Friday morning was a 3AM wake up call for the Walt Disney World 10K. When you stay in a Disney resort the transportation for race weekend is amazing! That's why I always stay on Disney property for races. Unfortunately the early time is not that great. The buses stop picking up at the resorts at 4AM. So you have to get on one before then. I always wait until the very last minute lol! I left my room at 3:45AM and caught my bus in plenty of time. Plus there were no bus lines like there have been in the past. It was great!
All dressed up as Anna from the movie "Frozen"!
This was the Inaugural year for the Minnie 10K. I knew I had to run this race because Minnie Mouse is my favorite! New race, new course, new start line, new start area...it was great!
We got off the buses and started walking toward the start area. First we had to go through a bag check (if we had a bag or even a pocket on your water belt). Fortunately I got to skip this because I had no bag or water belt on. But this bag check was definitely new...they didn't do that during last year's marathon. I'm sure because of what happened in Boston they had to up the security. It's sad what this world is coming to. But I was happy to see that they were taking precautions.
Then we headed to the start area and what did we see? The start line!!! This was so new for me because I've only run the Marathon and the Princess Half and you have to hike a mile to get to your corral and the start line. At the 10K we walked right past it to get into our corral!
Since there wasn't a hike to the corral I really didn't know what to do with myself lol! As I headed towards my corral I saw someone else dressed like Anna! I stopped her and told her we must take a picture together! She was really nice about it (even though she probably thought I was a weirdo)!
I made it to my corral and then got a text from Heather from Through Heather's Looking Glass asking if I was already there. I told her I was and that I was already in my corral and which corral it was. She responded saying she was in the same corral and was on her way! I was so happy to see her! We talked for a few minutes and then I spotted Rachel from Runner's Tales (you may remember I ran the last half of the marathon last year with her)! I was so excited to see her and Heather!
Heather left us to go meet someone else but Rachel and I stayed together and started the race together. We got to catch up some while waiting in the corral. It was so nice not being by myself!
Finally it was time for the race to start! Like other Disney races they started each corral with fireworks! I wish I'd gotten a good picture but I didn't.
Rachel and I ran the first half a mile together and then I took off. I knew she was doing a run/walk to conserve her energy...because she was running the Dopey Challenge (the 5K, 10K, half marathon, and full marathon). I was planning to run this one easy but for me. Of course there was a ton of entertainment along the course! We started running in the Epcot parking lot and then went out on the road. I loved the DJ that entertained us on this overpass as we ran under it!
The one thing I noticed was how HOT and HUMID it was! I was having a hard time breathing! And my Anna cape was so hot! I was glad I chose to wear this costume for the 10K instead of the half. Before I knew it I was at mile 1!
I stopped for a quick picture and then kept going. But then I saw the first character stop and had to stop! It was Captain Hook and Mr. Smee! There was a line but it wasn't too long.
I started running again and before I knew it I was at mile 2!
And then mile 3! It was getting hotter and hotter at this point. And I was starting to struggle with the humidity. I live in a very humid area but the humidity isn't there during the winter so my body was not acclimated to the humidity anymore.
Shortly after hitting mile 3 we entered the back of the World Showcase in Epcot! I was getting excited!
It was awesome running in the World Showcase! It took my mind off of my struggles!
I stopped at a water stop (it was so hot and humid) and also took a picture of the scenery!
And then they started playing the song "Let It Go" from the movie Frozen! That was just what
I started running again only to see another character stop! It was The Genie from Aladdin!
I didn't run much farther and saw Goofy...dressed up as a football player! I just had to stop for him too! And while I was in line...Rachel ran by and then stopped to take a picture too! I was so happy to see her again!
Rachel and I ran the rest of the race together! We finished running in the World Showcase and then we entered the Boardwalk area.
We came to mile 5 while running on the Boardwalk!
And then we entered Epcot again and headed towards the finish!
My official time was 1:39:45. It was my slowest 10K (this is to be expected at a Disney race) but I am happy with that time considering all the character and mile marker stops I made!
After finishing Rachel and I headed to grab that awesome Minnie medal that I had been waiting for!
Disney also gave us water, Powerade, a banana, and a runner box filled with goodies!
And then we headed to take a picture with characters. The lines were pretty long so we picked one character...Daisy Duck!
And of course Rachel and I needed a picture together! I LOVED running with her again! I'm hoping we get to run many more runDisney races together!
I also wanted a picture of the blond streak in my hair. I really think it completed my Anna costume! If you've seen the movie then you understand! ;-)
Final thoughts: I LOVED this race! The distance was perfect and gave you plenty of character opps! I absolutely LOVED running through Epcot and The Boardwalk area! You only get to run through there for the marathon and it is at the end so it is hard to enjoy it. I loved that I could enjoy it and I loved that they saved the park area for the last part of the race. The first 3 miles were boring but they were over with quick! I definitely want to run the 10K course again!
Stay tuned tomorrow for what I did after the race! :-)
QOTD: Did you run the Disney 10K?
