Tinker Bell Half Marathon
May 10, 2015
State: Repeat (California)
Lifetime: #54
As with the 10K, this recap might be missing some details, but I am going to do my best to remember everything! If not, there will still be pretty pictures =)
Another early morning for this race, I was exhausted and in bed pretty early, so it wasn't too hard to get up for this one. I was running as Tinker Bell and was pretty excited to wear my costume!
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| #flatsarah ready to go |
I headed to the start area a little early, as there were a bunch of fellow Oiselle Flock / Volee were there and we had planned a group photo.
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| Fly style! |
After our group photo, it was off to the start line. I was in corral A again, so I made my way up to the front. We did not have a lot of time to kill before the race started, so it was only a couple of minutes from when I arrived until the start. Before I knew it, we were off!
The half starts the same direction as the 10K, rounding around the exterior of Disneyland on the highway before heading into the parks. Unlike the 10K, the half heads into California Adventure first. If I am remembering correctly, you enter near Cars Land and head towards Paradise Pier. The official runDisney photographer captured a great shot of me in Cars Land that ended up in the race Facebook album. It's definitely one of my favorites from race!
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| via the runDisney Facebook page |
In the middle of Paradise Pier, Silvermist was there for photo's and a little later on (after making the full loop around Paradise Pier, before you headed back down towards the front of the park), Vidia was there as well. I had a photo with both of them from the 10K, but since I was Tink today, I had to take another!
From there, the course makes the short trek across to Disneyland Park. Disneyland was all decorated for the 60th Anniversary and I have to say, I really loved it. Disneyland always looks great (in my opinion), but I really loved it decorated for the anniversary.
Chip and Dale were out on Main Street again, joined this time by Goofy! They were dressed differently and there was only like 2 people waiting, so I stopped for a photo.
We headed straight into the Castle them (running through it the opposite way we do in the DLH), but before the castle, they had a spot off to the right you could stop for a photo in the castle.
After castle, we headed around the Matterhorn and back towards the entrance to Tomorrowland. This is where Tink was! You know I was stopping for a photo, line be damned. This was definitely the longest line I stood in all race and it wasn't that bad. I would estimate 10-15 people in front of me? I am sure the line got worse as the race went on, but I was lucky.
After Tink, we rounded around back towards the Castle and headed into Tomorrowland. In Tomorrowland, they had some Storm Troopers out. My nieces (both of them) are obsessed with Star Wars, so I had to stop for a photo with them. The line wasn't horrible, probably like 5 or so in front of me.
After Tomorrowland, we headed through Fantasyland and hit a couple more characters. The lines were starting to get longer, but nothing unmanageable! Iridessa (again, I think) and Rosetta were hanging out together.
From there, it was Donald and Pluto out as we headed into ToonTown. You can't tell from the photo, but Pluto kept playing with my wings. He would tap them and then start laughing. It was tough to get him to stop for a photo!
After ToonTown, it was time to head out of the parks. I don't know if it's true or not, but I feel like you get more park time in Tinker Bell then during the Disneyland Half. The part in the Parks was definitely different then the first time I ran it (I remember specifically running through DL first, probably because Cars Land was under construction at the time).
I don't mind all the time out of the park though. You know I like to zone out when I run, so this allows me to do that. They had some bands and dance teams out to keep it interesting. I also like the Tink non-park portions better then the DLH non-park portions (except for Angels stadium... I love the part with Angels stadium).
You run around Anaheim and personally, I really enjoy it. I don't know if I feel partial to it because Tinker Bell was my first Disneyland race ever; who knows?
Either way, there isn't much to tell about this section. I did lost one of my shoe pom-poms during this point, which made me pretty sad, but at least all the photo's were done (I did find a lost pink one near mile 12 which I actually stopped to pick up - so now I have 1 white and 1 pink).
I did get a cool shadow picture during this point.
We re-enter the DL area around Mile 12, heading to the backstage area of California Adventure (right behind Cars Land. From there, it was a quick run to the finish! I can't remember 100%, but I feel like the finish section was different then the first time I ran the race.
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| Who doesn't love a Mickey hi-five! |
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| via the runDisney Facebook page |
They didn't have the snack boxes, but they had taken them all apart and gave you a back to collect the items (I guess to remove the expired applesauce?). It was nice to have treat after the race!
After taking my requisite finisher photo, we headed back to the hotel. We made a stop at Earl of Sandwich because I was STARVING and needed real food. It was delicious and hit the spot.
Overall, I loved this race. In my opinion, the course is better then the Disneyland Half (in total, certain sections of the DL course are better.. ahem, Angels stadium). It never got too hot for, I lucked out with no really long lines for the characters and I earned my pink Coast to Coast. I will definitely be back at some point for Tinker Bell again!
Results
Official: 13.1 miles, 2:00:32, 9:12 pace
Garmin: 13.36 miles, 2:00:33, 9:01 pace
Who else ran the Tink half? How'd it go for you?
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| #runalltheraces #allthemedals |
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