Disney Princess Half Marathon

For the second day in a row, my alarm went off at 3 am on Sunday morning...at least this time I had company.  Grumps, Christie and I all got up and ready to head to Epcot to start the half marathon.  Of course, we were all in costume - Grumps was Grumpy, Christie was the Evil Queen and I was Snow White. We hopped on the monorail and after a minor set back on my part (I left something in the room), we were switching monorails at the Ticket and Transportation Center and off to Epcot.  We arrived at Epcot shortly before 5 am and after waiting a few minutes began the shuffle /walk (which is at least 1/2 a mile) to the start corrals.  I joined Grumps in his corral, J and Christie was back a couple of corrals, so we parted ways and waited around to start.

Before too long, we were off!  Grumps and I were on our way to the Magic Kingdom.  It felt more crowded to me than last year, so there was a lot of walking and weaving in & out of people for the first few miles.  The first part of the race is pretty boring - it is all on the road, mostly World Drive as you leave Epcot, headed for the Magic Kingdom.  We didn't see anything really exciting that we wanted to stop for pictures for until the toll gate to the Magic Kingdom.  We stopped for a quick photo before we were on our way.

Then we made our way around through the Ticket & Transportation Center, past the Contemporary and were headed into the Magic Kingdom.  One of my favorite parts of this half marathon course is making the turn from backstage onto Main Street as you enter the Magic Kingdom.  The street is lined with spectators, cheering on all the runners and you are running towards Cinderella's Castle - it gives me chill bumps every time!

We stopped for a quick pic on Main Street before turning towards Tomorrowland and running through part of Fantasyland, with a quick stop at one of the bathrooms in the Magic Kingdom.

Next, we ran through Cinderella's Castle (my other favorite part of the course) and around the front, stopping for a quick photo.  This year, they had the option to run down either ramp on the front of the castle and I think that reduced some of the traffic jam / slow down in the castle area.

Next, we headed through Liberty Square and Frontierland before exiting the Magic Kingdom through a Cast Member/Parade entrance near Splash Mountain.  The Princess/Prince character area here but the line was FAR too long for us to even consider stopping, so we just made our way past the lines and started the long journey back to Epcot.  Just after exiting the Magic Kingdom, we passed the half-way mark...then we passed the Grand Floridian, the Wedding Pavilion and the golf course.  We had to stop for Grumps to get his picture made with Mickey's golf cart!

Then we passed the Polynesian and started the really boring journey back down World Drive towards Epcot.  Right at Mile 10 begins the worst hill on the course - it is an on-ramp that curves around, followed by a couple of rolling hills (overpasses) before actually reaching Epcot.  We made it to Mile 11 and were still smiling...although I was in a LOT of pain at this point because I probably over-did it in the 10K the day before and Grumps was hurting a little himself, so we were doing a lot more walking than running.

Finally, we made our way into Epcot via backstage, near Spaceship Earth to run the out-and-back to the entrance of the World Showcase.  

Next, we headed backstage for the last little section of the run.  We stopped at the Mile 13 marker for a picture and were able to run the last .10 of a mile across the finish line.  

We crossed the finish line and got our Half Marathon medals.

I stopped at the medical tent to get ice for my knee...then we made our way through the finisher area where we got bags, snack boxes, water and PowerAde.  Next, I had to go through another tent to get my Glass Slipper Challenge medal.  

We found a spot in the parking lot and sat down to have a snack while we waited on Christie to finish.   Once Christie joined us, we made our way to the bus to head back to the Contemporary only to be told that the road to the Contemporary was closed and we would either have to stand in a really long line to get on a bus to the Polynesian & then ride the monorail or ride the bus to the Wilderness Lodge and take a boat.   We opted not to stand in line and take the boat from Wilderness Lodge.

We met up with MiMi, MacKenzie and Joey at our room at Bay Lake Towers.  MiMi and MacKenzie decided to go to the Magic Kingdom.  The rest of us went to the Wave for celebratory Bloody Marys (Dr. Pepper for Joey) and then to get some rest!