Disneyland Race Weekend: 5K Race Recap

With all the runDisney buzz yesterday with the announcement of the first ever night meet-up at this years Wine and Dine Half Marathon weekend, I got so excited and am currently going through runDisney withdrawls, that I couldn't wait to finish my race recaps.  So, continuing on with my recap of the Disneyland Half Marathon weekend, here is the first race recap, the 5K.

Yes, if you know my blog content leading up to this, I had signed up for the Dumbo Double Dare and was REALLY excited about running the inaugural of the 10K AND the Dumbo Double Dare Challenge! However during the hype of signing up for the DDD, everyone was talking about running the 5K too, think of all the BLING you would rack up. My eyes glittered and my credit card winced, I signed up for the 5K too. The cool think about doing the 5K, well other than the extra neckware, was that my hubby was running the race with me as well! It would be his first 5K in almost two years and his first finisher medallion ever. So this 5K was going to be a special race for us.

The morning started off like any other runDisney race morning...REALLY EARLY! If the races have to be done before the park opens, that means 0:dark-thirty start times! This was our picture before we left the hotel room, bibbed up and ready to go! I was dressed as Alice as there was a very distinct reason why, you'll find out very soon!

We got to the runner area early because I wanted to be in corral A for this race. The 5K in Disneyland is a first come, first open corral kind of order. So we lined up for corral A because I needed to be done with this race quickly, so I could get into my corral for the 10K! This was our walk to the start line, the most empty it will look all morning! It was kind of eerie though and cool to be there right at the front of the first corral!

Us patiently waiting for the race to start!

We were so close to the front we were literally IN FRONT of the stage at the start line, this really was a cool experience!! HI CARISSA!!!

Before we knew it, the countdown started and we were off! Hubby and I were off to the side letting the fast people in the corral blaze past us as we kept a steady pace. From this point the race took to the streets outside of the parks and past the on-property hotels, looped in through the back entrance of California Adventure and dumped you off right into Cars Land!

Radiator Springs all lit up!

Hubby and I taking a quick picture in front of Radiator Springs, our first time seeing it!

I was LOVING the lights being on! The neon cast a really cool glow during the run. Still in the first mile!

Going down through Cars Land towards Paradise Pier.

Our first character stop!

A little blurry, but that is the Mile 1 marker, just on your way to the pier area.

Quick picture in front of Paradise Pier, most of the World of Color lights were on but our route didn't take us around there, this is as close as we got. From there we looped around through the Golden State area, past Grizzly River Run and heading towards Condor Flats and past Soarin'.

Another fun picture op! From here we left through the main gate of California Adventure and headed across the espelande to the Main Gate of DISNEYLAND!!!

Hubby and I in front of the train station at the main gate entrance.

MAIN STREET! One of the great things about the races in Disneyland is that the runners have pretty much the ENTIRE street of Main Street. Whereas in DisneyWorld, there are spectators lining one half of the street making it very congested for the runners to get through. This part was so surreal. I swear, every time I get to run down Main Street of ANY Disney park I still am in awe, it really is a magical experience.

Photo op in front of the Castle!!

Alice and the Mad Hatter were set up for the Mile 5 marker for the 10K, we didn't care, it was a fun photo op for us!

Mile 2! This was set up in the route between Fantasyland and Frontierland going past Thunder Mountain Railroad. After this, we ran around the Rivers of America, through Critter Country and into the backlot. Not much was back there to look at, it was just mileage. After that, the route dumped us out into Downtown Disney, the home stretch!

Again, another mile marker for the 10K that was set up, but it was too much fun that we had to get our picture taken here!

Here is the last mile marker for the 5K and hubby is ready to be done! It was hot and SO HUMID that this race really took a toll on both of us. He did SO well though, a total trooper and totally set the pace for our race. I was so proud of him and his accomplishment, as well as coming with me on my crazy journey of running ALL THE RACES!

There wasn't much after this, we turned the corner at ESPN and headed into the finish line chute. It was a ton of fun and we held hands as we crossed the finish line together. Such a fun time and race with my hubby. This was his first experience with a runDisney race and weekend all together and he really did seem to enjoy himself. This race was pretty fun in that the course went through two parks and during the time when all the lights were on and the rides were going as we passed them. I know it sounds corny, but it really is a magical experience.

From this point we got our medallions and I had to leave hubby to his own devices as I bolted back to the start line to catch my corral for the start of the 10K. Who's stupid idea was it to do two races back-to-back? Oh yeah...that was mine. Oops. 

Up next, the Disneyland 10K!