Disney Princess Half Marathon

The Disney Princess Half Marathon was February 24. I finished without being swept, so that’s good. I don’t know why I’m not more excited, but that’s life. I checked my official time and I finished in 3 hours, 36 minutes and 1 second. Could I have finished faster? Absolutely! But then I wouldn’t have all these cute pictures to show you.

The fear of being swept was my biggest motivating factor of the whole race and I couldn’t find an explanation on-line that described the process, so now that I know how it works, I will share. Every mile marker has a billboard (I didn’t take pictures of any of them, my bad, I know) (For the record, the billboards showed a drawing of a princess and her prince and their landscape in the back ground, and then a big digital timer next to the billboard that showed the elapsed time since the beginning of the half marathon.) and that is where the sweepers will announce that you have fallen behind. The timer for the sweepers starts once the last person crosses the starting line. There are several waves of runners, but the sweepers only sweep at the end. They will not pull individuals out of the pack for not maintaining the minimum 16 minute miles. (So if you run a race and there will be a time limit, when they ask you how long it will take you to finish, say it will be the fastest time that does not require proof of time. [For the DPHM, it was 2:45, so I should have put 2:46 as my estimated time to finish, but I didn’t. Oops. At least I got it part-away correct at the expo.]) That will put you in a higher corral (for some reason my friend was pronouncing “choral” instead of “corral- like corral the horses”, so that’s the pronunciation we used. I have no idea which is correct.) The sweepers travel on bicycle and once it is determined that the 16 minute per mile pace is not being maintained, they will plant an orange warning flag at the mile marker billboard. If you get ahead of the sweepers, you are safe until the next mile. If you do not, you are eligible to be swept.

When I left Sandy’s house in the morning I was wearing both of my shirts, yoga pants, and flip flops. I think I put my contacts in while we were still at her house, but honestly can’t remember.  I know I drank some orange juice and then brushed my teeth. I can’t remember if I took a Claritin, but felt it kick in once we got to Epcot, so I’m assuming I did. We got to the parking area at (like) 3:15 am. The weather report said thunderstorms at 6 am, so I carried a poncho on me during the half marathon.

I put on my shoes and tutu in the Epcot parking lot, ate my bagel and magic beans (They are jelly beans that "give you extra energy". I have no idea if they work or not, but I figured magic beans fit in with the theme of a Disney race.), and put on coat of nail polish on my fingers (bright pink with sparkles, love it!). We dropped off my keys at bag check, (so that’s what the bumper sticker with my bib number on it was for. I was supposed to put it on the clear bag I got at the expo and hand everything over. Oh well. They had extra bags and a permanent marker.) and headed to the corrals after a stop at the port-o-potties.

(Here Sandy and I are pre-half marathon and pre-sunrise.)

The push wheelchair group was the first group to start, followed by corral A. I think that the official timing started with corral A. While we were waiting for the half marathon to start, we watched the hosts on the big screen. 

There were a few hosts and apparently Sean Astin (Rudy from Rudy, Mikey from The Goonies, Samwise from Lord of the Rings) was there, too. Men were not allowed in the first corral since this is a female skewed event; there are no awards for men either. I don’t know if Mikey, I mean Sean Astin, was running or cheering, either way it was a welcome distraction. The wheelchair group started at 5:30, corral A started at 5:35, and the rest of the corrals started 7 minutes apart (B started at 5:42, C started at 5:49, etc.). Each corral had it's own fireworks send off.

I had RunKeeper and my Disney playlist ready to go and I started them both at 6:10. I set RunKeeper to give me quarter mile updates and did my best to keep Sandy in sight. The first song my Disney playlist played was “Go the Distance” from Hercules. Totally appropriate! (I am on my way, I can go the distance! I don’t care how far, somehow I’ll be strong. I know every mile will be worth my while.)

I kept up with Sandy for the first mile, but she is faster than I am, so when she got ahead, I wasn’t concerned. She usually runs a minute or two faster than I do per mile. First mile down, no worries; second mile, a little slower than I’d like, but still not worried.

I started to worry during the third mile. The temperature was in the 70s and the humidity was in the 80s. I was suffering! I tried taking off my shirt while running and failed, so I pulled over so I could take off my tiara, arm band, and top shirt, so I could get my long sleeved undershirt off. (I always wear long sleeves while running so that my arm band doesn’t rub. But at that point, it was a blister and a bruise, or not finishing.) It took about two minutes to get everything off and to get everything back on so I could keep going. (I was already carrying sunglasses, a poncho, and a water bottle. There was no way I could juggle all that and strip and keep running.)

(Sign that would have been more helpful had I seen 

it before the half marathon rather than after.)

(Picture I took of my arm bruise)

Mile four is on Magic Kingdom property. There was a cast member with a "Go the Distance!" sign and he was waving giant Mickey hands. I totally smiled! (I had to remind myself to smile whether I felt like it or not because this was awesome and I worked hard to train for it.)

Mile five was either inside the park or about to be. We came in through the backstage area by Tony’s Restaurant. 

I tried taking two different self-photos on Main Street heading to the castle, but neither turned out. Another runner stopped and asked if I’d like her to take my picture. So grateful! Her picture turned out so much better than mine. 

We ran through Tomorrowland into Fantasyland. (There was a runner dressed up like Tim Burton’s Mad Hatter, and I asked him if I could take his picture. I think he was flattered; I make sure it wouldn’t make him mad. [I am hilarious!]  That was the only photo stop I made where I stopped for a picture of another runner and not the characters. For the record, it was Alice and the White Rabbit right next to the Mad Tea Party ride. [Spinning teacups]). 

We exited Fantasyland through the castle. There were trumpeters on the balcony (I thought somebody was going to come out and they were announcing their arrival. Sandy stated later that they were just trumpeters, still cool though.)

At the base of the castle I got in line to take a commemorative overpriced photo that they could add Tinkerbelle to, but after a minute of the line not moving, I told myself I needed to keep going in order to finish without being swept. (Getting bumped up two corrals bought me 14 minutes and there was no way I was going to swept over a stupid mistake like waiting for a photo, especially after buying the “I did it!” merchandise the previous day.) The path continued from the center of the park over the Liberty Square bridge where something miraculous happened: a breeze! The Rivers of America and the open store fronts colluded to produce a breeze and it was glorious. We exited near Splash Mountain though the float storage area.

We got back to the main road for mile six and passed the Polynesian Resort and a golf course on the way. Miles seven, eight, and nine were the same as three, two, and one, but from the opposite side of the road. (The only addition was a snack table near mile 8. It was a weird, gummy/jelly thing. Kind of like liquid sugar in one of those newfangled apple sauce packets. It was a distraction and purportedly an energy booster. Any thing to distract my mind from the task at hand.)

Mile ten is the mile I had been warned about. It was an on-ramp and it was steep. I walked it. At this point in the half marathon, people were still pretty close to one another. Some people were so tired that they were still walking once it leveled out. I kept running. (Just keep moving forward. Combination of "Just keep swimming," from Nemo and "Keep moving forward," from Walt himself.) And by running, I mean shuffling. (Oh my goodness, the shuffling! I swear, my feet were not expecting that. The tops of my toes were numb from rubbing against my sneakers. They were not expecting that.) That's when I saw mile eleven. I heard there was only one big obstacle: the on-ramp. They forgot to warn me about the overpass! The overpass was just as brutal, but without a warning. I walked that, too.

(Entertaining shirt worn by fellow runner.)

The end of eleven had us within site of Epcot. (yay! almost done!) At this point, my mind was screaming you're not almost done, there are not two miles left, there are a full three miles left. You have to finish! I really wanted to keep walking after the on-ramp and overpass, but I knew that I would be in danger of being swept, because there was no way I was going to be moving at more than 25 minutes a mile if I allowed myself to walk.

(More entertaining shirts. "Hey Statler, there's nothing like a good run."

"Yes Waldorf, but this is nothing like a good run." "Ha ha ha ha ha.")

We entered Epcot halfway (ish) into mile twelve through a Cast Member only area (loved that we kept doing that!) and ran through the front section of the park. I remember running past Coke Station Cool (or whatever it's called these days. I remember when it opened and you walked through a cooler with snow. That's been gone for a long time.) but can't remember if the World's Fountain was on or not. We ran towards Worldshow Case (past a comedic Fairy Godmother) and turned around where the big Christmas tree is at Christmas time.

Almost done. Almost done. Just keep running forward!

There were already guests in the park at this point, and they were cheering us on! That was awesome. (Actually, there were lots of people who paid to be on the half-marathon path. Their signs were amazing. I pretended they were cheering me on personally more than once.) I can't remember where we exited the park, but I knew once I saw the choir we were almost done. My RunKeeper told me I'd already run 13.1 miles at that point and I was ready for Disney to agree. (I think all the pulling over to the side I did really added up. It was worth it. I love my pictures. Too bad I was too impatient on a few of them, I pulled over but kept going before the picture was actually taken. Oh well.)

Finish sign. I see it! A dream is a wish your heart makes from Cinderella was playing on my phone. ("If you keep on believing, the dream that you wish will come true." It did! I finished my half marathon.) Mickey and Minnie were dressed up as royalty on opposite sides of the sign. I went under it to officially end the half marathon (I wanted to end it in my mind: it's not official until I cross, but I'm not sure if I made it to a timing mat.) and end RunKeeper. Seconds after I saved my results on RunKeeper, my phone died. Thank goodness I was able to save first! Then I went back though the arch to take a picture with Minnie (she was closer). She loved that we were dressed similarly. (I love when characters do that! Last time I had my picture taken with Mickey, he saw that I was wearing a Mickey necklace and was super excited about it.)

So tired, so sore, so tired. I was dragging myself around at this point. I picked up a banana, a water, and a runDisney box. 

I tried looking for Sandy, but it was so packed and I had no idea where to start. I picked up my keys and then started looking for her on the exit side of the personal-property tent. Then it occurred to me that I should have looked for her on the other side. Dragged body back to the other side. (Where I saw super doper long lines of people waiting to get on the buses back to their resorts.) No lines for the port-o-potties, so I decided to use one. I had to ask a stranger to help me find the knot on my tutu so I could get it off. Still no Sandy. Walked to the merchandise tent, found her there! (We said we would meet up at the car as a last resort, so I wasn't worried.) She had texted me, but obviously I didn't get it. I was glad to be done, but Sandy was excited about doing it again next year. She enjoyed herself. I think I proved to myself that I am super lazy and not a runner. Oh well.

(Victory photo!)

(I earned this medal!)

I read a few blog posts that said they expected more from Disney entertainment wise. I think they did a pretty good job. In addition to the mile markers (which were photo worthy), they had people on the course waving kites on sticks at two different points (which you passed there and back, so saw four times total), they had characters posing for photos (The Princes, Jack Sparrow and Barbosa with their pirate ship, The Villains, Mulan and Mushu, Princess Atta under her billboard, and more. There was something to distract your mind every half mile [Yes, I’m including water and Powerade stations.] and there were always the other runners to talk to or gawk at. I think Disney put on a great run and yes, I will probably do it again. I just hope I learn to like running before then.

DPHM expo

The DPHM expo was the day before the DPHM. It was at the Coronado Springs Resort. We had to park at Downtown Disney and take a shuttle to the expo. The expo opened at 9, and the shuttles were supposed to start running 30 minutes before the expo opened. We got to Downtown Disney before 8 and my friend wanted to walk to Coronado Springs instead of waiting for the shuttle. She pulled it up on her phone, and the maps said it was 1.2 miles away. I said, sure, I’ll walk that, no problem. Luckily for us, a Cast Member saw us in the parking lot looking at the phone and asked if we needed help. We told her we were about to walk to Coronado Springs. She suggested against it, and stated that it was a really far walk. My friend was like, well, I’m running 13.1 miles tomorrow, soooo it’s not that far. I tried explaining to the Cast Member that the map said it was 1.2 miles. The Cast Member (super professional the whole time) was like, it’s not recommended and stated that it was considered an Animal Kingdom resort. That was enough for me; I know enough to know that Animal Kingdom means super doper far away. We thanked her and waited for the shuttle. The shuttle actually started running early and we got on no problem.

When it dropped us off at the resort, there were already about 100 people in line before us. There were two lines, one to go directly into the expo and one to purchase the New Balance Disney running shoes. Fewer people were in the shoe only line (obviously) and only a few sizes were left. (If I remember correctly, it was 8 and under for women, and 7 and under for men.) After every few shuttle drop offs we would look behind us, by the time the expo opened, there were at least a thousand people behind us. We waited in line until 9 am exactly and then we allowed into the expo. As soon as we walked in, there were Cinderella’s Coachmen taking pictures with guests in front of a castle background. I told Sandy I wanted to stop on the way out to take a picture with them. I was not about to waste our advantage of getting in before everyone else to blow it on a photo opp.

We walked on to the convention floor and went straight to bib pick-up. The person who was handing out bibs was taking forever! There was one person in front of us, but it felt like it took forever for him to get her everything she needed so we could go. Finally it’s our turn, he gives us our bibs, makes sure our names are correct and that the trackers match the front of the bibs. 

(Commemorative race bib, team name, "Point us to the beer."

Then we had to go to the exact opposite side of the convention center (past the beer and wine vendors!) to pick up our included shirts. I got my shirt no problem, but my friend Sandy ordered a men’s size shirt, so while one person was getting the correct size, she was handed an additional incorrect size shirt (free shirt!). 

Included with the shirt was a pink mesh backpack, so I took a minute to shove everything in there before we headed to the official merchandise tent. (I hate having my hands full or too many things to keep track of!)

The official merchandise tent was packed! They were selling (like) 5 different t-shirts, one said something like, “Sorry Charming, gotta run” and another was a child’s size and read, “My mommy ran the DPHM”. They were selling DPHM zipped up cotton jackets, wine glasses, head bands, vinylmation, pins, and Dooney and Bourke was there with the limited edition Princess purses. (I was joking with Sandy while waiting to be let in that there was no way I was going to buy one, even if they weren’t sold out, because I couldn’t just drop that kind of money on a bag without thinking about it in advance.) Sandy said before we got into the official merchandise area that she wanted the shirt that showed the course map. They had way more of these shirts than any other kind in there and we each got one. (I know myself well enough to know that if she bought one and I didn’t that every time she wore hers, I would be sad that I didn’t get one. So I did!) 

(Front of shirt)

(Back of shirt)

We kept looking around and eventually decided we were done. The line to check out was long (obviously!) and I told her to talk me out of buying a purse. She’s like, “No, I won’t do that. They’re awesome.” We were the next people about to check out as soon as a register opened and I jumped out of line, grabbed a purse and went to check out. (I didn’t even look inside! I have no idea what the lining looks like, if the zipper works, etc. Total impulse purchase. Edit, opened the bag, it's the same light blue cloth inside as my other D&B Disney bag. The zipper, however, is not the same awesome multicolored kind, new bag has a gold zipper.) 

As soon as my transaction finished, I remembered to ask if I would get a discount for using my Disney Chase Visa. Poor girl has to cancel everything, get a manager, the manager was confused, finally got the previous transaction voided and paid for it on my Disney Chase Visa. (And yes, before I bought it, I checked the return policy. I have 30 days to bring it back to any merchandise store on Disney property.)

When we finished paying we noticed that the official merchandise tent was considerably less crowded than it had been when we were shopping. We exited the tent and saw a line outside of the official merchandise tent. We verified that there was now a line to get in the tent and it was an hour long!

Sandy and I wandered around the expo, took advantage of the yogurt sample, and then headed to the Runners Relations table to see if we could be bumped up to an earlier corral. There was a cast member who was making sure that the people getting in line were supposed to. I asked her if it was possible to be moved to an earlier corral and explained that I didn’t have proof of time from a run, but did have my RunKeeper app. She said it had to be a timed run, and then SHE LEANED IN. (The lean-in is amazing, it’s like getting a new friend in an instant. I love the lean-in.) She said we might as well stand in line and ask one of the people when we got to the front. We waited in line for a few minutes and Sandy explained it to the new cast member. The new cast member said there was nothing she could do, and then she said that if she was going to be nice and we were going to be nice, then she would be able to bump us up. We took out our race bibs and she put a sticker over the previous corral letter. (Originally H. AKA the last corral.) The stickers were for F. I was so excited to be bumped up a corral. (So excited, in fact, that I didn’t realized that F was two corrals higher, not just one. Sorry G, I forgot all about you in the excitement.)

(Official half marathon bib, post half marathon, with magical corral F sticker)

After that, we walked around the expo some more and it was pretty crowded, and we’d done everything we needed to, so we left. The line to get pictures with the Coachmen was long, so we skipped it. The bus back to Downtown Disney was out front waiting, and we were the last two people on. We didn’t get to sit together because the bus was full, but we were only two rows apart. Both of us made friends with the people around us (so unlike us). My seat-mate was from Michigan, ran the 5k earlier in the day, and was picking up her packet for the half marathon the following day. The whole family came down from Michigan for the half marathon, they rented a 5 bedroom house, and were planning on spending a week going to the theme parks. Sandy made friends with the guy sitting directly behind me in a UF jersey (Go Gators!). He waited in the New Balance line and then tried to register for the DPHM, but all the spaces were full. (Yeah, they were full months ago! Jeez.) But his shoes were adorable. (The color scheme was not great: bright red, yellow, and black. It looked very Ronald McDonald to me, but whatever.) There were little Mickey heads around the edge of shoe. His girlfriend also bought shoes and it was like pulling teeth to get her to show them off. They were not nearly as cute. Where the boys’ shoes had Mickeys, the girls’ shoes had polka dots. I thought they needed bows to go along with the dots.

Sandy and I went to lunch, then ran errands all afternoon and went to dinner at 5 to “carb-load”. Sandy’s husband, Joe, joined us for lunch, errands, and dinner. As soon as we finished dinner, Sandy and I took sleep aids and were in bed by 7 pm in order to wake up at 2 am for the half marathon.