Good-bye West Coast RunDisney!

The Disneyland Half Marathon was the race that started it all. I started training in 2011 for the goal to complete the half marathon. At the time I didn’t think that I would enjoy doing races. Once I started I got hooked. Once I got my first medal I got motivated to get more. Then came my goal, the 2012 Disneyland Half Marathon weekend came. I ran with my cousins and enjoyed every minute of it. When I got my first medal with the big “D” I definitely got hooked.

Now the west coast RunDisney events have been cancelled for who knows for how long. I am quite bummed that I have completed my last Disneyland race this past Avengers weekend. I got a bit emotional when I was getting closer to the finish. So Good-bye West Coast RunDisney…I hope you do come back and come back soon!

2012
Disneyland Half Marathon

2013
Disneyland Half Marathon

2014
Stitch’s 10K
Disneyland Half Marathon
Dumbo Double Dare Challenge
*Coast to Coast Challenge (WDW Marathon)

2015
Villain’s 10K
Disneyland Half Marathon (Disneyland 60th Anniversary)
Dumbo Double Dare Challenge

Captain America 10K
Avengers Super Heroes Half Marathon
Infinity Gauntlet Challenge – Space

2016
Aladdin 10K
Disneyland Half Marathon
Double Double Dare Challenge

Captain America 5K
Dr. Strange 10K
Avengers Super Heroes Half Marathon
Infinity Gauntlet Challenge – Mind

2017
Monsters 10K
Disneyland Half Marathon – Toy Story
Disney Double Dare – Pixar

Thor 10K
Avengers Super Heroes Half Marathon – Black Widow
Infinity Gauntlet Challenge – Reality

Infinity Gauntlet Challenge Part 2 – Avengers Half Marathon

Followed the same routine as yesterday, this time met up with my cousin Nanette and Todd before entering the corrals. This time we were in corral D, and hung out towards the back because Nanette got interviewed and was on the jumbo Tron where she was recognized for doing 50 half marathons and that her first one was a Disney race.

Once we started we followed the same route and entered California Adventure through Cars Land. This time we didn’t go through A Bugs Land but instead went through the service area and entered again in Hollywood Land right by Guardians of the Galaxy: Breakout and ran part of Buena Vista Street right next to Cathay Circle. We took a left and went through Pacific Wharf and made our way around Paradise Pier. We took a left right by Ariel’s Undersea Adventure and made our way through Grizzly Peak and Condor Flats, and made our way back to Buena Vista Street where we exited the park.

I saw Rick before we took a left and ran through the outskirts of Disneyland and entered the park through Critter Country right next to Splash Mountain. We ran along the Rivers of America and found ourselves in Frontierland, where we caught a glimpse of Big Thunder Mountain. We briefly went through Fantasyland and ran through the castle.

We took a left turn and ran through the access part between the castle and the Matterhorn and took a right and ran past the Nemo ride, Autopia and Space Mountain. We arrived at the Hub through the Tomorrowland entrance and made our way down Main Street U.S.A. before we exited the park and on our way out to the streets of Anaheim.

When we exited the parks I saw Rick before we went on Harbor Blvd and turning on Manchester Ave. This street ran parallel next to I5 and we also passed the Gardenwalk before we tuned on Katella. From Katella we turned on Anaheim Blvd to Cerritos. We then turned on Lewis Street, Ball and State College Blvd before we joined Cerritos Ave again. When we got to Douglas Rd we took a left and ran past the Honda Center on our way to Angels Stadium.

We ran the perimeter of the stadium parking lot before we entered the stadium. In the past the stadium was filled with spectators and bands. This year it was completely empty, which was bit of a bummer, because these people cheering give you an extra boost. Also in the past they would have a group of people in their service uniform cheering and a group of people in 50’s outfits dancing, this year they were missing. I always enjoyed this part and was really missed this year. Another thing that was missing was the row of people in cosplay, they were nowhere in sight!

When we exited the stadium we ran along Gene Autry Way to Haster Street. We then ran through parking lots until we arrived back on Harbor Blvd. At mile 10 we took a left onto Katella for the last 3.1 miles. We took a final right on Disneyland Drive before we took a left onto the Disneyland Property right next to the Pacific Pier Hotel. We ran through the parking lot and the street towards Downtown Disney and made our finish right by the Disneyland Hotel. I finished in 3hrs 3min 6sec.

I hung out with Nanette and the first aid area waiting for Todd to finish. It was sad because this is the last race in Disneyland for quite a while. We are not sure when or if it will be coming back. There was a sign just when we entered the property that said “time to say good-bye to the west coast RunDisney family”. They say that it is because of the multiple construction plans, but I have a feeling that there is more to it. Well, I enjoyed running these races, and I will miss doing them in Disneyland. I still have my trip in January to WDW for the Dopey Challenge, but my hopes for doing a coast to coast next year has been squashed.

Thank you West Coast RunDisney for the fun times I had with the races in Disneyland. I do hope that you will come back soon, and that you will continue where you left off with the Infinity Gauntlet Challenge so we can collect all of the Infinity Stones.

Infinity Gauntlet Challenge Part 1 – Thor 10K

This year the 10K was Thor themed, at first I contemplated on wearing the Thor outfit I did last year, but opted to just wear a Marvel t-shirt. The start time was at 5:00 in the morning, we got up at 2:45 to make sure that I had enough time to get ready, go through security and get my bag checked before meeting my cousin just before the corral entrances.

It was a chilly morning for the 10K, but it was manageable. I met up with my cousin Nanette and we made our way to the front of corral F. The corrals went up to J, so I mentally planned how much time I can spend in taking photos with characters.

They released the corrals fairly quickly and we were off. The course was basically the same as the course in the Disneyland 10K I did back in September, which was fine, this course kept us pretty much on property.

We entered California Adventure through the side entrance that brought us to Ornament Valley in Cars Land, where the ride Radiator Springs Racers is located. We cut across and entered A Bugs Land for a bit before we hit the 1-mile mark.
We made our way through Pacific Wharf and looped around Paradise Pier, which will soon be transformed into Pixar Pier. I took my usual photo by Mickey’s Fun Wheel and we exited the Pier and went through Grizzly Peak and Condor Flats. We cut through Buena Vista Street and finished our tour through California Adventure, exiting by the Guardians of the Galaxy: Breakout ride in Hollywood Land.

We ran through the service streets and the transportation area before we entered Disneyland through Toontown. We ran past It’s a Small World and took a left at the Matterhorn and ran through Tommorowland. We made a quick turn at the hub and took the access path and entered Fantasyland. Didn’t linger there too long because I wanted to make up some time, since the lines for the characters in California Adventure was very long.

We ran through the castle which was already decorated for the holidays and entered Frontier Land and followed the path along Rivers of America. We made a hairpin turn right by the Haunted Mansion, which was taken over by Jack Skellington for the holidays. We ran past New Orleans Square and exited through Adventureland and made our way down Main Street U.S.A. and exited the park.

We took a left and ran through the Transportation Center and made our way back on the service road that lead us to the finish right by the Disneyland Hotel. I finished the course in 1hr 56min 13sec. I had a fun time during this race and was taking my time and taking advantage of the photo opportunities. I didn’t wait for Captain America, Dr. Strange or Loki because their lines were so long. I did manage to get pictures with Spiderman, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Starlord and Gamora, Tivan hostesses and Thor.

The 10K course is usually fun, because you spend all of the time on property. Also, there were a lot of people dressed up, one of my favorites was a guy that was dressed up as Yondu from Guardians of the Galaxy and had touches of Mary Poppins, in reference to his quote in the last move “I’m Mary Poppins Y’all”. Part 1 of the challenge completed, ready to complete it with the half marathon.