Princess runners visit Cinderella after the Princess Half Marathon

What would the Princess Half Marathon be without Princesses?  On that note we were off to Magic Kingdom to thank a few Princesses!  Cinderella herself was receiving visitors and we were thrilled to share our day fit for a Princess with her!

Marcia had to see Rapunzel! She was dressed as Rapunzel for the half!

Lena and I were dressed as Aurora for the half!
Jen was out of luck...Snow White was not receiving visitors!

The lovely Cinderella! I ran as Cinderella for my first Princess Half in 2011!

So what does it look like when a bunch of Princesses visit the Princesses?  Well check this out!

The whole room was filled with Princesses of all ages! It was fantastic!  We even met a couple of our other Princess friends waiting to see the Princesses!  (Nicole it was great to see you here there and everywhere.)  It was crazy Princess amazing!  Congratulations to everyone who volunteers, supported runners and raced Princess weekend!  

Princess Weekend Kids Mile - Feb.25, 2012

The 1 mile race team - in the sun!

This year we focused on the Kids mile.  Before the timed race began Jester Goofy came out to get the kids all excited to run!

The signage was much better this year!

My 2 daughters and my nephew did the mile together.  Well they were at the start line together.  My oldest took off like a shot.  She was wearing her RunningSkirt, a tank top and her Rapunzel flowers in her hair.  I ran along with my youngest.  She had on her RunningSkirt with a yellow Rapunzel flower on her shirt.  My brother-in-law ran with my nephew.  The youngest two were both little troopers.  They did a little run/walking along the way.

12:15 on the fields at ESPN can be a brutal time of day and it was full sun and warm despite a cool wind.  The official water break was a welcome stop for my youngest.  Once we got around to the track for the finish line stretch she took off and I stepped aside to the outside of the stands so I would not get in the way of runner photos.  This year runDisney did special Tangled medals for the kids races.  They were a huge improvement over the shields they got the last few years.  They also got Tangled t-shirts instead of just I Did It shirts.

Great mementos to go with great memories!

The happy finishers on a very sunny field!

They all grabbed their snacks after the race and we were off again.  I had to head back into the expo to exchange my Princess 1/2 shirt for a smaller size.  I had exchanged my 5k shirt earlier in the day.  I had intended to check the shirt sizes on Friday, but had overlooked that detail.  I registered for these races the day they opened...July 5 and needed smaller sizes after all the focused training and lifestyle changes.

4 cousins - 3 milers & 2 5k runners among them

Love the medallion - They look like a happy couple!

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!

Tangled 5K - Feb. 25th, 2012

The first race of Princess 1/2 Marathon weekend was the Tangled 5K.  There were four of us running.  We had set out all of our race gear and costumes that night before.  The bibs were pinned on and the race bags were packed.  I was dressed as Rapunzel in my custom made running dress made by Me.  My oldest daughter was running with me, as were my brother-in-law and my niece.  My sister came along race morning as fan support and because nothing could have kept her from being there it was so much fun!  There were lots of photos taken of the running group. 

Our race team - cousins and their parents

We spent some time over near the DJ were the tunes were getting everyone in the running grove.  I of course was checking out everyone's costumes.  I was drawn to another Rapunzel who was beautifully dressed and had flowers similar to mine in her hair.  It turned out to be Kristy Barnes who I know from FB.  We got a quick picture and then I returned to my family. 

Kristy Barns & myself near the start line before the race.  I was drawn to her costume and then realized I knew her!  I loved that she ran with Pascal!  (He eluded us!  He was sold out for weeks leading up to this race.)

I also ran into Heather Montgomery who was having quite the trip!  You want to see how good it was check out her blog entry http://www.runningwithsass.com/princess-pampering/ and the event posts that followed!

Jeff Galloway giving some race advice.

Love the hat, love the shirt, love the banner...

When it came time to get everyone into the corral it seemed like they had waited just a little too long.  We all went nowhere fast.  I don't think everyone was officially in the corral when the race started.  There is no way they were in the correct zones based on their mile splits.  Oh well...it was an untimed fun run. 

Great costumes waiting to run.

Packed into the corral.

Look at all these happy runners.

Off in the distance - the lovers!

And we were off, kind of...my daughter walked for quite a while trying to prove a point.
We were still not going anywhere fast.

With the fireworks shooting overhead we all took off to run around the EPCOT parking lot.  The race came in the back-lot near Mexico and then rounded the lagoon before finishing back in the EPCOT parking lot.  Along the way we stopped to see some of our favorite characters.  At first my daughter did not want to stop, but when I explained that it was an untimed race and we could take as much time as we wanted she totally embraced the character sprint concept.  A Character Sprint is when you litterally sprint from Disney character to character getting your photo taken with them.  You get a real emotional boost from seeing the characters that you can ride to the next character.  We were flying through air as we rounded every bend literally sticking out our airplane wings.  She was having so much fun it made me over the top happy! 

Pocahontas the natural born runner!

Jasmine & Aladdin

Les Chefs de France

Race clocks and mile markers - did they think it was going to rain?

Calling all runners - This is a great race!

Okay we are having fun now!

 

I've got it mom!

Another runner offered to take our picture - Thanks!

Happy as a duck with a mouse!

The whole park was her's that morning!

I guess the chance of rain had cleared by mile 3.

Happy runner - happy volunteer!

Thanks to all of the volunteers!

Medal shot - The number of medals hanging there always impresses me.

Happy finishers

Somewhere along the way my brother-in-law and niece passed us.  She did not want to stop for characters and wanted to run the whole race.  I tried to watch for them to drag them into one of our photos, but I never saw them. 

The race team back together!

Yes I am taking your picture!  Nice of you to notice!

There is always time for a little conversation after a run!

Always the gracious hostess, Rapunzel never lost her brilliance through 3 days of runner meet and greets.

A horse at a 5K - never thought I would see this!

We were all happy campers at the end of our race.  We grabbed our snack boxes and headed for the expo.  Since my sister and her family had gotten into town the night before they had missed the expo experience on Friday and my sister was really looking forward to doing some shopping!

People give all kind of reasons for not doing the runDisney 5ks, but I say they are a must for us!  I love sharing the experience with my daughter.  When I think of our time together at Disney these 5ks top the list of best times together!  Yes, the medallion is plastic and it does cost more than other 5ks, but we have a fantastic time running together which we will always remember!

Next up - Expo Saturday!