2016 Enchanted 10K Race Re-Cap | Princess Half Marathon

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You know, there are races that you are trying to PR.  There are races you are helping a friend through.  There are races you are just trying to survive.

And there are races where you get to dress up in tutus and look adorable with 8 of your girlfriends.

The Enchanted 10K was one of those races.

I was lucky enough to spend the Princess Half Marathon weekend with these ladies.  We called ourselves the Kidani 9 and piled into a 2-bedroom villa at the Animal Kingdom Lodge.

It was one big bestie sleepover.

Bonus: we were all scheduled to run the Enchanted 10K.  This meant we were destined for a group costume of epic proportions.

I discovered the idea included bows, gloves, and tutus.  Errr…I will admit that I was resistant.

In fact, at first, I took a hard pass.

Bows and tutus and all things girlie are not my usual comfort zone.  But as you can tell, I eventually was convinced by this crazy group that it would be too much fun to miss.

And they were right!

I contacted my tutu lady, the lovely Shelly from Shelly Rio Boutique, and she hooked us up with a bunch of fabulous tutus.

If you need tutus, Shelly is your girl.  This is my second order with Shelly, and she does not disappoint.  Anyone looking for last minute Star Wars tutus or needing to place an order for Tinker Bell, be sure to check out her Etsy shop.  She’s got a couple of Dark Side inspired tutus ready to go over there!

And I love the shirts she has available as well.  There’s one that says “I run so I can wear my tutu.”  This is PERFECT for the Princess runners, no?  She’s got a great sense of humor.

Shelly makes an excellent product.  It’s soft, it’s comfortable, and it is very easy to run in.

Our costumes were the Dancing Ostriches from Fantasia.

For reference, we hoped to look like this:

I feel like we nailed it.

I was pleased to discover that many in the corrals and the family waiting area understood the reference.  When you are throwing back to an oldie like Fantasia, you never know how it’s going to go over.

We were a mixed bag of speeds and corrals, so we split up and headed to our starting points.

The weather was a tad on the cold side as we waited in the corrals. I was NOT complaining after the Marathon weekend.  This was perfect for me.

I was still recovering from the flu.  While all the symptoms were long gone, I was weak and run down the entire weekend.  This amounted to me spending a lot of time back in the room sleeping.  Not magical at all!

This race was going to be run at a slow and steady 15:45 interval.  I wanted to make sure that the half would be completed and didn’t want to overtax my system on the 10K.

The first three miles flew by.  Well, as much as our 16-minute mile pace counts as flying.  We managed to pick up another runner who stayed with us most of the way. She was a Disney Cast Member but would NOT tell us who she was “friends” with.  So those first three miles were spent with us trying to pry it out of her.  Disney, she did not spill, and I still have no idea who she may be!

Our first stop was with the stilt walkers.  They greeted us by saying, “Look, more ostriches!”  Apparently our faster friends had made a stop as well!

After this stop, we made the rounds in the World Showcase.  This is my favorite place to run at Walt Disney World.  I love the countries and ambiance, and watching the sun come up over Epcot is just beautiful.

Plus there are lots of bathrooms.  Ahem.

We started walking and slowing down trying to wait for our last ostrich friend Diane to catch up with us.  We reunited in America.

The Boardwalk was up next.

I like running this section because I’m one of those weirdos that like to see the out and back portions.  We get the encouragement from the runners leaving the Boardwalk as we are heading in, and then we get to give it back when we run back into Epcot ourselves.

Girl power!

I also adore the view over Cresent Lake.  It’s a calming area that I simply love to spend time in- even if it’s mid-run.

Unfortunately, at this point, I was whipped.

The travel and late nights had caught up to me, and I deflated.  Julie looked at me a couple of times to check in and make sure I was ok to finish.  I was, but I was certainly feeling the effects of the flu catching up to me.

So we walked it in from here.  Since everyone in our group was doing the Glass Slipper Challenge, no one minded taking it slow to the finish at this point.

The rest of the miles were uneventful.  We laughed, we chatted, we made a game plan for the half the following day.

I loved this time on this course.  Friends make the miles, even ones you aren’t feeling, go by quickly.

We stopped for one last picture with the sea coral over by the Seas with Nemo and Friends attraction, which was a new stop in my runDisney experience.

I’m not sure how I feel about this one.  I mean, A for effort: it’s certainly a unique character stop.  But they were just kinda creepy and weird looking to me.  I couldn’t quite make out where the costume ended, and the people began.

The rest of the ostrich flock had waited for us to finish. They were a little cold, but all smiles with their new shiny bling.

This is what runDisney is all about!

Thanks again to Shelly Rio Boutique for providing the fabulous tutus.  This group effort was a lot of fun all around, on and off the course!

Have you run with a group before?  Did you do it in costume?

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