Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend

This year, the Disneyland Half Marathon took place on my birthday, Sept 4th. I can't think of a better place to celebrate it than running at the Happiest Place on Earth. I want to thank all my family, friends and the iFitness team for making my dreams come true. If you haven't heard how I got here, check out best birthday present EVER. I am sure you will like my story.

Saturday, Sept 3rd - The Disneyland Health & Fitness Expo

Disneyland Hotel

There is a race for everyone.

Disney Diaper Dash Race (ages: 12 months and under)

I picked up my running shirt and bib.

Notice that my running bib is signed right in the middle? I have a story to tell. After I picked up my running bib and shirt, I headed to the iFitness booth to thank them for my birthday present. First things first, you know. On the way there, I saw Jeff Galloway. I asked him if it was ok to take a picture with him and he replied "Of course". Then, he took the bib out of my hands (probably out of habit) and signed it right in the middle. Oh nooo, I just wanted a picture with him. Silly me, I spent all afternoon thinking "I hope this is not a sign on how the race is going to go tomorrow. Lots of walking"

After this "episode", I met Uri at the iFitness stand. He is actually the owner of the company. He has a Latino accent and smile. I thought he was cubano like my mom but he assured me he is from Israel. Hmmm ... :-) Sorry, no pictures available.

Next stop, the Team Sparkle's booth. I received my Sparkle skirt the day before the race and I wanted to stop by to say hi. I immediately recognized 2 fellow bloggers, The Cupcake Activist and Kelly. I didn't realize that they were part of Team Sparkle. I discovered their blogs a couple of weeks ago as I was searching for running outfits online. Aren't they the cutest?

I also met Snow White and her cute little princess.

I stayed at the expo for a record time: 3 hours. Wow! Then, I headed to the Jazz Kitchen Express in Downtown Disney for a little bit of carb loading.

Sunday, Sept 4th - My birthday. Race Day.
I "woke up" at 3:00 am. I only slept for few hours as my phone kept ringing. It was my family and friends from Spain, who are 9 hours ahead, calling me to wish me a happy birthday and race. My 2 1/2 year old woke up too and gave me the sweetest hug and kiss. He knew were I was going. He told me "mommy, run rrrreally rrrreally fast, like this" while making running moves. I almost melted.

I left my hotel at 3:40 am and walked for 5 minutes to the Anaheim Marriott. I took the bus with hundreds of people from Team In Training. They left us at the entrance of the parks.

We walked through Downtown Disney to a parking lot near the Disneyland Hotel. They had a staging area set up with a DJ booth and some entertainers dressed up like the Toy Story Green Army Men. They did a really good job at entertaining the crowds.

At around 5:00am, we moved from the staging area to the corrals, a 5-10 minute walk. There again, we enjoyed some entertainment along with Mickey and Minnie dressed up in running outfits.

Photo: Mouse Info

The race started at 6:00am, right after the National Anthem and nice fireworks. The corrals were sent off 5 minutes apart. Mine was C. I started at 6:15.

From the starting line, we headed south to Disneyland Drive and made a left on Katella Avenue. After reaching mile 1, we entered the Disneyland California Adventure Park through a backstage area near the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. The "elecTRONica" team was there to greet us with some dancing to pump us up. I didn't stop as I wasn't sure what this was all about but I got to see them later on in the evening. It's a 'tribute" to TRON.

The run through this park was rather short due to heavy construction. Everything was walled up. I thought it was because of the race but I learned, later on, that they are building a Cars Land (opening 2012). I was hoping to see my Disney fictional husband, Mr. Incredible but he wasn't out. He was probably defeating another killer Omnidroid 08 or helping a grandma with her cat. Who knows? Instead, there were Phineas & Ferb as well as Dug from UP. I didn't stop as the lines were too long. Besides, my kids had taken pictures with them the day before.

The mile 2 sign was at the Disneyland Main Street. I said hi to Mary Poppins, Bert and some chimney sweeps. I didn't stop as I already have dozen of pictures with them from previous visits. I was saving my stops for something bigger and better, which came just around the corner, Darth Vader at Tomorrowland. Unfortunately, the force was not with me. The line was so loooong. I gave up after a 10 minute wait. Aghghgh! Ok, let's keep moving. We passed the Matterhorn and Fantasyland. We ran past King Arthur's carrousel where Fauna, Flora and Merryweather were waiting for us.

We ran through the Sleeping Beauty Castle and headed to Frontierland. We went backstage and came back to Toon Town. We ran by "It's a small world" to another backstage area where they keep the horses when they are not on stage. I am just going to say "horse manure". OMG! Then we came back to Disneyland Drive. It was already mile 4. What? Are we leaving the Disney parks already? Where are my pictures? Is this it?

The next 3 miles were through the streets of Anaheim. It is at this stage of the race where I usually pick up some time, but I couldn't do it this time around. It was quite boring. Yes, there were some performances along the way to keep runners entertained (Polynesian dancers, mariachis, high school bands, cheerleaders, etc...).Still, the industrial-looking neighborhood was not appealing.

At mile 7-8, we reached the Honda Center Hockey arena, home to the Anaheim Ducks. We made a right into the Santa Ana River trail. The path was narrow and sandy. I had a big smile on my face as I saw the Angel Stadium at this point. I was excited again. At mile 9, we were at the stadium. This was the highlight of the race. I turned off the music, as I wanted to hear the people cheering from the stands. I spent all time running and looking at the Jumbo tron, as they had the camera focused on the runners. I wanted to take a picture but I couldn't spot the Jumbo tron camera.

The mile 10 sign was around the stadium. I thought "mommy, run rrrreally rrrreally fast, like this. Only 3.1 miles to go". At mile 11, right by the I-5 underpass, there were hundreds and hundreds of cheerleaders waiting for us. One of them screamed "Come on, Mrs. Incredible. You can do it" hahaha. At mile 12, we went to another California Adventure backstage area. Not much to see. Soon, we reached the Paradise Pier hotel and I knew we were really close to the end.

My goal for this race was to have fun. It was my birthday after all. I didn't try to PR but to take lots of pictures and enjoy the ride. Well, I didn't take as many pictures as I wanted to but I had the BEST time of my life. I am very happy. I ended up PRing too.

Clock Time 2:19:42
Chip Time 2:09:39
Overall Place 2507 / 12785
Gender Place 1008 / 8368
Division Place 172 / 1241
Age Grade 52.2%
5K 29:44
10K 1:00:48
15K 1:31:31

Post race

Delicious juicy oranges

Nothing like a free Massage after a race

My Pixar buddies

The Team Sparkle girls

Things I wish I would have done:
- Taken more pictures. I didn't realize that the run inside the park is only 3 miles long.
- Eaten before the race. I didn't have breakfast this morning. I was hungry.
- Signed up for the Star Tours 5K race. It took place the day before. Want to know how big of a fan I am of Star Wars? I almost called my kids, Luke and Leia. I love the combo Disney and Star Wars.

- Stayed at the California Adventure Hotel. The Courtyard Marriott was very nice but the Disney hotels are conveniently located, right at the park, right in downtown.

This race was extremely well-organized. Disney really knows how to throw a party. Now I am looking forward to Tinkerbel Half Marathon Weekend. It's also going to be a special one since both of my kids are running it.