Princess Half Expo interview with runDisney Nutritionist Tara Gidus

There are always amazing speakers at the runDisney race expos and the line up at the 5th Anniversary Princess Half Marathon was no exception!  I was lucky enough to catch Tara Gidus, the runDisney nutritionist, after her presentation to ask her a few questions!

She has such great advice! I definitely needed more time to get her opinion on all kinds of nutrition questions!  Snacks between meals...supply and demand...replenish after a run...carbs...peanut butter English muffins!  It is so fantastic that runDisney has provided experts in their fields to encourage and support the athletes running their races.  That's right folks...I called us athletes!  We may be recreational runners for the most part, but not only are we runners we are also athletes and athletes need a good nutritionist to advise them along the way.  Tara's nutritional advice can be found on the runDisney blog at runDisney.com.

Princess Expo Saturday

Some race expos are so good you want to go to them more than once.  That goes for all runDisney expos. Friday was just for me, no kids, and all business/shopping.  Saturday was for sharing with the kids.  After the Tangled 5k the 5 of us headed straight to the Princess expo.  We were all still in our 5K costumes.  When you love your costumes who wants to get right out of them!

Although we already had all of our race bags we still headed to the big white tent so my sister could get the full experience.  That included getting our pictures taken with the footmen and Cinderella's carriage.  She too had to stop at the little Official Merchandise stand in the tent before we proceeded to the center.  Once we were inside the expo it was watch out world.  She had been looking forward to this weekend since I had run the Princess in 2011 and the expo was part of the anticipation.

What girl doesn't need a little pixie dust?

We spent the next 2 hours or so looking around the expo.  I was able to share my Rapunzel costume with Suzy Favor Hamilton who loved it!  I also got a few looks from little girls!  Alas there were no Saturday sales at the runDisney Official Merchandise booth this year as there had been in 2011.  I did buy one more shirt on Saturday that had eluded me on Friday.  Other than that I was already starting to focus on the Kids mile that was scheduled to start at 12:15.  My older daughter and I got lunch at the ESPN Zone and waited for the rest of the family to arrive with our younger runners.

Up next is the kids mile!

Princess Expo Friday

runDisney Official Merchandise at the Princess expo

So it has been said by many that you should plan to be at any runDisney expo when it opens on the first day!  That was my plan...then I got into the Princess Social Media Meetup at EPCOT.  When the expo opened at 9 am I was still at EPCOT.  I did not want to cut that experience short for shopping at the expo.  When we arrived at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex they were already parking people in the far parking lot.  I was surprised by the addition of a white tent down the hill from the Jostens Center.  They were directing everyone to the tent.  That is where packet pickup would begin...it would end in the center some time later. 

They put up Princess runDisney signs all over the ESPN Wide World of Sports grounds .
The signage was such an improvement over last year!

Down the hill we went toward the big white tent with Cinderella's carriage as a draw!

They did have Cinderella's carriage and two footmen out front to make it special and draw your attention.  We did not stop on Friday, but did on Saturday once my sister was with me.

These guys were quite warm in their outfits.

Into the tent we went with forms in hand ready to pickup 10 race packets.  The kids mile packets were easy.  It was all at one booth just inside the tent.  The Tangled 5K was a little more complicated.  We got the packets, but the shirts came later.  The 1/2 marathon packets were on the other side of the tent.  There was an Official Merchandise booth between then.  Yes, I stopped and bought a shirt.  We picked up our 1/2 packets and tested all 3 of the bibs to make sure the timing strips were working. 

Packet pickup in the tent.  Lots of people going every which way.

Then it was time to head up the hill into the center and get the shirts to go along with 4 5K packets and 3 half marathon packets.  Of course the shirts were on the other side of the expo room from the entrance. 

The shirts are on the far wall through the sea of vendors!  How is you will power?

We checked out the Official Merchandise booth before moving up and down the aisles.  I picked up just a couple of items along the way since shopping without kids on Friday was the way to go.  After we grabbed the shirts we grabbed lunch at the ESPN Zone.  It was around 1 pm went we headed out to meet up with the rest of the family that had been at Hollywood Studios since rope drop.

More on the expo in my Expo Saturday post coming after my 5K post!  When you enjoy race expos as much as I do why go just once!

Princess 1/2 Table of Contents

To say that I had an amazing family focused running vacation at Disney World is a grand understatement. There is so much to share, it is going to take me days just to get all the stories told.  So to begin with I just wanted to list all of the wonderful highlights.  So here they are!

1. 4 days in WDW parks & 1 day at Legoland
2. Friday morning Social Media Meetup at EPCOT
3. Princess Expo Friday
4. Tangled Family 5K
5. Princess Expo Saturday
6. Kids Mile
7. Disney Diva runners meetup
8. Princess 1/2 Marathon
9. Surprise early birthday dinner at Cape May
10. 2.5 days in WDW parks

My intent is to start at the top of the list and at some point arrive at the bottom reliving every happy moment along the way!  Let me know if you have any specific questions and I will try to address them along the way!