2019 Wine & Dine 10K

During the Wine & Dine Half Marathon Weekend of 2019, I had the chance to participate in the 10K with several of my friends. Although this wasn't my first Wine & Dine Half Marathon weekend, it was my first Wine & Dine 10K as this race didn't exist the last time I ran this race weekend!

I have to admit that I was incredibly intrigued by this course. On paper, it sounded interesting and I couldn't wait to check it out!

As far as race outfits go, this shirt from Raw Threads was the perfect pair with my red mini dot Running Skirt. I loved the way it all came together!

After a super early bus ride to the starting area, my friends and I walked to our corrals then said our goodbyes. I just so happened to be in corral A which was incredibly shocking to me!

I absolutely loved it, though!

While walking to my corral, I received a text from my friend Lisa. It was SO nice to catch up with her and chat while waiting on the race to begin.

I definitely loved our visit!

Before long, it was time to run.

During this race, I had several potential issues going on:

• I was diagnosed with pink eye earlier that week which is why you see me in glasses.  
• Up until this point, I'd never run in glasses, EVER. Without glasses or contacts, my eyesight is so poor that I truly can't see much, so I knew that running without glasses wasn't an option.
• My crazy hamstring issue was still going on and I hadn't run anything greater than 5 miles since JUNE.

So, the race began and I settled into somewhat of a run/walk pace. I decided to just run as much as I could, stop for characters, and see what happened.

I absolutely LOVED seeing the chef outfits!

I had someone ask about a typical character line during these races, so here you go....

Above is the line for Robin Hood. He's way up by the purple looking circle. Although this line looks kind of long, it went relatively quick (maybe not even 5 minutes).

One of my favorite parts of these race weekends are the rare characters! I've never seen Robin Hood or Bowler Hat Guy! So fun!!

Also, you'll find photopass photographers at most of the character stops. These photos literally show up on your Disney photo pass account, so if you purchased photo pass for your trip or if you are an Annual Passholder, you'll have these pictures waiting there for you!

 Marie was out for a visit in France, too!

Speaking of Epcot, I LOVED this race route! We basically ran backwards through World Showcase and it was different and I loved it!!

Everything was so peaceful and serene so early in the morning!

Good morning, Epcot!

Instead of entering at Mexico, we exited here. It was weird but really cool at the same time!

The sunrise was gorgeous that morning, too!

I couldn't help but stop for Thumper - yet another "rare" character.

By this point, my IT Band was starting to bother me which really worried me for the half the following day. I thought it was odd that my hamstring behaved but my IT Band did not. So crazy!

Photo pass photographers were all over this course which left a lot of great photo opportunities!

Last but not least, I knew I had to stop for these guys as "Might-ning Queen" is one of my son's favorites!

Almost there!

 Done!

We received the traditional runDisney box of goodies and I thought the backlash over the hummus (vs the typical cheese) was hysterical!

One run down!

So, how did my potential issues go?

• The glasses were fine for a short distance like a 10K, but I knew they weren't going to fly for the half the following morning. So before the half on Sunday, I took a chance and ditched the glasses and put in a pair of contacts a day earlier than I was advised to do so. Dumb? Probably. But nurses make the worst patients and all was ok without any issues, thankfully!
• My IT Band was MAD, y'all. Like angry mad. The roads in Disney are all so sideways and up/down that the IT Band didn't have much of a chance to rest. I was terribly worried about it for the half marathon the following day and attempted to baby it throughout the rest of Saturday.

How did we do? Well, despite the IT Band pain on my part, we all had a blast with plenty of stories to share afterward! I'd say it was a pretty successful race!

Stay tuned for more from the Wine & Dine Half Marathon Weekend!