Disneyland Half Marathon

This past weekend my sisters and I ran the Disneyland Half Marathon!

We signed up for this race way back in January and of course at the time it seemed like forever away, and of course it snuck up on me so fast. 

Kelly convinced us to run it only because we watched the prior years promo video and saw all the fun pluses of this race as opposed to perhaps boring half marathons where all you do is run. 

For this race you get to run through Disneyland and Angels Stadium and it just looked super fun! 

I probably should have started training a lot sooner for this race, but the craziness of life sometimes made me procrastinate running. 

{However its crazy what your body can do. I have always easily ran 4 or 5 miles and then all of a sudden Im running 7 then 8, then 10 then 11.5 miles all leading up to the race. Its crazy and awesome how your body can do things you didnt think you could before. }

We got a hotel down in Anaheim cause the race started at 5:45 am! I think I had some of my favorite moments before the race since it was so fun just to hang out with Kelly and Laura. Its hardly ever just the three of us and it was so much fun. I dont think I have laughed that hard in a really long time. Here is a glimpse of some of the shenanigans that happened...

In the morning we were up early for the race and made our way down to the start line. There were sooo many runners! We guessed about 15,000 people lined up to do this race.

The course starts right outside the park and then entered through California Adventure. 

{Disney always knows how to put on a good time and treat people right. All through Disney there were employees lined up to cheer the runners on. Just standing there to clap and cheer and even take our pictures. It was really impressive.}

We ran through the new Cars Land and then went on to Disneyland and ran through the whole park for about the first 3 miles. It was exciting to have the employees, all of the characters out and even some of the rides going as you run through the park. It was magical....

My favorite was running through Main Street and out through the castle

where I ran into my favorite princess, Sleeping Beauty. 

For miles 4-9 we ran on the streets of Anaheim. However this was not boring either. 

The whole course was lined with local High School bands, cheerleaders and dance teams. 

There is no better way to run then having so many people cheering you on!

It was incredible to pass the bands playing songs, or dance teams putting on performances. 

There was also streets lined with old school cars with the owners out cheering too. 

Its either go big or go home for Disney. 

I ran up to mile 6 or 7 with Kelly and Laura but as they are a bit faster then me and honestly I prefer to run alone, I told them to go ahead of me. Leaving me solo to tackle the rest of the half. 

By mile 9 we wound up to Angels Stadium.

Where tons and tons of boy scout and girl scouts troops were now cheering. 

We went down the tunnel and then up to the warning track of the Stadium. 

This was hands down my favorite part. 

I knew there would be people in the stands, however I was not expecting the hundreds of cheering boys and girls in the stadium with their hands outstretched to give you high fives. 

It was so exciting to run through a major league stadium! 

Seriously, so cool. 

Then it was on to the final 3 miles. Which were great until I hit mile marker 12. 

Longest mile of my life. 

Im sure most of it was mental, but my feet were starting to hurt, my calf was cramped and my butt was sore. 

But theres nothing like Mickey and Minnie Mouse standing at the finish line to congratulate you. 

and so 2 hours and 8 minutes later I finished!!

which I am pretty proud of since this was my first half marathon and during the race I stopped at the bathroom, took some pictures and ran by myself for a majority of the time. 

It was really really fun. I dont think I will be able to run a normal race now. 

Im glad I was able to participate with both of my sisters and accomplish something I never really thought I would. 

And. I got a really cool medal.