Chicago Half Marathon

This was the final race of the Chicagoland Half Marathon Series for 2016. Different from the spring Half this race brought us through the southern area of Chicago, with this series you get to run through the north and south of the city along the side of the lake.

We arrived early and parked by the Museum of Science and Industry While we were walking toward the start I realized I forgot my ear phones, so it was going to be a music less run for me.  We started in Jackson Park, where I bumped into some Hinsdale friends. I was placed in corral L, which when they released all of the corrals at once so it didn’t take too long for me to cross the start line.

We ran up Cornell and around the west part of Jackson park. We ran through the neighborhood streets and parts of the park before we entered Lake Shore Drive. Once we passed the museum we were well on our way up the drive. Running without my music wasn’t that bad, I talked with a couple of pacers that I met at the fort to base run two years ago, heard some interesting conversations, and heard some live bands along the course.

Running along Lake Shore Drive is definitely a different experience than driving it. I didn’t notice the new walking bridge before, and it is definitely much longer getting up to 31st street where we turned around back to the finish. We really lucked out with the weather, it was forecasted to rain, but it turned out to be a really nice morning for a run.

We finished back in Jackson Park, right next to the gold statue. I finished in 2hrs 48min 28sec, much better than my last half and getting back to my average. This year is the 20th anniversary of this race and the medal reflected that with the Roman numeral 20 that spinner in the middle of the huge medal. The challenge medal was nicely designed this year, but not as big as the half medal.  This was an enjoyable race and had a lot of cheerers and volunteers that helped get us motivated to run a bit further and to get to the finish.

Dumbo Double Dare – Disneyland Half Marathon

Part two of the Dumbo Double Dare, the Disneyland Half Marathon, started again at 5:30. This year my cousin Debbie joined the race, and she was assigned the same corral as me. We met her and Charles at Downtown Disney and headed towards the corrals. The security was high this year as compared to last year, they checked all bags as well as the running belts, so it took a while to get past the checkpoint and get to the corrals. Again the weather was perfect for running it stayed in the low 70’s as the previous day. But it got warmer in the late afternoon on Saturday. So in my mind I was telling myself that I  should finish before it gets too hot.

Debbie and I were able to make our way towards the beginning of the corral, and felt that we were well placed to give us enough distance so that we wouldn’t have to worry about the balloon ladies passing us  up. Where our corral was placed we were not able to see the big screen to see the beginning  ceremonies of the race. We did hear the national anthem, but this year they did not have any fireworks  during the song. We were in corral G so it was almost 45 minutes before our corral was released.

When we started running, we went down Disneyland Drive, up until the roadway across from the Paradise Pier Hotel, where we entered the service road behind California Adventure. We entered the  park at the same point as the 10K route, right into Carsland, but this time we ran up the main drag and  turned left towards Paradise Pier. We looped around Mickey’s Fun Wheel again, and then followed the  route to exit the park and went to the cross over to Disneyland by Mile 2, here I saw Rick and then  entered the park. They changed the route so that when we entered the park we took a right to the service roads and then entered the park again by It’s a Small World and ran past Fantasyland, through  the castle and then down Main Street. We again ran through the cross over to California Adventure and  I saw Rick again. This time we ran through Hollywood Studios Backlot and then exited to the streets of  Anaheim. I kind of liked this new route, but this route bypasses Adventureland and New Orleans  Square, I think it is because they already started the Star Wars Land build and I guess the route wouldn’t  be that great right now.

Out in the streets of Anaheim was the same as previous years. Just before we got to Honda Stadium there were stretches of road that had classic cars lined up, as usual it was fun to see and they all  cheered the runners, so that gave us a boost to keep running. Once we passed the Honda Stadium  parking lot we were routed to the gravel/paved trail that lead us to the A’s Stadium. This stretch of the run was a bit narrow, so you would have to navigate between the walkers. The outfield seats were filled with spectators and kids from the cub and girl scouts cheering and giving high 5’s. This is always a treat during the race. The remainder of the race was around the street and routing us back towards the  parks. One of the notable cheer spot was a guy that had a box full of feathers that said take a feather to  help you fly. So I took one and stuck it in my hat, but unfortunately it did not make me fly!

Just before mile 12 we entered the service roadway behind California Adventure at Disney Way and Harbor Blvd. We crossed the street just by the Paradise Pier Hotel and ran through the parking lot toward the Disneyland Hotel and the finish line. Rick was at his usual spot and saw him as I approached the finish. I finished in 3hrs 26min 55sec, again not my fastest time, but did beat my time from last year.

They did not have as much characters on the course as they have in previous years, which was a bummer, but it was still a fun experience. The medal kept with the theme of famous duos, which the depicted Mickey Mouse and Pluto Running with the famous Disneyland D. I picked up my Double Dare Medal and since they were telling people to move and not wait, I hung out at the Medical area icing my knees and waited for Debbie to finish.

Spent the afternoon recovering, visiting family in the Inland Empire and hung out for a bit. The next day Rick and I spent the day at the Parks and had a fun time. This was the 5th year that I participated in the Disneyland Half Marathon and again it was a fun experience and a race that I would continue to do as I am able to.

Dumbo Double Dare – Disneyland 10k

The Disneyland Half Marathon weekend seemed to come fast this year. Again I signed up for the Dumbo Double Dare, which started with the Disneyland 10K on Saturday morning. This year the theme for the 10K was famous duos, which the main character was Aladdin and the Genie.

The kick off was at 5:30, so it was an early wake up time to get ready. We got there around 4:45, I was in Corral D, and it was good that we got there early so I could make my way up to the front of the corral.  Since I was warry about my pace time, if I wanted to stop and take pictures I needed get as much of a head start. The weather was really nice, in the low 70’s, perfect weather for me for running.  Once they had the National Anthem they started releasing the corrals. The corrals were released in 6 minute intervals, so we didn’t have to wait long for us to start our race around the parks.

We headed down Disneyland Drive and made our way to the convention center and ran for 2 miles till they routed us to the vicinity of the parks. At about 2.5 miles we entered California Adventure through Carsland. From there we made a short trip through A Bugs Land and made our way towards Paradise Pier. Seeing Mickey’s Fun Wheel at the pier always brings a smile to my face, riding it is a different story! We ran behind the wheel and made our way towards the Golden State, where I saw the new sign for Soarin’ Around the World, which I made me look forward in riding it when we go into the park on Monday. We ran past Carthay Circle and ran through the Hollywood Pictures Backlot. When we passed
the Tower of Terror they routed us out to the service road and directed us toward Disneyland!

Just before mile 5 we entered Disneyland through Toon Town, where Donald welcomed us from his boat house. From there we ran past It’s a Small World and were routed towards Tomorrowland. Once we got to the hub, we took a right turn towards the Matterhorn, and entered Fantasyland on the right side of the castle. Just before running through the castle, I took my usual Alice in Wonderland tea cup picture and waved at Princess Aurora and Prince Phillip who were on the carousel. After we ran through the castle we were routed down Main Street towards the Main Entrance of Disneyland. When we exited we veered left and ran the last leg of the course through Downtown Disney. I saw Rick at the mile 6 marker and finished the race running towards the Disneyland Hotel parking lot.

I never use the Disney races to improve my time, there is too much to see, take pictures and having fun in the parks. I finished in 1hr 37min 44sec, definitely not my best time, but I had a blast running it.  There were not that many characters along the course, but as usual I took some scenic pictures, stopped at each mile marker and took a picture with it and had fun running in the parks, seeing the different costumes that were out there. I like the 10K route because you spend the majority of the time in the parks. The medal depicted the theme of the race with Aladdin and Genie on the magic carpet with Abu hanging on.

Part one of the Dumbo Double Dare is completed, we spent the afternoon visiting my cousin and a couple of friends at the beach. We had a relaxing day and rested for the second part of the challenge, the Disneyland Half.