The Disneyland half marathon also started at 5:30 AM, so another early start for me. My cousin Debbie met us at our hotel and we walked over to the Disneyland Hotel to meet up with our relatives, Nanette, Todd and Nathan. We headed over to the corral and there were a lot of people. I was assigned to corral G with Nathan and Nanette joined us there. Debbie and Todd were at a later corral so we got parted from them.
They had the fireworks at the national anthem so I was happy about that. It took is awhile to get us going, but once it was our turn they released us with “Let it Go” from frozen and away we go!
The course was the same as in the past so just as we got to the 2nd mile we were entering California Adventure. The first main attraction that we saw was the Mickey’s Fun Wheel, then turned to to to Cars Land. After a short run around the park we exited and entered the Magic Kingdom.
The sun was already starting to rise so by the time I got to Main Street it was already light out and the castle was in our sights. From there we turned left into Adventureland and looped around to Fantasyland to run through the castle. It was good to see that the attractions were running, although it seemed that there were not that many characters to get a photo op with. When we exited the castle we entered Tomorrowland, again they had the storm troopers and Darth Vader which had a very long line so I opted not to take a photo with them because the princesses are usually around the corner and I wanted to find Snow White to give her a kiss. This year there were no princesses in sight, but there were villains galore. They had really long lines so I didn’t stop. We went through Toontown and then we exited and off to the streets of Anaheim.
Outside of the park there were no characters, but there were cheerleaders, performers like Hawaiian and Mexican dancers and people with signs. Again they had a long stretch with classic and modern cars, which was enjoyable to see. This is usually the place where I would find my cousin Jean, but she wasn’t running the half this year. When we entered the parking lot of the Honda stadium they had lightning McQueen and they also had the car from The Rocketeer and also the original Batmobile.
When we entered the Santa Ana River Trail the course got narrower and it started getting crowded. We approached the Angels Stadium, which was a favorite part for me because we get to run the outfield, but this year it was not enjoyable. It was really crowded and a lot of people stopped at mid run and it was hard to maneuver around all the walkers. I was actually happy to get out of there where the course became wider.
Pre-race I found out that my relative Taylor was volunteering at the water station that was located after the stadium so I kept an eye out for her. Sure enough I saw her and had an opportunity to take a picture with her. After that it was 3 more miles to go!
It started to get hot, so I slowed my pace and took a few more walking breaks, because I could feel myself getting drained. Once we entered the outskirts of California Adventure I knew we were almost done. When we entered the parking lot south of Paradise Pier Hotel they had a long row of cheerleaders and we were headed toward the finish.
I did see Rick and my sign and also saw Fran was with him. Once I waved and handed off my camera at them I booked it to the finish. I finished the half in 3hrs 10min 8sec, again not my best time, but shave off 20 min for pictures that should be about right.
We exited the finish area to get our medal and with my armbands I got my Coast to Coast and Dumbo Double Dare medals. I brought my marathon medal and the 10k medal with me to get my finisher’s photos. I found Nanette and Nathan and took pictures with them, and then left to find Rick at Downtown Disney.
We had lunch with Debbie, Dave and Charles and then headed out to Hermosa Beach to visit my relatives. For the day of recovery Rick and I went to the Disneyland and California Adventure the whole day.
Again this was a fun race and a fun day of recovery at the parks. We stayed a week visiting relatives and now we are on our way back home, which once we land we are going directly to the Chicago Half a Marathon expo to pick up my packet for the weekend’s race!
Chad's Blog for Running, Disney & Movies 