I have to admit, I was pretty excited about the 10k. Honestly, for no reason other than it was NEWSIE DAY!
The idea for the Newsie costumes came about a few months ago when I text some friends letting them know I was dancing around my moms kitchen to the Newsies music we had just downloaded, newspaper prop and all (because who doesn’t share exciting news like that with their friends??).
They didn’t believe me, so I sent them this picture for proof:
I’m pretty sure my next text was something like this:
OH. MY. GOD. JANUARY. 10k. NEWSIES COSTUMES!!!!!!
It didn’t take long for the 3 of them to get on board (we may have even gotten together one weekend in December to watch the movie for “research” purposes), and along the way we recruited a few other Newsies to form this rag tag group ready to carry the banner during the Inaugural Walt Disney World 10k!
Newsies Patrick, Eric, Jenn, Daniel, Me, Roy and James
**Special shout out to James on the right (above) who heard of the Newsies planned adventure only the day before and was SO excited by it that he actually went out and put together a Newsies costumes so he could help carry the papes around the world!**
As we made our way to our corral we definitely generated a bit of interest as people began to recognize who we were. We even made a few stops a long the way for other people to take pictures of us!
We also often got “recognized” as the chimney sweeps from Mary Poppins…
…the first few times we tried to correct people, but after awhile we just went with it and yelled back “Chim-Chim-Cheree!”.
Before we get to the actual running, I should mention it was HOT. And HUMID. And you’ll notice that most of us were running in long pants, long sleeves and hats. Just a quick disclaimer for all the remaining photos in this post: IT WAS A VERY SWEATY RACE. Consider yourself warned.
We crossed the starting line newspapers in hand and ready to Seize the 10k!
Honestly, the first 3 miles of this course were pretty boring and I only remember seeing 1, maybe 2 characters throughout that whole highway portion. We Newsies entertained ourselves by singing and dancing (as any good Newsie does!) and discussing how running in long pants and hats wasn’t the best idea we had ever come up with…
At around mile 3.5 we entered Epcot for a lap around World Showcase where we celebrated our strike victory in America (if you haven’t seen Newsies GO WATCH IT!)…
…before moving on to a lap around the Boardwalk and Yacht & Beach Clubs. I actually really liked running along the Boardwalk, but all I could think was, “wow, this must be SO loud for the poor people staying in the rooms right here!”
I even tried to sell a newspaper to some of the spectators out along the Boardwalk – no takers though (probably because they couldn’t figure out what a chimney sweep was doing selling newspapers).
At this point we had only seen about 4-5 characters all race and hadn’t stopped for any since the lines were so long. We came around the corner out of the Beach Club heading back towards Epcot and spotted Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum without much of a line so we stopped and got in our one character photo!
We made our way through backstage at Epcot, past Spaceship Earth and towards the finish where the 7 Newsies crossed the finish line together triumphantly!
Roy, Jenn, Daniel, Me, Eric, Patrick and James
As hot and sweaty as we were by the end of this race, running as Newsies (or chimney sweeps) was a lot of fun! Not only did a lot of people recognize us, but they were really excited about our costumes – GO NEWSIES!
Live, Run, Grow 
AHH, LOVE IT! I totally saw you guys! I was running past your group when you were taking the photo by American Adventure. I wasn’t positive it was you, otherwise I would have stopped! What an awesome costume idea. Glad you enjoyed the 10K, and I can’t even imagine how hot you guys must have been…I was sweating my ass off in short sleeves/capris!
Haha yeah, it was a lot of fun but oh my gosh SOOOO HOT! Just glad it was only a 10k and not the half or full!
New reader here – cute and original idea. I love Newsies too. I remember seeing it in theaters way back in 1992, and when I was in NYC last year for a work trip, I treated myself to seeing the Broadway show. Looks like you and your friends had a great time.
Hi Blair, thanks for stopping by! Yes, we definitely had a great time and I love finding so many other passionate Newsies fans!
I did think of your group when I went to breakfast Friday morning. We stayed at the Boardwalk so I walked to the bakery, and immediately got assaulted by the humidity wall. I don’t know how y’all did it in those costumes but congrats on making it through!
Thanks Lesley, I think it helped (a little) that we were a distracted by other people getting excited about our costumes along the way.
Love!! 🙂 Such an awesome time, like always. And next race we need costumes that can withstand any weather 🙂
I think for our next costume we need to work on convincing Dan and Pat on our other old school Disney movie idea…
This was amazing. And then you did the Newsie jump and it was propelled to an entirely different level.
Haha YES! My one goal during this race was to get a good Newsies jump picture – success!
We even tried to get a good group jump across the finish line but of the ones I’ve seen so far from Marathonfoto we all look more like we’re just flailing around.
I absolutely love this Danielle! What a great idea! 🙂
Thanks Rosanne, honestly it was so much fun!
Realy great idea, glad you all had a good time.
Thanks, definitely a good time, but I think next time we need more “humidity friendly” running clothes!
Great costumes!
I agree that the first few miles were buh-or-ing. There’s so much at Disney, why did we have to start out on the dark roads? I’m so glad you wore the costumes and also blogged about it, because that’s how I recognized y’all! And we got a photo to prove it!
Yes, I’m so glad you saw me! I’m saving all my pics with readers I met for a separate post so it’ll be making an appearance soon! : )
Dope enough!!!
Reblogged this on Built for Comfort, Not Speed….
You guys looked great…. sweat and all !
dad
Haha thanks…I think the giant sweat marks just add to the story : )
Loved the group photos! And also your jumping picture-fantastic! This race was a big disappointment to me on the heels of the DL 10k which was so awesome.
Yup, other than the excitement of running around Disney dressed like a Newsie (which let me tell you was pretty exciting!) the race itself was terrible.
I have to watch this movie soon. I’m pretty sure I saw it way back in the day but I need a refresher for sure! I love your costumes and can’t believe you ran the 10K in long pants.
Ha, I can’t believe it either…lesson learned!
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You guys looked so cute! It was great “running” into you. I love hearing what people mistake costumes for. When I was Belle, somewhere yelled, “Go milkmaid!” Okaaaay. So funny. I loved running the BoardWalk too.
Ha! “Go Milkmaid”?? Oh well, I guess they get an A for effort for being out there cheering us on, right??! It’s funny because I hadn’t even thought about us looking like chimney sweeps, but after people started saying it I was like, “hmmm…I guess so”!
“probably because they couldn’t figure out what a chimney sweep was doing selling newspapers” LOL!!!
I totally saw you guys before the start, but had to run back to bag check and by the time we got back, yall were gone. Boo! One day we’ll get to say hello in person!
Awww, so close to actually meeting! Maybe at a New York race??
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So many Newsie references, so little time. But wth? They wouldn’t “buy your last pape”?!?! Maybe you didn’t cough believable enough…or maybe they just didn’t realize it’s a fine life, carrying the banner. OK…I think I might be done.
Your costumes were amazing!!! Love your jumping picture. I’m excited to run along the Boardwalk for the Enchanted 10K.
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