Inaugural Enchanted 10K at the Princess Half Weekend Race Re-Cap

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I was delighted to discover that this group theme was a huge hit!  And also a little surprised with the popularity of Saving Mr. Banks that there weren’t more people going with a Mary Poppins theme.  Whatever the reason, I loved that it took us about 45 minutes to make our way to the corrals because we kept having people stop us and ask for pictures!  At one point the corral gave the Broads a round of applause as they weaved through the corral in a conga line to get to the front.  Too much fun, and the race hadn’t even started yet!

In the corrals I found Andrea!  We met through the Disney Parks Moms Panel Search and I was so happy to finally meet her in person.  She was running the Glass Slipper Challenge as Black and White Minnie for the 10K and Color Minnie for the half.  It’s one of the great things about runDisney for me- finally getting to hug my online friends!

The DisBroads started the race together, but after the first mile it was obvious the faster Broads weren’t having none of my snails pace for this race.  I’m cool with that- and sent them on ahead.  DisBroad Julie was picking up what I was throwing down and decided to hang back with me.  Hey, I’m slow, I know it, and I had 13.1 more miles to cover the next day.  I know my limits- and pushing it for the 10K would not be wise.  I don’t work that way.  Plus, it was effin hot out there.  I REALLY don’t work that way!

My master plan was to have them stop for pictures so by the time we caught up, we wouldn’t have to wait- just pop in for the picture.  This was a brilliant strategy, but I forgot about my potty stops adding to the time growing between us and them.  We did manage to make this work out once just as we entered the Boardwalk.

Along with many other runners, I was not a fan of the first half of the 10K.  I am not sure what can be done to make it a better route, but the out and back is just not appealing to me.  Neither is the parking lot tour that runDisney seems to be fond of giving us at most races.  The Royal Family 5K and the Wine and Dine are two that stand out.

However, I LOVED seeing Elsa on top of the overpass.  I thought that she and Anna *might* make an appearance, but my money was on them appearing at the more laid back 5K.  When they were not there, I assumed we would not be graced with the sisters this race weekend.  I mean, if they were on the course, the race would come to a screeching half for 95% of the participants!  This was a fantastic compromise.  I pulled off to the side and took a short video.  And yes, it was SNOWING!

Back in Epcot we took a quick stop near America to go to the beautiful potties.  Yes, I have a thing about the Disney potties.  I have documented quite a few of them over the years, and this one is actually one of my favorites!  On our way out of the bathroom Julie made a comment about DisBroad Tania sleeping with Louis (she was on the fold down bed at Port Orleans Riverside in case you couldn’t make the connection).  For whatever reason, this promted us to go ahead and get in line to take a picture with the big ol’ Alligator.  I’m so glad we did!

My favorite part of this race began when we left Epcot.  While the front of this race was a bit lacking, the end makes up for it.  The Boardwalk is really such a beautiful place to run!  I have not had the opportunity (aka, the money) to stay at one of these resorts just yet.  It’s still a relatively new area for me to explore.  And explore we did.  As I mentioned before, thanks to our Poppins Posse props of Sweeper brooms and DisBroad Suzanne’s adorable Mary Poppins hat, we were able to spot our group stopped in line as we crossed the bridge.  There were tons of places to take pictures along the way.  I limited myself to just a few, but here’s three of my favorites:

I cracked up when we ran past Kirsten, who was devouring her sweet treat on the go.   I knew DisBroad April had made a stop at the Boardwalk Bakery too and wondered how her cheesecake brownie was tasting mid run!  Around this time we also met up with our blogging pals from Running Happily Ever After.  Monica and Walter, the Disney Bride and Disney Groom ended up crossing the finish line with us.

After the Boardwalk we went back into Epcot.  And the last character we saw:  Donald!   I missed Mexico Donald at the Wine and Dine since I didn’t make it back into the party that night.  I wasn’t going to pass up this picture either.

When we crossed the finish line, we got a shout out from Carissa, letting us know our fellow Poppins Posse had finished ahead of us.  Those brooms.  Man, they were a pain to run with, but made the costume!  I even considered ditching mine, but DisBroad Tania quickly set me straight.  There was NO WAY I was allowed to dump a prop on the run.  She scares me a bit, so I listen to her.  And I’m so glad I did.  #BroomsFTW

This was by far the longest 10K I have ever run in.  Even longer than the Disneyland 10K, and I didn’t think that was going to be possible!  Ah well, records are made to be broken, even when you are going in the opposite direction, right?

When the race was over, I wasn’t quite sure how I felt about the course.  Frankly, I was left with some disappointments but couldn’t pinpoint what it was that bothered me.  After a couple of weeks of mulling it over, I am now sure it’s the very beginning miles that I was not thrilled about.  Part of it is the course:  it’s the parking lot and highway and just very boring.

The other part was that it took about 3 miles for me to settle in and remember that I was there to have fun.  I think the pressure of running with a large group was weighing on me since I knew I was the slowest runner in the group.  I hate to think I’m holding people back.  I know what my race looks like, and it was not conducive to the rest of the group.  Once we went our separate ways, I think both groups were happier!  Sometimes you just have to call an audible and make changes.

Did you run the Enchanted 10K this year?  What did you think about the course?  Did you have a favorite part?

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