A RunDisney recap

[stephm0188]

A little something different for you all. We did the RunDisney Star Wars weekend in DL in January over MLK weekend.

Registration: We registered back in June for the races. Registration for these things is a bit crazy. The challenges sell out in minutes!  I registered for the Rebel challenge (10k plus half marathon) and registered my son for the 5k and kids race. My husband registered for the 5k and Rebel Challenge.

Fast forward to January.

We flew in Wednesday evening and checked into the Anaheim HoJo. It was kitchy and clean. Staying at DL is such a different experience than staying at WDW, but it wasn't bad. Just different.

Thursday morning: We woke up pretty early in an attempt to stay on EST. We walked from HoJo to DLR, cutting through Downtown Disney to get to Disneyland Hotel for the expo. The expo started at 10am, but we left the hotel around 7:45. We stopped briefly in DTD for breakfast before heading to get in line for the expo.

When we arrived at Disneyland Hotel at around 8:30, we were queued inside one of the ballrooms to wait in line for the official RunDisney merchandise. They were playing Star Wars movies for the people who were waiting, so time passed pretty quickly. They started escorting the lines downstairs at around 9:40. We ended up getting into the RunDisney merchandise booth at 10:30. It was a bit crowded in there. The best advice I can offer is that if you think you might want something, grab it.

After we bought our stuff, we headed to the KT Tape booth so my husband could get taped, then we went downstairs to grab our bibs and shirts. We split up after that- he took the kid and headed to buy the tickets while I hiked back to the hotel to drop off all our gear. We met up again outside DL and spent most of the day there in the park.

Friday: 5k morning. We woke up around 3:30 to get ready and headed out the door at 4:00. Start time was 5:30. The walk to the corrals wasn't too bad from HoJo. The kid and husband were in corral B, but were a bit disappointed to find that a lot of the character lines closed before they ever reached them. They took photos together elsewhere in the parks, but the kid was pretty disappointed.

After the 5k, we went back to the hotel to shower and change, then headed to California Adventure to wait for rope drop. Spent a good portion of the day there before heading back to the hotel around 6:30 to get some rest.

Saturday: 10k day. Same deal- up at 3:30, out the door at 4:00. We were in the corrals at 5:00. I had a corral B placement. My husband had an A, but he dropped back to run with me so we could get pictures together on the course. His knee was bothering him a lot, so we dropped our pace quite a bit. The 10k course was great and almost entirely within the parks. One of the biggest complaints I've heard about RunDisney events is how congested they are, but that wasn't the case for us.  We had plenty of space to move about without any issues.

After the 10k we went back to the expo so he could get his knee retaped, took our kiddo to his kid's race, then spent the day exploring DTD and taking advantage of HoJo's cool splashpad.

Sunday: Half Marathon day and the last portion of the Rebel Challenge. Same wakeup time as before. Husband's knee was really bothering him so he decided to stick with his corral A assignment to allow himself those few extra minutes. I was in corral B, but started toward the front. I had felt pretty great during the 10k and told him I'd probably catch up with him on the course. 

And then things didn't go so well. My stomach started cramping right as we started was pretty upset for the majority of the race. If it had been a training run at home, I would have thrown in the towel before mile 1. Not an option here, so I toughed it out. I ran up until miles 10, but at that point being sick had caught up with me and I was drained. I started doing intervals until mile 12, then ran the rest. I never did see my husband during the race, but he only finished a few minutes ahead of me. The course was not my favorite for the half.

After the race we went back to the hotel to shower and change, then spent the day napping and recovering.

We headed back to Disneyland on Monday and then headed back home.


We're doing the Dark Side challenge in April at WDW. I can't wait to see how it compares to our DL weekend.

[ksun]

I'm sorry the half didn't end up being so great. I did the Tink Half 2 years ago (not the 5K or 10K, just the half). Disney does such a great job with the runDisney events!

[OscarQ]

Thanks for sharing. Please post after the Dark Side half too. I'm hoping to do the Princess half next Feb.

[juliej]

Good luck on completely your Kessel Run! I'm jealous of those medals.

And my trigger finger is itching for AP registration for Wine & Dine next week – rumor has it they're adding a 10k and moving the 5k (and possibly the half, which I'd hate because I loved running it at night) so it's a full weekend of events like the other races.

[taratru]

I'm dyyyyying for a Disney race. I haven't done one since 2014. Yikes. Great job on the challenge!

[alleinesein]

I was up there that same weekend but I didn't run. I stayed in bed while my friends ran the 10k.

We hit the merch area around 2:30pm on Thursday and the line had died down so I think we waited less than 5 minutes to get in. They still had a ton of stuff available so we were able to get what we wanted.

This was the first year that we went up on Thursday and it was so nice to be able to check out the expo without having a ton of people in there. I managed to walk up to NB and get a pair of new shoes (got the Dumbo ones) whereas in the past they have had no appointments left.

We stayed at the Grand in one of the DVC Villas. It is very convenient since the corrals are just outside the hotel doors. We own there and our use year starts in February so we can jump on our 11 month home resort priority window. I already have our rooms booked for next year's run. I am going to attempt to do the 5k; I am not a fan of running but I can speed walk/slow jog and still be under the time requirement. The rest of the group that I go with will most likely do the 10k again.

It will be interesting to see what next year's course is like since they are starting construction on Star Wars land next month.

[Deleted]

I want to do a Disney race so bad! Maybe in 2017 or 2018.

Congrats on doing the challenge and sticking through the half even though you felt sick!!!