Star Wars Dark Side Challenge

In April I'll be running the Star Wars Dark Side Challenge in Disney World. This weekend will consist of a 5k, 10k, and a half marathon over 3 days. Disney has the Star Wars Light Side Challenge in Disneyland. As much fun as the Light Side Challenge sounds, we all know the Dark Side is much better!

©Disney

The medals show are the Kids Races, the 5k, the 10k, Dark Side Challenge, Half Marathon, and the Kessel Run Challenge. You get the Kessel Run Challenge medal if you participated in the Light Side Challenge in January. 

The medals are pretty awesome. I'm excited to participate in this weekend.

I'm also excited to participate because I'm running the 5k for the Catch a Lift Fund.

This fund helps veterans be able to have access to gym memberships or home gym equipment. With the help of others and the physical and mental health benefits from working out, the veterans can get healthier without the use of multiple medications. You can help by clicking this link. 

Wine and Dine Half Marathon Recap

Sunday morning had another early morning. We took the bus instead of the car because the course began at Wide World of Sports and ended at Epcot. It made more sense than taking the car to Epcot and then a bus to WWoS.


Distance:
13.1 miles

Start Time:
5:30 AM

Pricing:
$190
$330 for the Lumiere's Two Course Challenge

Organization:
Great organization like the previous two days. Bag check was still smooth at the beginning and the end.

Course:

The course started at the ESPN Wide World of Sports. 

Starting Line

From WWoS we headed toward Animal Kingdom.

 From Animal Kingdom, we headed to Epcot to finish the race.

The course wasn't my favorite. There are a lot of other ways to get 13.1 miles in at Disney World. I would have rather the half marathon route from Epcot to Magic Kingdom and back to Epcot. I can let it slide though.

Swag:
Long-sleeve tech shirt and medal. Half marathon and Lumiere's Two Course Challenge participants also received a ticket into the after party Sunday night. (You could buy more tickets for family and friends for $79.)

Would I recommend this race?
If you're a Disney fan, any runDisney race is worth it. I didn't make it to the after party as I was getting sick, but I heard mixed reviews about it. I had a great time all weekend even though I was really tired by the end of the weekend.

Wine and Dine 10k Recap

The next day I was up silly early to get out for the 10k. I ended up spending the day after the 5k at Universal Studios and Halloween Horror Nights. I took the bus over to Epcot to do the 10k. I'm familiar with this course from Marathon Weekend and Princess Half Marathon Weekend. There were some photo ops with characters before and after the race, but I decided to wait until after the race to partake.

Distance:
10k

Start Time:
5:30 AM

Price:
$120
$330 for Lumiere's Two Course Challenge

Organization:
Organization was wonderful as expected. Bag check was really quick and easy before and after the run.

Course:

The course starts and ends in Epcot. This is the same course that is used for other 10ks here in Disney World.

Starting Line

After you start, you head out onto the highway before entering into the World Showcase. You exit and head to the boardwalk, running past the BoardWalk Inn, the Yacht Club, and the Beach Club.

You re-enter into Epcot and exit into the parking lot.

Finish Line

The course isn't the best in the first couple of miles. The rest of the course is great.

Swag:
Every participant gets a long-sleeve tech shirt and a participant medal.

Would I recommend this race?
Like all other Disney races of course I would recommend this race.

Mickey's Holiday 5k Recap

The first race of the weekend was Mickey's Holiday 5k! This race was throughout the Animal Kingdom park. The race was great and it was fun to run through a park that you normally don't get to unless you're running the marathon.

There were a lot of photo ops before and after the race. We took them before the race to help pass the time.

Distance:
5k

Start Time:
6:30 AM

Price:
$70

Organization:
As always, the organization was perfect. We drove to the start with little hassle and had plenty of time to get to the starting area. There was water and coffee if you wanted it.

Course:

The course started and ended in the Animal Kingdom parking lot. You spent a lot of time in the park which was great. 

Starting line!

When you got inside the park they had the Tree of Life Comes Alive playing. I have not gotten a chance to see this any other time and it was cool to take it in.

Tree of Life Comes Alive!

Expedition Everest.

Finish line!

Swag;
Every participant got a cotton t-shirt with the race logo on it. Participants also receive a medal.

Would I recommend this race?
This is a great race for everyone. You see a lot of families running together. There's so many great opportunities to take in parts of Disney that you normal can at these events. If you're a Disney fan these are great runs.

Wine and Dine Half Marathon Weekend Expo

A couple weeks ago I was in Disney for the Wine and Dine Half Marathon Weekend! After a couple days of non-race adventures, the first one occurs: THE EXPO! My cousin was also running her first 5k and half marathon, so we got there a little bit early. We started with getting our bibs. I ended up hitting up the race merch in the Field House. I was able to score a stemless wineglass and a wine bottle ornament with very little people.

After that we headed to the Jostens Center to get our shirts and look at the rest of the race merch. I ended up getting the race pins and an "I Did It!" shirt. Someone online had pointed out that when Disney released photos of the merch that inaugural was spelled wrong on a few items. Those items were not available to purchase at the Expo. (This was a big oversight that got a lot of attention. Especially because a lot of this merch was pre-ordered.) After scoring the rest of our goods, we headed to look at the rest of the expo.

Jeff Galloway

I took the time to meet Jeff Galloway, score a couple samples, and find my pacer for the half. (He has really large teeth!)

My pacer for the half!

On the way back to the car we took photos in front of the medal banners. On the 5k medal, Mickey and Minnie are sledding so I had some fun with that photo.

After the expo we were ready to take on a weekend full of running!

Princess Half Marathon Weekend

This post is a little late...okay a lot late. Sorry about that.

I decided after running Dopey last year that I would skip Marathon Weekend and head down to the Princess Half Marathon Weekend in Disney World in 2016. I must say I was really jealous of all the posts during Marathon Weekend, but Princess wasn't that far away.

We arrived in Disney World on Wednesday. This trip we stayed at Coronado Springs. I loved this hotel. It had a more adult feel and less of a Disney one, but the food was amazing there. I would stay here again in a heartbeat.

On Thursday Nate and I headed over to the Expo. I had to get my Glass Slipper Challenge and my 5k bib so I took a little bit longer than Nate just grabbing his 5k bib. I grabbed a couple items that I wanted and headed over to the rest of the Expo. It was a nightmare! To get into the Jostens Center there was a long line. That is fine except that there was 4 different lines going into one. The staff sent people to a line and then other people were yelling at people that they were cutting. I heard stories of fights breaking out. I had gotten a spot to the get a pair of the Ariel New Balance sneakers and decided to not go back based off of the craziness I had endured already.

That night we went to the Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue. I had never been and had only heard great things about it. It was good and I would go back again.

I was ready for bed by the time the show ended. The alarm was set early for the next few days.

On Friday Nate and I headed out for the 5k. This was Nate's first run in Disney and I was happy to share this experience with him. 

These costumes were the coolest!

After the 5k we headed over to Animal Kingdom and had dinner at Be Our Guest. We didn't stay out too late, I had another run in the morning!

Saturday morning I was up again. The alarm is always going off far too soon on these race weekends. Am I right!?! Today was only a 10k right? And we had 'Ohana for breakfast afterwards. I think I was running for the food at this point. The race was the same course as during Marathon Weekend. I knew it wasn't great, but I got through it. 

After breakfast, we went back to the Expo. I guess I just wanted to look at the shoes again. Nate went back to the room to put down our stuff and I headed over to Epcot where Patti LaBelle was doing a book signing. I was told I wasn't guaranteed to get in, but I did! And they made her mac and cheese recipe for us all to try. And it was good!

Sunday was another running morning. I think I've seen more of Disney in the pitch black than in the daylight! I've done this course enough for me to know how it goes. Leave the Epcot parking lot, head to Magic Kingdom, and then back to Epcot to finish. I can't remember much that made me beyond excited. I don't have a lot of pictures during the races. Honestly there were very little princesses out for pictures. The lines for pictures were crazy long. I read a lot of people were disappointed with the lack of entertainment along the course.

Bling.

 I was excited to go to the California Grill for dinner to celebrate after all this running.

I highly recommend this restaurant to anyone and everyone. We had the dining plan, but I would pay for a meal here again. There is a dress code for the restaurant, but it didn't seem like they were that strict on upholding it.

We had some time to hang out without running before we needed to get on a plane home. We made sure to go back to Animal Kingdom. Zootopia was about to come out so I got my picture with this guy.

Soon enough I was home to get back to work and begin my journey to California for the next 2 1/2 months.

Bobby Doyle Summer Classic & a Clam Bake

On Sunday I ran in the Bobby Doyle Summer Classic in Narragansett, RI. I participated in this run last year and really enjoyed it. Narragansett is about an hour and a half from me. Packet pick-up is the day of the race so you have to get there early enough to get your bib number and shirt. The run starts at 9 so we left at around 6:45 to get there in plenty of time. There were a ton of people there when we got there. They really love this race. After finding my bib number I headed into the school to get my bib and my shirt and use the bathroom before the run started.

I didn't discuss my goals for the race except in my own head. Last year I ended up getting sick during the run so that was something I didn't want to go through again. My goal was to beat my time from last year (1:00:18). I started out doing 3:1 intervals. Between mile 1 and mile 2 my right knee started to hurt. I knew I went out to fast and due to lack of training I was not prepared for that. I switched my timer to 2:1 intervals and just kept going. The sky was gray and it was windy this year which kept the temp down. I felt pretty good (besides my knee) the whole race. While I was running I kept going back and forth with this man. (His name was Al because a lot of people were yelling his name.) At one point he was ahead of me. I could always see him, but I told myself to finish in front of him. As we were just about to turn the corner to head to the finish back at the school I got ahead of him and really pushed to the finish. I finished in 56:36.

This years medal!

After the run we headed to Nate's parent's house in Falmouth for a clam bake. (I was having chicken as I don't eat clams or lobsters.) Nate & I ended up taking a nap for a little bit while we were there. I found a CSI: Miami marathon so I got caught up in that. We had a ton of food which was all good. Nate's sister made us all wear lobster hats, which we all just kept on and felt normal in by the end.

Thanks Jess!

And I can officially say that I will be going back to California in May to participate in the Tinker Bell Half Marathon Weekend! 

I'll be participating in the 5k and the Pixie Dust Challenge (the 10k and the half).  I'm excited to head back to California! I want to explore Disneyland more and maybe even meet up with some friends out there. 

Expedition Everest Challenge

This post is long overdue. Sorry for that.

Last month I was back in Disney for the Expedition Everest Challenge! I've always wanted to do this race and this was the last year that it was being offered. Leading up to the race we had very little communication from runDisney. (I actually only saw the race information on the website one day when I was looking for something else.)

Let's start with the expo. The only information about the expo that we received was that it was at the Animal Kingdom on Friday or Saturday. We went to the Animal Kingdom for breakfast at Tusker House on Friday which allowed us time to go get our stuff after that. On the bus there were other people who were running who were not sure where to go either. No one really seemed to know where to go, but we would figure it out. The expo was actually in the parking lot. Usually I take pictures of the expo, but this was so sad that I couldn't even bring myself to do that. The only good part was the quickness of the whole process. There was one tent where we picked up our bibs and shirts.

Then you could buy the I Did It! shirt, pin (same as the pre-order), a lanyard that said runDisney, and a runDisney hat. I picked up another pin and the I Did It! shirt. New Balance was there with the shoes that they released in January. Good Sense was also there handing out samples and coupons. That was it. There was nothing else.

The next day we took it easy until it was time to head back to Animal Kingdom for the race. We got there really quickly and had plenty of time to hang around and take pictures and sign the wall.

 Soon we were at the starting line ready to get our run on!

Along the course there were a few character stops including Chip and Dale and Timon. We didn't stop for anything, but kept going. The first obstacle was jumping over hay barrels. The next obstacle was the tires. This wasn't too bad. I hadn't been drinking enough water while on vacation so I was feeling the humidity really bad. I just kept going though. The final obstacle was going under a net. None of the obstacles were that bad and broke up the run nicely. Soon the 5k was over. (I'm not the only one I saw notice this, but the run was not even 3 miles.)

Once we finished the 5k we got a water, a cold towel, a sharpie with flashlight, and our first clue. 

This was not easy and everyone seemed to have issues. I still am slightly confused about it. As you can see I have lots of numbers on the card. 

The second clue was slightly easier. Or at least I thought so until I saw someone say the answer the carabineer. I'm not sure what happened with my answer, but the guy gave us clue 3 with my jumbled letters.

Carrick was really good at this clue. I just starred at it like it might come to me. Once he said "Mountaineers" it made a lot more sense. 

Clue 4 was also a little strange to me. I tried saying it out loud, but it wasn't exactly happening. I can understand how it becomes elevation, but not really speaking it too much.

Clue 5 was a little better for me! A crossword! Much better. We had to find the words a certain number of times before we could find the answer to this clue. (Keep in mind I had a wrong answer!) Luckily I could start seeing some words forming from the other letters that were not circled. 

I understood that there was a hidden yeti at the finish. In reality we got to the finish and figured out that we needed to hold up the hidden yeti. On the back of the second clue there was a yeti that we needed to hold up to get to the finish line.

Soon we had our medals and were heading to the after party. The medals are really cool. You can open the medal and it is a compass. I do wish there was something to show that it was the last Expedition Everest Challenge, but I love the medal regardless. 

We didn't stay super long at the after party. We did ride Expedition Everest. That ride is so much better at night. It was like riding it for the first time all over again. 

I hope that runDisney brings a similar run back one day. This was a great run for all ages.