Me and Beth! AKA the author of this post:)

I’ve been blessed to call Beth my friend for many years now. She and I have done several races together, most notably the Chicago Marathon where we were roomies:).  She graciously offered to write up her experience with the Princess Half this year. I ADORE that she completed it with her precious daughter, Rose (who is only 14!). Congrats to you both and thank you for writing for me!! I love you both!

It was the spring of 2013, and the conversation with my teenaged daughter went something like this:

Me: Let’s run a half marathon together!
DD: No.
Me: It’ll be fun!
DD: No.
Me: You’ll get to go to Disney World!
DD: Ok.

My daughter had done several 5Ks and a couple of 10Ks, but I thought that there was no better place for her to run her first half marathon than the one that started this whole running thing for me: Walt Disney World! My first runDisney half marathon was in 2010, and I have been hooked ever since.

On the day that registration opened in June, I signed my daughter up for the half marathon, while I chose the inaugural Glass Slipper Challenge, consisting of a 10K one day and a half marathon the next. I downloaded runDisney consultant Jeff Galloway’s 22-week training plan for beginners. (Jeff Galloway is the creator of the run/walk/run method that I have used since becoming a long distance runner.) We walked quite a bit during the summer months, and when September came, we went out twice a week to do two miles: one mile walking, and one mile using the run/walk/run method. The official training plan started on October 1st, and as we had one of the worst winters in history, much of our training was done indoors on the treadmill. We didn’t do every workout that the training plan called for, but once February rolled around, I felt confident in my daughter’s ability to finish the race. Here is the recap of that special day:

Race days at Walt Disney World always start early. The races usually begin around 5:30 a.m., to make sure all the runners are out of the park before they open, and not inconvenience the non-running guests. We got up at 2:30, dressed in our matching Rapunzel costumes, and were on the monorail from the Contemporary Resort to Epcot by about 3:30. Our first stop was the Race Retreat, which had been gifted to us by a good friend. We didn’t feel like eating much of anything, but I grabbed a water for me and a PowerAde and a little packet of peanut butter for my daughter. We were able to find a big group of our friends, and spent some time catching up and talking about our plans for the race. Soon, it was time to head out to the family reunion area to see if we could find some more friends. Hugs were shared, prayers were said, photos were taken, and then it was time to head to the corrals for the start of the race!

The walk to the starting corrals took about 20 minutes, and then it was time to do some serious waiting. My daughter was assigned to Corral K, which meant that there were 10 corrals’ worth of people who would start in front of us. (I had been placed in Corral F, but there are rules against runners moving up into higher corrals, so we ran together in K.) The race started right on time. At 5:30 a.m., the Fairy Godmother counted down and we were treated to a beautiful fireworks display. The wheelchair athletes took off first, followed by the “elite” runners and the rest of Corral A. Every couple of minutes, the announcers would let another group of runners take off, until finally, it was our turn! We crossed the start line at 6:09, which meant that we waited 39 minutes after Corral A started, in addition to the time we waited for the race to begin.

RunDisney races are known to be crowded, and this race was no exception. Since we were using the run/walk/run method, I instructed my daughter to stay closest to the right-hand side of the road, so we wouldn’t get in the way when we switched to our walking intervals. We trained with a 30-second run/30-second walk interval, which seems like a lot of stopping and starting, but it works best for my daughter.

It was still dark during the first two miles, and there’s not much to look at, so it wasn’t very exciting. There are giant markers with Disney characters on them at every mile, so we stopped at each one so I could take my daughter’s picture. It always takes us a couple of miles to warm up, and the 100% humidity in the air wasn’t making it any easier, so I kept up a steady stream of conversation to keep my daughter going. One of my favorite moments of this race is when we arrive at the entrance to the Magic Kingdom parking lot, which is between miles 2 & 3.

Before the race, I showed my daughter a list of all the characters we could expect to see out on the course and asked her to choose her favorites. We came upon one of her requests – a collection of Princes, including Flynn Rider! – at about Mile 2.5, but the lines were already humongous, and I knew we weren’t keeping up a quick enough pace to be able to stop just yet. We also had to bypass another huge line for a fantastic group of villains, which would have been really cool.

I told my daughter that we were almost to the “fun” part as we arrived at the Ticket andTransportation Center. Here, there were Japanese drummers to greet us, as well as the sign for Mile 4!

My daughter was really struggling, but I tried to bolster her spirits by telling her that we would be in the Magic Kingdom very, very soon! We hit Mile 5 right before we entered the park through a side entrance off of Town Square.

We weren’t able to run down Main Street, USA as much as we were able to shuffle down it! I knew better than to go up onto the sidewalk, though, as my dad had done that during the half marathon in January and cut his hand on a planter! We made our way down the street towards the castle, and then turned right into Tomorrowland, bypassing a line for Buzz Lightyear. I noticed a few people dressed at the Little Green Men from Toy Story standing in line! One of the best things about a runDisney race is the effort that many people put into their costumes. We saw this man dressed as Olaf:

I told him that with the humidity, we were ALL Olaf today!

Next, we headed into Fantasyland, and went off course briefly to use some real restrooms near Pinocchio Village Haus. It felt heavenly to splash some water on our faces before we continued on. Another favorite aspect of the Princess race is the Royal Trumpeters that are up on Cinderella castle. You hear them before you see them! They were playing the theme from Rocky! I took a photo of my daughter in front of the castle, and then another runner who was also dressed as Rapunzel asked if I would take a photo of her, after which she would take a photo of us! Most of the runners you’ll meet in a runDisney race are very thoughtful and kind like this. In fact, on the back of my daughter’s shirt, I’d pinned a sign saying, “My first half.” Many, many runners congratulated and encouraged her throughout the race.

Once again, the crowds were very heavy as we shuffled through the castle and intoLiberty Square. We waited in a fairly short line to get our photo taken with Princess Tiana and Louis the alligator from The Princess and the Frog before continuing on into Frontierland. Cast Members lined the pathways, clapping and cheering for us as we ran past.

We hit Mile 6 just before heading out of the Magic Kingdom, on our way back to Epcot and the finish line! My daughter did a smart thing once we left the Magic Kingdom. She realized that the music she heard inside the park had pepped her up, so she started listening to some Disney music on her iPod, hoping that it would help her to keep going! I usually run with music, but discovered that my daughter needed me to keep up a steady stream of chatter, so I had turned it off after about 6 songs.

RunDisney had done a poll on Facebook, asking people which song they would like to hear when they reached Mile 7. The last time I had done this race, the chosen song was Kelly Clarkson’s “Stronger.” (I still refer to this as my “Mile 7 song.”) This year, one of the choices was “Let it Go,” from the Frozen soundtrack. Since this is our favorite movie, my daughter and I were both hoping that it would be voted as this year’s Mile 7 song, and we were thrilled to find out that it was!! Hearing that song gave us both a lift, and we started running with renewed vigor, singing…rather, belting out the words to this beautiful song!

We kept doing our run/walk/run intervals, and the miles kept passing by. I have no photos from Mile 6 – Mile 9, other than the ones at the mile markers. This doesn’t mean there weren’t any interesting things to take photos of.  It’s just that they were the same things we saw on the way to the Magic Kingdom, just on the opposite side of the road! We focused on putting one foot in front of the other and getting this race over with! We were a little concerned about our pace, as we were supposed to be keeping up a 16-minute mile, and I knew we were behind that. Fortunately, they don’t set the “sweeper” clock until the very last person from the very last corral crosses the start line, so we had a bit of a cushion. I was using the MapMyRun app to track our progress, but we were weaving in and out so much to get around other runners that our pace was not accurate, and I really had no idea how we were doing pace-wise. (As a matter of fact, our total mileage was 14.9 miles!)

I told my daughter that once we got into Epcot, we were safe from the “sweepers,” who force you to get on the bus because you are too far behind pace to finish the race. I didn’t want her to have worked so hard and not be able to finish the race, so I kept pushing her to keep up with our intervals, saying we could walk once we got to Epcot. We did see the sweeper buses parked along the side of the road, which was a little too close for comfort for me. Since we were so concerned about our pace, we decided not to stop for the Princes when we passed them on the way back. No matter how much we love Flynn Rider, a photo with him was not worth missing out on the medal we’d been training so hard for!

Unfortunately, the course presented a couple of challenges before we could make it to Epcot. The first is a long Cloverleaf, which leads up to a bridge over the road we had just travelled. It was long and arduous, but there was a Green Army Man hollering at the runners and encouraging us as we made the trek to higher ground. From the top of the bridge, we were able to look back and see the many runners that were still behind us. As we walked along the bridge, we shouted out encouragement to the runners below. A little while later, we had to deal with another long, sloping incline, but there was a light at the end of the tunnel, because we could see Spaceship Earth looming in the distance! Finally, we made it past Mile 12 and headed into Epcot! We breathed a sigh of relief, but soldiered on.

Once we were in the park, the course headed toward World Showcase, making a turn once we saw American Adventure across the lagoon. There was a fairy princess that actually looked like Glenda the Good Witch from Wizard of Oz calling out encouragement to the runners. Her name was Ivanna Dream, so my daughter and I started singing, “I’ve got a dream! I’ve got a dream!” from Tangled as we rounded the corner and headed towards the last part of the course inside the park.

Just before Mile 13, there was a spectacular Gospel Choir, decked out in purple and gold robes, singing their hearts out. It’s always a highlight of the race for me. There was a Cast Member there, and I held out my camera so that she could take a photo of my daughter and me in front of the choir.

I took a picture of my daughter at the marker for Mile 13, which featured Anna and Elsa from Frozen, and we headed toward the finish line! We grasped hands and raised our arms in the air as we crossed the mat, then made our way to the volunteers who would hand out the pretty medals we’d been working so hard for!

I was eligible for a second medal, since I’d completed the 10K the day before, so after picking up our water and a little box of snacks, we looked for the Glass Slipper Challenge area.

We ended the morning with a little time in the Race Retreat, with some good food and some great friends. Even though the weather conditions were tough, my daughter proved that she was tougher, and was able to overcome fatigue, aches, pain, and exhaustion to reach her goal and complete her first half marathon. She has been asked several times whether or not she will do another 13.1 mile race, and so far, she hasn’t said no. I take that as a good sign!