wall" of my cube at work.  It was also at this time the DJ announced the leaders were at mile 18.  I headed over to the bleachers in the finish line area to wait for the winners. 

Goofy, Minnie, Donald & Mickey waiting for the winner

The race announcers and Mickey, Minnie, Donald & Goofy kept us entertainment for the hour or so until the two lead runners made their way to the finish line.

Can you see the winner in the middle of the path?

The winner was Adriano Bastos from Brazil.  He previously won the WDW Marathon 6 straight times from 2005 - 2010.  The second place finisher was Fredison Costa of Brazil who had won the last two WDW Marathons.  Between these two, they have won half of the WDW Marathons that have taken place - amazing!  They are actually training partners as well.  Once they had both crossed the finish line (16 seconds apart), they came back out onto the course to enjoy their moment.

Good Sportsmanship!

The men finished in 2:21:and change, while the winning woman was Renee High, who also won in 2012, who finished in 2:48.
I sat in the bleachers until the clock read 3:30.  It was fun to see the finishers trickle in.
I saw 3 Clif Bar Pace Team Leaders finish right on time - awesome!  The 3:05 and 3:15 leaders didn't have any runners with them, but the 3:25 leader did.  Great job pace team!
Once I knew Epcot was open, I went in the park to cheer on some more runners.
If you are ever in need of inspiration, go watch the last mile of a marathon.  People are in pain, they are hot, they are sweaty, but they are gettin' it done!

I don't know who these people are...

but they are awesome!

Marathon Sunday is also a great time to go on the rides at Epcot, FYI.  I went on Spaceship Earth, Soarin' and Test Track all within an hour and 45 minutes - awesome!

I then headed out to the UK pavillion in World Showcase to get some fish & chips for lunch (they are delicious here).  While I was waiting in line, who do I see getting a beer from some spectators?  Joey Fatone from NSync!  Omg.  I love me some NSync!
So of course I did what my younger self would expect me to do and I got out my cowbell and shouted, "Way to go Joey from NSync".  He looked over, raised his beer cup at me and gave a "Wooo".
Awesome.  I love celebrities.  I love boy bands.
Since Joey & I are now cool, this obviously means I am practically BFFs with JT :)

After lunch, I headed back out to the volunteer area to catch a bus to Downtown Disney.
When you volunteer for a runDisney half marathon or the marathon, you receive a one day park pass.  Since I have a season pass I always forget about this (obviously it is not the reason I volunteer at 1am in the morning), but it is definitely a nice perk of volunteering.  My parents will be using it when they are here in a couple of weeks!

Congratulations to all the 2013 Walt Disney World Marathoners!!

Some fun facts about the 2013 WDW Marathon:
* 20th Anniversary Year Event
* Half Marathon Race: 27,000 participants
* Marathon Race: 26, 000 participants
* Goofy Participants: 10,000
* Family Fun Run 5K Race: 10,000 participants
* runDisney Kids¡¦ Races: 3,000 participants in three days
* runDisney Mickey Mile Race: 3,000 participants in three days
* Approximately 7,000 Volunteers are a part of the Marathon Weekend
* Approximately 800 Medical Volunteer are part of the Marathon Weekend

2013 Walt Disney World Marathon

The 20th anniversary of the Walt Disney World Marathon is coming up on Sunday!
Will you be there?

I will be volunteering Sunday morning at the pre-race water table.
Please stop by and say "hi"!
Not gonna lie, I am glad to not be running this year, BUT I am SO excited for all those that are.
It will be the most fun you will have completing 26.2 miles.  Enjoy your day, you've worked hard for it so just have fun!
Good luck to all!

runDisney races & medals are seach terms that bring many people to my blog, so if you are looking for information on runDisney weekends... here you go:

2011 Princess Half Marathon Weekend
2011 ESPN The Weekend 5K
2011 Expedition Everest Challenge
2011 Disneyland Half Marathon Expo & Pasta in the Park
2011 Disneyland Half Marathon Recap
2011 runDisney Wine & Dine Meet Up & Eat Up
2011 Wine & Dine Half Marathon Recap
2012 Disney Marathon Weekend Expo & Pasta in the Park
Volunteering for the 2012 Walt Disney World Half Marathon
2012 Walt Disney World Marathon Recap
My Year Running Disney
2012 Princess Half Marathon
2012 Expedition Everest Challenge
2012 Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend

Race bling here!

How does runDisney do it!?

So there I was sitting in the Antigua airport yesterday (how random.. Antigua?  it was a work trip) and before boarding the plane I decided to waste some time looking on Facebook.
What do I see?
This video...

After running Disneyland in both 2011 & 2012, I figured I was good (for now) with that race.
Oh my hell... I need to go back.
An Alice in Wonderland themed 10k & the Dumbo Double Dare if you do both the 10K and the half.

runDisney makes all their races sound so amazing...  What is a girl to do?!?!
#firstworldproblems

Catching Up!

Ok, so where were we?
Right!  Disneyland half marathon weekend.
Two weeks after returning from California, I headed up to Orlando to run the Miracle Miles 15K

Very inspirational race.  You are running to raise money for the tiny babies at the Winnie Palmer Children's Hospital NICU.  Since the race was three months ago, the one thing that still stands out to me was a sign that said something like "The tiny babies Thank You".  I saw it at a point in the race when I really wanted to walk.  But damn those tiny babies... they have it worse off than I, so I kept running ;)

The following weekend was the runDisney Tower of Terror 10 Miler.

80 degrees with 80% humidity at the 10pm start time.  Whoa.
I am usually a very sweaty person, but this night topped it all.  Absolutely soaked from head to toe once I was done.
Loved this course (the stretch on Osceola Parkway was a little boring, but other than that it was great).  Loved the after party.  Would totally recommend it to anyone.

The next week I went to Texas for a conference.
Before leaving on Saturday I was able to explore the Alamo

and the Riverwalk in San Antonio.

I was glad to see these places since I had never been, but I definitely don't plan on spending lots of time in Texas throughout my life.  No offense Texas.

The day after I returned from Texas I got to hang out with my good friend Matt, whom I had met in Alaska.  He is a fancy diplomat now.  Well he is stationed in Haiti, so I am not sure that part is fancy.
Anyways, he was in Miami for the weekend to go to the movies and stock up on stuff at Costco.  We only got to hang out for about an hour, but I am glad I saw him!

A few days later someone became a big sister!

So of course I headed to Maine to meet my new niece Molly!  Cutest, most kissable cheeks ever!

After being back in Miami for two whole days, I headed across the pond for a seminar at sea onboard one of our ships.
We got to visit Italy

Astrological Clock in Sicily

and Greece

Temple of Zeus with the Acropolis in the back ground - Athens

The original Olympic Stadium!

LOVED Mykonos!

Santorini

and Turkey

ruins of Ephesus

We did work onboard... proof:

Great trip!  I love Europe!

Four days after my return from Europe, I headed back to WDW for the third running of the Wine & Dine half marathon.

Yup, this one and Disneyland are my two favorite runDisney events.  Oh, and probably Expedition Everest too :)
LOVE the Wine & Dine half.  It honestly gets better every year!

The next weekend I was able to visit with my friends Danielle & Bill when they passed through Miami before heading out on a cruise. They are always so much fun to visit with!

For Thanksgiving, I went to Annette's in Tampa and joined her family for turkey day in Orlando.
Thursday night Annette, Brian & I braved the Black Friday sales.
Oh my hell.  Toys R Us was my worst nightmare.
Target was awesome... Toys R Us not so much.
I told Toys R Us they should go check out how Target was running their operation and copy them.
Yeah, I am thinking Black Friday shopping is not for me.

All of last week I was onboard my company's newest ship as we had 2 two-night inaugural sailings for travel partners & media.  That was followed by a 3 night sailing for our sales meeting.
90% Exhausting.  10% Fun.

I am home this week cramming all my Christmas cheer into 5 days (cookies, gift wrapping & christmas cards) before I get on another ship on Saturday for one more seminar at sea.
Whew.

I am really excited to relax in Maine for the holidays!

2012 Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend

Another great year at the Disneyland Half Marathon was had by all!
You can read about last year here and here.

There were 8 of us total... Annie & Martha were coming from Alaska,  Jamie & Amanda were coming from San Francisco/Bay Area, Leah & Sue were coming from NY, and Annette & I were coming from Florida!  We all arrived into Orange County or LAX on Saturday morning.
We met up at our hotel (Hilton Anaheim), had lunch and then cabbed it over to the Expo for packet pick-up.  Like last year, everything was organized and we were in and out in no time.

the graphics for the shirts are always cute!  just wish they had ladies sizing

 After dropping all of our race bags, bibs, etc. back at the hotel, we took the shuttle over to Disneyland Park.
We had all purchased Pasta in the Park tickets, which included Twilight park tickets, allowing us to enter the park at 4pm.
After hitting up a few rides, we headed over to Big Thunder Ranch for the pasta dinner.  The food was what I expected (two types of pasta, chicken, salad, rolls and dessert), but overall the group was not that impressed.  I think eating there is better than eating at one of the fast food restaurants in the park, but I would love to hear where others had a pasta-type dinner before the race either in or around Disneyland.  Please do tell :)

Last year Big Thunder Ranch was decorated for the race with a "Good Luck Runners" sign, the characters were dressed in their track suits, picture back drops were race themed... all little things that got you pumped up for the race. You can see all this in the pics from last year (link above).
This year the characters were dressed in western outfits since the rest of the place was a country western theme (hence the location name - Big Thunder Ranch).  Eh.

When comparing this year to last, Pasta in the Park was a let down.  Not only because of the non-race theme, but also because it was the same amount of money and we did not receive the two Fast Pass tickets that were included last year.  When trying to zip through parks on a 2 day visit every minute counts :)

We still enjoyed the characters though and got pictures with them all...

Chip & Dale

Donald & Daisy

Goofy & Pluto

Ladies only!

Mickey & Minnie

One thing that was not a let down... race day!
The Disneyland half marathon course is definitely one of, if not, my favorite runDisney course.
Loved it last year, loved it this year.

Start corrals were not as congested as last year and there was definitely better signage.  This year I got to start in Corral B, so the first 3.5 miles were not as congested as last year.
I LOVED running through the new Cars Land!  So exciting to see something for the first time.  I loved the little changes on the course through Disneyland Park and the time flew by.  I couldn't believe it when we were exiting the park onto the streets of Anaheim.  During mile 7 there was a whole street of classic cars which was just so amazing.  What a great idea!  I saw a white convertible that looked like "Grease Lightning" - loved it!
All the entertainment was great, running through Angel Stadium is the best, I love that it is a flat course.  Just all around a really fun 13.1 miles.  Coming from hot and humid South Florida, the weather on Sunday was a dream.  While the sun did feel a little hot towards the end, the lack of humidity made this girl very happy.

This was probably my best half marathon effort in a year (since last year's DLHalf) and it felt really good!  The last couple of miles were painful, but it felt like a good pain and not just pain :)

After crossing the finish line, I got my Disneyland medal, a cold towel (best finish line perk ever!), and then got in line for my Coast to Coast medal.  Leah & Sue crossed the finish line right after me, so we waited in line for the medals together.

We got water, snacks and our check bags and then headed out to the parking lot where Amanda, Annette and Martha were waiting for us.  We sat around and waited for Jamie & Annie to finish.
Martha & Annie both got PRs - woohoo!
Well done runDisney!!

Lots of bling!

WDW marathon & DL half marathon - love it!

The rest of the day was spent relaxing at the hotel, laying by the pool and then heading over to California Adventure with our Twilight tickets.  After the early morning start, it was a nice and relaxing rest of the day.
We got to go on Soarin', California Screamin' and the TowMater ride & Radiator Springs Racers rides in Cars Land.  Cars Land was truly right out of the movie and the rides are always so fun :)

a snag it of the Photo Pass pic I bought - love it!

 Amanda, Annie, Martha & I went over to the new Carthay Lounge for drinks and apps to share.  It was so good and I am glad we got to try out the new place!
We ended our night at DCA at the World of Color show.  I am definitely more of a ride person than a show person, but this show was so good!

Following the park, some of us headed to Downtown Disney for some more drinks to celebrate the night!  If you haven't heard me say this before, I love that you can walk everywhere in Disneyland.  Amazing.

Monday everyone started to leave :(
People were dropping like flies all throughout the day...Some of us had brunch, then some of us went shopping, then two of us laid by the pool, while two went to the parks.  Finally it was Leah, Sue & myself.  We met up at Napa Rose at the Grand Californian Hotel for dinner before I had to get my shuttle to LAX.  Again, another delicious experience!

I was sad when the weekend was over.  We all had such a great time with some great memories!  Can't wait to get together with these girls again!

Coast to Coast 2012 is complete!

Disney's Expedition Everest Challenge 2012

Saturday was the '5th Adventure' of Disney's Expedition Everest Challenge.  Annette & I teamed up once again as "All About the Medal".  Last year we finished 15th for the All Female teams, so naturally this year we wanted to do better.  Top 10 was our goal.
So how did we do...

 We came in 11th!
 We finished the course (which is a 5K with obstacles and then a scavenger hunt) in 50:21.
The winning team finished in 42:08.  There were 701 All Female teams.
We were super happy with our time and we even finished five minutes faster than last year!
I really want to place next year :)

As always, it was a great event.
It started off with pack pick-up at ESPN's Wide World of Sports on Saturday morning.  There is no expo, just packet pick-up and course talks.  It is cute though, since they set it up like base camp.

The race itself started at 9:30pm at the Animal Kingdom in the Butterfly parking lot.  You can do Expedition Everest as part of a 2-person team or as an individual.
There are 8 wave starts, 6 minutes apart.

 

Unfortunately the waves are not time based.  They never have been, but in my old age this just bothers me more :)

The individuals start out first, then the All Male teams, then the Co-Ed teams, then the All Female teams.  While this makes sense as men are naturally faster runners than women, there are just soooo many walkers at this event, I really, really hope runDisney changes this next year.  All we did was dodge people the entire time.  I understand walkers are welcomed at this event, it would just be so much better to separate the runners from the walkers.

The start was fantastic this year!  They did things a little differently from the previous two years  Instead of having everyone wait in corrals for up to an hour before their wave was to start, they just had everyone relax in the parking lot and they would call up the next wave to the starting line and then the wave after would be "on deck" at the back of the start line chute.  

With only 5,100 participates, Expedition Everest is one of the smaller runDisney events, so this worked out perfectly.  Since we were last, we went over to the 5K finish line (also in the Butterfly Lot) to watch the runners finish from the earlier waves.  

The race started about 5 minutes late, so we were off and running at just about 10:20pm.

The first mile is entirely in the Animal Kingdom parking lot.  During this mile you get to the first obstacle - jumping over bails of hay.  Once past that, you enter into the park, run through Discovery Island, through Africa and then take a left into a backstage area, along the Wildlife Express Train route.  Here in mile 2 is the next obstacle - running through the tires.  

Making our way back into the park, we run through Discovery Island again (on the other side of the Tree of Life) and then out of the park through another backstage area. Once back in the parking lot there is the third, and last, obstacle - rope crawl.

Teammates are suppose to cross the 5K timing mats together in order to continue onto the scavenger hunt portion.  Due to my slow running we finished about 30 seconds slower than last year.  32:04.  This is what needs to be improved upon for next year!  And yes, I am directing this at myself :)

Once we were done with the 5K, the volunteers hand us a clue card, marker, and mini flashlight/whistle combo.

Can I please tell you the whistle was AWESOME for getting through the walking crowds.  I have no doubt it was annoying to some, but we freakin' loved those things!

That clue cards told us which "Land" to go to and which volunteer to look for.  In each Animal Kingdom "Land" there are 5 volunteers each with different signs.

For example, our first clue said "Oasis" for the Land and the sign we needed to look for was Mirage. 

All runners go to the different Lands in the same order (Oasis, Camp Minnie-Mickey, Africa and Asia), but there are five different versions of clues.  Hence the five different signs.

On your way to each location you need to figure out the clue card.  Once at the correct volunteer, you need to tell them your answer and if you are correct they will give you the next card.  Overall, the clues are pretty manageable, but if you are having a hard time, the volunteers will give you hints.

Once you have been to all 4 Lands, the answer to the fifth and final clue is your "password" to cross the finish line and enter the post race party.  The "password" is a word made up of letters from the 4 previous clues.  Solve that, tell your password to the volunteers and cross the finish line!

The scavenger hunt was where we made up time this year and we finished that portion in 18:18.

After crossing the finish line we got our awesome medals...

 Then we headed over to Dinoland USA to collect our checked bags and grab a beer.

Unfortunately the line for bag check was kind of long, so we decided to go back later.  Luckily our friend Dave was there so we could bum money off of him for the beers.  We had to adequately hydrate after :)

We waited for Annette's husband, Brian, and Dave's girlfriend, Wendy, to finish.  They were a team this year and they were called "Where's Dave?".  I thought that was pretty funny :)

We got in a few rides - Everest (obviously!), Dinosaur and Primeval Whirl, which I have declared myself officially too old to ever ride that thing again... Can't handle the jerkiness, ugh.

I really love the night time runDisney events with the post race parties.  Even though you could tell it was more crowded this year, it was still fun and we will definitely be back next year!