Reindeer Run 5K - Sea World Orlando

My oh my, where has the time gone?! I just realized I never posted a recap of the Reindeer Run 5K I completed with a friend of mine during our December Florida trip. This 5K was my first non-runDisney event in Florida and took place in Sea World! I hadn't been to Sea World since I was a small child, so I was excited to see the park again. Also (bonus), this race was put on by Track Shack....they also happen to be the same people that put on runDisney events!

I also woke up not feeling well - it was probably the chocolate milk shake I had the night before (bad decision). Instead, Melissa and I decided to attempt the run/walk (4:1) method and go from there. If we had to walk, oh well and she offered to walk with me. She definitely didn't have to and I told her that, but she insisted!

Parking was a bit crazy for the event and by the time we found a spot to park, we definitely didn't have time to pick up our packets and bring our shirts back to the car. Instead, we tied them around our waists!

A map of the 5K - split well between the parking lot and the park. (Sound a lot like Epcot 5K's?) :)

Let's do this!

A lot of people came out for this event!

We lined up near the back (or so we thought) because we planned on walking a lot. I couldn't believe the amount of people who filled in behind us!

Fun fact: Carissa, the runDisney race announcer was also on site for this event!

We began our 4:1 attempt and after the first cycle, I just knew my stomach wasn't going to allow me to go any further. Note to self, no milkshakes the night before an event of any kind...especially while pregnant!

I liked that we walked a majority of the remainder of the race because it really gave us a chance to "see" Sea World! It was a pretty neat park and reminded me a lot of the Sea World we visited in San Diego (a lot of the same attractions and rides).

Included in this event were "character" stops - sadly, we missed Shamu. However, we could not pass up the opportunity to say hello to Santa!
 

He reassured us that we made the nice list! :)

I also loved how the park was decorated for Christmas!

I can imagine this is gorgeous at night!

These guys were so cute!

It came to a point that we were taking pictures with everything...and it was rather funny. We definitely didn't care about our time at all!

Some animals were even out for viewing! We saw flamingos and dolphins!

Hi Mr. Snowman!

These guys were crazy and kept us laughing!

The Polar Express!

Finish line!

Yes, our time for this 5K was greater than an hour but we had fun and enjoyed "seeing" Sea World. Had circumstances been different (me not feeling well and pregnant on top of that), we would have taken the event a bit more seriously. My main concern was Baby Seal (not the Sea World animal, my little animal)!

This was a fun event and given the chance, I would love to run it again (and actually run it next time). The park was fun to see, the "character" stops were cute, and the race was really well organized!

Have you ever participated in a theme park race (other than Disney)? What were your thoughts of the event?