Race Day

Wake-up! For breakfast I had the rest of my Powerade along with a banana and banana bread. Then it was off to the race! The line to get on the buses from our hotel was quite long, and we were a bit worried about timing, but with so many ladies in our same shoes, all worked out okay. Upon arrival at the start line, you check your bag, and then you head over to your start corral. There are many bathrooms everywhere, so you don't have to worry about one not being available for a second.

Here we are waiting in Corral D. If you and your friend are in different corrals, you can always move back to the later one, and that is what we did. There were different start times to each group, and thank goodness, because it helped some with congestion... Especially with over 13,000 ladies (and 400 guys) running this! There was lots of music to get us excited, as if we weren't excited enough already, and there were fireworks at the start of each group. The Fairy Godmother waved us on our way... Who else?

Did I mention our bibs say, Princess [insert your name here]? That was the best! Anyways, much of the run was throughout the Magic Kingdom and Epcot, but much of the run was also done on the highway which was a surprise to most. In any event, Disney was sure to Disney up the highway parts with the Pirates of the Caribbean ship and characters for example. There was tons of motivation along the way from both runners and fans!

You definitely need to decide before you run if you are running for time or for fun... You can see in this photo I couldn't decide! I almost walked backwards here because there was a beautiful photo opportunity in front of Cinderella's Castle. There are also amazing photo opportunities with all of the characters... There is one great one with all of the Disney PRINCES. This includes a shirtless and ab defined Tarzan ; )

When you are running you absolutely have to take it all in. Especially when you are running through Cinderella's Castle... That is an extra magical moment. It really does all go by so quick!

Here I am just about to cross the finish line at 2:39:38.

You can tell I was excited to get my medal, because for some reason I am still sprinting here? I loved the medal being put around my neck, and then getting sprinkled with glitter! Then I headed to the medical area where I iced my head to cool down and had ice wrapped on my knees and ankles... It was just the spa treatment I needed. Then I headed to get water, my finishers photo and snacks! Snacks included oranges, bananas, muffins, Luna Bars and Powerade. This is where you can grab your bag you checked and sit to relax for a bit. The craziest part is once it is all over you look at your watch and it's only 10AM... Wow!

There is still a lot going on after the race as well! I would bring a little cash, because they have on the spot engraving to put your name, chip time and place on your medal. This would have been nice to do. It would have also been nice to have my autograph book to get an autograph from these lovely princesses:

Snow White and Rapunzel were there as well. It would have also been nice to have a marker too, because the princesses could have signed our bibs! That would have been too cute... Next time!