Julia has been in a committed relationship for the last four years. With who you ask? RunDisney, of course! Actually, both of us were inspired by the Mousetalgia podcast (when two of the hosts took up the hobby of running, with a Disney twist) to see what these running events had to offer. Neither of us were runners before, but ever since the Carsland Rally 5K way back in September 2012, the DBFF’s have frequented most of the Disneyland race weekends - the most recent Tinker Bell half marathon being no exception.
Held over Mother’s Day weekend, I was able to participate in the 2016 Pixie Dust Challenge. If you are new to RunDisney, a challenge means that an individual runner registers for both the 10K and the half marathon to be completed on back-to-back mornings (early mornings we might add). There is no monetary discount for signing up for both, but the participant gets a third medal and shirt for the effort (a little extra swag for good measure).
Each race weekend brings in a diverse crowd of athletes, but Tink is very female centered with lots of glitter and glamour to go around. The first step of each race weekend is a visit to the Health and Fitness Expo. If crowds are not your thing, you should consider going later in the day when the rush has subsided. If you fret that some of the special race merchandise will sell out there is the option to buy bundles of merchandise when you register for the race so you will be guaranteed what you want with no wait to get into the official merchandise area (which is a win win situation).
The Health and Fitness expo is a fun aspect of each race weekend. There are lots of booths and samples to keep anyone busy, but one of our favorite features are the photo ops! For this race weekend, in particular, there were four official photo opportunities.
RunDisney always has a green screen photo location that matches the theme of the weekend.
Disneyland got in on the action with a Tinker Bell Half Marathon decorated Autopia car to celebrate both the race and the reopening of the attraction in the park.
The race sponsor Pandora (jewelry, not radio) also had some magnificent wings for attendees to pose in front of. Unfortunately, the line for this was always too long to fit in with my day - obviously a huge hit. There was also a booth promoting the new Alice Through the Looking Glass movie making it look like people were themselves entering Wonderland.
With all this fun already in the bag, it was time to lace up my running shoes and hit the pavement. The 10K was a great warm-up to the half marathon. I only had a few complaints. Tinker Bell was not out for runners to take pictures with. Not sure if the weather played a part in this or not (it rained heavily preceding the start time). Also, there was an unfortunate placement of port-a-potties and water station in the same vicinity that caused a huge bottleneck and brought many runners to a sudden halt.
The half marathon also had a strange bathroom location, which, fortunately, was not on the course. Leading to the corrals it was a game of chicken between those passing through to the corrals and those eagerly waiting a vacant port-a-pot while also deftly avoiding fast opening doors. I’m happy to report the race itself went far more smoothly.
Experiencing three of the four half marathon courses at Disneyland (and yes, they are different for each race weekend), the Tink course is the one that I personally find the most boring. That is until I hit mile eight. For about a half mile leading up to this point there was a deafening roar of indistinguishable noise that hit runners in a wave of adrenaline when we found the source. The Red Hat Society was out in force to cheer and encourage each and every runner who passed. These ladies clearly know how to party! They lifted up my spirits so high I coasted to mile nine easily - which is also when I remembered I had four miles still to go and that high quickly ended.
Each time I participate in a race, I focus more on my time rather than waiting in long lines for the photo opportunities. There is nothing wrong with stopping for pictures, but these lines can get very long and cause significant damage to one’s official race time. I’m always a little bummed that I end up with no pictures of me actually participating in the event. It’s usually either bleary eyed pre-race or sweaty post-race pictures I have to commemorate the occasion. Not this time around!
With the inclusion of free (and unlimited) Photopass downloads as an Annual Passholder perk, the new partnership between RunDisney and Photopass was a welcome one. Now the DBFFs will be able to share all our race day sparkle with professional pictures. Just remember, always smile for the camera. :)
We heart RunDisney and are looking forward to September.
