2013 Disneyland 10K

If you missed my recaps of the Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend Expo, check them out here:

• Expo Review
• Expo Vlog

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Despite the fact that my feet were still aching from the day before, I woke up on Saturday morning ready to run a 10K! (I loved that I didn’t have to wake up quite as early as a WDW race…and I walked to the start line – no busses! Yay!)

My outfit was ready to go and I brewed a cup of tea while I got dressed. Thankfully, I brought along a few bags of tea because the Grand Californian did not include tea with their coffee selection as the Wilderness Lodge had in January.

Ready to run a 10K!

I met up with Team runDisney and Scott (my Coast 2 Coast running buddy) outside the Disneyland Hotel before the race.

After a quick TrD photo (which came out way dark…bummer), we made our way to the family reunion area, where I ran into this girl…

It’s Jen from Hello Fitness…We Meet Again! I was excited to see her again as we also ran into each other at the Expo the day before.

We said our goodbyes and good lucks, then continued on our journey to our corral.

Before long, we came to a dead stop. When I say dead stop, I mean…not a soul was moving.

Thousands of runners were bottlenecked into one area, with metal guards holding us from walking to the corrals. We found out that the 5K started later than expected, so there were issues with getting runners where they needed to go. As time drew closer for the race start, people grew quite unhappy. Some even became angry with the security guards who would not let us through the gates. Others chose to jump the gates or open up an area to walk through. Thankfully (with only 15 minutes to spare), someone finally opened up the gates and let us all through. It was as if the flood gates opened, everyone making a mad dash to their corrals. I’m still not quite sure the reasoning behind holding us for so long, but it happened. I made it to my corral on time and I hope everyone else did as well.

On our walk to the corral, look who I ran into! It’s Heather from Heather’s Looking Glass! Our hello, good luck, and good bye was rushed because we were attempting to make it into our corrals on time.

Whew. We made it with only moments to spare (they were singing the National Anthem as we walked in)!

…and they’re off!

The start of the race brought us outside of the Disneyland area, where we passed several Good-Neighbor hotels.

Best. Race. Sign. Ever. Seriously loved this guy!!

Mile 2 brought us around the “backstage area” of California Adventure.

The backside of Radiator Springs Racers!

We ran through Cars Land…

…then out into California Adventure Park.

I loved that the water/lights of World of Color were on for us! So much fun!

Back in the Paradise Pier area of CA, we ran into Woody and Jessie! Hi friends! :0)

Running through Paradise Pier.

In The Golden After….I mean Morning, we found a few flowers to say hello to! It WAS a Wonderland theme, after all! :0)

We reached Mile 3 after running through the Golden State area near Grizzly River Run.

More flowers at Mile 3! :0)

Our next stop was the Hollywood Pictures Backlot, where we said hello to a few friends…

This dude’s Russell costume was perfect! He was a good sport for pictures, too!

Kitty! The line to see the Monster’s U characters was the longest line by far, but it passed quickly and before we knew it, we were led out of California Adventure and back into the backstage area.

I laughed at this “hill” because I didn’t run beach or hill workouts with my running group this year like I should have. Oh well. I made it down and back up the “hill”. (Btw, anything that isn’t perfectly flat is a hill to me…it’s the curse of living where there are no hills at all!)

After running through more backstage area, we approached the entrance to Disneyland Park.

Love this!

Hello Main Street!

I was shocked to hear Main Street so quiet and open! I guess I’m used to WDW where crowds line the street…and cramped quarters because of so many runners. I didn’t like the quiet, but I did like the openness of the street!

Had to stop for a picture with the Partners Statue and Castle!

As we reached Mile 4, we approached Tomorrowland and the Matterhorn.

I told Scott it would have been cool if the Matterhorn or California Screaming were in operation – then he could say he had a TRUE Coast 2 Coast experience! (He rode Expedition Everest in Animal Kingdom during the WDW Full Marathon back in January.)

It’s a Small World! (I always hear Stacey’s voice from the WDW Must Do Disney channel when I see Small World….sorry if that’s stuck in your head now, too!)

As we passed Small World, we stopped for pictures with a few Cards from Alice In Wonderland. Thankfully, they didn’t make us march…or pain the roses red! When we left them, the Red Heart said, “Win the Race!” I laughed and said…“Yeah, cause I’m trying so hard!” Hah!

The conductor of this train waved to us as we passed!

Whoops…

Parade floats were set up in the backstage area of Disneyland.

They even had a Christmas float, complete with music! :0) Happy day for me!

I loved that the custodians were lining the street to cheer us on! So sweet of them!!

As we ran back into Disneyland park, we passed into Toon Town.

Daisy and Clarice were there to say hello, and I got in trouble by Daisy for not standing on the curb….as in, she got out of line to come shoo me onto the curb! Hilarious!!

Too cute!

Couldn’t miss a photo with Dumbo…I was running Dumbo’s Challenge after all!

Alice and the Mad Hatter were at Mile 5 and they didn’t even offer us a spot of tea…or wish us a very merry un-birthday!

I spotted two lovely ladies as we were waiting in another character line….Mary and Crystal!

Funny story about them – during the WDW Half in January, I spotted them twice on the course (which is insane because there were so many people). At the DL Expo, I told both of them that I would see them somewhere during the race and we all laughed as in “yeah right”. Well, it happened….although their bright clothing made it a little easier to see! Haha!

Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum were up to their usual shenanigans!

We ran through the castle (which was so fast I don’t have pictures of) and out to Frontierland. 

We saw Chip and Dale but didn’t stop for a photo because the line was growing long and we were ready to finish this race.

The course led us through Fronteirland and out to the backstage area once again.

I loved that so many Cast Members were out to cheer us on!

After crossing through the front entry area of the park, we were in Downtown Disney.

I spotted Jason before he spotted me!

Almost finished….

…and done! I think our official time was 1 hour and 34 minutes but I can’t remember exactly. We both run a little faster than that on our own, but as you can see above – we played around most of this race. I love Disney and Characters so much, I have a very hard time taking Disney races seriously! :0) Scott is such a good sport, he doesn’t seem to mind my character obsession!

Looks as if Joey finished right before us!

After receiving a 10K medal, all Dumbo participants were asked to stop by the Dumbo tent for a wrist band. This wristband allowed workers the following day (after the half) to know that participants completed both races. It was more or less a honor thing – they didn’t want to give out Dumbo medals to those who didn’t actually earn them. Completely understandable! :0)

We received our medals, wrist bands, and food, then met up with Jason at the staging area for a few pictures!

Scott and I had to take a medal photo for our running group - they were all cheering us on back at home!

On our walk back to the hotel, I stopped by Mile 6 for a “spot of tea”. :0)

The food box contained a few different items than the snack box we received in January, but I liked it!

I especially enjoyed the blueberry snack package! So yummy!

A few thoughts on the 1oK (staring with bad first because this was such a fun race, I want to end on a positive note!):

• My only complaint – there were not enough water stops on this course (water was every 2 miles, and there were no gatorade stops). With the hot/humid Cali temps, there needed to be more water stops and at least one electrolyte stop. I run in that type of weather most of the year and we always have water/gatorade at least every mile and a half. Scott and I even stopped at water fountains along the course – and we noticed that some water fountain lines were as long as the lines for characters! I don’t usually drink electrolytes after I finish a race, but I drank an entire bottle after the 10K. runDisney was made aware of the water/electrolyte issue and I was told that it will be fixed for future races.
• I absolutely LOVED this 10K course! We stayed in the parks 80% of the time and I really enjoyed seeing backstage areas of CA and DL parks.
• runDisney placed just enough characters in the 10K to make this a super fun experience!
• The 10K distance was the perfect amount of time to me – my feet weren’t killing me by the end of the race and I was able to take my time and enjoy seeing the parks/characters. It wasn’t over as fast as a 5K and didn’t last as long as a Half. I think it’s my new favorite Disney race distance! :0)

Please note: this was runDisney’s first EVER 10K. For that, I’d say they get a gold star! It was a fabulous race and I had a great time!! :0)

Overall, I had a fantastic experience with the Disneyland 10K and it helped make me even more excited for the Glass Slipper Challenge in February! I can’t wait to run another!! :0)

Did you run the Disneyland 10K? What were your thoughts on the race?