Disneyland 10K Race Re-Cap 2014

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It’s taken me a few days to settle back into the swing of things at home.? I was only gone for a quick 3 day trip, but that covered 19.3 running miles and about 28 additional park & expo miles!

I’m pooped, y’all!

But not too tired to give you a Disneyland 10K race re-cap.

Basic rundown:? I loved the Stitch medal and the whole theme of the 10K.? And I’m not even a Lilo and Stitch devotee.? It was just a great theme for a race and I thought runDisney did a fun job playing up the Elvis and Hawaiian angles.

Since I’m a big Elvis fan, this totally worked for me.? I was dancing in the corral to the King and loved all the fun Elvis jokes.? Side note:? Coincidentally, I went into labor with my oldest son on the anniversary of Elvis’ death and my second son, Luke, shares a birthday with the King.?? Visiting Graceland was a highlight to living in Tennessee!

All that being said, it wasn’t the perfect race for many runDisney fans.? The lack of characters was a huge contention.

But I’m going to start at the end.

See this face?? This was one happy Shenanigans.

Bling me, baby!

I had a blast on this run.? I shared the route with my friend, Lisa, who made her very first trip to California.

Some things to know about Lisa:

She’s hilarious.? She’s a St. Jude runner.? She’s from Oklahoma so I lovingly refer to her as one of my Okie friends.? I met her through DisBroad Suzanne, so you know she had some street cred with me.?? And she’s shooting for the 50 halves in 50 states goal!

Everyone, say hi to Lisa!

There was a DisBroad on the streets too- DisBroad Bonnie came to Disneyland for the first time as well.

Bonnie was being all cutesy and running with her fun husband, Vinnie.

I did get some park time, lunch, and some pre-race pics with Bon though.? Including this great Splash Mountain run where we got soaked INSIDE the ride and not on the splashdown.

Weirdness!? But oh so fun.

On the morning of the race I met up with Lisa and Bonnie before going to the corrals.

I loved all the costumed runners for the 10K.

I think this is the sweet spot for costume fans as far as distance goes:? far enough to get some great shots on the course but not too far that a clever costume is a hindrance.

We started off in Corral C after chatting with my fellow costume loving friend, Nicole.

This Ewok:? priceless!

You can’t see the small touches but she had a miniature Han Solo hanging off the back.? Loved it.

Lisa and I had never run together before and you know that can sometimes lead to frustration.

Thankfully that was NOT the case for us! Our Galloway intervals were in sync and we heading through the first 2 miles at a good pace.? We finished both miles around 13:40 pace (minus a potty stop for one of us- I’ll let you guess who.? Ahem)

About half a mile in we were both pouring sweat.

Y’all.? What is it with this race?? It brings the humidity to Anaheim every year.? Bah.

Icky ick ick.

As we turned into DCA our first characters were waiting to meet us: Mater and Lightening Mc Queen.

We were hoping for a Mike & Sulley picture later and chose to move past this long line, but stopped at this much shorter one for some tractor tipping.

Our must stop pictures were clear:? Elvis, Mike & Sulley, and the Haunted Mansion.? Two out of three happened.

The race announcers kept saying Elvis had been sighted and I thought, cool, we’ll see an Elvis on the course!

Wrong!

We saw 4 Elvi (yes, that’s plural for Elvis.)

We didn’t stop for all of them, but we did grab a couple.

Something to note: there were not any other characters on the course.? No Mike and Sulley (sorry Lisa!).? Not a single princess even.

This was a far cry from the Disneyland 10K character-palooza we saw last year.

I have two theories on this:

1.? runDisney was taking the Stitch/Hawaiian/Elvis theme and running with it.?? Sticking Rapunzel out there just wouldn’t make sense, would it?

2. Last year there was a lot of lines and slow downs on the course due to the picture opportunities.? I heard the course was closed at the Small World back stage gate in 2013 and runners at the back of the pack were re-routed through the park.? To avoid this happening again, I’m guessing the decision was made to staff the course with less distractions.

Personally, I was ok with this.? In fact, I didn’t even notice it until I was back on social media and other runners commented on it!

In the end, I would much rather have the race distance upheld then have people credited for a 10K when they only ran 5 miles.

I feel there are plenty of other picture opportunities you can take advantage of in the parks if you choose.? Here’s a few non-character stops we made while having a great time on our run.

Apparently Elvis Stitch had left the building by the time we got to him.

We would certainly have risked meeting up with the balloon ladies to get that picture.? It wasn’t until later that I learned he was even out there!

Darn it, sometimes being back of the pack has consequences.? Ah well, fingers crossed for Marathon!

We did make a stop here though.? I’m so glad I got this picture since my costume was themed for the 45th birthday celebration.

Welcome, Foolish Mortals.

Clearly, we know how to have fun!

I’m trying to talk Lisa into running with me again.? She’s considering a trip to cross Arizona off her list.

But I have other plans.

Hey Lisa, did you know Goofy was still open?

Did you run the Disneyland 10K?? What did you think of the course this year?

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