I am a HUGE fan of Disney Princesses so when I saw that Disney held a Princess Half Marathon I knew that I had to go!!! A few years went by and it never seemed to fit our schedule. Finally, I realized that Dustin wasn’t really interested in participating in a run with a bunch of women dressed like their favorite Disney princess. Go figure. I decided I would see if some girlfriends wanted to go with me and if I couldn’t find anyone then I would just go by myself. I didn’t care. It looked like so much fun!
To my surprise, I found 5 other amazing girls that wanted to go with me. April, Nikki, and Christina had never ran a half marathon before and felt like it was time to give it a whirl. Rachel and Teresa thought it would be fun to run a relay. Their only problem was figuring out who got to run the leg that went through Cinderella’s castle.
At the race expo Rachel and Teresa realized that at Disney races the word “team” meant that they ran as a team, not a relay. They laughed as they took in the fact that instead of running 6 or so miles, they were signed up to run the entire half marathon!!! Turns out they both got to run through the castle.
I had trained for the race and was prepared to run it like any other half. On the internet and the flight to FL I learned from other “experienced” runners that there are many photo opportunities with many of the Disney characters along the race and that many participants run with cameras. So, I decided to take my camera and I ended up running all but the last 1.5 miles with Teresa and Rachel. I had a big smile on my face the entire run. I danced with characters, charmed Gaston (or tried), stood by Cinderella and Prince Charming, yelled “to infinite, and beyond” when I saw Buzz, ran through the castle, and had an absolute blast! All the Disney characters from my past were there and it was like I was a kid again. Plus, I received the tiara race medal that I have dreamt of for years. My only regret was that my favorite princess, Belle, wasn’t out when we ran by so I don’t have a picture with her. I guess I will have to go back again some day :)
Congrats to the finishers! I am afraid that they might have gotten their hopes up for other half marathons. This was the MOST FUN I have ever had running a “race”!! And finally, thanks to our hubbies and supporters at home that offered all the encouragement, congrats, and allowed us to go have so much fun together.
After looking back at my pictures I wonder if we ever really ran a race :). All the pictures with the Disney characters were taken in a quick moment in the middle of the race!!!
Here are some of my favorite moments:
Running into Magic Kingdom and seeing the castle on the horizon.
The beautiful weather and warm sun.
Lathering up with biofreeze. Why? Because we could.
Singing a beautiful duet with Christina to a song that Nelly, our neighbor, wrote.
Nikki almost falling in the fountain.
Scavenging for loaves of bread and eating them like pigeons outside a restaurant because we were so hungry.
Cruising in the minivan. The trusted Town & Country.
Lying on Sleeping Beauty’s bed…in the middle of the race.
Getting creeped out by Tarzan
Trying butterbeer for the first time with April in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
April putting on a headband that says “Will Run for Beer”, and never taking it off (jjk).
Trying to nonchalantly get pictures of the couple from Survivor.
“You told me not to change anything.” –Nikki’s pre-race meal
Nikki running a half marathon with huge hoop earrings. So impressive.
The bald guy dressed as Cinderella.
Watching some of my best friends have a great time together even though many of them had only met on the plane ride over.
Getting pink roses from “my princesses” as a thank you for the trip. The pleasure was all mine ladies!
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