WDW Half Marathon - Donald '13

Here we go! 

The Donald Half! 

The first leg of the Goofy Challenge! 

Let's get this show on the road! 

I made my Alice in Wonderland inspired runner friendly costume for this race.  I don't think I will ever do an apron again.  Functionally it did not impact my running, but it was a pain for pictures.  When I remembered I felt the need to fix it since it shifted right and left.  I was thrilled Alice recognized my efforts!

There they are folks! The medals hanging at the ready. They are just waiting for us! 

We headed over to the finish line first thing in the morning for a little finish line inspiration!
The added plus of making this your first stop race morning are the clean finish line porta-potties!
(with Jen P.)

Check out my dry hair! It did not last long.  

Morning meet up

Morning meet up 

The line to meet characters near the stage.

DJ doing his thing! Interestingly enough people were not dancing or warming up. 

 

Originally I was up into corral B, but I showed a lower 1/2 time at runner relations at the expo
and was switched to the A corral for the half and the full!

Crowd moving toward the start area

National Anthem time

Goofy, Mickey and Donald getting their groove on in their track suits.

With Donald's count down were are off!

Fireworks and all!

Those darn Pirates!

Caution! Speed Bumps Ahead!

Huge banners out on the road

Chip and Dale near the speedway

Oh my...the flood lights!

At the Transportation Center right before the real bathrooms!

I love running under this arch! This is my "we are almost there" moment!

Turning left after the Contemporary and about to head into MK!

Let's do this...MAIN STREET!

Tomorrowland

Fantasyland

Don't be afraid to make up your own photo spots! Just grab a WDW staff member or spectator in the area and ask them if they can take your picture. (They always say yes, but you must have your own camera/phone.)

The New Fantasyland
(These two did not bring their own camera!)

WDW staff is so good about taking your picture anywhere you want!

At the Castle before running through!

 

I could not resist stopping in the castle to take a picture!

Get someone, anyone, in the ChEAR Zone to take your picture.
The distance and perspective are so much better than the official photos.

Marcia in the ChEAR Zone
(I had 2 different people take my picture to make sure I got a good one.  They were about 20 feet apart, left/right)

WDW staff shot this one I got over the bridge to the left of the castle. There is a reason it is a Kodak spot.

Across from Sleepy Hollow Refreshments

Frontierland

backstage about to leave MK

Lovely day for a photo! near Grand Floridian

Tweet and run with runDisney!

Golf course surfing!

banners in the daylight

Are you ready for the interstate ramp?

run that ramp soldiers

EPCOT is calling! Follow that monorail...wait it is going from Epcot to Transportation Center...follow that track!

Yes please...fan me...it is hot!

close

closer

almost there! Last bit of park fun!

I should have raised my arm!

Final stretch...and I forgot to take any more pictures! 

But don't worry I did cross the finish line! The volunteers are all so great!

First leg of Goofy done!

Look Mommy! I've got bling!

Very official in the blue jacket!

You ladies did a fantastic job! Thanks for all the post race goodies!

More bling shots with run buddies!

With my brother-in-law! Great job Andrew! 

My post race photo with Chip and Dale near the DJ.

Mickey Ears welcome/goodbye arch. 

Next up the WDW Marathon! Mickey and Goofy bling would be mine!

Princess Half Meet Up 2013

The wait is on! 

Who is waiting for their one true tweet? 

You know the one!

The one that sends emails flying!

The one that says RSVP now for the Princess Half Meet Up? 

Watch @runDisney on Twitter and the Disney Parks Blog for you chance to be 

a special social media runDisney Princess for a the morning!

Today is the day folks! It's a Friday thing! 2/15

Check that...It just became a Monday thing! ? !

It is live:

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2013/02/fairytales-to-come-true-at-princess-half-marathon-meet-up/

Princess Runs-in-many-layers takes on Nor'easter Nemo

I headed out today for my regular Princess Half training run, but things were a little different! I was off work...as was most of the state of Rhode Island...because there is a nor'easter blowing in and around New England.  I took my camera along to catch some pics on what ended up being an 8 mile run.  I have put them together into a slideshow.  Tell me what you think.

WDW Marathon Expo 2013

Day 1 Expo

The WDW Marathon weekend expo was held Thursday through Saturday.  I am a firm believer in go go early and more than once.  So I was among the 100 or so runDisney fans at ESPN waiting for the expo to open on Thursday morning!  My buddies in #CorralG were meeting up at the expo early as well so the meeting and greeting started early marathon weekend!

Jen, Marcia and me!
We would repeat this grouping Friday morning at the WDW Marathon Meet-Up!

We weren't the only ones there early...Bob Hitchcock (runDisney PR) was out checking on his event.
It was a great way to start the weekend.
I got a chance to run with him at #DisneyRunFest2012 in July, but had not seen him since then.

 There were two lines forming before the expo opened. One to get race bibs and one to get into the merchandise expo. We were waiting in the bib line, but I took a chance to peek into the merchandise floor! Look at all those vendors with all that amazing running gear! I also was able to sign up for run tracker while I waited for the official opening.

The official runDisney merchandise booth was actually in both  buildings, but I preferred the booth near the the bibs.

New Balance 860v3 - runDisney edition

The New Balance booth was interestingly not as mobbed as I thought it would be! The New Balance announcement had been made, but no one had actually seen the shoes yet! That was about to change!

Over at the speakers seminars Jeff Galloway was taking race fuels.
I stopped to have a listed and asked him about my fuels of choice.
He basically said if it works for me stick with it.

 Day 2 Expo

After the WDW Marathon Meet Up we headed back to the expo and who should we find outside but Dennis Marsico - Mr. runDisneyTV!

Marcia, me and Dennis

 Pop Quiz 1: Who makes the runDisney world go round? Volunteers!

Hi ladies! Doing a great job!

Pop Quiz 2: What do you do if you have a race PR between you registered and race weekend? Bring your proof of time to the race expo and change corrals! Corral B to corral A just like that! All I did was show the official race results on my iPhone. I literally pulled it up while I was in line and made the change.  I wasn't planning on changing corrals but could not resist the possibility of corral A!

Corral A for the Goofy Challenge!

Throughout the whole weekend I kept running into  social media buddies!

On Friday I picked up 2 new pairs of New Balance shoes! These are my new 890 neutral runners.

And then of course the shoes that everyone wanted at WDW Marathon Weekend: the New Balance runDisney shoes! The fact that they went with my outfit was perfect! I have worn them many times since getting them, but not for running.  I am a neutral runner and they are a stability shoe. So they are just for fun...kind of like runDisney! The 890s above are neutral shoes and I have had them out running several times already!

New Balance 860v3 - runDisney edition