Let's back up a minute, shall we? Travel back with me...all the way to February of 2021 and our should-have-been-princess-half-marathon-trip. (Ok that wasn't that long ago...but still...it feels like it!) I was registered to run the Fairy Tale Challenge, then added the 5K later on once I saw that it was Ariel themed. I decided to run the half marathon at home the weekend before we left for the trip, then complete both the 5K and 10K while at Disney.
Bibs and mile markers were printed ahead of time and brought along with me. I also loved this new shirt from Sparkle Athletic, so I went a little on the "Tiana inspired" side for this 10K!
The trail around Pop Century and Art of Animation is a beautiful one to run first thing in the morning. It's also a longer-ish trail, so you don't have to make quite as many loops to get all of your mileage in.
I felt kind of silly because I completely forgot about the Little Mermaid section at Art of Animation! I could have taken all of my 5K photos there the day before. Whomp whomp. Oh well!
Today it is! :)
The sunrise was breathtaking and the weather was perfect during this run. It truly was a beautiful morning!
I also managed to bump into a few slacker friends of mine! It was so nice to see them! (Check them out here and here.)
I love running super early, before the skyliner is running!
Before I knew it, I was done!
Although this experience of running Disney was 100% different from the norm, it was nice to have other runners out there, cheering each other on! That aspect made it feel not quite so different after all!
Now that live racing is returning to Disney, we are planning to run Princess once again, this time in 2022! What about you? What's the next race on your runDisney list?
With our Disney trip still in the works despite the virtual switch of the Princess Half Marathon weekend, I knew I still wanted to save some of the races for our time on actual Disney property. Although I'd only initially registered for the Fairy Tale Challenge alone, I added on the 5K after the virtual switch. I'll admit, it was the theme that got me. Prior to this, I didn't own any Little Mermaid runDisney anything!
The night before my run, I took a look at the running route around Pop Century which mostly included the path around Hourglass Lake (roughly 1.3 miles).
Off we go!
Character "stops" anyone? Well, I found a few! It never dawned on me that I could have taken some of these photos in the Little Mermaid section at Art of Animation. (face palm)
The Skyliner began operating during my run and it was so beautiful and peaceful in the morning!
Mile 2...almost done!
...and with that, my Disney Princess 5K was done! I'll admit, it was nice not having to wake up at 2:30 a.m., take a bus and sit in a random parking lot for an hour waiting on a race to begin. With that being said though, I really really miss runDisney!!
Throughout this run, I encountered so many runners who were out there doing the same as me...running bibs, costumes, sparkle skirts, and all! Everyone was so encouraging and friendly, and there was even a group out there handing out bananas to runners! Even though it wasn't a "true" runDisney event, these little elements sure made it feel like "home" and it made for an amazing and memorable experience.
The Disney Princess Half Marathon was held over the weekend of February 21-23, 2020. This was a race that blew my expectations out of the water and I loved every second of it!
To begin, I expected to run this race solo, and I was 100% ok with that. Imagine my surprise when I ran into my friend Mindy who asked if I'd like to run together? Absolutely!! What was set to be "another Princess Half" for me became a race full of memories and one that I'll always hold near to my heart!
I'm getting ahead of myself here...let's back up to 2:30 a.m. on the morning of the race...
When I tell you I had zero costume inspiration for this race, I literally mean it. Instead of trying to force something I just wasn't feeling, I dug in my closet and found a Raw Threads shirt I hadn't yet worn for a race yet. It was Belle themed, so I pulled out a yellow Sparkle Skirt (now Boulder Athletic) and topped it off with a Belle themed Sweaty Band! I was good to go! :)
I made it on an early bus which I liked because the time waiting in traffic wasn't very long. Once we made it to the drop off area, I wandered around for a few minutes until I heard the announcement that the corrals were open.
...and off I went!
Once I arrived at corral B, I realized just how early I was! The corral was almost empty which worked to my advantage. After standing for a few minutes playing on my phone, I saw that my friend Mindy was also in corral B. It had been a while since I'd seen her and I wanted to say hi, so I started scanning the small crowd. It wasn't long before I spotted her hat!
Yay! Hi friend!!
We spent the remainder of our time talking in our corral and then just as the race was about to begin, she asked if I wanted to run with her. I was so nervous about my hamstring and I knew she was a faster runner than I am, but I said yes and prayed for the best. I knew she liked to stop for all the characters too, so I hoped the occasional stop would be to my hamstring's advantage. (I'm happy to report that it was!)
Before long, we were off!
Our first stop was at mile 1 with the mice from Cinderella.
We found out later that this was one of the stops you would also pass on the way back and both mice were out for pictures during our second pass. We missed it - oh well.
These ladies were HILARIOUS! Because this race held a Cinderella theme, there were so many runners themed as Cinderella - Mindy included. I took my picture after Mindy and as I ran up to the Evil Stepmother, she said "Oh thank God it's BELLE! I couldn't handle another Cinderella! They're everywhere!" I died, y'all. So funny!
One thing I appreciate about runDisney is the changes they now frequently make with the character stops for each race weekend. For so long, Captain Jack Sparrow (Pirate ship included) and group of Princes were always two of the stops in this area. Although I love both experiences, I've seen them several years in a row, so it was nice to have this change!
As we approached this sign, I told Mindy that I was excited because I'd never made it to the Magic Kingdom while it was still fairly dark out and I always wanted to. She said we were going to remedy that during this race and she was right!
Along the way, there were several princess themed carriages out for photos. This one happened to belong to Rapunzel!
The drummers were out again at the TTC. I always love hearing them play!
The bridge by the Contemporary is a beast, but we managed it!
Goal met! Yay!
I love the crowd on Main Street! It's always so magical (and I truly mean that)!
In Tomorrowland, we spotted Lewis from Meet the Robinsons! I was so excited to see him as this is one of my favorite Disney movies!
It was here that Mindy and I ran into one of our fellow southern running friends, Joe. He happened to be the one who paced me for the Louisiana Half the year I ran a sub 2 and it was so great to see him again! What I didn't know was that running into him (literally) would be a recurrent theme for the next several miles!
Dopey was hanging out in New Fantasyland!
While waiting for Rapunzel at the castle, we ran into Joe yet again. I knew we had to snag a quick photo because I wasn't sure if we'd see him again during the race. (We did...several times! Hah!)
How fun is this castle photo of all three of us? I love it!
What's a Princess Half without a jumping castle photo? :)
Chip and Dale were out for photos in Frontierland and I'm still trying to figure out why Dale is standing so far away from me! During these character photos, everything is so fast paced, it's hard to get a perfect placement. (This photo still makes me laugh, though.)
After leaving the Magic Kingdom, I was surprised to see zero line where there's usually a huge one. We quickly realized it's because this area was a parade float only without any characters out front.
The line for Princess Atta was fairly short, so we jumped in it.
Then, just as we approached the Grand Floridian, I spotted them...the Fairy Godmothers!!
If you read my recap from the Enchanted 10K the day before, it was while waiting in line for these ladies that I almost got swept from the course. I was so nervous while standing in this line during the half but we got the picture and didn't see any balloon ladies in the process! YAY!
I was also surprised (and grateful) to see that they were back on the half marathon course because runDisney doesn't always duplicate characters. They do sometimes, but not always. In this instance it made sense, because the theme for the Fairy Tale Challenge was the Fairy Godmothers. Regardless of all of that, I was very grateful to see them out on the half course, too!
Cinderella and Prince Charming were also out for photos, just outside of the Grand Floridian.
I was surprised to see a few villains out for this race! Jafar from Aladdin was there as well as Shan Yu from Mulan.
This guy cracked me up. He very firmly pointed at me, then pointed at the ground next to him as if to say "YOU! Stand here!" Yes sir, I didn't argue! :)
The next few miles were pretty sparse, but that's where having a running buddy came in handy. It was so nice to have Mindy to talk to while we ran our way to Epcot!
These fairies were just around the bend into Epcot. We were almost there!
Of course I couldn't pass up my traditional Mile 12 sign!
Bolt was in Future World and it was so neat to see him! (Yet another rare character!)
Speaking of rare? Well, we managed to also snag a photo with Panchito in Mexico!
As we neared the finish line, a feeling of gratitude overtook me. I was grateful to have a friend to run this race with, grateful for my family that I knew was waiting just beyond the finish line, grateful to have finished yet another Disney race, and most of all, I was grateful that we did not encounter any balloon ladies along the way!
Done!
It was so nice to have Mindy to run with! After our hugs goodbye, we made plans to run together again in the future...whenever that may be!
I loved how this race blew my expectations out of the water. After a disappointing race the previous day (see 10K recap), I had no idea what to expect for the half. It seriously turned out to be one of my favorite runDisney memories to date!
Seeing these guys at the finish line made for a pretty special finish, too! Peep Brayden's shirt! :)
We didn't hang out at the finishers area for long. Instead, we boarded a bus and made a bee line for breakfast back at our resort.
Mickey waffles did the trick! Oh yes, and it was nice to see the "fake cheese" back in the post-race food box! :)
Has a race ever turned out different than you initially expected? Tell me how in the comments below! :)
If you'd like to see a video recap of the Princess Half, check out this video below!
