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!

Race Recap: See Jane Run 5K

I signed up for the See Jane Run 5k late last year. There was a coupon for a discounted entry through Zozi that was just too good to be true. I think the race rate was $25 and I had a $10 credit for that site, making this race entry only $15. What a score of a deal, right?

I had been off the training game for a couple of weeks, so when the race came up on Sunday July 14th, I felt like I could still have a good race and a stomp out a decent finish time. What I really loved about the race itself is that it was a female centric race, but did not exclude men. There were plenty of men running both the 5K and half marathon courses. Not to mention at the finish line you received a champagne glass full of See's chocolate and Barefoot champagne to toast with your fellow runners. Now I would say that is a pretty sweet ending to a race! But that's where it ends, what about where it begins? First stop was the expo!

Race Recap: Rock and Roll Seattle Half Marathon

A year ago I watched my friend Danielle complete her first half marathon at the Seattle Rock and Roll race. I was so inspired and motivated by what I saw around me that day, that I went to the registration tent that same day and signed up for the next years race. Never having run a distance longer than 5k, I knew that I had a lot of training ahead of me, but I was excited for the challenge.
 
Fast forward a year, I've completed a half marathon already and I ran plenty of double digit training runs to feel comfortable with the distance of 13.1 miles. And it was time to run the race I had signed up for so long ago.
 
It began with the expo on Friday, it was quite impressive and the bib pickup process was quite easy!

Race Recap: Fall City Days 10K

I signed up for this race less than a month before the race date, it was definitely a knee jerk registration. The reason? I needed a 10K time to submit for corral placement for the Disneyland Half Marathon and since times have to be submitted no later than July 1st, I needed to get on that and fast! So I saw this community race that was pretty affordable and thought I would give it a go!

I went to packet pick up the day before and got my bib and timing chip. Then did my pre-race ritual of pinning my bib onto my outfit and getting it all laid out the night before.

 

Race Recap: BMO Vancouver 8K

It thrills me to be writing this recap.  I wanted to run the BMO Half Marathon in Vancouver and almost signed up for it half a dozen times, but something always kept me from doing it. Then my back issue happened and I realized that I was really glad I hadn't spent the money because I knew I would not have been able to run that course.

However my good friend Danielle was running the half, so I decided to go up with her and cheer her on at the finish. Then she tempted me with entering the 8k...oh running peer pressure, how ruthless you can be. My doctor said I could run 5 miles and with this 8k just looking at me on the page saying "you know you wanna run me", I gave in and registered.  What can I say?  I'm weak for bling.

#BostonStrongSeattle Run and my birthday!

Yesterday I got to be involved in a tribute run for Boston that was hosted by local companies Super Jock & Jill, Oiselle, Kinetics Sports Rehab and my friends at Gametiime.  The hope was to get as many runners as we could together to run around Greenlake (out and back was 5K) in solidarity for the Boston tragedy.

I was excited because I had finally been cleared to run by my doctor.  After three weeks of not running at all, I was excited to get out and pound some pavement, even if I was only allowed to run one mile!

Race Recap: St. Pat's Day Dash

I wasn't going to race this past weekend.  I wasn't going to get involved in any runs in the area around here, and there were quite a few being talked about.  Though as the week went on and friends were tweeting and Facebooking about the races they were going to run during St. Patty's weekend, the more I started to rethink my decision.

Then I got a Twitter message.

An invitation to run with the co-founders of a local website, Gametiime.  It is a new site that is designed to be your "go-to" search engine for races.  Right now they are testing their beta site and the listings are only for Washington state races (sorry rest of the nation).  But I have seen and tested their beta site and all I have to say is THANK YOU! I can not wait for this site to be released because it has so many great features and the ease of use is fantastic.

So to have the ability to run with these guys and pick their brains a bit was too good to pass up.  So I signed up, the Thursday before the race.  I never sign up for a race this late, but I did and I'm not sorry about it.

I kinda wanted to run this race to be honest.  I had a great outfit planned for it already if I did decide to run, so I was glad when I finally caved, because I got to wear all this great gear!

 

Race Recap: Princess Half Marathon

Many months ago I started a long journey with a goal in mind and an ultimate destination of this race.  Right here and right now is the culmination of all the hard work, time spent and sacrifices that I made to train.  It all comes down to this point, these series of moments, this final delivery of the prize I've been fighting so hard for.  This is it.  It's go time.

The 2:30am wake up call is an ungodly way to wake up, but the race started in three hours and there was so much still to do.  The room was already buzzing with everyone up and about getting dressed and ready to catch the first buses.  I've seen pictures and heard hellish stories about the lines to get on the buses to get to the race and if you didn't have a car to drive yourself there, the bus was your only form of transport.  The buses started transporting at 3am, so it was important to get on the first couple of buses to ensure you made it to the start on time!

I've got my take on Cinderella running outfit on and I'm ready to head to the buses!

Race Recap: Royal Family 5K

I woke up to a quiet room on Saturday morning to get ready to run the Royal Family 5K.  None of my roomies were running it, nor were they waking early to come and see/cheer anyone on.

3:30am was far too early for this one to be awake, but I was and I was getting ready for my first runDisney race EVER!

 

I decided not to dress like a Princess for this race, but rather let my inner Winnie the Pooh come out!

I arrived via bus to the parking lots outside of Epcot where the drop off point was and made the walk toward the bag check area.  There were tons of signs and volunteers to help us sleepy eyed runners get to where we needed to be.

 

Got my picture taken before heading towards the corrals!  This is the first time I'd ever been to a runDisney event and was pretty happy with how smoothly the transitions were between locations.

PHM Weekend Day 2: Expo and Meet-ups!

An early morning for Marcia and I as we woke up at 6am to be dressed and at Coronado Springs resort by 7am for the #RunShopEat meet-up!

First, the run!  We had a few people that were interested in meeting up with us for this, well meet-up, but by the time the morning came it was just Marcia and I.  Oh well, it was fun still!

The Coronado property is really pretty and I would consider staying here in the future.  Expansive and quiet!  These are just a few of the vantage points from our run.  After we ran and were thoroughly sweaty (it was quite hot at 7:30am, lower 70's in the sun I would say) we went inside to get in line for the expo.