2015 Disneyland 10K Race Recap | Tuesdays on the Run

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2015 Disneyland 10K Race Recap

The race was my long run for the week.  That’s right, for the first time in forever (caught you singing!) I didn’t sign up for a challenge or the half.  I decided to “just” run the two shorter races.

And I totally air quoted that because I know that there’s nothing “just” about running any distance!

My reasoning was simple:  I live in Arizona, and it’s stupid levels of hot during the crucial training months.  Yes, I can stick to the treadmill.  But after doing that for two summers in a row (and by the way, hating my race experience!) I decided the prudent option was to run the 5K and the 10K only.

My training went well this summer.  I embraced waking up at 4 am and getting it done before the heat took over.

It was mentally so much easier to get into a groove when I knew my long run would be 7 miles before race day.  I went into the event feeling prepared and happy with my levels of fitness.

I just needed the weather to help me out, and this 10K would be a success.

And it did… mostly.  The humidity was still a bit much, but hey, 60s?  I’ll take it.

Our Inside Out group turned out well!  Anger and Fear got stuck outside of the family meeting area, so they didn’t make it in this picture.  But we caught up with them inside the corrals and ran most of the race as a group.

The theme for this one was outstanding:  Villains.  As always, Disney had a story to tell and the start line kicked it off. Villains had taken over the race course and the runners needed to be careful as they ran past.

Or something to that effect.

I was just excited to get going because THIS is my favorite Disney 10K.  It’s perfect for me since it starts outside of the parks, and we get a good two miles to warm up and get moving.  There’s also a lot more room outside the parks which allows for some spacing out, which is nice.

Our first character stop happened right away:  Nahed was holding Peggy Sue’s sign for us.  I knew he would be on the course, but I didn’t expect him so soon!

With quick hugs and pictures, we took off at 15-second run, 30-second walk intervals.  We were running with a 10-year-old for his first 10K and didn’t want to tax him too much out of the gate.

Frankly, he would have sprinted to the parks but his momma wisely held him back and made him stay with our intervals.

I’m going to share the rest of the race through pictures, because, well, we stopped for a lot of them! There was a lot more entertainment and characters on this course than last year’s 10K and the 5K before.

 

 

Around Soarin’, we encountered the two runners that would serve as a major inspiration for this race.  One gentleman was running on a single prosthetic leg; his companion was running on two.

We leap frogged them a few times during the race as we stopped for pictures, and they kept moving forward.  I was especially happy that we had my friend Stephanie’s son, Seth, with us.  It was an important lesson for him to see how hard someone can work for goals they want to achieve and never to take your health for granted.

And also that they were kicking BOOTAY despite their disabilities.

We finally made it over to Disneyland.

Our finish wasn’t the fastest 10K ever, but I think it was one of the most fun ones I’ve run!

As we waited for friends at the end, we were honored to watch the final finishers cross the line.  Remember those two guys I mentioned before?  They did it.

It wasn’t easy, but I hope the crowd cheering at the end gave them the boost to get over the finish line strong!

My overall impression of this race:  fantastic.

The course, the characters, the support, and even the weather made for a great 10K in Anaheim.  I hope runDisney considers going against type here and keeps the Villains as a race theme.

We love them- bring on the bad guys!

Did you run the Disneyland 10K?  What was your favorite part of the race?

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