New Model Clothes 2012: Disney Princess Race

It’s been awhile and as promised, I have pictures and a recap from The Disney Princess Half Marathon (DPHM) weekend.……

First, I have to send a huge shout out to my husband for encouraging me to go do this even though I was leaving him alone with all the kids for 2 days.

I left on a Friday night with a plane full of ladies on their way to run the DPHM the mood was happy even though we were a good hour late taking off.

I arrived at my hotel around 9pm that evening …I was starving so I did what any good runner would do (not...) I hopped over to McDonalds which was right across the way from my hotel. I devoured a quarter pounder with cheese and only ate a handful of fries and sipped my powerade.

My Bed when I arrived

Soon I realized I needed to get to bed as I had a race to run in the am...No not the DPHM but instead my version of the Goofy. I was going to run in the Royal family 5K on Saturday morning then the DPHM on Sunday.

The Royal family 5k was packed; there were kid’s adults and even a few grandparents all there ready to tackle the 5K that would take you through Epcot.

I had camera in hand and was ready to stop and snap my picture with as many characters as I could. I also found myself somehow very close to the front of the starting line which is not usually, where I start a race.

The countdown begins and we were off… I was going well faster than my normal 10 p/m pace. I was soon in Epcot ready for my photo ops. I would dash to a princess get my picture taken then sprint to the next princess. My finish time was 27:14 that my friends equates to an 8:46 p/m! Holy smokes!!!

Disney Royal Family 5K

Snow White!

Sprinting to the finish of the Royal Family 5k

I headed back to the hotel to shower and then head to the expo where I would pick up my DPHM race packet and do some serious runner shopping.

Once completely shopped out I headed to the store for my water and my powerade to ensure I was properly hydrated for my race. I then headed back to the hotel and chilled the rest of Saturday afternoon.

That however was a big mistake!! I was WIDE AWAKE at 9pm then 10pm then 11pm. Did I mention I had a 3:30 wakeup call? Yes 3:30 because race is in sunny FL they want to be sure you are not beat down by the blistering heat. So at 4am I boarded a bus with my fellow Princesses to head to the start line.

While standing in line for the bus I met a few folks and walked with them to the start. It helped soothe the jitters that I always seem to have at these races you would think after 4 of these I would not be nervous.

I was in corral B yes B not Z which is where I am for most of my other races. The fireworks went off and corral B was off. The first mile is always tough because you are trying to find a spot and stick to it not easy when you and 13,000 of your closest friends are all headed to the same finish line!

In January 2010, I participated in Disney’s marathon weekend and ran my first half the whole time I questioned if I would finish and gutted my way to the finish line. This time I wanted to enjoy the ride instead of just gutting it out. By mile 3, I was still wondering if I could finish this. My goal this time around was to not struggle to finish but instead enjoy the race and enjoy the race I did!!! My time was 2:22:15 a full 14 minute faster than my last time, and that was with all my pits stops as you will see below!! Great time, Great race I love Disney!!!!!