Heading into the runDisney Princess Half Marathon Weekend, I was really worried about my fitness levels. Thanks to getting sick at the beginning of February, I was completely out of the running game for two and a half weeks. Since that is a long time, I had no clue what to expect of myself during the race weekend. Originally, months before the race, I talked to Christine about running the runDisney Enchanted 10k together since we were both looking to score a personal record in the 10k distance. Once I got sick, I knew there was no way that I was going to be able to break 49 minutes. Yet, given that I haven’t raced in a while, I still wanted to give it a strong effort.
On race morning, I rolled out of bed around 3:15am. I was dressed and out the door without waking anyone up by 3:30am. My parents joined me and we arrived to the Epcot parking lots by 4:00am. Since I missed the expo thanks to major travel delays, I picked up my bib at the information tent. The process was absolutely painless. 
My parents hung out with me in the pre-race area so that I could hang on to my clothing as long as humanly possible. It was surprisingly chilly for Florida! My parents that now live in Florida were shivering! I guess that is what happens when you live in FL for a decade! We passed the time checking out the runner’s costumes and visiting the line for the potties. And, just before the race, I was able to meet up with Christine. It was so nice to catch up. I really wished we lived closer to one another! Before I knew it, we were heading to the corrals and really getting ready to run!
We wished each other well and we were off with a wave of the Fairy Godmother’s wand. I knew I couldn’t keep pace with Christine but I still wanted to try to keep a steady pace at a solid effort so I decided not to stop for photos. And, honestly, most of the character stops were the very same as last year.
As we made our way out of the Epcot parking lot, Anna and Elsa were waving to the runners from an overpass. Next up, the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland was at the first mile marker. From there, we traveled up the overpass and back towards the fun. For me, this part of the race is rather boring so I focused on trying to keep a steady pace. I chatted with another runner that was similarly paced and the miles ticked by. Once we made our way into Epcot, we ran by Jiminy Cricket and Marie from Aristocats. 
The time in Epcot flew by and before I knew it we were at the boardwalk. For some reason, I have a really hard time running on the boardwalk. It appeared that there was a character stop. No one was out when I ran by; I later heard that it was Goofy! Bummer! After pushing through the boardwalk area, I was pleasantly surprised to see Princess Minnie! I’m really kicking myself for skipping the photo with her, especially since she was nowhere to be seen the next day at the Princess Half. I gave it my best effort to push through the last quarter mile and finish as strong as possible. Boy was I happy to cross that finish line!
I ended up seeing Christine in the finish line chute and she set a pretty sweet PR! It was awesome to have a little bit more time to catch up with her before I hustled my way to the car. I needed to make sure I had enough time to drive back to our place, shower, and drive back to Epcot for the Kids Races with Cora {200m kids race recap here}!
I was so happy with my final results at just over the 52:00 minute mark. Honestly, it was a much better time that I anticipated heading into the weekend. It was definitely a hard effort but it makes me hopeful for the future. If I can just stay healthy, I look forward building my mileage back up and get stronger throughout the spring.
Mile 1 – 8:13 / Mile 2 – 8:08 / Mile 3 – 8:12 /
Mile 4 – 8:13 / Mile 5 – 8:28 / Mile 6 – 8:49 / + 2:00
Final Time: 52:09
I think this might be one of my all time favorite medals! I love the snowflake! Did you run the Glass Slipper Challenge or any of the events that weekend? How was your experience of the course?
Lisa
Congratulations on your 10k race. I ran that with my mom and sister bc the following day I knew I was going to run the half by myself. Your tights are so fun!
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It was the opposite for me. I was solo for the 10k and ran the half with my hubby!
Being sick right before a race is never any fun, but it sounds like you still did an amazing job given the circumstances. Way to go!
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I was definitely happy with the outcome of the race! Enjoy Florida!
Those early wakeups are the killer for runDisney races, at the WDW half I got about 2 hours of sleep. Which makes me start the morning with a headache and tummy ache too… Glad you made it through!
I want to do Glass Slipper next year, and I'm so happy you did such a great job even ill!
Yes, those wake up calls are definitely brutal! I don't know how the people that run Dopey deal with four early mornings in a row. Two is enough for me during the challenge weekends!
So glad Disney had a way for you to get your bib after all that travel chaos. The 10k is a distance I'd like to do at Disney but I hear ya on the characters. They're the same ones every year, but at least EPCOT and the Boardwalk area is fun to run through.
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I was really happy that I could pick up my bib the morning of the race. I still missed out on the shirts but at least I could RUN!
Congrats on your race and I love your running tights! I'm always amazed at how early a wakeup is required for the Disney events! You ran a great race – I'm amazed that anyone can PR at a Disney race.
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Thanks Kelli! The tights are from Skirt Sports and are my favorite since they are so fun! I actually PRed at my very first runDisney race several years ago. I haven't PRed there since but I still think that you can do it if you are in the front two corrals. I've dropped back corrals to be with my husband during Princess and I don't think I could PR from even just a few corrals back. The congestion gets to be too much! And, I definitely hear you on the early wake up calls.
Woohoo, that’s a nice run!! Love the snowflake on the medal 🙂
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Me too! It's my new favorite medal!
Great job! I love the medal.
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Thank you! 🙂