Disney Princess Half Marathon Weekend 2012 : Half Marathon Race Day

Princess half marathon


Yesterday we had to get up early for the 5k and this day we had to get up by 3:30 am again. This was my sister first Disney Half marathon. I think I was just as excited as she was even though I was only going to be a spectator. I grabbed my “designer” sign that I made for my sister  Lacey and we all headed for the “event” bus at our resort. I have since learned to make signs that are much easier to pack and transport.

Disney half marathon


 I actually made this sign in three pieces and assembled it once I got to the resort. I even packed my own stapler. I was a little hesitant that I might not be able to bring a loaded stapler
on the plane, but it didn’t seem to be a problem. ( in reality, the tape dispenser that I brought with me had a sharper edge on it than the stapler).
We got off the bus and walked my sister half way through the parking lot at Epcot and then decided it was more important for us to watch her run through the Magic Kingdom than it would be for us to watch her at the starting line (which we probably wouldn’t be able to see her anyway). We waited in line for the monorail to start operating. We were amongst the first groups of people to arrive at the Magic Kingdom. We all ran in with our signs like we were the ones in the race! The cast members were happy to see us. They were waving with their white Mickey glove hands and many of them commented or gave me a thumbs up on my sign! As we entered, the castle was glowing and the music was playing. I started to get teary eyed just knowing that we were allowed in the MK in the wee hours of the morning (us and several hundred other people, but still it felt like such a secret magical experience).
I have to admit that I didn’t get as good of pictures of my sister running through the MK as I hoped I would. Fortunately, my sister is a fast runner, but unfortunately that means that when she runs through the Magic Kingdom and the castle it is still dark out.  Because we were some of the first people in MK, I could have got closer to the castle, but I opted to stay on Main Street at first, just in case I missed her. They had a space roped off in front of the castle, so you couldn’t get that close, but I found that a good spot was on the bridge on the left hand side as the runners are running out of the castle.

princess half marathon
Magic Kingdom in the wee hours of the morning.
Just a little background for those of you who have no idea what this course is like: The starting line is in a parking lot near Epcot, miles 2, 3 and 4 are along Epcot center drive, past the Transportation and Ticket Center, the Polynesian Resort, and Contemporary, mile 5 is just entering the MK. They enter on Main Street on the right hand side by Tony’s Town Square restaurant.  They run all the way down main street take a right through Tomorrow land, through Fantasy land (just the old part), through the castle from the backside, through Liberty Square, and out through frontier Land. So in essence, there are plenty of spaces to watch your runner in the MK. I was able to see my sister run down main street. I got a quick pic, and then had enough time to run further down by the castle and get a pick of her running through. I wasn’t able to get a good pic, but I did see her run by.


running skirt
Lacey running across the bridge in Magic Kingdom

After their runners came through the MK, many spectators went to other sighting points, but we decided to go straight to the finish line and wait there. The finish line was back at Epcot, so we got back on the monorail. I must mention that while we were at the Expo, we signed up for runner tracking. This gave us text messages when our runner hit a certain point. This was so helpful as it prepared us for when our runner was coming through and allowed us to get our camera’s ready. ( but from experience it always ends up that you are never completely ready. I always end up missing that perfect picture!)

disney race
Lacey just before the finish line.

                        

running costume


Her only goal was to finish in less than two hours and she met that goal!


Thanks for reading. Till next time -M


1 comment:

  1. Just beautiful! Being a spectator first, runner second gives you a special appreciation of that relationship;I see you agree!! :DIStherapy

    ReplyDelete

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