So, anyways…it’s been exactly a month since I last blogged. But once I give you my excuse, I hope you’ll understand why!

Of course, since Todd “put a ring on it,” I’ve been in wedding planning mode. And I am THRILLED to report that we have both a date and a location for the big day.

We will be getting married on…

NOVEMBER 10, 2016. WOOHOO! <3

But even more exciting? Guess where we’ll be tying the knot?!?!

I’ll give you a hint.

That’s right.

WE’RE GETTING MARRIED IN FREAKIN’ WALT DISNEY WORLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, long story short, Todd and I do not have large families. And the extended family we do have, well…let’s just say we’re not close. We also only have a handful of friends we’d really want to invite. So the night we got engaged, I confessed that I had been looking into destination wedding options…specifically at The World (and let me tell you, he was SHOCKED, lol).

Honestly, it seemed like it could be the perfect option for us. Rather than sinking thousands of dollars on a wedding in the NY/NJ Metro area for a guest count that quite honestly wouldn’t total more than, say, 25-30 people at most…we decided to pretty much elope with just our immediate families.

Also? The thought of spending months choosing flowers and centerpieces and DJs and caterers made my head spin. It did not excite me. AT ALL. I think that I’m missing one of the genes that makes me a typical girl because I gotta tell you, I couldn’t care less about any of it. I’ve never flipped through bridal magazines or watched shows like “Say Yes to the Dress” or spent hours on Pinterest drooling over wedding ideas, and I have no interest in a bridal shower or bachelorette party or any of the traditional stuff. I don’t know what’s wrong with me, but I’m just not that into it.

But you know the one thing I *did* always secretly hope could happen? That I could get married in my absolute favorite place in the world to a guy who was willing to put on some mouse ears and slap on a “Just Married” pin and go take a million pictures in front of Cinerella’s Castle.

Check and check.

So you can imagine my excitement when I discovered that Disney has a package that’s JUST for couples like us. (Which, P.S., I had been researching long before I had a ring on my finger, haha.) Plus, a wedding at The World seemed only appropriate, and not just because I’ve been a crazy obsessed Disney fan pretty much since birth. Such a huge part of our relationship has been running…and running at Disney…and we’ve made so many awesome memories there already.

The Disney Fairytale Weddings & Honeymoons “Escape” package is for the couple and up to 18 guests, and for a pretty reasonable amount of money you get a package that includes all the basics: the limo, the cake, the bouquet, the venue, etc. Better yet, you get a “wedding planner” and they take care of EVERYTHING for you…all you have to do is check off a few preferences like flower color, cake flavor, etc., and show up on the big day.

So, um, yeah…not only could I get married at Walt Disney World, but I could do it in a way where I didn’t have to actually PLAN anything?

SOLD!

I was so excited to share the news here but wanted to wait until it was official (if you’re planning the smaller wedding package, you have to wait until 8 months out to the day to book your date…and we wanted November).

We’re still working on signing contracts and whatnot, but everything HAS been booked for us! Here’s the plan:

We will be getting married at Disney’s Wedding Pavilion at the Grand Floridian at 10am on Thursday, Nov. 10.

Photo credit: Disney’s Fairytale Weddings & Honeymoons

Then, as part of the package, you get to have a champagne toast/cake cutting ceremony at the Grand Floridian. Where we may or may not be inviting (read: paying) some special friends to stop by…

Photo credit: Disney Fine Art Photography and Videography

We will then proceed to a short “reception” at the California Grill in one of its private rooms (Napa Room) overlooking the Magic Kingdom. We’ll have the option to customize a buffet menu for our guests. (Did someone say Mickey waffle bar..?!?!)

Photo credit: Disney Fairytale Weddings & Honeymoons

And we’ll finish the day with a private dessert party at Epcot while watching Illuminations. Since we’ll be escorted into the park by a “guide,” I’m allowed to wear my dress in the park!

Photo credit: Disney Fine Art Photography and Video

And the following night, I hope to book a private pontoon boat to take us onto the Seven Seas Lagoon to watch my most FAVORITE fireworks…Wishes.

Oh, and one of the MOST EXCITING THINGS EVER? We’re going to book a private bridal portrait session in the Magic Kingdom prior to park opening. Obviously this privilege costs about a million dollars, but I know it’s going to be SO, SO worth it. The plan is basically to cut corners on all the things we don’t care about as much (ahem, flowers) so that we can splurge on the once-in-a-lifetime stuff.

Photo credit: Disney Fine Art Photography and Video

So, that’s the story so far. In case you didn’t pick up on it, I’m sooooo excited — and can’t wait to share all of the details with you guys along the way!

Who wants to share some of their favorite wedding planning tips/advice?

If you could get married anywhere in the world…where would you choose?

After the previous morning’s traffic fiasco on our way to the half marathon, we set our alarms for even earlier (ugh) just in case of a repeat performance. After getting dressed in our Rapunzel/Flynn costumes and doing some last minute safety pinning (to make sure certain chameleons stayed put for 26.2 miles, lol), we were out the door…and ready to sit in another hour of traffic. That morning took us even longer to get to Epcot, and if we hadn’t left by 4am we could have missed the start of the race.

(Obviously in hindsight we should have just taken the runner buses, but I like having our car in the parking lot so we don’t have to deal with bag check and we can park hop, etc. at our convenience for the rest of the day.)

So, once again, we made it to the corrals with just moments to spare, and before I knew it we were about to begin another 26.2 mile journey.

The temperatures that morning definitely felt warmer, and yet maybe slightly less humid (thank god). It was definitely wayyyy too hot for running a marathon, but I was in Disney…so, you know, whatevs.

Our early miles were pretty much an exact replica the previous morning. Running in the dark. Forcing ourselves to keep our pace slow and steady to conserve energy for later. And sweating our asses off.

We skipped the characters who appeared before the Magic Kingdom because they were either repeats or characters we didn’t especially care about (I’m still not into The Nightmare Before Christmas).

By the time we reached the TTC, we both had to make a pit stop, and we were soon continuing on to the Magic Kingdom: THE BEST PART OF ANY RACE, ANYWHERE, IN THE WHOLE ENTIRE WORLD.

Running down Main Street was AMAZING as always, and that morning was even better because we weren’t running through a cloud of fog. We could actually, you know, see the castle.

And, as a bonus…we were getting LOTS of attention for our costumes.

You know what’s even more glorious than running down Main Street? Running down Main Street when the castle is still all lit up for Christmas.

Our first character stop that morning was for Lilo & Stitch. Because, I mean, c’mon. It’s Stitch. And I loves him.

And then began the most magical part of the marathon. The reason I wish I could run this race every single year for the rest of my life. There are no words to describe the elation of running through the Magic Kingdom. If you took the “high” of crossing the finish line of every single race I’ve ever completed and added them all together, it still wouldn’t compare to how I feel when running these 1-2 miles through the park.

Call me a dork, but…it’s the truth.

And this year was THE BEST YET because, unbeknownst to me, the course had been changed quite a bit (due to the closure of the speedway, I presume).

Suddenly I found myself running by Splash Mountain and through new Fantasyland and spending way more time in the park than ever before. It was AWESOME.

And there were some amazing characters out along the way, including my favorite princess ever. When we jumped in line, Sebastian was posing with Ariel and I was SOOOO EXCITED. But, of course, he was escorted away by a cast member when there were just a few runners in front of us. Boo.

I wish we could run all 26.2 miles through Magic Kingdom. Not even lying.

Before I knew it, it was time to exit via the backstage area and start making our way over to Animal Kingdom. This stretch of the course isn’t especially exciting. I was still feeling just fine, but Todd had been complaining of some tummy issues so I was hoping he would start feeling better.

Obviously, the good part about starting in an earlier corral for a Disney race is the comfort of knowing that you can stand in line for some characters and take pit stops as needed…and little did I know then just how much we were going to need that extra cushion (spoiler alert). I was feeling especially grateful that I damn near killed myself to score an almost-PR at The Love Run last spring to submit for corral placement for this race.

Character lines hadn’t been TOO outrageous at that point, but we did stop for a TON due to the extra time in Magic Kingdom, and of course we spent time taking pictures in front of the castle — which is why those 1-2 miles in the park always take us AT LEAST 30-45 minutes, if not more. Our pace was muuuuch slower than our usual race pace, of course, but we were still generally running around an 11:30/mile, if memory serves. So I wasn’t too worried at that point.

When we leave the park, we tend to get stuck behind a cluster of walkers on narrow paths before the course opens up (a little bit) again closer to the golf course. We just did the best we could. It’s not like we were trying to PR or anything (obviously), but we did try to weave around other runners whenever possible and if the course got too congested we’d walk a bit until we could find an opening.

And, fortunately, we found this guy and jumped in line right before he was supposed to switch for Donald. Lucky day.

The stretch leading up to Animal Kingdom had some surprises for us this year. It seemed every half-mile or so had a different character…and they were all really RARE characters, with lots of VILLAINS! Never knowing what character you might spot up ahead is a GREAT way to keep your mind off the agony of, you know, running a marathon.

I thought it was pretty much the coolest thing ever, so we jumped in line for pretty much all of them. Couldn’t help myself.

They also had some animals out for us as we got closer to the park. Seeing this guy was pretty much my favorite part of the entire day, not gonna lie, lol.

We made our way to Animal Kingdom for a short stretch of course inside the park. It was time for another potty break and some more silliness.

Todd still wasn’t feeling quite right, and truth be told my stomach wasn’t 100 percent either, but that tends to happen when I’m a.) running in the heat and b.) when I’m traveling and haven’t been sticking entirely to my “normal” food.

The Animal Kingdom part of the course is over sooo fast, and I knew the next several miles might be a bit of a struggle. So I enjoyed our time in the park as much as possible…especially when another runDisney photographer grabbed us to pose us for pictures in front of the tree.

Before I knew it we were back on highway, it was warming up…and things got a little boring. Especially since I know we were headed to the Wide World of Sports, and that’s just not a highlight of the course for me.

Halfway there!

This is probably where things started to take a turn for the worse for Todd. Now it wasn’t only his stomach, but his feet were starting to hurt big time and I knew the previous morning’s half marathon (and all the walking we did around the parks) was catching up with him. I’m used to tackling back-to-back races so I guess I knew what to expect, and I worried this might happen to him because it was his very first time with any sort of multiple-day race challenge.

So it seemed only appropriate that this was our next photo stop, lol.

We kept plugging away, but I could tell our walk breaks through water stops were getting longer and longer, and as we approached Wide World of Sports and Todd kept asking to take impromptu walk breaks, I knew we might be in a little bit of trouble. Unfortunately, we both remembered that it was right around this point last year when Todd lost his mojo, and this time we had the added fatigue of running the Goofy Challenge thrown into the mix.

I was feeling perfectly fine at that point; a little bit of fatigue in my legs and feet, obviously — and I still don’t do well in the heat, pace-wise — but when I’m in Disney I just don’t feel pain. It sounds ridiculous but it’s so true. So I tried to do my best to keep him in good spirits.

My high school yearbook quote, lol

We ran/walked through Wide World of Sports. I was encouraging Todd to conserve his energy as best he could, and unfortunately all of our tomfoolery earlier in the race had caught up with us. Though we started in corral F we had fallen wayyyyy behind the runners with similar running paces, so we were getting trapped behind walls of walkers. Because there’s really just no room to run on the narrow paths at Wide World of Sports, we opted to just walk whenever it became impossible to weave around other runners. Todd said his legs/feet felt a little better after each walk break, so that’s what we did.

And, you know, we rested our legs standing in line for pictures. How do you NOT stop for a photo with Goofy when you’re *thisclose* to completing the Goofy Challenge?!

Wide World of Sports felt like it went on forever, but we did pick it up a little bit for our victory lap through the stadium.

After we left the complex we kept plodding along towards Hollywood Studios. It sort of felt like we were moving in slow motion at that point. Because this section of the course is something of an out-and-back, we could see that there were no other runners headed into Wide World of Sports…which I knew meant we had fallen a bit further back than I thought.

I knew we had a little ways to go before the glorious Hollywood Studios/Boardwalk/Epcot portion of the race, and let’s just say Todd wasn’t in the best of spirits. His feet were killing him and his stomach was still upset. Since he has talked me down off the proverbial ledge many, MANY times in races before, I made it my mission to help him get to that finish line! We continued with our run/walk and made our way sllllllowly towards the final stretch of the race: the last 10K.

It was somewhere in mile 21 when I made a joke to Todd about how we were “almost safe” from the balloon ladies. Truth be told, we’ve never actually seen the balloon ladies, but if you run Disney races then you know that you have to stay in front of them in order to avoid being swept from the course for falling too far behind the time limit. Not 30 seconds later, a pacer on a bike rode by and announced: “just letting you know that you guys are about 2 miles ahead of the balloon ladies right now.”

And let me tell you I have NEVER seen a swarm of people all start sprinting at the EXACT. SAME. TIME. I knew well enough that we would be “safe” once we entered Hollywood Studios in mile 22, so I knew that we were fine. But Todd and I tried to pick up the pace nonetheless! We’ve never been that far back before, and it wasn’t the most pleasant of experiences to know that the “dreaded” balloon ladies were now chasing us to the finish line!

We made it into the park and runners were cheering and high-fiving and cast members were congratulating us on the way in, but since I’m such an experienced marathoner now (ha), I knew very well that these last couple of miles were still going to be pretty brutal. Even with all the distractions along the way.

I was thrilled to take on this final leg of the marathon because there’s so much park time and you get to run along the Boardwalk, but Todd was not having ANY of it. I knew he was hurting and I let him dictate whenever it was time for us to take another break.

The man still manages to smile for the camera, though…gotta love him, lol.

And what better way to take a break than standing in line for more pictures?

I have to say, I LOVED all of the “rare” characters this year.

I think his spirits lifted a little bit in the park because Hollywood Studios was already open for the day and thus there were lots of cheering spectators (as well as disgruntled park goers who made it clear they were pissed at us for clogging up all the walkways, haha).

My blogger friend Kim from Barking Mad About Running spotted us on our way out of the park, so it was awesome to have the personalized cheers.

The path leading up to the Boardwalk is basically a disaster because it’s damn near impossible to run. Everybody and their mother was walking, and because it’s so narrow you really can’t go ANYWHERE. Todd’s legs had basically fallen apart by then, anyway, so it was fine by both of us if we had to walk a little bit more.

But we were sooooo close to the finish and we had been out on the course for sooooo long…I was anxious to get to Epcot and cross that finish line!

We were able to run/walk/hobble/whatever you want to call it to the Boardwalk, with a few extra walk breaks. I knew for sure that he was struggling then because I heard a few expletives slip out of his mouth. And let’s just say that I’m the one with the potty mouth in this relationship, lol.

I knew we were going to make it, and I tried to be as encouraging as possible. I think he was kind of annoyed at the situation because I was bouncing around and making jokes and smiling and acting like an idiot and giving high-fives to people…and here he was in pure agony.

Seriously…I will say it again. There is NO SUCH THING AS PAIN when I’m running in Disney. I’m sure I was just as tired and in as much physical discomfort as he was, but I just don’t *FEEL* it the way I do when I’m running any other race. Why do you all think I’m so obsessed with this marathon?!

The views on the Boardwalk were beautiful as always, and with less than a 5K to go, I was feeling PUMPED.

At long last, we made it to Epcot for what is seriously the MOST INCREDIBLE marathon finish you will ever experience. Magic Kingdom is obviously the best part of this race for me, but the lap around the World Showcase is a close second. Between the spectators cheering you on and the absolutely EPIC music you hear playing in each country, there is NOTHING like it.

Oh, and the fact that there are a bunch of characters and absolutely no lines because we’re the only idiots who stop for photos in the last 2 miles of a marathon, lol.

As we ran towards Future World, I could feel my emotions bubbling up…and I almost lost it. Here I was running the race that started it all. It sounds corny but running the Dopey Challenge in 2014 as my first marathon really did change my life forever. Not the least of which is that it gave me courage and a level of confidence that I never had before…and it made me realize that I could accomplish absolutely ANYTHING.

And I kept thinking about how Todd had told me so many times “I’ll never be able to do the Goofy or Dopey” because he legitimately thought he wouldn’t be able to finish. And here he was about to complete his first Goofy Challenge.

Everyone was cheering for “Rapunzel and Flynn!!!” and I was soaking up every second of it as we made our way towards the finish.

And, ladies and gentlemen, after more than 7 hours and 15 minutes on the course…WE FINALLY MADE IT to the finish line.

There are no words.

It was our absolute worst marathon time to date, but I didn’t care one bit. I enjoyed every second of it and I wasn’t the least bit sorry for all of the photos and characters and silliness along the way.

I’m not sure if I’m ever going to get Todd to agree to run the Goofy Challenge again. And he pretty much laughs in my face whenever I mention the idea of running Dopey together someday.

But I could not have been more proud of this guy for completing his first Goofy Challenge.

After some much-deserved chair time in the finish line area (um, and also, devouring those Oreos in the snack boxes…OMG I LOVE OREOS), we made our way…slooooowly…back to the car to hop to Magic Kingdom.

Because, yeah…obviously this had to happen, lol.

After a Shower Pill “bath” and a fresh change of clothes, we headed to Liberty Tree Tavern to stuff our faces and enjoy the rest of the night in Magic Kingdom. I know ya’ll probably think we’re gross (and also a little insane), but since it takes us so long to finish the race, if we went back to the hotel for showers, etc., the parks would practically be closing by the time we got back. And ain’t nobody got time for that.

So, for the record, after the race was over some clouds rolled in and temperatures dropped and suddenly we were both FREEZING. UGH — it couldn’t have been that chilly during the race?! So, anyway, this happened. Thank goodness for Snuggies.

Anyways, this recap has probably gone on long enough…so thanks for sticking with me, and, as always, for all of your support along the way!

Have you ever been in danger of being “swept” from a race course?

What’s your favorite part of the WDW Marathon/favorite Disney race?

We stayed at Port Orleans Riverside this time around, and while it was a beautiful resort, unfortunately its location in relation to Epcot didn’t do us any favors on race morning. Though we were up by 3:30 and out the door a little after 4 (I always rent a car), we sat in RIDICULOUS, bumper-to-bumper traffic the entire way to Epcot. Between the road closures and police officers re-routing people and the zillions of runners trying to merge themselves onto one single-lane ramp to Epcot, what should have taken 10 minutes took almost an hour. UGH!

So by the time we parked and walked allllllllllll the way to the starting line, they were just about to release corral F! Our streak of JUST making it to the starting line of races continues.

Of course, we still made time for a few quick photos along the way, lol

In other news, that morning was HUMID. I mean seriously HUMID. Oh, and foggy…it was actually pretty creepy! It wasn’t sweltering hot or anything (I think it was in the 60s/approaching 70), but there was so much moisture in the air it was ridiculous. Don’t believe me? Here’s what our earliest race photos looked like:

As you know, for this race we decided to go as two of the Three Caballeros, and simply carry our third little duck friend. Well, let’s just say that my stuffed duck was pretty much soaking wet with sweat by mile 2. Groooooooss.

We started the race at a nice, easy pace, and our first official photo stop was Wreck-it-Ralph, who had a pretty huge line. But our plan was to stop for any characters we really liked in the first miles of the half marathon, so that if there were repeat characters in the marathon, we could skip ‘em.

As we got closer and closer to Magic Kingdom, I was feeling pumped to be starting another leg of the Goofy Challenge. Other than the god-awful humidity, I think we were both feeling pretty good.

And then you turn the corner onto Main Street and feel even more AH-MAZ-ING. I’m still waiting for the day when this gets old, and, yet…never does.

We stopped for a couple of character pictures (and a potty break) in the Magic Kingdom. This mile always clocks in on our Garmins as 30+ minutes or more because of all the character silliness.

When we stopped to take some pictures in front of the castle, one of the runDisney marketing folks took us aside and took a bunch of pictures of us since, as he said, “it IS the Donald half marathon…”

Photo credit: runDisney

We made our way through Magic Kingdom (which is STILL all kinds of glorious fun to me, BTW), and one of the more unique photo opps of the morning was in the backstage area: Peter Pan and the gang!

Of course, after you leave the park, the course becomes a crowded, congested mess. We’ve become accustomed to this and either try to run on the grass or simply take unplanned walk breaks when things get out of hand. There’s really not much more you can do; unfortunately, there are still lots of runners who walk in the middle of the path, stop unexpectedly, walk in groups of 3+ across, etc., so I’ve decided not to get agitated by it and just try to go with the flow.

We found a couple more friends along the way, and soon it was back to the boring old highway.

I will say that the marathon course is SOOOOO much better than the half, and the more times I run the marathon, the less I enjoy the half. I know runDisney tries to keep us entertained with the parade performers and the floats and the bands along the way, which I very much appreciate, but at the end of the day you really are just running on highways.

Excited to find Donald!

The goal of this race was to take things sloooooooow. I honestly don’t even know what our pace was at that point, but I did feel that we were running SIGNIFICANTLY slower than usual. I knew Todd was in for a real treat during the marathon the next day, and since he’s not used to the back-to-back race experience, I thought it was best to take the half marathon as easy as possible.

So thats what we did. We walked through water stops and kept our pace steady, and soon enough we were back in Epcot and making our way towards the finish!

We were excited to see more duck friends along the way, and had to stop for a picture with Scrooge!

And, of course, we had to stop for a quick photo with vacation Genie, haha.

Before I knew it, we were leaving Epcot and had reached mile 13! I had met a Twitter friend (hi, Sarah!) earlier in the race, and she happened to be taking pictures at the mile 13 marker…so she was kind enough to take ours.

We crossed the finish line in what was our worst half marathon time for a Disney race (or, you know, in general)…our usual Disney time is right around 3:30 since we stop for photos with practically ever character. (And we obviously couldn’t miss the opportunity to get a finish line photo with Donald, haha.)

But other than some sore feet, we both felt pretty good, so I certainly wasn’t complaining about our finish time.

We hung out in the finisher’s area for a few minutes, and thought it might be a good time to take a picture with another duck.

We also ran into Meranda and Lacey from Fairytales and Fitness! I’ve been reading their blog forever, and we had finally met for the first time at the expo the previous morning…so it was awesome to see them again!

Photo stolen from Fairytales and Fitness: http://fairytalesandfitness.com

After we made our way to the car to freshen up and slip into my magical OOFOs, it was time to hunt for our third caballero. We found him in Mexico. Donald was SUPER excited to see us, haha.

And then I decided it would be just gosh darn hilarious if we rode the Three Caballeros dressed as the Three Caballeros.

Doesn’t get any dorkier than this, folks.

The cast members in the Mexico pavilion went absolutely bananas for our costumes, and insisted on taking pictures with us, LOL.

It was a great ending to that morning’s 13.1 mile journey.

We spent a few hours in Epcot before grabbing an early dinner at ‘Ohana, and then went back to our resort for night-night to prepare for the next day’s marathon!

Walt Disney World Marathon recap…coming soon!

Disney runners…do you always stop for photos with characters along the way?

How do you deal with congested race courses?

Who else loathes Florida humidity as much as I do?! 

Back in 2013 (which seems SO long ago), Princess was my very first half marathon. And there are no words that could ever even begin to describe the feeling of crossing that finish line.

It really was the race that started at all. Dozens of half marathons and four full marathons later, who knows where I’d be right now if I hadn’t had the courage to randomly sign up for a 13.1-mile race in 2012. It was one of the first times in my life that I had taken such a giant leap of faith…and good lord was I TERRIFIED that I wouldn’t be able to do it! Seems crazy to think about now.

This race will always hold a special place in my heart. But in honor of my fellow princesses, I thought I’d share some other reasons why I think this particular race weekend ROCKS! And if you’re running this weekend…have a magical race!

The Girlishness

The Princess Half Marathon may share the same course as, say, the Walt Disney World Half Marathon…but, to me, the experience feels completely different.

It starts from the moment you walk into the “Fit for a Princess” expo and see nothing but rows and rows of sparkly skirts and headbands and jewelry and all sorts of other girly things.

Then there’s the middle of the race, when you see countless mothers and daughters, sisters, and friends running together, many in matching sparkly costumes.

Afterwards, you hear nothing but “congratulations” all day from your fellow runner ladies in the parks — most of whom are still wearing their tiaras and tutus, just like you.

It’s just…a special race. I don’t know how else to say it.

The Costumes

Of course, you’ll see people in costume for any of the runDisney races. But I find it especially cool that so many women channel their favorite princess during this race experience.

All weekend, everyone is decked out in flouncy tutus and sparkly tiaras, and racing in costumes inspired by the female heroines from classics like Cinderella all the way up to Disney’s newest princesses.

The Royal Treatment

At the Princess Half Marathon, you really are made to feel like royalty. You might even be escorted into the expo by these fine gentlemen.

Everyone calls you “princess” all weekend long. Plus, it’s kind of hard not to feel royal when you’re wearing a tiara.

The Photo Opps

Again, all runDisney races have the BEST photo opportunities. But where else can you get a picture with a group of these handsome fellows?

The Princess Half Marathon shares a lot of the same characters as the other races, but it’s the only race weekend when you’re likely to score a picture with the Fairy Godmother, or Mickey and Minnie in their royal costumes.

Plus, if you’re dressed as your favorite princess, you might just spot her after the finish line! (Totally worth the 45+ minute wait.)

The Medals

Need I say more?

What girl doesn’t like a little extra *BLING*?

 The Girl Power

Yeah, so, it may be cheesy to say…but I LOVE how this race weekend really is the perfect opportunity for women to prove that we can be girly and feminine but also strong and athletic. You can’t help but feel like a total badass…yes, even in costume.

It’s always especially fun to see so many women taking on their first 5K, 10K, or half marathon during the Princess…and kicking ass on the race course.

If anyone is running this weekend and interested in checking out some recaps from 2013 and 2014, here are mine!

Glass Slipper Challenge 2014

Enchanted 10K 2014

“Fit for a Princess” Expo 2014

Princess Half Marathon 2013 (part one, part two)

“Fit for a Princess” Expo 2013

 My First Half Marathon

Have you/would you run the Princess Half Marathon?

What was your first half marathon?

What’s your favorite runDisney race?

After the previous morning’s half marathon (my recap can be found here, in case you missed it!) and a full day of walking around Epcot, I wasn’t exactly looking forward to another 3:30am wake-up call. Honestly, I kept having to remind myself that I had already completely this particular challenge…and with two additional days of early mornings! Why did it seem so much harder this time around?!

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Todd was going to be running with me (EXCITEMENT!), and he graciously agreed to dress up “like a fairytale character,” as he puts it. LOL.

Our marathon costumes were pretty simple, but it did take me the better part of 15 minutes just to clip the damn bow into my hair the way I wanted it, and the felt corset was an entirely different story…it was held together by safety pins that didn’t exactly want to stay put. So, yes, I struggled with pulling it up and re-pinning it all throughout the race. In addition to juggling my stuffed fish, of course.

We were out the door by by 4:15 again, and had no trouble getting to Epcot and parking. It felt SIGNIFICANTLY warmer that morning (BOO), and there was a bit of a chill in the air — but it was still already approaching 60 degrees. We made a quick visit to the port-a-potties and squeezed into our corral shortly before the 5:30am start time.

Disney knows how to keep thousands of runners entertained — even at that ungodly hour — and before I knew it we were seeing our fireworks!

Another 26.2-mile journey was about to begin, and I for one could not be more excited. Not only would I be running the MOST MAGICAL MARATHON ON EARTH (again), but this time, I wouldn’t have to do it alone!

Still, in those early miles, I kept thinking about how freaked out I was running this exact same race last year. As my first full marathon, that fear of the unknown was enough to suck the fun right out of the experience, especially when you’ve signed up for some cockamamie Goofy or Dopey Challenge and are already feeling sore from the previous day’s race(s).

This time? It was all about the fun. I was never scared about not finishing, and I knew that even though I might struggle, that I would be able to fight through it.

The first few miles were pretty uneventful. I spotted Wreck-it-Ralph and Vanellope again, and since we both love that movie, I decided it was definitely worth another quick wait in line.

I was feeling some tightness in my legs from the previous morning’s half marathon (not to mention all the walking around the parks) but so far, my knee wasn’t bothering me and I was feeling good. We got started nice and easy, right around that 11ish-minute/mile, and the plan was to walk through every water stop.

There were a bunch of the same characters out from yesterday — The Nightmare Before Christmas people, the pirates — and we opted to pass them by. But I will NEVER pass up a picture in front of the Magic Kingdom gates!

Moving right along to the backstage area and towards the TTC, I felt the same amount of excitement as the previous morning. You would think the whole running through the Magic Kingdom thing would eventually get old…and yet, it NEVER does. We were still feeling good and enjoying the cooler temperatures, although I was DEFINITELY sweating a whole lot more than I was during the half marathon.

And, as per usual, I was having some costume difficulties — mainly in the form of the corset slipping down, bunching, and not staying pinned the way I wanted it to. Fortunately, I stashed a bunch of extra safety pins in my bra (gotta be prepared!) for just such an occurrence, so I took a few minutes during our first potty break at the TTC to try (in vain) to pin it tighter and make it stop slipping.

Soon, we were backstage at the Magic Kingdom, and turning the corner onto Main Street.

AH, THE EXCITEMENT!

Now it was time to take lots and lots of pictures with the castle.

Then we moved into Tomorrowland and stood in a VERY short line for Buzz. I wished all of the character lines could be that short…then maybe we could finish this damn race in under 7 hours. (Sorry, spoiler alert, haha).

We made our way into Fantasyland and behind the castle again, where I was once again disappointed to find no Mickey and Minnie. The Frozens were out to greet runners again, but it really doesn’t make up for missing out on one of my favorite character photos of the race.

Fortunately, running through the castle made up for it!

As always, we grabbed some more pictures in front of the castle, courtesy of Marathonfoto.

My favorite picture from the race!

And then headed towards Frontierland, when we spotted this guy.

We did pass up a few characters in Magic Kingdom, namely that ridiculous alligator again and the boring old White Rabbit, in addition to that mime guy. No matter what, our time in Magic Kingdom felt very, very short, and it was time to move out into the backstage area. I saw Rapunzel and Flynn posing with Snow White and whatever her prince’s name is, but a cast member told us that Rapunzel probably would be on her “break” by the time it was our turn…so we moved on.

After leaving the Magic Kingdom, you have the joy of attempting to run on a very narrow path with about a thousand of your closest friends, so I can’t wait for this part of the course to be over. Although, we were excited to see Donald and Goofy together in their oh-so-adorable golf outfits!

Like the previous morning, Genie and Abu were out again. So, of course, we had to get that one, too.

Then the course leads you into the Walt Disney World Speedway, where you have to navigate the world’s steepest and most dangerous race incline. I, unfortunately, had to walk said incline, because my knee was starting to bother me again. Like, a lot.

This time, not only was I in pain, but it felt like my knee was going completely stiff. I felt like the freakin’ Tin Man trying to hobble along. What was strange was that while I was running, it hurt — but the pain was bearable. But then when we’d stop for a picture or to wait in a character line, it felt damn near excruciating trying to start running again.

There was no way my stupid knee was going to put a damper on my fun, though. And I definitely wasn’t going to turn into a Mr. Grumpy Pants and ruin this part of the course for Todd, since he was actually interested in running through the Speedway.

I ignored the pain as best I could and soldiered on. I knew that running through the parks would be plenty of distraction to get me through the discomfort. And I figured if things got really bad, I could always make my first in-race stop at a medic tent for some ice and Biofreeze.

The classic cars in the Wide World of Sports are fun and all, but, again — I’m not really into it. This stretch of the course dragged on a bit for me!

I was really looking forward to Animal Kingdom, and even though the sights aren’t the most exciting along the way, we still managed to have a little bit of fun.

Moving along, we found a few more friends.  We have sort of an inside joke revolving around my aversion to the Country Bear Jamboree (sorry), so this photo HAD to happen.

And, how do you pass up a meet-and-greet with THE cricket himself?

We were getting closer and closer to Animal Kingdom, and I couldn’t wait! As I’m sure I’ve mentioned once (or 50 times) before, the great thing about the Walt Disney World Marathon is that there’s always plenty of surprises along the way. Whether it’s a backstage look at floats from some of the parades, the (extremely smelly) sewage treatment area, or some especially attractive topiary.

Or a running goat, for crying out loud! There were several animals out to take pictures with runners, and one of the highlights of my race was getting to run alongside this guy. Who, YES, was wearing a race bib!

Needless to say, I found it downright hilarious.

Finally, we were in Animal Kingdom! Unfortunately, this stretch of the course really IS too short — we’re talking a mile or two, tops.

Nevertheless, it offered a great opportunity to 1.) take another in-park bathroom break, with real toilets and EVERYTHING, and b.) gave me a chance to make my knee feel even worse after standing in a fairly long line for the bathroom followed by more character lines.

There was no way I was passing this one up, though, since I missed it last year. I got in line right as Minnie and Daisy mysteriously disappeared…and never actually returned.

In the blink of an eye, it was time to move out of Animal Kingdom. Fortunately, the parking lot is a great place for spectators to catch their runners, and there’s always lots of excitement. Plus, it’s a great opportunity to meet Safari Mickey. And for him to steal your fish.

As an added bonus, after you run through the “backstage” portion of Animal Kingdom, you’re officially halfway through the marathon.

*Gulp*

I’m not gonna lie. I was hurting. My knee was killing me now, and I was still doing a fair amount of hobbling. I had been doing a good job of fueling, alternating between Clif Bloks and Honey Stingers every 45 minutes or so, and I felt okay…other than my stupid, annoying, I-don’t-know-what-the-hell-is-wrong-with-it left knee.

I definitely remember thinking, “we’re ONLY halfway there?!” Granted, I knew there was still plenty of fun ahead, but I also knew that the Hollywood Studios/Epcot portion of the race wouldn’t technically happen until the last 10K. Could I make it that far?

Unfortunately, Todd shared my sentiments. See, we had this great idea that we’d both run a marathon in November — NYCM and Philadelphia — and then he would have absolutely ZERO time with which to recover. He followed a six-week Hal Higdon “multiple marathon” plan in between the two races, which only had him train up to a 16-mile long run.

Needless to say, on that boring stretch of course heading towards the ESPN Wide World of Sports, it wasn’t exactly sunshine and roses for either of us.

Which is a LARGE part of the reason why taking this photo felt absolutely fantastic. The chance to lie down in the middle of a marathon, even just for a second? Priceless.

I was just anxious to get to Wide World of Sports. Todd was asking to take a few intermittent walk breaks here and there, and we were still walking through water stops, so our overall pace was slowing down quite a bit. Plus, there were some spectators handing out snacks, and I’ve been known to eat just about anything during a marathon (in addition to the yummy bananas runDisney gives out!). Honestly, I had turned my Garmin off somewhere in the first 10K, anyway, because it was acting up and I don’t really pay attention to it during a Disney race.

The good news? Although the temperatures had warmed up a bit, the sun still hadn’t really come out. It was nice and cloudy up until that point, and then as we made our way to Wide World of Sports, it started to rain! It was FANTASTIC.

(Of course, I ended up looking like a wet rat for the rest of the race…but who really looks good while running a marathon?)

In Wide World of Sports, we took (yet another) pit stop in a “real” bathroom, and I stood in (yet another) line for the ladies’ room. My knee was still sore at this point, but I think since we weren’t stopping for characters as much (and we did a bit of walking), it was actually starting to feel a little better.

Running in Wide World of Sports is fun and all…but probably not quite as thrilling if you’re not into, you know, sports. Todd enjoyed it, though.

I mainly enjoyed chillin’ with these guys.

And seeing a big, blown-up Baymax. ‘Cuz I love him.

Plus, one of his quotes from the movie just seemed so apropos for this particular moment…

I do like running through the baseball stadium, mainly due to the spectators. I did notice that there seemed to be fewer people cheering us on than I remembered last year, but I also know that had a lot to do with the fact that were bringing up the rear at this point.

I knew that by this time last year, I was almost done with the race. The lines for characters had been getting longer and longer, and we had a LOT of trouble attempting to weave around walls of walkers, especially during narrower points of the course. At times, we decided to walk just for the hell of it, because there was no way we could even try to run without hurting ourselves (or someone else.)

After you’re out of the stadium, you know that the 20-mile marker is SOCLOSE. I knew that if we could make it to mile 20, we’d be just fine — that’s where the fun final 10K begins!

In any normal marathon, those last 6.2 miles can be BRUTAL…but in Disney, it means you still have Hollywood Studios, the Boardwalk, and Epcot to look forward to.

We were still doing okay, physically, and my knee was cooperating a little bit better. I know Todd was struggling with the usual fatigue and pain in his feet and legs, but we were in good spirits. I was still having the time of my life.

I was disappointed not to see the green army man somewhere on the highway before Hollywood Studios, but I know he appeared in other runners’ recaps…so perhaps he was on a coffee break at the time we ran by. Sadness. I always, ALWAYS get a picture with that guy!

Nevertheless, we made it into Hollywood Studios. Which several runners around me were applauding as “the no-sweep zone.”

Honestly, I’ve never once worried about getting swept in a Disney race, which is why I feel like I can take the liberty of stopping for as many characters as I’d like along the way. It’s kind of strange, because I basically bust my butt all year long to keep my pace fairly fast, so that I can have the luxury of going as slow as I want in this particular marathon, haha.

Still, I know we were towards the back of the pack this time around. I knew then that our finish time would definitely be over 7 hours. Last year, I finished in 5:50…which amazes me now because I have no clue how I did that, especially as part of Dopey and with so many character/photo stops! I know that my “racing” pace has gotten slower since my first marathon, which stinks, and plus when you’re running with someone else, you have to be accommodating of their need for pit stops, walk breaks, etc.

Running through the Studios was bittersweet, especially since I knew this would be our last chance to take pictures with “the hat.”

The park was open for the day, which meant plenty of extra spectators to cheer us on. Not to mention the regular park-goers who had no idea what was going on, haha.

I enjoyed every minute of it.

This part of the course also takes you into a backstage” area where you get a look at the costume department, and there’s my favorite stop of all: THE CHOCOLATE STOP. It was there that I learned two very important lessons. Number 1: Hershey’s bars + running = heartburn. Number 2: Stuffing chocolate into your pockets “for later?” Not a good idea in Florida.

But after I munched on some yummy chocolate, I was thrilled to spot some more of my favorites!

And we got to be “Incredible!”

We made yet another pit stop on the way out of the park (well, at least I knew I was well hydrated) and headed towards Epcot — THE FINAL PARK. But, first, the course takes you onto yet another crowded pathway, which is annoying, and onto the Boardwalk, which is beautiful.

As we approached Epcot, there was no stopping us. We were no longer taking walk breaks, and our pace picked back up to where it was in the early miles. To me, it felt like we were flying.

I think we both wanted to be DONE. I gotta tell you, being on your feet for 7+ hours can be just a tad exhausting.

Running through World Showcase is always a highlight of the race, not only because you’re just moments away from the finish line, but also because there are always characters with NO WAITS WHATSOEVER! Since the park is open for the day, they let “regular” people take pictures with them, too, but runners get first priority.

Running through Epcot is kind of like taking your own personal victory lap. There’s nothing like it.

Granted, you still have the day guests looking at us throngs of costumed runners like we’re crazy, as they sip beer and nosh on delectable treats from whatever country they happen to be visiting at the time. But you also have tons of spectators watching for their runners, and you know that magnificent finish line is just up ahead.

You make your way into Future World for your final lap before heading back into the parking lot, and I know that at least for me, any pain or physical discomfort I may have been feeling completely disappeared.

This was OUR MOMENT. And it was so, so sweet.

With just two final pictures before the finish line, we finally crossed…in a time of 7:15.

Four hours longer than it took me to run the half marathon the previous morning, and nearly an hour and a half longer than it took me to run last year’s marathon.

But I didn’t care. I stopped for WAY more pictures this year, and I could not have had more fun.

After collecting our marathon medals and grabbing some goodies, I had to make my way into a special area for my Goofy medal.

This year, they had computer kiosks set up to match your bib number with a photo taken of you at the expo, presumably to help crack down on people trying to play tricks on runDisney when it comes to running with someone else’s bib, etc. After I proved that I was, in fact, Jennifer Nelson, I was allowed to collect my beautiful spinning Goofy medal.

I had done it — AGAIN. And this time around, I was able to focus solely on the experience of running this marathon and less on the panic attacks and the whole “OMG, I CAN’T DO THIS” freakouts from the previous year.

It was amazing.

After I had such a tough time running the New York City Marathon, I NEEDED this. I needed a reminder of how running can be fun, and how much I really do love it.

Running in Disney will always serve as a reminder of why I do this in the first place, and there is no race that will ever top this marathon to me. If I could, I’d run it every year for the rest of my life.

Since I know that this post already went on…and on…and on…I’ll be writing a separate recap with some more highlights from our trip! But after the marathon, we raced (literally) to our first Fastpass+ reservation so that this could happen…

Before getting changed and feasting, in true post-marathon style, at the Crystal Palace.

We spent the rest of the day at Magic Kingdom. And, yes, we DID stay until the end of Extra Magic Hours. So to say we were exhausted would have been an understatement. But Todd knows better than to even THINK about trying to get me to leave the park early.

It was a magical ending to a most magical race.

What do YOU enjoy most about running in Disney?

What has been your most “fun” marathon to date?

After spending Thursday at Universal Studios (Todd insisted…BOO) and Friday at Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom, that 3:30am wake-up call on Saturday wasn’t easy. But I was dressed as everyone’s favorite snowman and out the door by 4:15 (another perk of the rental car…no waiting in lines for buses to transport you to the starting line).

Of course, my stupid ass took a wrong turn somewhere and ended up at Animal Kingdom, so by the time I successfully made my way to Epcot, parked the car, and completed my death march to the starting corrals, the race was just about to start!

This turned out to be a very good thing. See, for some strange reason, it decided to be 40 degrees in Florida that morning. And, no, in case you were wondering, I did NOT have the foresight to pack any throwaway clothes, garbage bags, etc. And, no, I did NOT opt to wear the arm warmers I packed with my costume, because they typically make me want to rip my arms off by the third mile.

Was I a little chilly? Sure. But at the same time, I watched my fellow runners jump up and down and huddle together in their vain attempts to stay warm, as I sipped my coffee and pranced around in my short-sleeved tech shirt like it was no big thing. To me, it didn’t feel all THAT cold. We left New Jersey on an average winter morning, with temperatures below 20 degrees and wind chills making it feel like it was sub-zero…and I’m used to running in little more than a light long-sleeved tech shirt even on the coldest of winter days.

Honestly, I found it almost pleasant. And I was downright THRILLED to have the opportunity to run a race in Disney without being soaked with sweat and wanting to drop dead from heat exhaustion. In case you haven’t guessed by now, I tend to be one of the sweatiest runners ever — and I HATE running in the heat/feeling hot — so if temperatures are anywhere above 45 degrees, it’s pretty rare to catch me running in anything heavier than a short-sleeved tech shirt and capris.

Mickey seems pretty happy about it, too…

So, all in all, I was very, VERY excited to run Disney in THE COLD!

Before I knew it, corral G was called, our fireworks went off, and I was on my way!

I was BEYOND EXCITED that in those early, boring miles on the highway, I never once felt hot. In fact, I wasn’t even really sweating at all (SAYWHAT?!)

I was keeping a super-comfy pace (somewhere in the realm of an 11ish per-minute mile), jamming out to my awesome runDisney playlist, and having a grand old time.

It was fantastic.

I made one of my first character stops in those early miles — when I saw Wreck-it-Ralph and Vanellope together, I HAD to stop. I LOOOOVE that movie (and I totally plan to make ask Todd to dress up as the Ralph to my Vanellope one of these days).

I did opt to skip a character or two early on, like that skeleton-looking guy from The Nightmare Before Christmas. Never got into it. And I’m not entirely keen on the pirates either, and they’re always out right before you enter the Magic Kingdom gates.

Even though I’ve now run this exact course a number of times already, the excitement of seeing those Magic Kingdom gates never gets old.

And the screaming fans as you run into the main entrance of the TTC (which is even more exciting to me, since that’s where I always plan my first potty break, haha)? Never gets old.

And the excitement that builds as you run by the Contemporary Resort and behind Space Mountain, and through the “backstage” area of Magic Kingdom? Never gets old.

And the pure elation you feel when you turn that corner onto Main Street and see nothing but that sparkling, gorgeous castle and the rows of spectators cheering you on like you are the world’s biggest rockstar?

Priceless.

It’s a big part of the reason why I will continue to give runDisney my money over, and over, and over again. I don’t care whether you’re an insane Disney freak like me or just a normal person. There is NOTHING like it.

As I made my way down Main Street and into Tomorrowland, I expected to find another character — and stopped for a quick photo with Buzz. The line was a bit longer than I had hoped for a character I’ve seen in just about every Disney race I’ve ever done, which gave me a clue as to the kinds of lines I’d be seeing along the rest of the course.

But, honestly, when I’m in Magic Kingdom, I take my sweet old time. I KNOW that this is the highlight of the half marathon, and I have every intention to savor it. So I always plan to make as many character stops here as I’d like.

Unfortunately, I was unpleasantly surprised to find that there were hardly any characters out — and the ones that were, well, let’s just say they weren’t my favorites. As I ran through Fantasyland and towards the back of the castle, I was VERY disappointed to find that Mickey and Minnie were not there. Really?! No Mickey and Minnie, but we do get a freakin’ Country Bear and that stupid alligator from The Princess and the Frog? Oh, and the Queen of Hearts/White Rabbit?

Dislike!

Okay, so there WAS one highlight — instead of my favorite mice posing for pictures behind the castle, Anna, Elsa, and Kristoff were chillin’ on the castle balcony to greet runners as they ran through. And everyone was stopping to take picture of them.

Or, in my case, in front of them.

This was rather exciting, but not nearly as exciting as running through the castle…which is something that ALSO never gets old!

And, of course, I took some time to take a few pictures in front of the castle.

Don’t care about your time and want to increase your chances of getting a good picture (i.e. not too dark, blurry, etc.) Stand in all four lines of Marathonfoto photographers. They don’t mind. LOL.

One of these days I’m GOING to get a castle jumping picture where I don’t look like a complete idiot.

We then made our way through Frontierland and I knew my time in Magic Kingdom was coming to an end. But not without one more princess-y picture “backstage.” I was hoping to get a photo with Cinderella, who, of course, went on her “break” before it was my turn…so I just got Aurora (again, lol).

The next few miles of the course are not only a snoozefest, but also tend to be very, very crowded. I don’t especially care for them. It’s tough to manuever your way around so many of your fellow runners, and though we do get to run by the Grand Floridian and the golf course, the scenery pales in comparison to being in the parks, IMHO.

I saw a few other characters I wasn’t interested in (such as the likes of Mary Poppins), but I HAD to stop when I saw Genie and Abu together. Aladdin is my favorite! (After Little Mermaid, of course.)

I was still feeling good, physically, except for a teensy, weensy little problem. I’ve been struggling with pain in my left knee ever since NYCM training, and it has only continued to get worse. It’s something that comes and goes, and it’s not debilitating or anything like that, but it definitely hurts…a lot…and makes it very difficult to maintain anything that even closely resembles proper running form.

I assumed it was just from the stress of training for two marathons back-to-back, so I’ve pretty much been ignoring it (I’m real smart like that). Unfortunately, I started to feel the familiar twinges somewhere in the second half of the race. It was still nice and cool, so I was loving that, but I was really nervous about how my knee would behave while running a marathon the next day (spoiler alert: it didn’t).

It was right after seeing Genie and Abu that I ran into Kellie from Will Run for Ears, who would be running her first marathon as part of Goofy! Even after all this time blogging, I still get so excited to meet fellow bloggers “in real life.” I felt kind of bad, though, because I don’t think I was being especially chatty…my knee was bugging me and I was feeling like a bit of a Mr. Grumpy Pants at that moment.

Anyway, I tried to ignore my knee as best I could and continued plugging away. I saw hardly any (good) characters, which made me kind of annoyed (no Lilo and Stitch?!), and I succumbed to my usual state of boredom as you run mainly along highways towards Epcot. I still kept things slow and easy so as to save as much energy as I could for the next day’s marathon.

Because when you’re doing the Dopey or the Goofy, that’s really what it’s all about — making sure you still have enough oomph (and stay injury-free!) to take on that final 26.2.

Finally, I was making my way back toward Epcot, and I knew the end was in sight. But, of course, not before having to climb the dreaded overpass, which is really the only big hill of the course…so I guess I can’t complain too much. Good thing this guy is always there to help motivate you to MOVE, MOVE, MOVE!

The sun was peeking out and it was warming up a little bit, but it was still my most comfortable (and, let’s be honest, driest) Disney half to date!

The Epcot portion of this race is over just a bit too fast. It’s pretty awesome running in Future World, especially since there are tons of spectators, but it really only covers that final mile of the race or so.

One thing that was different this time around was that there were photographers set up right in front of the ball (kind of like they are in front of the castle). So, of course, I had to stop for that picture, too.

In case you weren’t quite sure…this is my “snowman” pose, LOL

And, in the blink of an eye, we were backstage and headed out, past the choir (which I always enjoy), and back into the parking lot.

 As I approached the finish line, I scanned the crowds for Todd, but I didn’t actually know if he was there. See, last year, he spectated the marathon from the ChEAR Squad zone — but this year we determined that it really wasn’t worth the money. And since I fully intended to drive him crazy with my commando park touring during our trip, I made him a special deal: if he would willingly deal with my nonsense (“we have to get to the park the second it opens!” etc.) for the duration of our trip, then he didn’t have to wake up at the asscrack of dawn and sit in the cold and fight the crowds to watch the half marathon.

Which brings me to my next Disney PROTIP. If you have a spectator planning to catch you at the finish line, and that person will be relying on Disney transportation, leave a TON of extra time. Todd did NOT see me at the finish line, because he was still waiting for an Epcot bus at our resort…which never came! They finally let him jump on a runner shuttle back to the finish line, but by then, I was finished. LOL.

 Anyway, I crossed with a final time of 3:15 — which was a bit faster my usual “Disney time.” As a rule, I almost NEVER finish a Disney race under 3:30, with all the standing in line that I do for those character photos.

But, as I alluded, I was a little disappointed in the characters for this race. It’s kind of a big deal for me, so when the usual suspects are mysteriously missing — Mickey/Minnie, Woody, Lilo & Stitch, etc. — I get real mad, lol.

I run Disney for the pictures, as I’m sure you can tell.

Also, anyone who frequents runDisney groups on Facebook has already heard about this…but there were no mylar blankets at the finish line. That’s right. On a day when temperatures were only expected to go up to 60 — and the ONE time I actually could have actually used one of those damn things — there were no blankets to be found.

Fortunately, the sun was out, so it wasn’t TOO cold…but I shuddered to think (literally!) how the 5K and 10K runners fared if they also didn’t receive blankets.

After I was given my beautiful Donald medal, and made my way out into the Family Reunion area, my texts indicated that Todd still wasn’t there.

My feet were a little sore, and my knee was stiff, but I figured I might as well go stand in line for a picture with this guy (and scarf down my snack box like there was no tomorrow). I loved that Goofy and Dopey were posing for pictures in the finisher’s area this year!

Todd finally met up with me and we put plans in the motion for the rest of the day. My first priority? Finding a Photopass photographer who could make this happen. LOL.

We spent the rest of the day in Epcot. Since I didn’t make my Fastpasses until later in the day, we had plenty of time to wander around the World Showcase and fat it up enjoy the sights.

Whooooo loves quiche?!

After we hit some of our Fastpass reservations — and mingled with some woodland creatures — that night’s dinner reservation was a feast at The Garden Grill.

It was actually my first time there! If you like Liberty Tree Tavern in Magic Kingdom, I’d recommend it. Good food, all-you-can-eat, what’s not to love? Plus, this one has characters.

I usually prefer dining in one of the countries, but Todd put the kibosh on that idea…no “foreign” food the night before a marathon, haha.

We finished the day with Soarin’ before making a beeline for the exit. I wanted to try to get plenty of sleep…we both had a freakin’ marathon to run the next day!

And, for me, I was ready to be Goofy!

Up next…my (long overdue) recap of the Walt Disney World Marathon!

What did you think of this year’s half marathon?

Do you/would you stop during a race to stand in line for character photos?

Here are my recaps from the expo and the Enchanted 10K, in case you missed them!

As many of you know, the Princess Half was my very first half marathon…so returning this year to run it for the second time felt like a pretty big deal to me because of everything that has changed since then!

I went into this weekend with one goal: to enjoy it. Last year, I slept maybe 20 minutes the entire night before the half because I was just so freakin’ terrified of not being able to finish. I couldn’t fully enjoy the expo or my time in the parks prior to the race because I couldn’t get those “what-ifs” to stop circulating through my mind — what if I didn’t train enough, what if I wasn’t “ready,” what if I didn’t finish, what if I get injured…and so on.

This year, needless to say, I could enjoy myself a lot more because there was no fear. The weekend was all about fun.

More importantly, though, this race also would serve an even bigger purpose for me — to help break me out of this running rut I’ve been in ever since I returned from running the Dopey Challenge in January. I’ve made no secret of the fact that I’ve been struggling for weeks, now — I’ve been skipping training runs left and right, and my long runs as of late have pretty much been disastrous, for lack of a better word.

As you also may know, Todd and I will be running the Rock N’ Roll USA marathon in Washington, DC this weekend, so this race has been giving me all sorts of lovely anxiety issues (more on that in a separate post this week). The Princess Half would, hopefully, serve as a distraction…a reminder of just how much I love running and all of the ways it has changed my life since I took on my first 13.1 exactly one year ago.

I began the morning with that surge of energy and excitement that I’ve been missing as of late. I heard the alarm go off at 3:30 and I got dressed in my Princess Jasmine costume and my sister and I drove over to the staging area in the Epcot parking lot. I didn’t feel tired…just excited! She left me to head over to the Magic Kingdom to stake out her spot in the ChEAR Squad viewing area, and I got myself a cup of coffee and soaked up the energy and checked out all of the adorable princess-y costumes before making my loooong walk to the starting corrals.

I enjoyed my coffee and the entertainment and could not have felt more at ease. I couldn’t help thinking about how jittery and nervous and terrified I had been the previous year. Not that running a half marathon isn’t a big deal — it most assuredly is — but since I was here to have fun and not worry about my time and I was already familiar with the course (especially since it’s ALSO the same as the WDW Half Marathon course and I had JUST run it 6 weeks prior!), I made it a point to just relax and enjoy the moment.

Okay, okay, to be perfectly honest…I sort of figured this would be an “easy” race for me now, given just how many times I have “run Disney” since last February and how many other races I’ve conquered. I guess I figured that if I could complete the Dopey Challenge, then the Glass Slipper Challenge just didn’t seem all that intimidating. (Spoiler alert: I was wrong.)

They let corral D go and I was off. It wasn’t long before I made my first mistake of the race: going out too fast. I decided that my plan of action for the first half of the race would be to run as fast as I could in between characters while we were on the highway/backstage area, and then slow it down to enjoy myself in the Magic Kingdom.

What I failed to take into account was that the humidity was going to kick my ass — it was BAD that morning. In fact, most of the pictures from my camera came out horrible because all you can see is this foggy mist in the air, and there were cast members working the lines for some of the early characters telling us not to bother with our own cameras because they weren’t going to come out, anyway!

I started out running a solid 9:30 pace, but when I was drenched in sweat and feeling fatigued by, say, the second mile marker, I had a feeling that I’d have to adjust my race strategy quite a bit. My first stop was for the “heroes,” and even though the line was already ridiculous, there was no way I was passing this one up! Especially since “my” prince was there.

Shortly thereafter, we ran through the gates of Magic Kingdom — much like running down Main Street, this is an experience that NEVER gets old for me.

My pace was still hovering around a 9:45-10 minute/mile, which was pretty quick for me given the weather and the fact that I was covered head to toe in blue polyester — or whatever my costume was made of. Still, I was definitely feeling the effects of the weather, so I was excited to stumble upon the villains photo opp next: another MUST DO for me. This line was even longer than the princes, believe it or not, but I waited nonetheless.

I reeeeeeeally had to make a pit-stop — not gonna lie, I had to go before the race even started, but I refuse to stand in line for nasty port-a-potties unless it’s an absolute emergency — so I was looking forward to a potty break at the TTC. Running past the spectators at the entrance to the TTC is always a lot of fun, and definitely helped boost my energy. What did NOT help boost my energy was entering the sauna that was the women’s bathroom at the TTC; I’m not exaggerating when I tell you that the floor was soaking wet from sweat, the mirrors were all completely fogged over, and you could barely breathe in there. Basically, we were all a bunch of hot messes at that point.

It was somewhere right before running through the backstage of the Magic Kingdom that I started to really feel myself struggling. My heart just wasn’t it the way it usually is when I’m participating in a Disney race.

Maybe it was the weather, maybe it was because I went out too fast, maybe I was still tired from the previous morning’s 10K and walking the parks, maybe I was feeling overheated from wearing a costume over running clothes (which really didn’t bother me at all, otherwise, thanks to the fact that I rubbed Body Glide all over any area of skin that the costume might touch, haha). In any case, I started to have my doubts about just how strong I would finishing that day.

Of course, seeing Main Street and the castle made me forget all of my worries. Suddenly, I felt just fine.

I will say that it was kind of weird seeing the castle overtaken by what appeared to be a cloud of fog; you could barely see it in the distance! I turned the corner into Tomorrowland and made the executive decision to pass up a bunch of my “usual” characters like Buzz Lightyear because the lines really were MUCH longer than they were last year (I started in corral A last year, which was before they started making the corrals much smaller).

There’s one photo I’ll never NOT stop for in the Magic Kingdom, though. And this line is always a treat, let me put it to you that way. But, to me, it’s worth it! These guys weren’t in their usual spot right behind the castle this year; there was a lovely crane there, instead.

I took my sweet old time running through the Magic Kingdom. I just…love it. I can’t explain it. There really is just nothing like it, and it never gets old, and it never makes me feel anything less than giddy with excitement.

And then getting to run THROUGH the castle is almost as exciting as running down Main Street.

Of course, I then stopped to take some shots with my friends at MarathonFoto.

And I had my personal photographer in the ChEAR Squad, so I stopped to goof off a bit with her, too. (Side note: I know I wrote  a post recently about how “magical” this benefit is for your spectators, but they have seriously cut back on the perks as of late — namely, the refreshments — and since the price continues to remain the same, you’re now basically shelling out $65 for a spot on the pavement in front of the castle. I’m no longer sure it’s worth it.)

Pretty soon, I was on my way again, and we ran towards Frontierland. I passed up Woody and a few other characters because I was planning to stop for whatever princess happened to be backstage again this year since I didn’t stop last year.

It was Aurora. And her line was NOT short, either.

When we were officially out of the Magic Kingdom, I knew I had a whole lot of boring waiting for me. This stretch of course is, by far, the least amusing and — worst of all — it also happens to be ridiculously crowded and tight and, honestly, I couldn’t really “run” through it if I were being chased by a bear.

I spent some time weaving around walkers and running on the grass to try to get into some sort of steady rhythm. I started to feel myself struggling again, but hearing “Let it Go” playing near the halfway point helped a bit!

I tried to keep a steady, comfortable pace, and since I had spent an inordinate amount of time in line for the “BIG” characters already, I planned to stop only for any photos I really, really wanted. Which included these fine gentlemen and their glass slipper, which was almost as long a line as the wait for Mickey and Minnie — no joke! But, come on, it WAS the “Glass Slipper Challenge” after all…

I was still feeling pretty “blah” at this point. I wasn’t feeling it. I was hot and bored and the course was crowded and on top of it all, let’s just say I didn’t exactly break-in my new pair of running sneakers sufficiently enough and my feet and calves were really starting to bother me. I welcomed the break to stop for a photo with another one of my special friends.

As I made it through miles 9 and 10, the feelings that have been plauging me in all of my runs as of late started to take over. I just didn’t want to run.

I am still so ridiculously burnt out that it’s not even funny, and even though I’ve done the bare minimum when it comes to training for the marathon this weekend, I still am just NOT feeling it right now. I was hoping that “running Disney” would help cure me, but in that last 5K, I definitely felt the funk and I just didn’t want to be out there.

Don’t get me wrong; I was still having fun. But only because I was in Disney and wearing a princess costume and surrounded by spectators and lots of hoopla, and I did my best to let all the distractions help keep me moving forward. Had this been any “normal” race, I really, REALLY would have had a tough time.

My pace had seriously slowed, and I’d be lying if I didn’t say that the fact that I was already approaching the three-hour mark — even though I promised myself I wouldn’t care about my time and that the character lines I waited in seemed a lot longer than the ones last year — made me feel a little down on myself.

Since this race was supposed to be “easy” for me, I was feeling tired and frustrated and I just didn’t want to run anymore…and I also passed up a whole lot of character photos because I didn’t want to stop and wait in any more lines. My body just felt run-down. There’s really no other way to explain it.

I pushed myself as hard as I could as we made our way up and down the highway overpass (where I ALWAYS stop for a shot with the green army man) and I looked forward to finally seeing the Epcot ball in the distance.

It seemed to take forever, but, finally, I had made it into Epcot. Almost there!

After passing the glorious 12 mile marker, I was excited to see the Fairy Godmother again after the previous morning’s 10K, so I stopped to say “hi” before moving on through the park.

Before I knew it, my brief time running through Epcot was over, and the finish line was in sight!

I finished the race in 3:26. Last year — my first half marathon EVER — was 3:29.

So, yeah, I was a little disappointed. Even though I was definitely not running for time (obviously), I still expected to do so much better than that, even with all of the character stops and the time I spent posing for various photos. Mostly, I think I was disappointed by that fact that I had a tough time for a large majority of the race, and that taking on Princess again didn’t magically “cure” this running-induced funk I’ve been in.

Fortunately, my disappointment didn’t last all that long. I received my new beautiful medals and all was right with the world. As bad as I had let myself feel on the inside, one of the volunteers at the end of the race congratulated me, complimented my costume, and said something like “you don’t even look like you ran today — way to go!”

It reminded me that whatever I’ve been going through lately is NOT physical, and that I need to cut myself some slack. And after the race this weekend, it’s time for a BREAK. A SERIOUS break.

I found my sister and we headed straight for The Magic Kingdom, where I insisted on finding my princess (and prince!) for a quick photo.

We also were lucky enough to be selected for the Fastpass+ option at Be Our Guest for lunch, so I dined in my Princess garb before changing out of my costume and enjoying my most favorite place in the world for the rest of the day. I forgot all about my struggles from that morning and let myself savor the accomplishment.

No matter what my time was or how much more difficult the race had been than I expected, I still DID it. If nothing else, I went into this race with confidence. The fear and self-doubt that I have let control me for so long is completely gone now…and that is a really good feeling.

I don’t know if I’ll be back again to run next year, but Princess will always, ALWAYS be a special race for me.

What’d you guys think of the Princess Half this year?

Have you/would you ever run the same race more than once?

It was an awesome weekend, and I can’t wait to share the details with you guys!

I’ll be posting recaps this week and next week, but in the meantime, here are some highlights (and pictures!).

The Expo:

The expo was pretty quiet when we got there in the early afternoon on Thursday, and they had tons of goodies, from official runDisney race merch to everything a woman could ever want to look cute while running, from sparkly skirts to headbands to shoe charms and running-themed jewelry. Which may or may not be such a good thing for me…

The 10K:

I am proud to report that my sister, Hopper (not her real name, haha), did finish her first 10K! It was a little bit of a struggle, especially since it was SO DISGUSTINGLY HUMID, but we had a blast.

And, best of all, after the race we got to take THE picture of the weekend…

In case you were wondering…no, it’s not easy to meet Elsa and Anna. They’re basically THE rock stars of Epcot now, and you pretty much have to sacrifice your first-born child to get a photo with them (or, you know, stand in almost a 4-hour line…even when you get there RIGHT at park opening…) But that’s a whole other story — stay tuned!

The Half Marathon:

I’m not gonna lie; this was not my best race. Obviously my Disney race times are never anything to write home about, but overall, I did struggle for a good portion of the race.

Once again, I’d like to blame the heat/humidity, because this Northern princess does NOT do well in the heat in general, and has been training through snow and ice for the past 3 months.

But it didn’t matter because a.) I had SO much fun running through the parks and taking tons of pictures and meeting characters and b.) No matter how I felt (physically) that day, there’s no denying how unbelievable it felt to return to run my first half marathon again and think about how far I’ve come in just one year.

The Overall Trip:

First of all, what woman doesn’t enjoy being treated like a princess? There is nothing like walking around the parks and seeing everyone proudly sporting their medals and their tiaras and tutus and sparkly skirts and having the opportunity to congratulate each other. Not only is it one of the most fun races I’ve ever done, but the entire weekend is so supportive and it absolutely did help remind me of why I fell so hard for running in the first place.

My sister and I had plenty of time to take in our favorite attractions and, of course, we were sure to spend time with some of our favorite princesses.

More coming soon!

Did you run this weekend?!

What’s your favorite part of the Princess Half?

Would you ever want to run the Princess Half?

I think there might just be a bit of wisdom here for anyone who will be (or is considering!) taking on the Princess Half, Dumbo Double Dare, Wine and Dine, or any of the other upcoming 2014 Disney races for the first time, and for the rest of us runDisney fanatics, possibly even a bit of nostalgia — I don’t know about you guys, but I know I’ll never forget my first time running through the castle!

Hi, everyone. I’m excited to write my first guest post for The Final Forty! As many of you already know, I’m Todd — Jen’s BF (and her partner on many a long run).

Jen thought it would be cool if I shared my thoughts about this first-time experience. Something tells me, though, that this won’t be my only time in a duck costume.

When Jen first told me about runDisney, it was hard to fathom exactly what these races were like. “What do you mean there are characters on the course? They’re just there, along the side of the road? You, like, stop running and take pictures with them? What about your time?”

I couldn’t really understand it. A race mainly for fun? That seemed like a foreign concept.

What I find interesting about a Disney race is that you make it to be whatever you want. Whether you’re trying to set a personal goal, survive (I’m talking to all you Dopeys!), or just take in the experience, it’s up to you. And however it is you cross the finish line, that shiny HUGE medal is yours to wear around the parks for the rest of the weekend. Even though I didn’t earn as much bling as Jen—one medal as opposed to six—it was awesome getting congratulations from Disney cast members and visitors even days later. Yet another reason why running Disney is so unique.

The expo: I found the whole expo fascinating. I mean, the line was out the door an HOUR before opening…and it was just for shoes!

Photo credit: runDisney

At the start, I was excited but actually a little apprehensive; I wasn’t sure if there would be a mad dash for merchandise, like what Jen had experienced at previous expos. Overall, it was crowded but not overly chaotic.

Running through the Magic Kingdom entrance: This was the first big highlight of the half marathon. For the first few miles, we were just running on highway, but as soon as I saw the lit-up sign for Magic Kingdom, I felt a wave of enthusiasm (as I’m sure others did).

It was a symbol that the big moment was approaching—running through our first park!

Experiencing the finish line in the ChEAR Zone: After getting off the monorail back at EPCOT, I had a little trouble making my way to the ChEAR Zone. But once I planted myself on the bleachers, I got to witness everyone crossing the marathon finish line. It was definitely a cool experience, and I enjoyed hearing the folks on the microphones making jokes and calling out finishers’ names. As part of ChEAR Squad, I was also entitled to free beverages and private port-a-potties. OK, this wasn’t pure luxury, but at least there were hand-washing stations!

Seeing Jen finish the marathon: I’ll admit that while I was sitting on the bleachers, I got a little emotional thinking about what Jen was about to accomplish. She had worked so hard and was so eager to earn those medals. She’d sent me text messages indicating where she was and when she’d be coming in. I kept looking to my right, standing and sitting, trying to find a purple hat and green shirt amongst the pack. I wasn’t sure if my standing was blocking anyone’s view, but I saw other people doing it, and I didn’t want to miss her. Finally, she came through, spotted me, and blew me a kiss.

With everything that Jen told me about runDisney, I felt I had to see it for myself. And I saw EVERYTHING. After being part of Marathon Weekend, I now truly understand why she feels the magic of running Disney…you know, even when dressed as a duck.

Tell us about YOUR first runDisney race! What was your favorite part of the experience?

If you’ll be taking on your first runDisney event this year, what are you looking forward to?

So, I’ve had some time to reflect on the Dopey Challenge, and wanted to go ahead and share some final thoughts with you guys. Especially seeing as how you must be sick of hearing me talk about Dopey already!

Now that it’s over, the question I keep getting is: would I do it again?

And the answer?

Yes.

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. A thousand times yes.

The Dopey Challenge was amazing. I’m having trouble coming up with a better adjective, so, there you have it. It was quite possibly the most fun, exciting, rewarding, emotional, terrifying, exhilarating experience of my life.

However, that isn’t to say that there aren’t some things that might make me hesitate to do it again. And there are certainly some things anyone who might be toying with the idea of taking on the Dopey Challenge should think about.

1.) The Moolah

First and foremost — obviously, the cost of any runDisney race, and especially FOUR back-to-back races, is extremely prohibitive. 500 bucks is nothing to sneeze at, so until I win the lottery or somehow figure out a way to get rich as a freelance magazine writer (HAHA, YEAH RIGHT), it’s doubtful that this is something that I could ever afford to do every year.

(That being said…would I consider running the marathon every year? Umyeahdefinitely).

You have to remember that once you’ve signed up for a Disney (or any “destination”) race, that’s only a teensy, weensy little portion of what you can expect to shell out for your overall racing experience.

Between the plane tickets and the park tickets, the car rental or other transportation costs, the hotel stay, the dining, the photo packages, the official merchandise and random expo purchases (ahem Dooney purses and New Balance sneakers)…

Can you say: CHA-CHING?!

2.) The Training

Here’s another big one. I trained for MONTHS for this. I kicked off my Dopey training the second I landed back in New Jersey after completing the Dumbo Double Dare way back in September!

I followed Hal Higdon’s Dopey Challenge training plan, and while I absolutely credit the man with the fact that I completed four races AND still had the strength and stamina to walk all over the Walt Disney World resort for 6 days, I also would have to think long and hard about the kind of time and commitment that Dopey training requires before I’d hit that registration button again.

I put in months of 5-6 days of running every week, with distances ranging anywhere from 3 miles up until my last long run of 20 miles.

I had to run in the snow, the rain, the wind, the ice, the cold.

I had to run when I was still tired and sore from the previous day’s run. And the run before that. And the run before that.

I had to devote several hours, every single weekend, to squeezing in increasingly long back-to-back runs.

I had to complete a “mini-Dopey” consisting of four consecutive runs of 3, 5, 10, and 20 miles.

You have to really, REALLY want it. You have to make time to run when there just isn’t time to run. You have to force yourself to run even when the last thing in the world you want to do is run.

I had the time of my life, but still, the Dopey Challenge is no friggin’ joke. Running 48.6 miles in four days is serious business, and if you want to avoid injury and cross that final finish line in an upright position and without the need for medical attention, then you have to make a commitment and put in the training.

3.) The Sleep Deprivation

Raise your hand if you want to wake up at 3am four days in a row. And then run a whole bunch of miles immediately afterwards.

Yeah…didn’t think so.

The four early wake-up calls — mind you, this is on TOP of an early (6am!) departure flight to Florida and early morning at the expo — was pretty brutal. What saved me was strict adherence to an 8ish bedtime the nights before the two longer races, and a 9:30ish bedtime before the 5K and 10K. I was still tired, don’t get me wrong, but race day adrenaline and the excitement of running through Disney definitely went a long way.

Oh, and those pretty, pretty medals waiting for me at the end of each race also didn’t hurt.

Completing the Dopey Challenge was rough on my body, there’s no two ways about it. And, honestly, I feel like I’m STILL trying to go back to “normal” as far as my usual sleeping, eating, and exercise patterns. Which leads me to my next point…

4.) The Recovery

Yeah, so, those 48.6 miles will kick your butt. I like to think of myself as someone who is in pretty good shape, but between the physical damage to your feet and legs and the sheer exhaustion from stressing your body out so much in such a short period of time, you really have to know what you’re in for.

Again, I trained HARD for this. And at the end of it all, I felt mentally and physically prepared to take on this challenge. I spent no time in the medical tents, suffered no injuries other than soreness following each race, and I still managed to be in the parks until closing most of the nights we were in Disney! Given that it was my first marathon, I was really thrilled (and pleasantly surprised) by how well I held up.

After the full marathon, it was really only my feet that were killing me — I had some serious trouble walking afterwards, and couldn’t wait to get out of my sneakers and into some flip-flops! But it couldn’t have been too bad, because I still managed to hightail it over to Magic Kingdom for our lunch reservations with some friends.

My feet felt felt better throughout the day, and Todd and I stayed at the Magic Kingdom until the end of evening Extra Magic Hours that night. (And, yes, we enjoyed our Dole Whips in the chilly 50-degree weather, haha).

In fact, we stayed so late that we had to basically beg one of the resort bus drivers to drive us back to our car in the Epcot parking lot because the Epcot monorails and buses had stopped running for the night!

Honestly, it wasn’t until I got home that I started having the most trouble. My soreness went away after a few days, but my runs are still not what they used to be. Truth be told, I’m struggling right now. I’m skipping training runs left and right (oh, yeah, have I mentioned that I’m currently training for ANOTHER full marathon?) and I’m tired and I’m drained and every time I lace up my running shoes, it feels like a chore.

I’m waiting to feel “normal” again, but so far…no dice.

Of course, I also want to say that, again, completing this challenge was truly life-changing for me. I will never be the same, and I am so incredibly glad I did this. I know it will take time, but I will be just fine.

As someone who loves Disney as much as I do, you know it’s hard for me to look at the Dopey Challenge objectively. It was an absolute BLAST, and I loved every minute of it.

Were there some aspects of the races that left something to be desired? Sure.

I’d say the crowding on the courses and all the corral placement nonsense — Dopey Challenge runners were basically handicapped a few corrals, causing us to have to weave around crowds of slower runners and walkers even more so than usual — would be high on my list of things runDisney might consider improving for next year. Also, if I had only signed up for, say, the 5K and/or 10K, I definitely would have been disappointed by the lack of characters and overall “magic” in those races — I think they could absolutely afford to step it up a little bit next year.

At the same time, it’s also hard for me, as a first-time marathoner, to look back on Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend 2014 with anything but sheer joy at everything I accomplished over the course of those four days. I could not have asked for a better first marathon experience.

So, let me just say that if you ARE a runner looking to take on a new physical challenge in what is quite possibly the most fun, supportive — and, let’s face it, MAGICAL — environment you could possibly imagine, I would absolutely give Dopey some thought.

Plus, runDisney bling is the BEST bling, hands down, and nowhere else will you be treated like an absolute rockstar all week long for sporting your medals.

So…would I do it again?

I’ll bet you already know the answer. ‘Cuz, you know, I’m Dopey like that.

Okay, your turn! Dopey runners, what did you think? Will you be back?

Everyone else…would you ever take on the Dopey Challenge?