I am a precision instrument of speed and aerodynamics...A Disneyland Half Marathon Trip Report!

[TakeMeThere81]

Hello friends! The fam and I are back from our wonderful trip to the Disneyland Resort in southern California! We had such an awesome time! This TR includes details of our entire 5-Day adventure which begins with the Disneyland Half Marathon Expo/Downtown Disney, the Disneyland Half Marathon and our 3-Day adventure at the parks (including Cars Land which I am totally ga-ga over)! Enjoy!!


Cast Members:

Myself: Mom, runner, nursing student, Disney Fanatic of the family
DH: Dad, mountain-climber, Coast Guard helicopter pilot, second in command at Disney
DS #2: 9-years old, family scientist, piano player
DS #3: 7-years old, lovable, huggable, Cars-fanatic!
My Mom!: coming back to Disneyland after several years!

(did you notice DS#1 is missing? Well sadly he could not make this trip for a long drawn-out reason that I will not go into!)

Preface:

This trip tops out a great family vacation that we took which included Crater Lake National Park and white-water rafting on the Rogue River!

Oh Get to the Trip Report Already!!

Saturday, Sept 1: We drove from Bakersfield, CA to Anaheim, CA, our travel trailer in tow. I have to say I am loving our little trailer culture. We fought off LA traffic before arriving in the more pristine city of Anaheim, rolling into the Anaheim Resort RV Park, just a mile from Disneyland Park! The weather was awesome and we were greeted by swaying palm trees.

We got all checked in, parked, and the travel trailer all set up and DH released me to head to the DHM Expo SOLO! Can I just say what a grand thing this was?!? We arrive in Anaheim, and not an hour into being there I get to stroll onto property by myself! Loving this vacation already

We utilized the ART (Anaheim Resort Transit) while we were there. I bought us 5-day passes before realizing that anyone participating in the DHM and their guests received free passes for the entire weekend. Bummer. I overpaid on our passes. Oh well, just something to know for next time.

Only downside to riding on the ART is that I wasn't able to get a decent picture of the resort gate sign. But that really was the only downside I can think of. It was a great service.

I can't remember what time I was officially dropped off OP. I strolled at a leisurely pace through bag check and through the esplanade which splits the entrances to DLR and CA. The new entrance to CA, while pretty much identical to DHS, looks great.

Monorail passing by

All of the monorails were given cute eyes in honor of the opening of Cars Land and I think the upcoming feature 'Planes'. Pixar is giving life to just about anything that moves these days!

The Expo was held at the Disneyland Hotel, and in order to reach the hotel you had to walk past the esplanade and through entire Downtown Disney. I did not mind this one bit.

One exciting detail is that as I crossed the border into Downtown Disney, I remembered to check my Disney Mobile Magic app!! Whenever I have checked it before I always get a message that says, "...Extended In-Park Information will be unlocked when you visit this Disney Theme Park" Well guess what? It unlocked! I'm pretty sure I let out a little Woop!

 

[TakeMeThere81]

Downtown Disney:

World of Disney: If you ever want to literally get lost in a Disney Store...

Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen: We didn't eat there, but the details were very inviting

The Lego Store: My kids spent a significant amount of time here

And finally I was there!

Hotel Details:

 

[TakeMeThere81]

In my opinion the expo was a little confusing...but then again it may have been that I was so excited!! It probably wasn't too confusing. They had closed off an entire lower level of the parking garage for where you could print waivers, pick up your bib, etc. AKA Step 1 of packet pick up.

At this point I recall that I was sweating. It was pretty hot out (90s if I remember correctly) and it was quite a hike to get there, all outdoors. But what I did notice which was super cool is that the sponsor-Dasani-had water stations set up in all levels of the expo so you could stop and get a cup of fresh, cold water several times during your visit. I took advantage!

There were a few cool photo ops set up like this Cars Land one:

So I headed into the main expo area where you could pick up your t-shirt (Step 2 of Packet Pick-Up), shop merch, get taped with K-tape, etc (Optional Step 3 of Packet Pick-Up). And who did I bump into? What a thrill!! It's Jeff Galloway himself!!

I got to sit and chat with him for a few minutes about his method and tell him how much I appreciate all he has done. Ever since I started taking on his mindset of giving yourself permission to walk, training extremely gradual, etc, I have not hurt myself. He rocks!

Crazy thing is that I posted on Facebook that I had met him and only 2 people 'liked' my post, and no one commented. I thought lots of people knew who he was!

So moving on...

Official runDisney merch:

I was super jealous of the large amount of people who were there to complete their Coast to Coast challenge. One day I hope to be one of them!

I purchased a few sweaty bands, some Clif shot blocks and Body Glide, but other than that I just kept it simple and browsed around.

SWAG shirt:

I am a religious follower of Another Mother Runner, a company comprised of a team of two moms, Sarah Bowen Shea and Dimity McDowell. Their stuff is so fun, entertaining and encouraging for "mother runners". I was excited that they would also be at the expo!

Celebrity Sighting #2 for me!

My little countdown was getting close!

 

[Californian Elitist]

Yay, another great trip report! Congratulations on your run! I can't wait to read more!

 

[TakeMeThere81]

I was having a purely awesome time just browsing, shopping and taking it all in. I was really there, and the half marathon was the next day! It just felt like it was a long time coming. I registered for the DHM along with throngs of other people way back in February! Once I had had my fill of the Expo. I headed back for the shuttles so I could meet DH and the kids and we could all go pick up Grandma from the airport!

On my way, I spotted this:

Talk about psyching you up! There was the finish line, ready to go!

And if that wasn't enough...

I saw the start in the distance! Everything was quite close to property.

A few pictures on my way out of Downtown Disney:

Fountain with House of Blues in the background

I met DH who had the kids swimming at the pool. Next we picked up my mom at the airport, reunited and headed straight for Rainforest Cafe, our dinner destination of the night. In a nutshell, the food was awesome, waitstaff super fun and the kids really loved the atmosphere. It is pretty loud in there so while it is fun at first, I would say that this dining experience has a bit of a time limit. Ours was about an hour. Seriously awesome food though. I had the tropical tortellini which was really great!!

The stage outside RFC had a swing band playing and there were tons of people swing dancing. It looked like a lot of fun! We headed for the Lego store because the kids really wanted to buy something and play.

They loved the sculptures out front

And inside:

The boys each picked out something small and we blew through the checkout and out the door because there were quite a few people there. We stopped only so the kids could build a bit before making our way out.

Unfortunate photo bomb by an unsuspecting woman in the background...

After the Lego store, we headed to our Resort. I had planned on going straight to bed, but we got the awesome surprise of fireworks going off right behind us. We grabbed our chairs and sat out on the lawn and watched the fireworks before heading to bed. We could just barely make out the soundtrack. It was pretty cool.

 

[TakeMeThere81]

So I laid out my race gear and headed to bed. As per usual I slept like crap, but before I knew it, 4am rolled around and it was time for the adventure to begin!

I headed to the shuttle bus area and was encouraged that there were already a few folks waiting there. We all chatted while we rode to the race start. I was so glad to have a shuttle so DH wouldn't have to get up early just to navigate through traffic to take me to the start.

Ok before I go on, I feel compelled to throw a few notes in here about my {lack of} half marathon training. I ran a tough half marathon in May that I trained hard for and ran hard in. I did not PR by any means thanks to a terrible side ache that began at mile 3 and followed me the entire race. But I earned my medal in the rain of Portland nonetheless.

That being said, I was on track to train for the Portland Marathon in October when-I can't remember why-my training took a halt! Summer time training was pathetic and leading up to the half marathon my longest run was a 6-miler, my best week was 3 runs that week. I am not aimed at the Portland Marathon anymore because I am starting nursing school and I knew I couldn't commit to the training. So it wasn't the best preparations. I just prayed that my overall fitness and my running earlier in the year would coast me to the finish and I could get my medal!

Another tidbit...I ran the Princess Half Marathon back in 2011 and my race pics aren't the best..they are iPhone pics and many are in low light :-/

So going back to the race start:

So as usual when it is dark o'clock and I am unfamiliar with the terrain, I followed the throngs of people to my corral, stopping only once to use the Port-a-Potties. Before I knew it I was totally turned around and felt somewhat lost. Good thing I had made it to my corral! It does make sense though because I was in corral E which put me way toward the back of the crowds of people and next to a whole other group of corrals. It felt weird.

There was an announcer like usual but you couldn't see anything until you were the corral who was getting ready to start. It would have been cool to have screens in the back as well as the front. Someone sang The Star Spangled Banner and fireworks shot off at "and the rockets red glare" etc. There weren't any fireworks with countdown at each corral start, I missed having that!

So before we knew it, it was our turn and we were off!

 

[Ariel484]

Woohoo Melanee! So excited to read this!

Sorry your son couldn't make the trip...but how fun that your mom was there. Cool that you got to meet Galloway! I don't read the other blog but I recognize Dmitry from Runner's World. Neat! Love the Lego sculptures, so creative and fun. And seriously, I JUST ordered that exact same Sweaty Band! They sent me a discount code over email. Score.

Can't wait for the rest of the report!

 

[Cosmic Commando]

I have no idea who these celebrities are, but I'm excited for your TR! Crater Lake sounds great... it's on my "list".

 

[TakeMeThere81]

Ok! Let's see what I can remember of the race! We started out pretty simply, and my goal was to go slow and easy and not wear myself out too early. We turned down Katella then back toward the backstage area of California Adventure, running right past the backside of Cars land. They had Cars music playing "Life is a Highway" and "Collision of Worlds" were familiar tunes!

As we approached the parks, I kept having an argument with myself on how I wanted to run this race...should I try to go faster and redeem my flop of a half marathon from May? It's a nice fast flat...it's a good opportunity...I wasn't sure which route I would take. I had heard there aren't many character meet n greets so I thought maybe I should run hard and avoid distractions. I could not decide.

I can't remember specifics of where the route took us first in the parks because it wound around a lot and at this point of our vacation I had yet to step foot in any park. What I do remember is running past the Little Mermaid ride on the left and they had the fountains out and the theme song from World of Color playing. I love this song, and got a tad choked up! I saw some folks stopping for pictures but it was early in the race and like I said I was having an internal struggle so I went ahead and kept going.

We continued on, I think past Pacific Wharf straight to Cars Land. This was my first view of this new land and it was astounding! I was stopped straight in my tracks by how amazing this place is! It is literally like stepping into Radiator Springs! To say I was wow-ed is an understatement. I saw some cars out so I stopped for a meet and greet

DJ

Red

The course took us to the end of Radiator Springs, past Luigi's Flying Tires to a backstage area and out I believe...I could definitely be wrong though. I'm pretty sure I past The Genie, Aladdin and Jasmine but passed them up because I have seen them before. I also want to say Hook and Smee were there but I have seen them before too. Again I could be wrong because if I didn't take a picture with a character I may not remember them. I do know that I only passed up a meet n greet if I have already gotten a picture with said character before.

So eventually we did make it into Disneyland Park, through a side entrance. I think they had some street cars out that you could pose in there. We came into the left side entrance into town square where I saw:

Tiana, Naveen and Louis were out together! I didn't stop for them during the Princess Half so I stopped. Of course my iPhone did not capture it very well...

The Princess and the Frog float from Mickey's Soundsational Parade

And {my poor quality} pic looking down Mainstreet toward the castle.

We banked left and entered the Frontierland entrance where I encountered a green army man in front of the Mark Twain Riverboat (I saw them a few times along the course)

Mile 3 then the 5K marker came as we passed by Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

Then we rounded Fantasyland and the Carousel, where Peter Pan and Wendy were riding, followed by some pirates. I expected a character meet n greet at the castle but there wasn't one!

So I continued on through the castle and took this picture from the front

Next we turned and entered Tomorrowland

As I rounded the corner I got excited. Darth Vader and Storm Troopers! Woop!! This was the longest line I saw all race, but it was worth it.

So if you haven't guessed by now, my inner self that was going for fun and character meet n greets won out

 

[TakeMeThere81]

There were also some Jedi nearby

We passed the Nemo subs and headed around the Matterhorn, so pretty in the morning light

...and who was there in front of It's a Small World? Merida! I was so excited to see her! I just love her fiery hair, and equally fiery personality! She was so cute and she and her handler spoke in Irish accents.

We passed It's a Small World for a short jaunt around Mickey's Toontown. Daisy and Clarice were waiting! I LOVE Clarice, she's in my favorite 'munks' cartoon!

Goofy's House

At this point, the course ran us through a backstage area and out of the park. I realized that I had burned a lot of time with character meet n greets so my only goal was to beat my Princess Half time (also full of meet n greets). I have two different PRs, a regular one and a runDisney one

DH had been texting me some because he and my mom and the kids wanted to be out on the street when I ran past. The course wound past or near our RV Resort 3 times which was convenient! So I texted him when I passed mile marker 4, but I don't think he could get the kids ready fast enough and he missed me.

I did see the 3:00 pacer nearby and my goal was to pass her and get a ways in front of her. I wanted to break 3 hours this race!

The race weaved in and out of the streets of Anaheim, and I swear every time we headed east, the sun was so blinding I literally could not see in front of me. I just kept my eyes way down at the street and prayed I would not run into anyone. Wear good sunglasses and a hat if you run this race!!

 

[TakeMeThere81]

I can't think of anything significant that happened between miles 5-6. This may have been where there was a cool Hispanic Cultural group with a mariachi band and dancers. I know I took some water here (and once before). In case you were wondering, the mile markers continued to look the same.

At the 7 mile marker they had a Hawaiian group there with little girls dressed in cute outfits and dancers out front.

Like others have said, there were also some school bands and lots of cheerleaders scattered throughout too.

I want to say between miles 7-8 is where they had a local classic car group out and there were awesome classic cars lining the streets for quite a while, probably a whole mile. Then we came up on the Honda Center at about mile 8

Cerritos Avenue was so pretty here, lined with palm trees

The classic cars continued, and the last one on the line was this guy's Corvette that he had designed to look like Lightning McQueen!

 

[TakeMeThere81]

There were a few places along the course, water stops in particular that would get pretty bottlenecked. People would stop and you would get stuck behind them. Then if the course narrowed even a little bit everyone would slow way down too. Just something to keep in mind if you are ever going to run this race for time. Get into corral A or B!

We ran next to an aqueduct upon our approach of the Angels stadium. At the turn, was mile 9

Running through the stadium was really cool! There were tons of Boy Scouts all along the course leading up to the stadium and inside the stadium itself.

Everyone was cheering and there was someone on a loudspeaker inside the stadium

At this point in the race, I was feeling really great still! I had gotten to the point where I was high-fiving everyone.

Then a little way down the road we hit Mile 10!

 

[TakeMeThere81]

I started to watch the time on the markers a little closer at this point because I did want to make my time goal. It got really tough to take pictures because every time I wanted to take a pic I had to take my armband off, take my phone out and take the picture that way. I think if someone invents an armband that you can easily take iPhone pics with, they'll make a million bucks!

You might also notice that these last few mile markers do not have me in them. That is basically because most people who were taking pictures of the mile markers started dropping out at this point. The ten-mile marker is usually really tough for most people. I also usually hit "the wall" here but I was feeling great!

I saw a man pushing a woman in a wheelchair around mile 10. I was so inspired!

I got another text from DH and I had another opportunity to pass them. So I texted him with each turn and marker and I did end up seeing him! Just after mile marker 11

I did not get a picture of them, but I guess he took video of me and I know my mom took a picture. I am too lazy to try to retrieve everyone's pictures for my TR though. Just know that I saw them and it was really fun!! My kids always want a hug and they will run next to me for a few feet. It always chokes me up

Just after I saw them we banked under the interstate and things started to look familiar, which meant we were getting close to park property again!

We doubled back over the backside of CA and Cars Land again right around the Mile 12 marker

It was at this point that I started feeling it and I really had to kick in my mental toughness. One-point-one left!! There was a surprising lack of entertainment right between miles 12-13. We need some distractions here!

I headed straight for the finish line, but stopped very briefly to catch the last mile marker. I was beat. I didn't even wait for people to get out of the picture. I just took it for evidence that I passed it! LOL

Oh glorious sight! THE FINISH!!

And my character friends there to cheer me on!

 

[TakeMeThere81]

I made it! My medal was in sight! I finished my 4th half marathon!! And I finished in 2:55, so under my goal! Yay! ...only I just checked it (just now) and I was way wrong!! That was the clock time! I actually finished in 2:38:24! Wow that is a huge difference!! It's funny how I forget to check my chip time sometimes...

Anyway, I finished! I was beat.

I was given my medal then ushered past the refreshment tent where I grabbed a water and a box of stuff. The boxes are becoming more common at the end of these races. This one was ok...not great really. At that point I did not really care though! I also stopped off briefly at the med tent to slather Biofreeze on my IT Bands. I figured it was a good idea.

There were photo ops, but the lines were crazy long. I just didn't have any desire to stay any longer than I had to. My legs were giving out.

So on that note I walked all the way through Downtown Disney, past the esplanade to my shuttle bus stop. Funny how this walk was super fun the day before... LOL

My LunarGlides...this was their last race. I bought them back in February and have milked them for all I could. Thank you girls for getting me across another finish line!

And my sweaty band, my favorite accessory of my outfit. (and it didn't slip at all!)

I

guess I didn't mention my outfit. I didn't go too nuts on theming this race, I just didn't have time. But I consider this my "Aurora" race since I was all pinked out.

Here's a few pics of the books and such

In a nutshell, we hit the pool, I took a 1 1/2 hour nap, showered up and we went back to Downtown Disney in the evening. The kids played at the Lego store and we got ice cream at Haggen Daas, but we didn't stay very long because there were a lot of crowds. We hit the rack around 9pm.

 

[Californian Elitist]

That medal is so beautiful. Congratulations on your run! I can tell it was bright and beaming that day, but you made it. Yay! Great photo ops too!

 

[Cosmic Commando]

So if you haven't guessed by now, my inner self that was going for fun and character meet n greets won out

Just before I read this I thought, "That sure is a lot of characters for someone who wasn't sure she wanted to stop!"

Congratulations!

 

[Ariel484]

Way to go Melanee!

Fabulous race report...and great character meets! Love the pics with Darth Vadar/Storm Troopers, Merida and CLARICE! How cute is she??

I totally know what you mean about having a Disney PR and a non-Disney PR...LOL! I'm glad you decided to run this race for fun.

Congrats on getting that beautiful medal! I so want that one some day. I'm always so surprised at how huge the Disney medals are! And I love the sort-of retro vibe the DL half has on the bibs, shirt and medal with the old-school D. Very cool.

Looking forward to the rest of your report!

 

[wiigirl]

Love your pics!

 

[TakeMeThere81]

Yay, another great trip report! Congratulations on your run! I can't wait to read more!

Thanks!! It was something I think everyone should accomplish at least once!

Way to go Melanee!
Fabulous race report...and great character meets! Love the pics with Darth Vadar/Storm Troopers, Merida and CLARICE! How cute is she??


I totally know what you mean about having a Disney PR and a non-Disney PR...LOL! I'm glad you decided to run this race for fun.

Congrats on getting that beautiful medal! I so want that one some day. I'm always so surprised at how huge the Disney medals are! And I love the sort-of retro vibe the DL half has on the bibs, shirt and medal with the old-school D. Very cool.

Looking forward to the rest of your report!

Thanks Shannon! I was so excited to meet Clarice! I didn't even know she existed in the parks! She is just my favorite! The medal is awesome! It's my favorite of my collection now. I agree, the retro designs were the best! Do you have any Disney (or non-Disney) races coming up? Did you and Princess Craig decide to go Goofy??

Woohoo Melanee! So excited to read this!

Sorry your son couldn't make the trip...but how fun that your mom was there. Cool that you got to meet Galloway! I don't read the other blog but I recognize Dmitry from Runner's World. Neat! Love the Lego sculptures, so creative and fun. And seriously, I JUST ordered that exact same Sweaty Band! They sent me a discount code over email. Score.

Can't wait for the rest of the report!

I am a new owner of Sweaty Bands but a quick fan! I also ordered and Oregon Ducks colored one. I figure each expo I will buy one or two and have a little collection. They are so cute!

I have no idea who these celebrities are, but I'm excited for your TR! Crater Lake sounds great... it's on my "list".

LOL-apparently you are not the only one who didn't know who I was talking about! ;-) And Crater Lake is amazing, you should definitely visit on a trip up north.

That medal is so beautiful. Congratulations on your run! I can tell it was bright and beaming that day, but you made it. Yay! Great photo ops too!

Thank you! As I said, it is my favorite medal! As you will see in my upcoming post from our first day in the parks, I wore it because it was so beautiful! It is no joke of a medal though, it's HEAVY. So I didn't wear it the entire day. But I am very proud of it!

Just before I read this I thought, "That sure is a lot of characters for someone who wasn't sure she wanted to stop!"

Congratulations!

HAHA, yep, you guessed it! I am a runner, I run a few times a week usually and I like to run 5Ks, 10Ks or whatever is going on and I usually run them to compete and see how well I can do. I try to run one hard half marathon a year too. But when I get to a runDisney race, it is all about fun, and rekindling my love of running. That I have decided for sure now!

Love your pics!

Thanks! My iPhone ones didn't turn out awesome but I don't have the app with the flash or anything. But they are still a treasure to me!

 

[Ariel484]

I am a new owner of Sweaty Bands but a quick fan! I also ordered and Oregon Ducks colored one. I figure each expo I will buy one or two and have a little collection. They are so cute!

Yeah, they're great. I LOVE mine...they are pricey for sure, but they work just as advertised - they never budge!

...Do you have any Disney (or non-Disney) races coming up? Did you and Princess Craig decide to go Goofy??

I'm pretty sure I'm going to do my town's 5K in October, and then yeah, Goofy in January with Princess C. I also signed up for the WDW 5K, because...why not? Plus, from the training picture they posted on Facebook it looks like the finisher medallion for the 5K will have all the classics on it (Mickey + Minnie, Donald + Daisy, Pluto and Goofy)...so I can't pass that up. When's your next race? How's school going? Princess C (also a nurse, I think I told you) is taking some classes in addition to working full-time, plus another part-time job so I'm concerned that he won't be great with training...but he'll probably still whoop my butt just like last year. He's excited for Goofy though, and so am I!