Spectating at Disney’s Princess 5K

This year, I decided to sit out of the 5K during Disney’s Princess Half Marathon Weekend and spectate instead. My husband was running and I wanted to cheer him on. In hindsight, I should have done the 5K along with my husband but oh well... Looking back, my husband said he would have run the 10K instead had he known – next time for sure!

Anyway, we woke up on 5K morning to a frozen Florida tundra. Ok not quite, but it was close. The “feels like” temperature said 28 degrees F! Holy cow…that’s COLD, y’all!

If you read yesterday’s Expo recap, you would know that my husband almost ran the Princess 5K in blue jeans. Ummm…I veto’d that right away (we were NOT prepared for it to be THAT cold). Thankfully, the Champion booth at the Expo had long men’s workout pants for sale…whew. Crisis averted!

So. Many. Layers. Two pair of socks, compression socks, compression tights, blue jeans, a tank top, a regular shirt, arm warmers, a half zip pullover, a hoodie, ear warmer, gloves, and hot hands. Needless to say, the cold didn’t bother me…anyway…. (whomp whomp)

We had no problem boarding a bus at our resort. They were ready and waiting! We arrived at the race site and headed straight for the stage.

These guys were posing for pictures with runners before the race began.

Carissa and Rudy were so cute all dressed as characters from Arendale!

Before long, runners were asked to make their way toward the corrals. Spectators weren’t allowed past a certain point, so we said our goodbyes.

As I was about to walk towards the start line to cheer the runners on, I heard an announcement that Elsa, Anna, and Kristoff were headed towards the stage! I decided to turn around and take a few pictures and I’m so glad I did. Look at this random shot I captured with a runner’s Olaf hat! Hehe!

I realized that I was starting to get hungry and I wanted a cup of coffee. I chose a banana (an almost $2 banana…welcome to Disney) and the cup of coffee was just what I needed!

Everything was clearly marked which really helped out a lot (I’ve never been on “this” side of the runDisney spectrum)! If you didn’t see a sign for something or didn’t know which way to go, Volunteers were all around to guide and direct you. It was really nice!

While waiting in the corrals, I heard that the runners received a special sneak preview of the new Cinderella movie that’s coming to theaters this March. I was slightly jealous…

….and GO!

Jason missed seeing me at the start line (I saw him) so after he passed, I began walking over to the finish line to wait for him there.

See…clearly marked!  I did like that the finish line for the 5K, 10K, and Half were all in the same exact location. Super nice!

I also text Jason this picture so he would know exactly where I was standing! Hah!

While waiting, I listened to Carissa and Rudy cheer runners on as they crossed the finish line. Y’all…they cracked me up!! I died laughing several times at their antics. Perhaps my favorite was when a girl who was running with a stuffed pooh bear crossed the finish line…Rudy informed her that she had “poo” on her hands…maybe you had to be there. It was super funny, I promise!

I might have tweeted them to let them know how much they were entertaining me! :p

Watching other runners run by also helped keep me entertained! I loved looking at everyone’s super creative costumes!

There he is!

Another race in the books!

So proud of Jason!

Mylar blankets galore! We were glad that runDisney listened to Marathon weekend runners! This blanket served a double purpose, too….I was able to use Jason’s 5K mylar blanket while waiting for the start of the 10K the following morning, which was really nice!

After a few quick pictures,we decided to go back to our hotel and attempt to warm up a bit.

Race transportation busses were ready and waiting! We didn’t wait long at all and boarded a bus right away!

As soon as we walked on our bus, I saw Brandi and her family! We sat across from them and chatted on the way back to our resort!  (They were dressed as the chimney sweeps from Mary Poppins and were SO cute!)

Overall, we had a great time at the Princess (FROZEN) 5K! Everything was well organized and put together well. We really enjoy the fun and family aspect of Disney’s 5K races. On one hand, I wish I had registered but on the other, it was neat to be a spectator for a change!

Were you at the 5K (or any park during the day)? Did you freeze your tail off?