If you missed it…you can check out my 2014 runDisney Inaugural Glass Slipper Challenge Part 1 – The Disney Enchanted 10K Race Recap. This is the start of Part 2.
The mimosa finish line photo above pretty much captures the spirit of the runDisney Princess Half Marathon for me. Good times with your best girlfriends. What a whirlwind! 
Where to begin? Ah yes…2:30 am wake up call. Get dressed. Grab a banana. Board Bus. Head to race start.
Blogs you should read (far right) iRunForWine.net and (second from left) RunningatDisney.com Here’s a look at the corral setup. runDisney has done an amazing job of getting corral timing down. They’ve added more corrals and decreased the time in between each corral start which really spaces runners out properly. 
Here’s what the start line looks like before the elites take off… Behind the orange mesh is Corral A.
Each corral is sent off with fireworks. This race was super foggy and humid and the firework smoke ended up blowing back down on us at the start. Here’s Barbara and Jeff Galloway taking a walk break. These two are gems! Many first time half marathoners wouldn’t even try to complete a race if it weren’t for runDisney consultant Jeff Galloway and his run/walk/run method. It’s what gets me through every race I do. You can read more about it on runDisney.com. I asked Jeff if he had a time goal in mind and he told me he and Barbara just wanted to have a good time. See…mimosas and your best girlfriend! 
And this girl…this girl with me in the picture above. She would be my running buddy for the remainder of the race. We started the Princess Half Marathon with the goal of doing 60/30’s. Sixty seconds of running, followed by thirty seconds of walking. I was glad to be running my third Princess Half with my girl Sarah and I decided to let her set the pace. I was just along for the ride and to get a #PRinFUN. Not long after we started our run we ran into these two wack-a-doos. 
Two more blogs you need to read! BamaGirlRuns.blogspot.com (far right) and CarrieBurows.com (the pointer). Bama aka Kristin is a “Perfect Princess”…meaning she’s run all 6 Disney Princess Half Marathons. And Carrie…well…homegirl has lost over 100lbs…TWICE! That’s inspiration. These two are fast…they were like “Peace!” 
Caution runners speed bumps ahead…
And then there’s this guy. He was in #beastmode but we made him stop and take a picture with us in the Magic Kingdom Parking Lot area of the course. You see…he ran with us in our very 1st Walt Disney World 5K…The 2010 Mickey’s Halloween 5K in the Magic Kingdom (yes…we used to have 5K’s in the Magic Kingdom. Can we please bring those back?) Shaene…We are so proud of you!
I’m not one to stop for character photos but this drumline was pretty sweet at the Transportation and Ticket Center. 
Here’s the entrance to “heartbreak hill” aka the water bridge. You run down a hill…yay gravity rocks and then up it…hills suck, hills suck! This puts you in front of The Contemporary Resort. 
Woop woop! Time to head into the Magic Kingdom. BEST part of the race! 
Magic Kingdom is truly the best. Slow down and take it all in…or pull out your phone and run/tweet whatever makes your boat float.
Gratuitous back side of the castle shot…right before we ran through it.
Here’s a trick I wanted to show y’all. The bathrooms. Dees bathrooms are huge, clean and have NO wait.
They are in Frontierland right past the Diamond Horseshoe near Mile 6. Glorious, spacious, non-port-o-potty bathrooms. You can go, wash your hands and even splash cold water all over your face and wipe off the sweat with a paper towel….ah, the simple pleasures.
This race is primarily women and there still wasn’t a line. Here’s what it looks like when you exit the restrooms and head back out on the course…just for a frame of reference.
See…right around Mile 6.
Boo…our time in the Magic Kingdom is coming to an end. Quick! Grab a great shot in front of the train!
Um…OK. Lesson learned. Don’t ask a custodial cast member to take a picture…
Now we quickly hit the backstage area behind Splash Mountain.
Before zooming past the Grand Floridian Resort and the Polynesian Resort… Hey look! It’s Olaf!
He likes warm hugs. He was in the right place.
World drive is a nice long shot with plenty of room to space out. We plodded along til the turn to go back to Epcot. Then this happened…
Oh, and we ran into another one of our blogging buddies you need to check out. SparklyEverEfter.com by our pal Nicole.
Almost ready to enter Epcot! We found more friends! Check out the WDW Radio Running Crew! They are always out to support the runners. Lou Mongello does an award-winning Disney Podcast you should check out.
Almost finished! Mile 12 baby!
Sarah and I had to grab a shot with this Kathy Griffin Princess again this year.
Then for a run down to the World Showcase Lagoon.
Girls…we run the world…
The finish line was in sight!
2014 runDisney Glass Slipper Challenge Complete!
Sarah will tell you this is her favorite runDisney half marathon of all. And I’d have to agree. The camaraderie between all the women is just amazing! Everyone is just so encouraging and uplifting.
The medals are pretty sweet but it’s messages like these that really make my running and blogging worthwhile…
This is the stuff that really makes my heart sing!!!!
If you’re on the fence about signing up for the runDisney Princess Half Marathon you are truly missing out on moments like these. Just do it! You don’t have to be the fastest, you don’t have to even run the entire thing. Just sign up for it and get out there and try. You’ll be amazed at what your body can do. I believe in you and I want to see you out there on that course in 2015 giving me a high-five.
For more info on the runDisney Princess Half Marathon Weekend visit runDisney.com and for more photos of my race weekend that I didn’t post here check out my review over at FloridaTix. #sponsored
I paid for my entry into the runDisney Glass Slipper Challenge. My room at the Animal Kingdom Lodge was complementary. I was not required to write this post and all opinions are my own.
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