Inaugural Star Wars 5K Race Re-Cap

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First things first:  an apology.  I can’t believe it’s taken me THIS LONG to write these race re-caps.  The Inaugural Star Wars 5K happened  in January and here we are mid-April… hold up…

Dang, y’all.  It’s the MIDDLE of APRIL.  How does this happen?  Every year I blink and January becomes May which becomes summer and, oh, this mama is soooo NOT ready for summer.  Time needs to slow down for the next 6-weeks!

Okay, freak out over, now on to the business at hand.

In case you missed it, I managed to re-cap the Star Wars Half Marathon already.  You can read that one right here.

My actual race thoughts aren’t very coherent because I had about 3 hours of sleep before this one.   My own fault for not getting enough rest, but you know, I had to party with the Wookiee.

The good news?  I wore the same costume to both the party and the 5K.  Made that “fall into bed fully clothed” thing work out in my favor.

This race brought out some creative costumes.  I knew it would- but wow- people were just decked OUT for this one!

Walking to the corrals I found blogger buddies Kim and Gail, from Run All the Races.  They pulled off some super creative costumes (as usual) this weekend starting with these:

The morning was cool, but not cold, at 46 degrees.  Or maybe I was just in the perfect costume for the temps.  I wore long pants, long shirt and a poncho for this race so that might explain why I was so comfortable during my very long wait to start.

I was starting in a corral far, far away.  Also known as C corral.

This might have been the first time I’ve started in the last corral.

It’s no big thing, particularly in the Disney 5Ks.

Since this race isn’t timed, the pressure to maintain a 16 minute mile isn’t quite as severe.

Yes- you can, in theory, get swept.

But based on my past experiences and shenanigans on the Disney 5Ks (see Avengers 5K and Princess 5K for examples), it doesn’t happen unless you aren’t able to keep moving forward.

The corral was great!  Super nice people to talk to all around.

I enjoyed checking out the costumes and even had a few people ask for my picture since I was in a somewhat rare costume.

One was Cole Horton, a writer for StarWars.com who was participating in the events of the weekend.  I already followed him on Twitter and surprised him by fangirling him pre-race.

Yeah, I know, my geekery has no bounds!

The only issue I had about the back corral: you miss out on a lot of the pre-race banter.

That might be a good thing if you are nervous and just want to find your happy pace.  But it was weirdly quiet for about 45 minutes as we waited our turn to start.

This was the first race of the weekend.  The start line stage was FANTASTIC.  I loved all the details from the stage to the costumes Rudy and Carissa wore.  And yes, those WERE the droids we were looking for!

When it was finally our turn to run we all screamed and yelled as we charged across the start line.  We had to be the most enthusiastic after waiting for so long: I know corral C just wanted to get moving by this point.

Why are the Disney 5Ks so great?  The course is almost completely inside the parks.  It’s a blast!

We entered the park back stage and were greeted with one of the projections runDisney has been favoring lately.

Love it.

There were a few cast members out supporting the runners.  The night crew maintenance folks were out cheering for us, as always.

I can’t help but think we really put a cramp in their schedules when we tromp through the parks like this.

But they smile, wave, and cheer louder than any other group on the course this early in the morning so I appreciate them being there!

My plan for this race was just to keep a moderate pace.  I had 2 more races slated this weekend and the 5Ks aren’t timed, so I knew I didn’t have to sprint to the finish.

I don’t even think I turned my Garmin on for this one.  I just ran when I felt like it and walked when I felt like it.  It seemed to be a good plan and I was comfortable the whole time.

Because I hadn’t slept much my main goal was just to keep moving and finish.  I skipped the lines (um, yeah… those lines were banana pants anyway!  I’d STILL be in line if I had stopped!) and just took a few pics as I ran through the parks.

The characters were pretty standard for the whole weekend:  Jedi Knights, Boba Fett, Darth Vader, Storm Troopers, Chewbacca, and Sabine & Ezra from Star Wars Rebels.

The highlight of running through Disneyland is getting the castle picture and running down Main Street, USA.

Isn’t it gorgeous in the wee hours of the morning?

After leaving Disneyland we crossed over to Disney California Adventure.

I had to take a sad face selfie when we went by the margarita stand.

Because: closed.

But that frown turned upside down when we went around the next corner.

Ezra and Sabine from Star Wars Rebels were out- and there wasn’t a line!

I’m not sure if people weren’t familiar with them (new show) or if they were just ready to be DONE by the time we hit them in DCA.  Either way, I didn’t didn’t care! I loved getting this picture.

The best thing about running a Disney 5K is that there is NO PRESSURE to perform.  These races are family friendly (kids must be 5 or older to run) and a great place to start your runDisney adventure if you are a new runner.

Dress up, have fun, and enjoy the morning run through the parks.

We crossed the finish line with Storm Troopers telling us to move along.

No, really, he was telling me to get my bootay over the finish line.

I’m such a Rebel.  I took his picture anyway.

I ran into my cousin, Janice, after the race.  I’m proud to say I’m an influencer: she blames me for her Annual Pass and runDisney obsession.

You’re welcome, cuz!

One of these days I’ll get her into a costume.  AND a half marathon.

Muhahahahahaha!

After the race I went back to the hotel where I took a shower and then a very long nap.

Will I run the 5K again?  I’m not sure.  There was absolutely NOTHING wrong with this race!  But I’d like to concentrate on actually running well during the 10K and the half next year.  If I don’t add in an extra early morning wake up and 3.1 miles, I might be better off.

Logical and all- but then registration comes around and I want to #runalltheraces.

I do love the “bling,” you know!

Do you like running the Disney 5Ks?  Will you be running the Star Wars 5K next year?

 

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