Why this was my first race ever!

Since Lacey talked about her first race experience earlier this week, I thought it might be fun for me to talk a little bit about mine.


I'm sure it comes as no surprise that
my first race was a Disney race.

My mom, my sister and I decided to go to Disney World to do the Royal Family 5K.  Quite honestly, this race was more about a girls trip to Disney than it was about running the race. I never had a desire to really run a race and I figured this was just a one time deal.

Regardless of whether or not I thought this was a one time deal, I took it seriously and started training.  I panicked when I found out that you had to keep a minimum pace of a 16 minute mile or you'd get "swept". I had no idea what a 16 minute mile pace was but my sister assured me I could do that walking.  Regardless, I continued to train.

In February we headed to Disney and this is how it all went down.................

1. The night before the race I was so nervous. I read that race program cover to cover TWICE! I wanted to make sure that I was where I needed to be on time and that I knew what was going on!



2. On race day I wore the cotton race shirt with my cotton leggings.  I pinned my race bib on my shirt much higher than any runner should. Way back when we did our first Royal Family 5K, there were no corrals. I probably didn't know what a corral was anyway! 

3. While we were waiting to start, we started talking to a group of girls that ran the race the year before. Their advice to us was to have fun and stop and take pictures. WHAT???  I did not know there would be characters/entertainment on the course. I was NOT stopping. This is a race for crying out loud, why would I want to stop. I trained for this and I wanted to run and see what I could do.



4. BUT...... We ended up stopping at every character stop.  And because I read that race program cover to cover and it was so adamant about hydrating, I stopped at every water stop and drank a cup of water. Yea, my mom and sister were making fun of me at that point. It's funny cus this was the only 5K I've ever stopped at for water !  I drank more water on this 5K course than I did running a half marathon!   Also, this is the only Disney race that I remember all the princess being out for.

5. This race wasn't chip timed so I don't remember what our time was, but I do remember us being really proud of our finish time even though we stopped for all the characters. There was so much hoopla and everyone was so supportive.  Of course I was now hooked! This became the race I of course measure all other races by. I was perplexed when I found out that not all races had huge finish lines,  had photographers, gave medals (or medallions) and snack boxes.

So that pretty much sums up how my running journey started. -M

We are linking up with the gals from the Friday 5.

38 comments:

  1. I can so relate to this! So far the only races I've done are Disney ones and I feel like I've been really spoiled because of this. I'm almost worried that when I do other races it's going to be a lite bit of a let down since there won't be so much hoopla. I love that runDisney makes it such a huge event with so much fanfare.

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    1. I have found Rock n roll races to be just as great! You should give one a try!

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  2. Ha! That's a great story, I love it! Thanks for sharing.

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  3. that's hilarious! i love that you stopped at every water stop in a 5k :)

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  4. funny! It is Florida, you can stop at every water break if you want! Great story! and look where it led you!

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    1. Thanks! Yup, if it wasn't for Disney I probably would have never had a desire to run a marathon!

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  5. Oh my gosh, how fun to remember! A cotton race shirt in Disney weather? I might have needed all that water too!

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  6. That sounds like the perfect first race! So fun!

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  7. I also did a Disney 5k for my first race and got hooked too. I didn't stop for pictures, but I wish I did because it was a Halloween race and the characters were dressed up for Halloween.

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    1. We were not planning on stopping but the girls in front of us said they did the race last year and wish they would have stopped. So I guess since they told us to, we did!

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  8. Too funny! A Disney race was also my first and I said I would never run another. Funny how things change, huh?

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    1. Oh I knew right aways I wanted to come back for more!

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  9. So funny how much things change and how they stay the same! Have a great weekend

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  10. That's a pretty awesome way to kick off your running career! My first race involved a cotton t-shirt and pants too.... but no Disney!

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  11. That's a pretty awesome way to kick off your running career! My first race involved a cotton t-shirt and pants too.... but no Disney!

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  12. Love it!!! Sounds like it was a blast and a really fun run. :)

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  13. I laughed at the bit about drinking more water in the 5k than in later half marathons :)

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  14. I cant stop laughing at your race bib up by your chin. haha
    & drinking all the water.
    isn't it funny how you look back & the things you know now.
    You just have to shake your head.

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    1. I laugh every time I see that picture. Apparently I didn't think there was anything wrong with putting it that high!!!

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  15. I love this! I can't stop laughing. We all get wiser with time :)

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  16. OMG you are so cute and I am just cracking up at everything from wearing the cotton race shirt, to the super-high bib placement, to HYDRATE - ahhh, newbies. It's just so cute to be one, to see one, and to know that there's a new person joining the cult of racing. Thanks for sharing!

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  17. This is adorable. I thought everyone who did Disney races knew the characters would be out on the course! I love the high bib and the constant water stops. SO FUNNY. :) I guess we all live and learn!!

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    1. We weren't on social media back then and had never heard of run disney. It wasn't as popular as it is now!

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  18. What a great memory! I don't remember my first 5k, but I'm pretty sure I wore the race shirt, which was cotton back then! There was no chip timing, you tore the bottom part of your bib and they slid it onto a big spindle. Recorded your time as you lined up in the finish chutes. Luckily things have changed since then!

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    1. I remember doing a non-chip timed race like that as well!

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  19. Aw very cute! Girls' trip races are the best, IMO. I had my share of those cotton leggings back in the day. Haha!

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  20. This is so fun! Haha, one of my favorite parts of the Disney race I did was that snack box! :) And I used to wear cotton shirts and shorts while running, too. My dad quickly changed that (thank goodness I had him to guide me!).

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  21. Well, you were just taking the bib part seriously, right? LOL

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  22. This is so awesome!! I really like that you read and put to practice everything in your race guide! and running with family is always way more fun!

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  23. I can totally get reading the race guide/program cover to cover - I do that too! Especially when I'm new at things. :)

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Fairytales and Fitness is a personal blog authored and edited by us, Meranda and Lacey. The thoughts expressed here represent only our own and are not meant to be taken as professional advice. Please note that our thoughts and opinions change from time to time. We consider this a necessary consequence of having an open mind in an ever changing society. Any thoughts and opinions expressed within our out-of-date posts may not be the same, nor even similar, to those we may express today. Some links may contain affiliate links. Some links are just to pages we'd like to share.