Happiest Race on Earth!

The Disneyland Half Marathon exceeded my expectations on all levels! From the event organization to the great running weather, I was overall very HAPPY with today's race :)  My goal was to run a healthy race, and I'm feeling great after the race right now :) ... After having nightmares about missing the start time of the race and waking up every hour last night, I woke up this morning at 3:20 am ready to run! By 4:30 am I was filing into the Mickey and Friends Parking Lot at Disneyland - the traffic leading into the parking lot and the $15 for event parking were probably the only negative points of the day. I finally parked my car and did a head, shoulders, knees, and toe check, then I walked down to my assigned runner's corral. This was the first time I ran a race w/ corral assignments, and I'm now a huge fan! The assignments are based on the previous official time you ran a half marathon. Since I ran the OC Half in 2:04, I was assigned to Corral B w/ other runners in my pace group. Corral A was for sub-2 hour runners (the super fast runners and elites), and Corral C, D-G were for slower runners/walkers accordingly. This prevents a lot of the weaving in b/t runners and walkers at the start of the race.

Once I was in my assigned corral I had about an hour before the official start time. This time allowed me to stretch, eat a peppermint luna bar, and people watch. I was initially intimated by the runners around me, b/c they looked like seasoned runners to me. Maybe it was pre-race jitters, or maybe b/c I was alone? I felt kinda out of place. Overhearing a self-indulging conversation b/t a pair of sorority runners wasn't my cup of tea either - especially at 5am. I quickly tuned them out, and sought amusement in all the costumes worn by the runners! Cinderella and Prince Charming were winners in my book - bless her heart for running 13.1 miles in Cinderella's long gown!

As I continued to stretch and people watch, a nice looking girl came and sat down right next to me. Small talk started and before I knew it, we were talking up a runner's storm and I had a running partner for the entire race. Kelli (from Michigan) and I both had personal goals to run a sub-2 hour race, so this was perfect! We kept each other on pace at each mile marker and pushed each other to finish strong. So many things fell into place today to make this the happiest race on earth! The great weather, entertaining course, Disney characters, and my running buddy! To top it off, we both ran a sub-2 hr race and I set a new personal record at 1:55:40!!!!!!

Stay tuned ... my next blog will have more pictures and details on the actual race experience!