Tinkerbell Half Marathon

I am a runner.  I don't love it.  In fact, most of the time I really have to gear myself up for it.  But I just finished my 5th half-marathon, so I don't think I can avoid calling myself a runner anymore.

On January 29, I ran the Tinkerbell Half-Marathon at Disneyland.  It was by far the best half experience I have ever had.  Oh my goodness, it was amazing!!  Disney definitely does it RIGHT.  The race was so well organized.  I never felt lost or frustrated at how things were set up.  I was able to get my race packet and shirt with no problems.  During race day, there were hundreds of very friendly volunteers that made everyone really excited for the race.  Each corral had its own big screen, so you could follow along with the start of each corral.  The first 3 miles were through Downtown Disney and Disneyland, and a bunch of characters were out, and you could stop and get pictures with them.  The lost boys and Captain Hook were riding the carousel. :)  You also run "behind the scenes" for some of it, and they had all of the trains and classic cars out, with the conductors in their full garb, ringing the bells and cheering.  The train engineers were out, too, tooting the engine horns for us.  They also had some of the Halloween decor out and lit up, and the Christmas stuff, too.  The middle part of the race we ran through downtown Anaheim.  Lots of fans out and about, cheering us on.  Not as many as the Pig (when there's nice weather), but still a lot.  Then, the last 2 miles we ran through California Adventure.  Again, more characters out, and they had all the rides going.  They had a big grandstand set up at the finish line, and people were everywhere.  Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Chip, and Dale were at the finish line.  I heard Goofy was there, too, but I didn't see him.  There is a HUGE family reunion area with all kinds of yummies to eat, and a big stage where they did the awards later.  The medal is amazing.  Really big, and really heavy.  Makes my marathon medal look tiny in comparison!

People running the race were all dressed up.  I wore wings and a tutu, and was totally comfortable--and definitely fit in!  Even the guys that ran were dressed up.  A few dressed as Peter Pan, and a whole bunch were dressed in tutus and wings! :)  The girl who won the half was wearing a tutu and wings--pretty impressive.

Overall, it was my favorite race I have ever done.  You definitely don't go for time--there's too many people, and too much to see.  But it is so. much. fun.  (I also got my 2nd best time ever, which is great, since I didn't train very well!)

Here are a few photos I took with my phone (hence the bad quality).  The first is the shuttle on the way to the race:

In my starting corral, waiting for the start:

Got someone to take a picture of me at the beginning:

Oh!  Forgot to mention I saw Sean Astin!  He was running in the race, too.  He's in marathon training, and mentioned that he did a 20-mile practice run on Wednesday (insane!).  I passed him when I started the race--then found out he finished 20 minutes ahead of me.  The guy is a beast!!

So cool running down Main Street before the sun rose:

Post-race!

The only negative part of the whole day was that Nick missed me crossing the finish!  He took a shuttle from the hotel, and it got stuck in traffic and he missed it. :(  Thankfully he brought the camera and took a few pictures post-race.

Here are my wings--and you can see the people in the background dressed up, too.

At the medal podium:

Went back by the starting line to get some pictures.