Inaugural Avengers 5K Race Re-Cap

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Last weekend was the Inaugural Avengers  Weekend and I signed up for both races.

If it’s new and has shiny (plastic) bling, yes, I’d like some please!

The immediate days leading up to this race were crazy for me.  I didn’t have anything together and had my Disney Parks Moms Panel interview scheduled right before I left.  That meant my packing situation for this racecation went like this:

Is this clean?  Yes.  Put it in.

Might I need this?  Yes.  Put it in.

Essentially if it had anything to do with an Avenger (I have a few shirts) I threw them in the big pink suitcase.  If it had anything to do with running, in it went.  If it had anything to do with Disney, yep, that went too.

I was gone for 3 days but had a 49.5 pound suitcase heading to Anaheim.  And I probably used about 1/3 of it.

Over-packers Anonymous, anyone?

What went in the suitcase for the first time ever was a tu-tu.  Yes, Shenanigans was entering the world of tu-tu runners.  The tu-tu was sent for review by Shelly Rio Boutique on Etsy.  I decided what better way to put the tu-tu to the test (say that 5 times fast!) then in an actual race.

Confession:  when my alarm went off, I had absolutely NO interest in getting dressed.  My Super Hero powers that morning did NOT include a cheery wake up!

But I had a tu-tu to run in!

My costume for this event:  Thor.  Because, well… THOR.  Do I really need to explain?

Due to my crazy schedule, I put this costume together in a day and just hoped it would hold up.

I bought a hammer, a cape and a helmet and had them in my hands FAST.

How fast?  2 days.  I’m giving a plug to Amazon Prime.

Y’all.  Free 2-day shipping.  With the holidays around the corner, this pays for itself in a matter of clicks!  You WILL thank me for this.

Thor:  Assembled!

We stayed at the Hotel Menage for this race.

It’s probably the farthest I have stayed from the start of the Disneyland races and I was a bit concerned about this issue.

It was FINE.  To put it in Walt Disney World runDisney terms, it’s about the same walk from the Epcot parking lot to the corrals.  There is a shuttle (free) to the Esplanade or you can walk the entire way.  Being extremely impatient, I chose to walk with other runners (safety, y’all!) and it wasn’t any big deal.

You know Disney likes a good story and their 5Ks are not left out when it comes to story lines.  This one was about Hydra putting something in the air and the runners needed to get the antidotes by drinking water at the water stops.  It was clever.  Along the course were black dressed agents as well as scientists cheering us to safety!

Though I did hear a “Hail Hydra” at one water stop.  Someone thinks they are funny.

I met my friend Marci in the corrals.  We chatted but went our own ways when the race started.  We met again a bit later and decided to go ahead and finish the race together.  She’s been sick and is under trained so her pace was closer to mine.  It was a perfect match.

I also had to grab a picture with this guy.  He ran as Thor’s Hammer.  Very creative!

Black Widow was our first character.  And she looked AWESOME.

This is also where I met up with Nicole and Katy, my costume loving friends I tend to find on the course.  As usual, they looked FABULOUS.

Iron-Mickey and Black Widow were ready to kick some booty at this 5K!

The line for Black Widow was… LONG.  Way too long to stand in, to be honest.

But we did it anyway.

I wasn’t sure how many characters were going to be on the course and Black Widow is new at Disneyland.  This could be a very limited opportunity and I didn’t want to pass it up.

Way cool.

Next stop was Hawkeye.  Who is also new to Disneyland and has nice arms.

What.

He does.

We ran through Disney’s California Adventure and into the Magic Kingdom.

Marci and I had to get the iconic shot in front of the train station.  Gotta love this view!

The next line was right off Main Street, USA.  It was Minnie and Mickey in their traditional costumes.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen them dressed like this on a race course, so this was again something a bit different than other races.

We chose to keep running to Thor.

Had to get to Thor, right?

Right place at the right time.  And in the right costume!

Negatives to this race: the lines.  They were really long.

If you chose to stand in Black Widow, you potentially lost your chance of getting pictures with other characters.  We lucked out that we found friends in line and were able to join them for a group picture with Hawkeye.  We missed Captain America completely.

Since the 5Ks aren’t timed, it would be really great if the lines were kept open for even the back of the pack runners.  I believe Disneyland had Extra Magic Hours that morning which may have contributed to the quick line shut downs.

That being said, we were never told to hurry up or to get out of line.  Even when we saw this at Black Widow:

Yep, those are the golf carts and race officials.  They were ready to close things up as soon as Black Widow finished her pictures.

Not one word about being behind time or getting swept.  They only told us to have fun and have a good race. Thank you, runDisney, for not stressing us out!

The end of the race offered a few nice touches.

I also ran into my blogger friend, Kimber.  I’ve been chatting with her for a few years but this is the first race we actually connected.

Her costume was adorable and I picked her out right as we finished the race.

Check out her blog at Confessions of a Domestic Goddess.  She’s great!

As far as the tu-tu went, I LOVED IT!

A full review is coming (along with a giveaway!) next week.   Be sure to watch for that one.

Did you run the Avengers 5K?  What did you think of the three C’s: the course, the characters and the costumes?

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