Official 2016 Disneyland Half Marathon Thread

[camaker]

Congrats to everyone that ran this weekend! I wish I could have joined you, but still got to wish as many people as a I could a great run while at the Expo all weekend long. It's been a blast to see everyone with their medals while at work today ( sorry about the obnoxious girl at Radiator Springs Racers shouting congratulations to everyone if you happened to be there )

That was so long ago at this point. I vaguely remember someone shouting congratulations around there and thinking it was a bit early for congratulations at that point in the race! I just chalked it up to over-enthusiasm and didn't take it as obnoxious at all.

 

[Belle Ella]

That was so long ago at this point. I vaguely remember someone shouting congratulations around there and thinking it was a bit early for congratulations at that point in the race! I just chalked it up to over-enthusiasm and didn't take it as obnoxious at all.

Oh, this would have been well after the race. I was up with the photos from the attraction all morning/afternoon. I was super thrilled to see anyonee wearing their race goodies. Shirts, medals, you name it!

 

[camaker]

BTW, if anyone missed out on the I Did It shirts at the expo they have them in the ESPN Zone store.

 

[Shumshine]

I'm sorry. I never made it that far! After lunch and finishing up my shopping for folks back home I crashed. Hope you enjoy the WoC Dessert Party, though! I'm going to take another run at the DLP fireworks. Fingers crossed they're not cancelled again.

See you over there tonight. When I left this afternoon - there were ppl already camped out.

Had to take a nap after the sun this afternoon, they weren't kidding about this Heat.

 

[camaker]

It's always such a let down when these events end. The adrenaline rush is gone and there's still another day before heading home. It was very nice running into @MommaoffherRocker on the way to dinner last night, though. Good to put faces with screen names!

 

[slpmail]

Just a shout out from a mostly lurker girl to everybody for posting such great info and inspiring stories that kept me going in training. This weekend I finished my first half and first challenge. Stiff and sore but so happy. Dumbo done! Woo hoo!

 

[cdnjason]

What a fantastic weekend! This was the most enjoyable half I've participated in. It has motivated me to doing the Dumbo challenge in the future. I'm also glad to see most of you had a wonderful well.

Side note: the timing of Angel park was perfect. Totally gave me a second wind to help finish strong.

 

[bananabean]

I had an awful race. Pretty much nothing went right and I'm so glad it's over now!!

Congrats to all the participants this weekend!

Also, can I say how much I hate paper FP. I know there are a ton of people that love them, but as someone that hates mornings and often travels solo, they're such a pain!

 

[courtneybeth]

I had an awful race. Pretty much nothing went right and I'm so glad it's over now!!

I'm so sorry to hear that you had a bad race experience. Parts of it were a struggle for me - the mile of classic cars was brutal because people kept shoving around others and were smacking you into the car bumpers.

Sometimes races just don't go how we anticipate - look at Meb Keflezighi's performance in the Olympics. He was a favorite to place in the top 10 and placed in the 30s because he just had a bad race

You'll kill it next race for sure! At least you finished!!!!!!

 

[bananabean]

I'm so sorry to hear that you had a bad race experience. Parts of it were a struggle for me - the mile of classic cars was brutal because people kept shoving around others and were smacking you into the car bumpers.

Sometimes races just don't go how we anticipate - look at Meb Keflezighi's performance in the Olympics. He was a favorite to place in the top 10 and placed in the 30s because he just had a bad race

You'll kill it next race for sure! At least you finished!!!!!!

Thanks @courtneybeth! It was partly a problem of my own making. I didn't feel good before the race started and yet since they were right near me, I decided to run with a pace group that was a bit faster than what I normally run, and that wasn't doing the same intervals. I even skipped picture stops that I definitely wanted (what was I thinking?! This is Disney!). Next race I'm definitely sticking to me own thing!

That really sucks about the classic cars. It wasn't too bad when I was passing (although I did bolt across the street at one point to get a picture of my dream car! But luckily there were no people for me to run into.).

 

[courtneybeth]

@bananabean - I think your pace group story is making me not want to stick with the 3 hour pace group. Their intervals may not be my intervals - and I don't want to get too tired too quickly to meet a specific time. I noticed that they were pushing themselves through the classic car area because they'd be almost walking on the dirt trail to the stadium

Speaking of... I saw people climbing up the walls to get around others on that part. So dangerous!!

 

[*DisneyDreamer]

I hope everyone had an awesome time this weekend! Congrats to all the runners!

 

[camaker]

@bananabean - I think your pace group story is making me not want to stick with the 3 hour pace group. Their intervals may not be my intervals - and I don't want to get too tired too quickly to meet a specific time. I noticed that they were pushing themselves through the classic car area because they'd be almost walking on the dirt trail to the stadium

Speaking of... I saw people climbing up the walls to get around others on that part. So dangerous!!

You can usually find the pace group leader either at the expo or in the corral prior to the start and talk to them about the strategy they're going to be following. If you're doing intervals it'd be good to know if they're going to be running the same. Otherwise I suggest just using them as a benchmark for how your race is going without adding the pressure of keeping up with them.

Was it really crowded in your portion of the pack? This was, to me, the least crowded RunDisney race I've run. It seems crazy that things hadn't spread out by the cars, much less the dirt trail (which was blessedly short). I can't imagine climbing those walls, either! Be patient and pass safely a quarter mile later.

 

[courtneybeth]

@camaker - I was with Corral H and it was pretty tight through the narrow areas of the cars (Cypress Blvd through the railroad track before you turned down the street to enter the Honda Center) and the dirt trail. I don't know why a few people tried to climb walls or were elbowing wildly as they tried to cut through. But that 1.5 mile stretch was pretty tight overall. I think it's just the amount of people combined with excitement of getting to the stadium because going down State College Blvd ... it felt like things were nicely spread out.

 

[penguindan]

BTW, if anyone missed out on the I Did It shirts at the expo they have them in the ESPN Zone store.

Oh, I so wish I would have known that! My partner didn't want to buy one until after the run! I'll keep my eyes peeled for resellers.

 

[camaker]

Oh, I so wish I would have known that! My partner didn't want to buy one until after the run! I'll keep my eyes peeled for resellers.

Be sure and keep an eye on disneystore.com too. They'll sometimes post leftover merchandise there (without the reseller markup).

 

[DisneyMountainWoman]

Man just finished my first Disney run, mom and me did the 10k. We had a blast, thank you guys for all your information. I now have the run Disney bug I think next year I will do the star wars run, cannot do the one coming up though since that is my month I am due. But I think star wars run will give me the motivation to back into shape after pregnancy. I think I will only ever do Disneyland runs though. I really like being able to walk to my hotel after the race vs DW where I would have to take a bus and that is coming from a person who loves and grew up Disney World more.

 

[tigger536]

Add me to the group of people that didn't get a 5K split for the 10K! Glad I'm in good company there!

It was a great weekend! I loved how many characters were out for the 5K! Took that one really easy and stopped for almost every one. I loved the fact that the 10K got out on roads first to spread people out. The cars and angel stadium were two of my favorite parts of the half. Such a great weekend! I will definitely do this one again!

And a big thanks to @Keels for all the great advice and encouragement! I had so much fun catching up with you and can't wait for Dopey!!!

 

[Keels]

Add me to the group of people that didn't get a 5K split for the 10K! Glad I'm in good company there!

It was a great weekend! I loved how many characters were out for the 5K! Took that one really easy and stopped for almost every one. I loved the fact that the 10K got out on roads first to spread people out. The cars and angel stadium were two of my favorite parts of the half. Such a great weekend! I will definitely do this one again!

And a big thanks to @Keels for all the great advice and encouragement! I had so much fun catching up with you and can't wait for Dopey!!!

This was EASILY a top-3 highlight of my weekend! I'm so proud of you for crushing the half, getting a PR and getting your dream Dopey PoT all in one race!

 

[kirstie101]

Congrats to all the runners! I've enjoyed reading your stories. Each and everyone of you is inspiring and I hope to see some of you in January at SW!