Disney Princess Half Marathon

What a wonderful race, what a wonderful day, what a wonderful two princesses to run with!

As always at Disney, everything was tremendously well organized - we got to the race expo on Saturday afternoon and picked up our race packets, admired our gorgeous race shirts (pink with the tiara logo on them) and picked up some samples, then headed to the hotel to relax.

It was hard to sleep knowing we had to get up so early and the fact that we had to change the clocks for Daylight Savings time made me extra nervous about messing up, so I felt like I hadn't slept a wink (although Mom assured me I had been snoring). But we all got up and were out with our three supporters and loyal princes Noah, Andy and Mark, who was a wonderful chauffer the entire weekend.

It was much better being driven to the race start by car than having to get a Disney bus like we did last year, because you could leave much later and we didn't have to stand around for so long at the staging area - we even sat in the car, keeping warm and saving our feet for a while, until it was time to make that long walk to our start corral.

There were about 8000 runners set to race, mostly women, many dressed in festive princess atire, elaborate hairdos, etc. We got all dolled up too, with cute skirts Mom had made and our own team tees Jenny ordered for us (see pic!). After waiting nervously for about 15 minutes, we finally could start running - rather, shuffling at first, then jogging a bit and weaving around other runners, and finally settling into a nice pace as we went up the highway overpass towards the first mile marker. Jenny, our team leader, had given me the job of running slightly ahead and keeping a nice steady pace; Mom was to be next with Jenny bringing up the rear, and eventually becoming Mom's personal coach and bootcamp director as the race got tougher towards the end. Boy, I was glad I got the pacer job - Jenny was getting a lot of dirty looks from runners passing us by as she was telling Mom to "QUIT WALKING! RUN! COME ON MOM! YOU WANTED TO DO THIS!" I just kept jogging along at my nice steady pace and looking back.

But really, everything went very well - we started out running the first two miles before we made a quick porta potty stop. Our goal was to get just under or right at three hours, and we seemed well on pace to make that. Then we were on our way towards the Contemporary hotel and we knew Mark and the boys would be waiting at mile 4 to cheer us on (and take our fancy princess skirts for us, which were starting to get hot). Then it was under the bridge, past the hotel, and on into the Magic Kingdom - probably the funnest part of the race - nice clean bathrooms - and it was a lot less crowded than last year's half marathon.

Once out of the Magic Kingdom, things get tougher. You have a long straight stretch of highway and Mom was starting to feel the effects of the long stretches of running - as we passed 7 miles and I was doing the pace math in my head I started to think we would be coming in at around 3:10, if we were lucky. We were watching for Mark and the boys again, and when we finally found them, Mark told us we were still on pace for a 2:58 finish time which really cheered me up. So we kept plugging along, me just ahead, Jenny encouraging Mom (You can do this! You wanted this! Just run 5 minutes without walking!), and Mom trying to dodge behind slower people so she could sneak a walk break while Jenny wasn't looking. If you know my sister Jenny, you'll know this tactic doesn't work!

Every time we passed those beeping mats that register your time at 5 K, 10 K, and 15 K, we would get excited thinking of everyone who was tracking us from far away and knowing they would be just as thrilled to know we were doing so well.

We got a another boost at about mile 9 where they were handing out eight different flavors of Cliff Shots - Jenny and I grabbed a few and we tried to get Mom to fuel up a bit more. That seemed to help and she did great going up the first of three big overpass hills that come just before you get into Epcot and the finishing stretch. I kept my eye on my watch and was in suspense the whole time wondering if we were actually going to make our goal of coming in right at about 3 hours.

The last two miles were tough for Mom but she hung in there. I ran ahead and asked spectators to cheer for my mom Cindy who was just behind me to try and keep her feet moving. It's a lot harder to give up and just walk when people are cheering you on and the great thing about Disney races is they put your first name on your race bib so volunteers and spectators can encourage you by name. Everyone kept shouting, "Come on, Cindy, you're almost there!" and Mom was muttering under her breath, "We're NOT almost there, I'll run when I see the finish line." But we kept harrassing her, finally got into the final stretch where the finish line was actually visible, and Mickey, all handsome in his tux, and Minnie, in her own beautiful princess dress, were there to give us the royal welcome as we crossed the finish line right at 3 hours, 1 minute - an incredible PR for Mom which made Jenny and I both extremely proud and happy. We crossed over and were awarded our medals - a beautiful tiara studded with "jewels" - then we quickly found our princes and were wisked back to our castle in our royal carriage.

The rest of day was spent basking in the sun at the pool (did I mention the perfect running weather? 71 degrees when we finished and not humid at all - it was great), catching up with my old friend John who came to hang out with us, celebratory champagne, and finally, in what is becoming our tradition, an elegant dinner at the California Grill at the top of the Contemporary Hotel - our opportunity to get all cleaned up and parade around with our medals, get admiring comments from Disney staff, and have a wonderful meal with a big glass of wine - we earned it. Jenny had timed our reservation perfectly so we were there to enjoy the amazing fireworks display over the Magic Kingdom. It is simply amazing to be up on the observation deck, looking down and seeing part of the course you just ran...it looks so long!

The next day, we headed for the MGM studios park, all wearing the shirts we received for running the race, which were really cute (see pic at right) and still feeling like a team all day long!

Thanks to Mom - for being the instigator and the wonderful inspiration and comic relief that she is...

Thanks to Jenny - for being the most gracious hostess, our motivator and coach, and the reason we all keep running...

Thanks to Mark - for all the support, professional running advice and my partner in crime on the food front...

Thanks to Andy and Noah - great troupers, cheering section and my Tower of Terror buddies...

And finally, thanks to Stefaan for all the loops around the lake during these past cold winter Sundays, and for making it all possible for me to be here this week. And to my three boys for taking their mom's absence and running all in stride and helping their dad while I'm gone...

I love you all!

Princess Amy

PS: We later found out that Mom came in 8th in her age group (out of 21 total) which made her very happy and she forgave us for being hard on her!