Disney Princess Half Marathon Weekend 2013: Part 3 Half Marathon Race

February 24, 2013                                      

This was my second time running Disney's Princess half marathon. After the full Marathon I completed there last month, I thought this was going to be a much easier race. Afterall, it's only half the distance. It was another warm weekend at Disney when I woke up at 3 am. The outfit I chose was a black polka dot skirt with a black tank top. Now I know this is the Princess Race and there are many people that dress up as princesses with tiaras, but for me, I always want to be comfortable when running, so I chose not to go with any costumes. I thought the skirt was enough.

 

I got on the bus at 4 am. The bus ride from Old Key West Resort was not that far from where we needed to be, but there was so much traffic in the morning, which took forever to get dropped off at the Epcot parking lot. After getting off the bus, it was a good mile or so we had to walk to the start. We were suppose to be in our corrals by 5 am if we were in the first corral. So I had a good warm up before the race, because I had to jog to get to my spot. I got there just in time when the National Anthem was being sung. It was a bit rushing around, but it wasn't too bad. By getting there at the last minute, I had no time to think about the race I was about to run. I just had to push play on my Ipod to and start my GPS and I was on my way!

The race started out great. I was making really good time I thought around the 5k mark. Then I was entering Magic Kingdom about mile 5. I gave my family a wave on Main St. where they planned to see me. I ran around the whole park and through Cinderella's Castle, hoping for a great pic from the camera guy (but was not that lucky after seeing my pics). After leaving the Magic Kingdom there was quite of bit of highway that we had to run to get to Epcot. We ran around the countries in Epcot and I knew I was getting closer to the finish, since I just ran the course the day before on the Family 5 K Race. After rounding Spaceship Earth I knew the end was near. In addition, to the 5k race, this was also the same ending for the full Marathon that I ran the month prior. This was the 2nd Princess Race I ran. I did the race in 2012 in 1:57 so if I beat that, I would be happy. But in the back of my mind, I was hoping to do better than 1:50, which  was what I ran the Rock and Roll Half Marathon in Virginia Beach. If I would be able to do that, it would be a new PR for me. I did feel like running the full  and the half so close together, allowed me to remember the end of the course well. I knew when to kick it into full gear and just go! And that's what I did. Finishing in 1:49. Even though it was only by a minute, it was still a new PR for me!

Finishers Medal

Overall, the weekend went well. It was very hot the whole time we were down there. We even went to watch the New York Yankees play the Braves at Wide World Of Sports Complex,

the day before my Half Marathon. Because it was so hot sitting in the sun at the ball game all afternoon, I did feel a bit dehydrated. But I drank plenty of water the rest of the day, and felt just fine the morning of the race. Another great race Disney put on!
 

Glad they brought back the mesh bags this year

 

The day after the race I wore my pin to the theme park and lost it on a roller coaster.  Run Disney was nice enough to send me a new one!

Thanks for reading

 

-L