Apologies for the delay on my Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend race recaps, but between being out in California and then getting home and having only 2 days to pack to move, stuff has been a bit hectic around here, so bear with me!
Jason and I arrived in California on Thursday morning and immediately hit up the parks! The race expo was opening at noon, but we decided instead of battling the crowds at open we’d wait and stop in towards the end of the day. We were staying right at the Disneyland Hotel where the expo was being held, so when we got a text alert later in the afternoon that our room was ready we figured it was the perfect time to go back, take a quick shower and pop into the expo.
I honestly think we were in and out of the expo in under 15 minutes! Being that we’re in the middle of moving and I’ve been overwhelmed with the amount of “stuff” we have I really wasn’t interested in shopping and bringing anything else home to move!
Saturday morning Jason and I got up, had a coffee, got on our uniforms and these Ducks were ready to fly!
One of the reasons I LOVE the Disneyland races (and Disneyland in general!) is how close everything is! We literally left our room at 4:45am for a 5:30am race start!
We had some time to stretch and hangout in the corral and I even ran into Carlee from Be the Change who I’ve been looking forward to meeting for awhile – I literally turned around and she was right there!
Since Jason and I were in corral A we were off and running pretty quickly!
Unfortunately Jason’s knee had been bothering him for a few weeks leading up to race weekend, so we decided we’d take it easy, stop for pictures, take walk breaks if he needed and use the 10k to asses how his knee was and if he’d be able to do the half marathon the next day.
We started off at a comfortable pace and quickly came upon our friends Daniel and Tana who not only got up at 5am to cheer us (and all the other runners!) on, but made this awesome “Ducks Fly Together” sign!
You two totally rock!
After about a mile through the streets around the parks, we entered California Adventure through the back and were right in Cars Land!
Unfortunately most of my pictures didn’t come out great (Marathonfoto may actually be getting some of my money for this race if they got some good ones!), but we stopped for pictures with some of our favorites (who we actually dressed up as for the 10k last year!), Mater…
…and McQueen!
Then we ran around Paradise Pier where the World of Color fountains and lights were on (always a Disneyland race favorite for me!).
By this point unfortunately Jason’s knee was already starting to bother him, so we started adding in some walk breaks so he wouldn’t over do it.
We exited California Adventure and entered Disneyland, ran down Main Street and stopped for a quick face-off in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle!
And then back in Fantasyland we ran into Elvis and Chip & Dale doing the Jailhouse Rock!
**The Disneyland 5k & 10k were Lilo & Stitch themed so there was a lot of Elvis music and sightings during the races since Stitch was a big Elvis fan!**
In Frontierland we ran past what looked like a character stop, but there was no one there…I later saw from other people’s pictures that it was Stitch, but he was apparently taking a break (or snuck off to cause some trouble!) when we ran by.
We exited Disneyland and ran through Downtown Disney towards the finish! Downtown Disney probably had the most spectators of anywhere during the race and we certainly got a lot of “QUACKS!” and “Go Ducks!” as we ran by!
We crossed the finish line, got our medals and Jason headed right over to the medical tent area to get some ice for his knee since by this point it was hurting him pretty badly.
There was some fun Hawaiian themed entertainment going on in the post race area to go along with the Lilo & Stitch theme…
…but we got our water, snacks and some ice for Jason and headed right back to our hotel (about a 2 minute walk!), so he could sit and ice his knee in hopes of being able to run the next day.
Despite being a little disappointed at the lack of characters along the course (4 characters total for a 10k?!?), I had such a great time running this race with Jason!
I have to admit I’m still a little surprised he not only agreed to dress up as the Mighty Ducks, but carried an inflatable hockey stick and took pictures pretending to face-off with me!
Live, Run, Grow 
Fabulous costumes Danielle! You got some cute photos too, but the lack of characters compared to last year’s 10k is surprising. So sorry that Jason was struggling with his knee, but hopefully it is better.
Thanks Pam, we had a lot of fun with the costumes and taking pictures along the way!
I love the picture of the World of Color. i’m determined, one of these days, to actually see the show. I’m normally too tired to stay for it.
Really. Glad you and Jason had a great post move trip. You both looked really HAPPY. LOVED all the pictures!
Oh my goodness, YOU MUST see World of Color!!! It is hands down the best Disney show EVER!
wait, you mean someone would NOT want to dress as the mighty ducks and carry around hockey sticks? that would just be crazy.
Right?!? Haha, we had so much fun!
Way to go! Looks like a blast. And I must say, that outfit looks much more functional than the Newsie ones!
Haha, cotton shirts and tube socks weren’t necessarily ideal for the heat, but your right, it was MUCH better than the flannel pants, vests and hats! (Although I may recycle the Newsie costume for a winter New England race this year – much more appropriate for that!)
Creative costumes! I ran the 10k as well and was also bummed out about the lack of characters 😦 Glad that the two of you were able to enjoy yourselves though!
Yeah, I was definitely surprised at the lack of characters especially since so much of the race was in the parks…hopefully they take the hint and add more characters to the 10k’s in the future!
So, first of all, it was AWESOME to finally meet you! Sorry we didn’t end up connecting on Sunday, we were pretty much just wandering around aimlessly…mostly sitting in chairs whenever possible because our legs and feet were DONE. lol
Love your recap, and that you guys ran together! It totally sucks that Jason’s knee was bothering him so much, but you definitely looked great in your costumes and got some cool pictures. Marathonfoto always manages to get their hands on my money because the pictures taken in the dark always suck, haha.
While I was digging the Stitch theme and all (clearly), I was VERY disappointed by the lack of characters, especially after last year’s 10K! After WDW Marathon’s 10K, Princess 10K, and now this, I’m pretty much soured on the shorter races at Disney. Of course, it was still a good time, so I suppose I can’t complain too much. Looks like you guys had a blast! 😀
Can’t believe you ran with those inflatable hockey sticks!!! Troopers the both of you! I only took one photo op during the 10k course since I wasn’t too excited by the stops they offered. Looking forward to your half recap! Hope Jason’s knee held up! GO ducks!
How was running through the stadium? Can’t wait to get back out running again. Seeing all the posts gives me run envy. Thanks for sharing.
Cute costumes!! My bro and I ran the same race dressed as Mickey and Minnie!! We’ll see you at tinkerbell???????????
Your costumes were fabulous!!! I saw the Ducks Fly Together sign and it made me smile!! I was disappointed by the lack of characters along the course. That is such a bummer about Jason’s knee.
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Sorry about Jason’s knee! Looks like you had fun despite!