Tinkerbell half Marathon January 18-22,2013

We checked in at the Best Western Stovall's, unpacked and walked to the Disneyland hotel to check in for the race.We checked in, got our bibs and shirts and then went to the Expo.This expo is huge!We honestly didn't see half of it.We did make sure we got over to the official run Disney merchandise.We picked up a Tinkerbell half marathon shirt that has the race course on the back,the runDisney vinylmation and the Tinkerbell medal for it,and Tinkerbell 13.1 magnets for the car.All done at the expo so we walk just a little around Downtown Disney,we don't want to use too much of our legs. We grabbed sandwiches at Earl of Sandwich and took them back to our room to rest our legs more.We ate,read and watched tv until lights out.

Unfortunately,my oldest sister (J) snores horribly and my other sister (T) and I couldn't sleep.We managed about 2 hours of sleep before we had to get up by 3:30AM for our 5AM race start.T and I are running the race.J is cheering us on.T and I get dressed and ready and head out the door.J gets up to wish us luck and she'll be down there in a while.I was so excited and nervous.This is my first ever race and only the 2nd time ever that I will have run 13.1 miles!My sister T prayed over us for a good,safe and fun race!She made me cry.She is such an amazing sister!T has run several 1/2s and fulls and has a good pace.She was in the A corral.I was in the last corral E.There were about 13,000 runners!They started each corral on theirr own with a little ceremony before they started.We couldn't hear anything until it was corral Ds time to start.I got to almost the front of corral E.Minne and Daisy cheered us on and they said go at 5:30AM.We had to start running on an uphill!Due to the excitement,I didn't even notice it.We ran around the neighborhood briefly,then entered an employee entrance.We ran down into a tunnel and then up the hill to get out.We were behind the scenes in California Adventure for a bit.They had some characters out,I stopped for Phineas and Ferb.I took random pics along the way.We crossed the promenade to Disneyland.We entered Main Street and I could hear Chim Chiminey playing!Then I saw Mary Poppins and Bert on carousel horses at the top of Main Street,only 3 people in line,so I stopped.Ran up Main Street towards Tomorrowland.Ran past Darth Vader and Storm Troopers,they had a super long line.Ran by Nemo Subs and the Matterhorn heading towards Small World.There were Pirates and Princesses on the way.Princess lines were super long and they were individual,so I skipped it.We ran to the right of Small World and went behind the scens for a while.We came out in Toontown and I stopped for a pic with Clarabelle the cow and Clarice the Chipmunk with only 1 person ahead of me.We ran to Fantasyland and through the castle!We headed to Frontierland and headed toward Splash.They had Capt Jack outside of Pirates but another long line and they had the Sailing Ship Columbia parked right in front of the ride!I stopped for a quick potty break while in the park so I could use a real bathroom and not a porta potty.I went to the bathroom under Hungry Bear Restaurant, so I had to go down some stairs and back a little way. Back up to the trail,we run past Splash Mountain and then go behind the scenes.We work our way out of Disneyland and hit Anaheim.Oh, behind the scenes there were cast members cheering us on,but the best group was the Disney custodial staff!They had a huge banner up and they cheered so loud for us!They were awesome!

We ran through Anaheim,there are some pretty houses and buildings in the area!Lots of cheer squads along the way in the form of Red Hat Ladies,Michael Jackson impersonator,Marching Bands,Cheer groups,Dance groups and individuals!One thing I wasn't prepared for mentally were the hills! Anaheim should be flat!But every time we crossed the interstates (4 times),you go up a big hill and then come back down.Good thing I was prepared physically since the city I live in is full of hills and I trained the entire time with them!The last mile we got back to property again and went through the same employee entrance and down into the tunnel and back out again!That's pretty mean for mile 12!But I ran up and down each and every hill!We finished in the Simba parking lot next to Paradise Pier hotel.I kicked it hard and ran strong across the finish line!My sisters were in the stands right after the finish!They got my attention and I went over to give them hugs.We were all crying!I walked through and got my awesome Tinkerbell medal,grabbed my banana and snack box,water and got my finishing picture.I met my sisters.We walked back to our hotel that is just across the street from the finish!We showered and got ready for the day!I finished the race in 2:49! My goal was less than 3 hours and my dream time was 2:45. With my potty stop and several picture stops it was worth just missing my dream time!My sister T finished in 2:01!She's Speedy Gonzales!T and I wore our Tinkerbell half shirts we got at the expo and used the long sleeve tech shirts we got for the race in the evening when it got cool.

We headed to the parks and the lines are security were horrendous!It reminded me of New Year's Eve!We were nervous as to what the parks were going to be like.The lines to enter Disneyland (DL) were almost half way across the promenade.The line for California Adventure (CA) only about 15 people deep.So we went to CA!

We did a quick walkthrough of Cars Land,J hadn't seen it yet.Line for Racers was really long,I think 160-180 minutes!So we kept walking through.We caught the end of Goofy's "Instant Concert: Just Add Water".It was a really cute show!We then rode Little Mermaid.Then we headed around the Pier towards Toy Story.It broke down while we were in line and near the front.They actually gave us passes to ride any time later that day!At CA,this is not a fast pass attraction!We then went next door and grabbed a fast pass for Screamin.We hadn't eaten yet,so we went over to Taste Pilots Grill and grabbed burgers,fries and onion rings.Hey,I just ran a half,I'm hungry!After lunch we grabbed fast passes for Soarin.We walked over to Screamin and used our fast passes.Love that ride and we all saw the hidden Mickey as you go through the loop!We then went and watched Aladdin show.Always a great show!We went over to Toy Story and used our passes.We then went to Cars Land and rode single rider for Racers.We then went and grabbed fast passes for Tower of Terror.Off to use our Soarin fast passes.We walked through the Mad T Party and saw their cover band play Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" so we rocked out to that!Rode Monsters Inc. We then went and used our fast passes for Tower of Terror,we had a great sequence and fun elevator of people!We were hungry so we grabbed soup in bread bowls on the Pier.Perfect for a chilly night!We walked through the shops on Buena Vista Street.We went back to our hotel early, we were tired!

Still no sleep for T and I,maybe 4 hours if we were lucky.Oh well! We started Monday morning at Disneyland!We were to the turnstiles early!We only had 1 person ahead of us at the turnstile!None of us have ever had that happen!We went straight to Indiana Jones since it had been down for refurb when I was there last year.They really made it smooth,but still jerky in a good way!They really cleaned up the look too!We then went to Star Tours and nearly walked on. Then off to Space Mountain, again we walked all the way down to the train! wW walked by Nemo Subs and there was no line! We just queued up for the next sub! Off to the Matterhorn! We then went to Peter Pan with about a 15 minutes wait! We did all of the above rides in less than 2 hours! We then stopped to meet the Princesses on the way to Small World. We got to see Aurora, Snow White and Jasmine! We rode Small World and it was still decorated for Christmas! I had noticed that during the race, the outside was still lit for Christmas. Then I noticed the music in just that area was still Christmas! I heard it was going down on Tuesday to remove the Christmas from the inside and out. We headed to the Story Book Canal Boats, then Alice In Wonderland. The crowds were really picking up in Fantasyland. We decided to have ice cream on Main Street for lunch. I had mint chocolate chip and chocolate in a waffle cone! We walked back and got fast passes for Splash. We grabbed T some fries. Rode Pirates. It was a longer line so we were outside for a while. We got to see some of the Limited Time Magic Tiana show going on! It looked cute! We then rode Haunted Mansion, then used our fast passes for Splash. We then did the meet and greet and met Pooh, Tigger and Eeyore. We got in line for the Pooh ride but it broke down. We took some pics in front of the castle. I then took pics of the plaque at the base of the flagpole! I never knew they had the opening day speech there! We decided to head to CA to get out of the crowds a bit. We walked through the candy store, Clarabelles ice cream and Starbucks so my sisters could see inside. We went back to Cars Land and did the single rider line for Racers again. Standby the entire time for our trip was 120-180 minutes! We spent time walking around Cars land, taking pics. We then decided we needed real food and it was supper time. So we grabbed soup bowls on the pier again, I love those! We were able to watch the entire Pixar Pals Parade from our table! We decided at this point that we had done all that we wanted. Plus, T and I were exhausted! So we walked throught the shops in Cars Land. I picked up a Chip Foose print my hubby wanted on our last trip. We then said goodbye to the parks and went to Downtown Disney. We did shopping in the World of Disney. We got all that we needed and went back to the hotel. I think we were in our room by 8:30!

So we had a great trip! It was an amazing first and last race! I don't love running, but was so glad I did this race!

I really enjoyed your report. It was inspiring! I actually felt proud of you for your accomplishment and the fun you seemed to have while participating in the run. Congrats! The rest of the trip sounds very successful also. Glad you had such a great time. :high5:

Thanks Tinkwest! It was fun to do and I felt so accomplished at the finish! Everyone seemed to be having fun at the run! :)

Thanks so much for sharing this. I'm doing the half in September - my first. I appreciate hearing a bit more details about the course and the expo. I've kind of been in the dark about it. The 'hill' part surprised me. All anyone has ever said about it was that it was flat. :mickey:

Congrats on such a great finishing time. I enjoyed reading your report. I've done one half marathon myself (not a Disney one) and ended up losing a toenail from it..so I've been hesitant to run again.. BUT.. hearing about the Disney ones have stirred that feeling inside.. so just maybe I'll lace up my running shoes again!

I'm happy to share! The hills aren't bad, especially compared to what I trained on. However, I was not expecting them at all because all I heard is that it is flat too! The hills aren't real long, but enough to throw you off if you aren't prepared for them. The rest of the course is flat, just know that anytime you are going to cross the freeway, you will be going up, over then down! And that employee tunnel is a pretty steep one, but it's not terribly long. I'm not sure if the race course is the same in September or not. I know the Tinkerbell course changed from last year. Last year they had you start in one park, then run through town, then finish in the other. I wonder if it took too long to get people out before park opening? You do see quite a bit of the behind the scenes in the Disney parks, but I just pretended like I was somewhere else in Anaheim during those parts! ;) It was so much fun running through the castle! Make sure you enjoy where you are at! My sister was focused on her time and really didn't pay attention to where she was at. She said she regrets that! I will say that when you run through the parks, it does give you so much energy! When I entered Main Street I almost cried! There was such a great feeling there! I wasn't even remotely tired or thinking about my body/legs at those times. You will have to keep yourself motivated on the city part of the run. There are people cheering and some entertainment out there, but some are spread a good ways from each other. Just find your groove and go! You will do great! If you lose a toenail or have foot problems you likely don't have the right running shoes for you or they are a little too small. Try on shoes after you do a workout and near the end of the day. That is when your feet will have swelled the most and will simulate how they will be during/after a long run. I LOVE my Brooks PureFlows. They are super light weight, but have cushion. I had great training with them and a wonderful run! I even wore them around Disneyland after!

I was so glad that I did a race, especially a Disney race! I don't intend to run any more. But if I were to do one, it would be at Disney!

Thanks so much for sharing - a great trip report and CONGRATS on the half marathon!!!! A huge accomplishment! I appreciated your description of the run - I've done the DL Half in Sept twice and reading this made it sound like the Tink Half course is quite a bit different so now I'll add that to my list of runs I want to do.

And isn't it great how much you can accomplish in the morning at Disneyland! It seems that the crowds are never there right at opening so you can do a lot in the morning.

Thank you!!!! Happy to share! I will say that I got so turned around when we ran through the city of Anaheim! I couldn't figure out which way we were going to head next! And I had really looked at the course map ahead of time too! When I got to mile 11-11.5, I was able to finally get my bearings again. I haven't looked at the map for the half, I'll have to check it out! Tinkerbell half was a fun race and it was mostly women who ran. There was a good feeling to it! :)

Race day, the crowds and lines at the parks were pretty long much of the day. However, the day after, the morning was so much less crowded we did get so much done! You are right, I tend to get a lot done in the mornings at Disneyland! I guess people are slower at getting to the parks there than at WDW!