The Happiest Race on Earth

It was the happiest race on earth! I completed my goal, running the Disneyland half marathon!

I arrived in California on Friday night and stayed with my cousin Jean and her family and we drove to Anaheim on Saturday morning.

The fun started at the expo, where we got our packet.

We checked into the Disneyland Hotel and we had adjoining rooms with my cousins so it was really nice because we were able to hang out. It was interesting to hear everyone’s pre run routine and each one is different.

The race started at 5:45 am. The race started with the national anthem with fireworks, we were welcomed by Mickey and Minnie and then we started running. I did my normal pre race routine, but again had to go to the bathroom! It must of been because I was excited or something. I decided to hold it until I got into the parks because we can use the facilities in there and I wouldn’t have to go to the porta-potties.

I started running with my cousins Jean and Dave. When we entered California Adventure I saw the Mickey Mouse carousel and I told Jean to go ahead because I wanted to take pictures. I wanted to soak it all in, and I didn’t care about my finish time. The route ran through the new section Cars Land and it was amazing, it was liked stepped into the movie, I tried to take a picture of the main street of Radiator Springs, but the sun was coming up and my pictures couldn’t take a good picture of the main drag.

The next exciting point was when we entered the Magic Kingdom and when I saw the castle I was smiling from ear to ear. They had the Dumbo ride running and that also brought a smile to my face. We ran through Sleeping Beauty’s Castle and on the other side she was there with Prince Philip, and who do I see waiting in line to take a picture with them…Dave Mari, a friend that has been traveling across the U.S. running in different races.

I also accomplished another goal, finding Snow White and give her a kiss on the cheek. When I was a kid my mom would always have me kiss Snow White, so when we went to Disney World i couldn’t find her, so I told myself if I saw her on the course I would give her a kiss.

We left the parks just before the 4 mile mark, and the fun didn’t stop, there were lots of cheerers, school bands, cheerleaders, performances and things to see. I really liked the hula dancers and the mariachi dancers. Along a long stretch of the course there were a rows of classics cars, theme cars and decorated cars and had a replica Lightning McQueen at the end. I thought that was really cool, but didn’t think f the reference of it being there because of the opening of Cars Land, thanks Fran for letting us know!

In the middle of the race I saw Nathan, my cousin’s son, and waved at him. I caught up with Jean just before we got to the A’s Stadium. That was pretty cool, we ran inside the stadium and through the outfield. A couple of miles after that we saw the Tower of Terror and we knew that we were really close to the end.

We ran through the backlot of California Adventure where we saw Nanette. She then ran in front of us. When we crossed the 13 mile mark I started sprinting and caught up to Nanette and I crossed the finish line just behind her. So I was able to run with all my cousin in the race except for Todd, which we met up with him back at the hotel.

I finished the race at 2:43:33, I did better than the RnR half! Once we crossed the finish line we received our medal, I finally got what I’ve been training for!

This was a really was a fun run and I would definitely do this one again. It all started with this race, and it is only the beginning. Even though it is over it will continue to motivate metro continue these races. I have set my next goal and Nanette is going to do it with me…In 2014 I want to get the coast to coast medal, so I will be doing the Disney World Marathon and the Disneyland Half Marathon! Who wants to join me!