Disney's Princess Half Marathon Weekend

TDGMedley

Active Member
You can do either. The bottom of the kids bib is a tear off "Child Claim Check", so if you aren't running with them in hand, make sure to take that off so you can collect them from the finish area. In Jan my DW had one hand and I had the other so all 3 of us were on course at once. I'd say it really depends on your child. How well they do in crowds, how likely they are to get sidetracked by the character on course (usually have at least one as "motivation") etc.


Thank you, I will probably run with my daughter. She can walk but has trouble, she is very bow legged and her feet turn on her. She will need picked up, im sure. Hope its gets better for her. We go for another check up next week. But my son is the one i thought might want to run alone. Thats good they to that with the bibs. I know its Disney just didnt know how safe it would be not right beside them.
 

LAKid53

Official Member of the Girly Girl Fan Club
Premium Member
Wife and I took a slow pace on the 10k, but not walking. Finished right at an hour and ten.

Wife decided to stop for every character at the half, I did not like that idea so we went our separate ways for day 2.

A lot of things went wrong for me Sunday :) but I was still very proud of this one.

First off I left my running watch at home, thought I had it and when I woke up Sunday I could not find it. That always costs me at least two or three minutes, because I have yet to figure out how to keep a steady 9:00 pace without constantly looking at my watch. I cannot tell you how much this drives me crazy.

Second I underestimated how cold I would be once we got to the race, and overestimated the time it would take for us to get there lol. We were there so early because the bus lines at our hotel were so long for the 10K that we decided to leave earlier for the Half, mistake. I froze my butt off, and then they delayed the race so people could get there.

Then the race started.

Hurt my foot at mile 2, yes mile 2.....:( first time I have ever had that bad of a mishap so early in a race, I've had pulls and strains late in marathons before but never at mile two. Not sure what happened. But I thought if NFL players can play a season with injuries I can run 11 miles. I was able to run at a good pace but it hurt, and by mile 10 I was limping.

About mile 7 the 2 hour pace team passed me. This was a major discouragement for me personally as I have not finished above 2 hours in four years, and it's kind of this important mental barrier for me. I tried to stay with them for about a mile, but just could not. At that point I considered stopping and waiting for my wife to catch up and just running with her. This one was a struggle. I was frankly just out of shape and limping. But something came over me and I got inspired around mile 9. I was like "dangit, Im not getting sub 2 but I'm going to get close." I think "Fight Song" came on my iphone at this point.

I proceeded to take the last four miles by the horns. I ran a 2:02, not my best time obviously and about five minutes off my target, but I was proud nonetheless.

I actually limped towards the medals feeling just as proud as any other race I had run.

I could barely walk the rest of the day.

BTW Wife took a picture with every character and finished at 4:35, she spent more time in line for characters than she did running lol.

I had to stop at the gift shop and buy some Crocs because I forgot to pack my flip flops...and there was no way my feet would be happy in a closed shoe. Expected my legs to be near rubber, but it was my feet, the right one in particular, that did me in. I cursed Disney when I saw that last hill (okay on ramp) to run up. Disney's version of Heartbreak Hill in Boston.

Hope your foot is okay.
 

surfsupdon

Well-Known Member
Next year, the Glass Slipper Challenge is now named the Fairy Tale Challenge.

Another name change, similar to DLand half and W&D.
 

LAKid53

Official Member of the Girly Girl Fan Club
Premium Member
What IS it with all the race name changes? First, it was the W&D 5k, then the DLR Half, the W&D Challenge, possibly the SW Light Side and NOW the Glass Slipper?! Why? Such an iconic name...

Glad to know I ran in the last Glass Slipper....
 

dreamfinder

Well-Known Member
A name change keeps them from being locked into a single princess. Even though they changed the race themes, glass slipper ends up tying into back to Cinderella. Fairy Tale is a more generic theme.
 

Delgado

Active Member
What IS it with all the race name changes? First, it was the W&D 5k, then the DLR Half, the W&D Challenge, possibly the SW Light Side and NOW the Glass Slipper?! Why? Such an iconic name...

Glad to know I ran in the last Glass Slipper....
I'm very jealous I wanted to run next year specifically for the glass slipper medal!!!!
 

LAKid53

Official Member of the Girly Girl Fan Club
Premium Member
WT?, runDisney. It's 12:07 and your AP/DVC member early registration link for the 2018 Princess keeps sending me to the Virtual Shorts...

:devilish:
 

LAKid53

Official Member of the Girly Girl Fan Club
Premium Member
Finally got in through the DVC member site, AP link still not functioning. But I'm registered. And I prepurchased all the commemorative merchandise, since this is the 10th anniversary.

Still wish it was the Glass Slipper Challenge..... :(
 

psherman42

Well-Known Member
I've never wanted to do the Princess weekend, and I'm already signed up for the marathon but I kind of want to do this now since it's the 10th..ugh. The struggle.
 

LAKid53

Official Member of the Girly Girl Fan Club
Premium Member
I was able to register my daughter and I for the Princess Half Marathon in February 2018. I read somewhere on the WDW site (can't find it again) that certain Travel Agents have discounted packages for participants. Anyone know which TAs that would be?

They should be listed on the runDisney registration page for the particular race. However, the TAs usually have a minimum number of nights you have to book. I've always used Disney travel, since I'm an AP. And now that I'm DVC, I just use points.

ETA: Forgot to mention an important fact about the TAs listed - the cost includes a race bib, i.e., registration. Not sure if they will book just a room/tickets for you. Kingdom Konsultants is a Disney authorized travel agency...and a sponsor of this forum. If the race TAs won't provide just a room/ticket package, contact them.
 
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LAKid53

Official Member of the Girly Girl Fan Club
Premium Member
What are the transportation options to and from the 1/2 marathon? I haven't decided upon a resort yet.

Charted buses, which start running at 3:00 or 3:30. rundisney wants you on the bus by a certain time to make sure you get to your corral on time. Traffic to the starting point for the 2017 Princess Half was very heavy. Once we got through security, bag check, etc., it was a long walk to the starting corrals. They had to delay the start of the race because runners were still trying to get to their corrals at 5:30.

If you stay on property, don't drive your car to the race starting point. The race finishes in Epcot. Your car may be parked somewhere else. Take the bus - all resorts are now race resorts. You don't want to miss the race because you got stuck in traffic. I expect the 2018 Princess Half to be very crowded, since it's the 10th anniversary.
 

dreamfinder

Well-Known Member
Thanks. I was concerned that only certain resorts were receiving bus service to the race. Glad to know I can stay at any resort and still get to the race without a car.

runDisney will offer bus service from any Host Resort. For the larger events, that should be every resort. If they bring back something like the Expedition Everest Challenge, or maybe even the ToT 13k/10m, those may have limited host resorts due to their smaller registration numbers.
 

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