Princess Weekend 2020 Part 1: Expo

The first stop of every runDisney weekend is the expo! The first day of the expo is always the busiest so I like to go on Friday when things are a bit more chill. Since Wine and Dine and Marathon weekends sold out of a lot of merchandise on the first day, our first stop was the official runDisney merchandise area. Thankfully, there was still plenty of merchandise and sizes available when we arrived.

I got two mini medal replica pins (the challenge one was sold out), the weekend coffee mug as well as a Fairy Tale Challenge tank. I don't usually buy shirts as they rarely have XS but this one was so cute and they actually had it in my size! And it wasn't pastel! Win! Then we popped over to pick up my preorder of the passholder Tervis to go mug and pin. So cute!

We were a bit too early to catch any of the meet and greet characters but Cinderella's coach men were available for photos. They are usually outside with Cinderella's coach that they use for weddings but it was quite cold so they moved inside.

Next we headed over to bib pickup. I knew I was going to be in corral E for the half but challenge participants don't find out their 10k corral until bib pick up. For Princess and Star Wars weekend 2019, I was in corral C for the 10k but for Wine and Dine, I was in corral E so I was anxious to find out my corral. Somehow, I ended up in corral A! I tried to pay attention to challenge bibs over the weekend and it seemed like the 10k corrals were a bit random. I think I saw just about every possible corral pairing except for ones where the half corral was a lower letter than the 10k corral. So who knows how they are assigning 10k corrals for the challenges.

Our last stop was shirt pickup in the vendor merchandise area. I really liked the shirt colors for this year. I love a bright bold color and I'm not really a pastels person so I always love when the princess shirts aren't pastels. I'm not 100% in love with the Cinderella design on a yellow background but I do really like the other two. I didn't end up getting anything from any of the vendors this go around but I'll be back in a few weeks for Star Wars weekend incase there's anything I can't live without.

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Part 1: Expo-You are here.
Part 2: 10k
Part 3: Half Marathon
Part 4: Fairy Tale Challenge-Coming soon!
Part 5: Disney Magic at Animal Kingdom-coming soon!

Marathon Weekend 2020 Part 4: Enjoying Some Disney Magic

One of the best parts of a runDisney weekend is getting to enjoy some Disney magic. Post-marathon we always try to plan a chill day with lots of photo taking and not too much running around. We always plan a few fast passes but rest and recovery is priority #1. We ended up at the Magic Kingdom Sunday after the marathon so we had to get some castle shots with our metals. So fabulous! Bonus points if your outfit coordinates with the colors of your medals.

We love character met and greets for a post-race Disney fun. We always try to visit the theme character for each race if they are around in the parks. Mickey was our first stop. The marathon medal was a big spinner so there wasn't space on the back for a signature so Will had him sign his marathon Mickey ears! (Other runners had Mickey sign the medal ribbon).

The characters get so excited when they see your medals. I don't normally love character meet and greets but the more runDisney weekends I do, the more I enjoy them!

Goofy also does meet and greets in Magic Kingdom so we visited him. Goofy is a hilarious character to interact with! I think the characters who can be quirky are the most fun to meet. (The evil stepsisters are another favorite of mine.)

And I needed to meet Donald for my half marathon medal. My mom loved Donald as a kid and she had a huge collection of Donald stuffed animals when I was little so Donald always has a special place in my heart. And now that the WDW Half Marathon in 2019 was my first half, I love Donald things!

I adore that his signature always includes #1. Move over Mickey! I'm a bird kind of a girl!

On Monday, we headed over to Epcot. Epcot is my favorite park to just walk around and chill at. There's always so much cool stuff in the World Showcase plus the festivals are all amazing. Marathon Weekend usually falls between festivals but there's still loads to see. We joined up with some fellow Joyful Milers to hang out and enjoy the day.

We did a lot of hanging out and chatting. Our group decided to ride Frozen and we had a blast discussing our favorite Disney movies in line. Jackey had a whole list of favorites type questions and I thought that was a great idea! I never felt like I needed to be on my phone and I could just focus on hanging out with my friends. We did one character stop since Snow White happened to be out with a short line. Plus she's the perfect character for all of the Doopey challengers.

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Marathon Weekend 2020
Part 1: The Expo and YouTube Meet Up
Part 2: The Half Marathon
Part 3: Cheering for the Marathon
Part 4: Enjoying some Disney Magic-You are here!

Marathon Weekend 2020 Part 3: Cheering for the Marathon

If you've never cheered for a race, it really is a magical experience-even more so if it's a marathon in the most magical place on earth! So I was 100% on board for cheering for the marathon again this year. The race started half an hour earlier than last year so I adjusted my am wake up call to 3 am. I don't like to get on the first bus when spectating so that the seats can go to runners but I don't want to be on the last bus either so I planned on getting on the bus at around 4 am. The marathon course had quite a few changes this year and magic kingdom was just past mile 10 rather than just past mile 6 like last year so I had plenty of time to get to the Magic Kingdom before the runners arrived.

This all ended up being a good idea because there was major traffic trying to get to Epcot for the race start! Craziness! I'm not sure exactly what went wrong this year but there were so many buses of runners stuck in traffic. It was so bad that some of the runners were getting out of their cars and walking to the parking lot rather than waiting in traffic. My bus driver was a bit more of a proactive driver and bypassed a lot of the traffic and cut back over to the right hand lane closer to where we needed to turn. Even with that, it took us over 40 mins to get from the resort to the Epcot parking lot. Once we got into the parking lot, the cast members where doing a great job of getting all of the buses unloaded quickly but a lot of the runners were feeling really stressed out as we got off the bus at 4:50 am with 10 minutes until race start.

I headed over to the front of Epcot to catch the monorail to the Transportation and Ticket Center. I heard some of the cast members reassuring runners that the race had been delayed which was a good call since many runners probably wouldn't have made it to the start on time. The race ended up starting about 20 mins late but I was already on the monorail. Two quick monorail trips and I was in the Magic Kingdom.

The Magic Kingdom opens at 5:30 am for spectators and not ticket is needed to spectate for the race before the park opens. I made it there a bit after 5:30 am so spectators were already lined up to cheer. I took a few minutes to enjoy Main Street at night. It's so beautiful with all of the Christmas lights and decor still up! It's a great opportunity to get some photos with the castle with a very light crowd.

The crowds on Main Street seemed a bit less crowded than last year. There were several stretches along the course where there was space right up by the rope. I suspect that this is due to more cheering opportunities available in Epcot at the beginning of the race and due to people getting stuck in traffic and not making it to Magic Kingdom. I had plenty of time to add bib numbers into runner tracking for all of my friends. Alas, I learned that you can only track up to 8 bibs! Runner tracking will send you start, 5 mile, 10 mile, half marathon, 20 mile and finish alerts. You can also do live tracking on your phone but that just guesses at your runner's progress based on the previous average pace and doesn't take into account if they stop or change speed between alerts.

First up are the hand cycle athletes. Some of them really move! And quite a few light up their chairs with lights so they look so cool cycling down Main Street. Pretty soon the elite men and women started to trickle in. If you have never seen elite athletes running, it's an amazing sight. They really do make it look effortless! Since the spectating area was further into the marathon course this year, the runners were even more spread out which is great for spectating. I got to see so many of my friends run down towards the castle. I wasn't sure how much delay there would be in the runner tracking texts but I was able to get the 10 mile update and then get ready to start looking for my runners with plenty of time.

As I was waiting for my slower runners, I noticed that the crowds were starting to thin out. Lots of people who are only cheering for one runner plan on catching their runner at several stops on the course but I decided to cheer for everyone at on spot rather than bouncing around and missing people. I was still feeling really good once my last runner passed so I decided to stay and continue cheering. The back of the pack runners need encouragement too! In the end, I stayed and cheered on the ballon ladies as they passed.

My next stop was the Polynesian resort for breakfast. They have two sit down restaurants but I opted for the quick service Captain Cook's just like last year. It was pretty crowded so I shared a table with two other ladies who were cheering on runners that morning. I always meet the nicest people on race weekends. The runDisney community is absolutely wonderful! After breakfast, I took my tea to go and hung out around the resort for a bit. After a very crowded half marathon course, it was great to get some introvert time.

To get back to Epcot, I reversed my monorail journey and headed over to the finish line area in the Epcot parking lot. The finish line was very crowded and because I cheered for longer in Magic Kingdom that morning, I didn't have as much time to stake out a finish line viewing spot. There are many viewing areas before and after the finish line so it's always a good idea to walk around to find the least crowded section. I ended up near the volunteers handing out medals and got to see Will get his medal.

It was a wonderful experience cheering for the marathon but it was really warm for running and Will wasn't feeling that great after the race so we headed straight back to the hotel for showers and naps. Post marathon naps are the best!

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Marathon Weekend 2020
Part 1: The Expo and YouTube Meet Up
Part 2: The Half Marathon
Part 3: Cheering for the Marathon-You are here.
Part 4: Enjoying some Disney Magic

Marathon Weekend 2020 Part 2: The Half Marathon

Marathon Weekend has historically has some varied and unpredictable weather. Coming into the weekend, it was looking like a very warm and humid race. Since I had planned my costume with layering in mind, it was easy to strip down to the most minimal version which included shorts, a tank top, a running skirt and a visor. (Last year, it was much chillier so I wore pants and had a throw away jacket to wear in the corrals.) I also had plenty of time to mentally prepare myself for warm weather. Living in Florida, I have an advantage over those traveling from colder climates so always keep your summer running needs in mind when preparing for a runDisney race.

The wake up call was at 2 am. I was much more prepared for the early mornings than I was last year so I stuck with my routine. Nothing new on race day! I had tea and a banana and then got myself looking cute for the race. I did pack five magic bands but forgot to pack the one that matched my running costume! Dope! Oh, well. We headed out to get a seat on the first bus which left at 3:00 am. I always like to catch the first bus so I can not feel stressed if there's traffic and so I can get character photos.

The prerace characters were Dopey, Goofy, Mickey and Donald. I opted for photos with just Mickey and Donald. I feel weird getting photos with Dopey and Goofy if I'm not running those races. Since we only go the two photos, that left us plenty of time to hang with friends by the dj. It's great to get excited with everyone and to check out everyone's costumes! A bunch of our friends did Donald and another group did the Mighty Ducks.

I found out that two of my friends, Leslie and Kimberly were in my corral (E) and I decided to run with them. Since the race was going to be a warm race, I wanted to go a bit slower and just enjoy the experience rather than suffering through trying to get a time goal. They were both doing Goofy and wanted to take it easy before the marathon on Sunday so it was a good fit.

Due to the massive amount of construction going on at Disney currently, they did have to make some tweaks to the course. But the corral set up was very similar to last year including the really long walk! So we headed over to the corrals pretty early to give ourselves enough time to get over there and situated. We also ran into a few more friends in the corral so we had some nice chats while we waited for the race start. The corrals are probably my least favorite part of race weekend. It's a lot of standing and waiting with people all right up next to you. It's really nice to have a friend to chat with (even if you don't plan on running together) to make the time go by faster.  I didn't bother watching much of the preshow as I'm short and the screen was far away.


Then we were off! We opted to run the first two miles or so and then start intervals which is something I've never done before but can be a good strategy to deal with the crowding during the beginning of the course. In the theme of things I've never done before, we also stopped for selfies with each mile marker. Some of the ones we took before sun up aren't the greatest but it was fun! I totally get why so many people do that. It helped break up the highway stretches which can be really boring. There were also a couple of characters (Esmerelda, Captain Jack and Lilo) during the highway to Magic Kingdom but we opted not to stop for any of them.

I also had a new electrolyte strategy for this race. I carried a water bottle full of pickle juice to drink at water stops instead of Powerade. I had tried it on a few training runs so I knew it wouldn't bother my stomach but this was my first race with it. At each water station, I would drink a cup of water, take a swig of pickle juice and then have a second glass of water to wash away the pickle taste. It ended up working really well! I was worried that the pickle juice might start to taste really gross but it was fine. I do love pickles though!

Our next stop was the Magic Kingdom parking lot sign which was lit up really nicely and had It's a Small World music playing. It was so pretty! And it meant the castle was coming! There were two wintery characters in the parking lot-Rudolph with some toy soldiers and Duffy the bear in a santa suit. They also had the faux snow made of bubbles blowing at each stop which was really cool! Only snow of the season for me!

The course ran through the Transportation and Ticket Center and then up past the Contemporary. There were quite a few spectators at the T&T Center and a few at the Contemporary. It's always nice to have people cheering you on! There was a slight change to the course going into Magic Kingdom as we didn't really run through the bus drop off section but we did still run straight through the front of the park.

Main Street is definitely the best part of the course! It was still fairly dark outside when we made it into the park and it looked so beautiful all light up! I love the castle in it's Christmas lights! Mile 5 was right before we headed into Tomorrowland. I also adore running through Tomorrowland! Disney is still working on the Tomorrowland rethemeing but it always looks great lit up in the dark. The it was into Fantasyland and through the castle! I did feel like there were fewer characters in this section of the park than last year but we did run through slightly less of Fantasyland this year so maybe that's why.

We definitely didn't make it through the front of the castle in the dark but it was pretty overcast so you could still tell the castle was lit up in the photos. I ended up with a great action shot by the castle again this year but it's always a good idea to stop for a posed photo just in case the action shot doesn't come out. Then it was onward to Liberty Square and Frontierland!

There are several in park bathrooms available to runners and I had a pit stop at the one between Frontierland and Adventureland. It's a bit off the course so lots of people miss it and there was no line! Woohoo! We also ran into the Mighty Ducks crew who were waiting for a character photo near by. I'm always amazed at how many people I run into on course! After Frontierland, we exited through where the parade floats come out into a backstage area. Some of the backstage areas are really cool and they had a few parade floats out with Pinocchio which was really cool. It's also where the backsides of Pirates of the Caribbean and Splash Mountain are. The train was not available for photos this year and won't be until they open the train back up when the Tron construction is done.

The next section of the course past the Grand Floridian is really narrow and we ended up walking a lot. There's usually a character stop or two during this section and we stopped for Daisy. She was in a really cute yellow dress that I've never seen before. I do appreciate that they try to have rare characters or more unique character outfits for us at some of the character stops. Thankfully, the course opens back up again after mile 7 when we it the main highway stretch back towards Epcot.

I know a lot of people hate the highways. They can be so brutal if it's hot and the sun is baking down on you. The clouds managed to stay out for most of it and we even had a nice breeze for part of it. I always appreciate the space the highways provide as some parts of the course are so crowded! We caught up with several more of the Donald crew at the Goofy photo stop and we ended up walking with them for a good bit. I had some really nice conversations during this race.

Once we hit the cloverleaf onramp around mile 10, the sun had come out again and we were all really drooping. This is the "hilly" section of the course so we did a lot of walking and drank a lot of water but it also means that we were almost back to Epcot! The Epcot section of the course also had some tweaks (so much construction going on here right now!) and part of that was more of the backstage area. Personally, I think this backstage area is less interesting than the Magic Kingdom section but there was a water stop and several character stops which was nice.

There was only a very small section in Epcot proper and the course was very crowded at this point. We had slowed down a lot and had fallen back in with some of the later, larger corrals. I was ok with that because at this point I was ready to be done with the race. It was hot and I was tired. We did not get to run out the front past Spaceship Earth due to the construction and the last section of the course was a weird hybrid between the course used for Wine and Dine 2019 and one from Marathon Weekend 2019. The finish line was incredibly crowded and even though I did my best to have a space so I could get a finish line shot, it didn't happen. People kept cutting right in front of me and there wasn't anywhere else to go.

In the end, I was just happy to be done. It was medal and snack box time! In the end, I spent almost four hours on course which is 45 mins longer than my previous personal worst. I actually had a lot of fun for most of that time but it was a long time to be on my feet running and walking and I wasn't really prepared for that. I would definitely do some things differently next time I do a race this hot. Four hours is just a bit much for me until I decide to commit to a marathon. That's one of the things I love about running. I'm always learning new things and tweaking what I do.

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Marathon Weekend 2020
Part 1: The Expo and YouTube Meet Up
Part 2: The Half Marathon-You are here!
Part 3: Cheering for the Marathon
Part 4: Enjoying some Disney Magic

Fall Dapper Day 2019

Fall Dapper Day this year arrived bright and beautiful and.... chilly! Usually Dapper Day is quite warm in Florida (as it's very warm for much of the year here). It was actually so chilly that I almost changed my outfit since I actually planned an appropriately for warm summer weather. But I just packed some layers to add on as it got chilly in the evening and it all worked out great.

Dapper Day was back in Hollywood Studios this year after a few year hiatus while the park got a major overhaul. Now that Toy Story Land and Galaxy's Edge are open, the event made it back to our favorite retro park. And all of the Christmas decor was up so it was extra magical this year.

I had the pleasure of hanging with Paola, Anna and Martin. There wasn't a big meet up like I attended for Spring Dapper Day but I've been to enough events to run into people I know. And everyone is always so friendly that all you need to do is go up, introduce yourself and gush about everyone's outfits. Even a confirmed introvert like me ends up meeting new people every year.

My outfit is a darling shirt dress that I found at a local shop while hanging with my friend Kate just a few weeks before Dapper Day. It's a super cute 1950s style dress. It looks and feels really authentic but there are a few details that make me think it's a (later) homemade reproduction from a vintage pattern. The fabric, print and cut of the dress are so authentic that I don't care if it's 100% vintage.

The atomic print and cute sleeve ties jumped right out at me when I saw it in the boutique. I often have hard time finding dresses off the rack that fit but this one fit me so well that I just had to have it. It's made from a light weight cotton and is so easy and comfy. Many people go over the top fabulous for Dapper Day but comfort is must for me since I've had all day at the parks.

Dapper Day is so much funner with friends. People watching solo is nice but I love sharing the day with friends. We had so many laughs and oohing and awwing over how fabulous everyone looks. Girls just want to look amazing and tell other girls (and guys) how great they look. I love events like Dapper Day where we can all celebrate how great we all are without having to feel like someone is a winner and someone is a loser.

I love Hollywood Studios at Christmas time! It's so beautiful and magically retro. There is so much Christmas decor all over the park. They also have some great Christmas shows that I highly recommend. It got chilly and I didn't end up staying to see the shows on Dapper Day but I went back this past week to watch them.

Another great Hollywood Studios holiday offering is a holiday version of the Frozen Sing Along show. I saw an absolutely amazing performance of this show on Dapper Day. Live theater is so amazing and I love that Disney provides such amazing live performances for many people who may not have the opportunity to see live shows in their every day life. The Frozen show, in particular, has such rewatch-ability even without the extra holiday additions.

 I had such a great Dapper Day this year! I couldn't end this post without giving a shout out to the wonderful Erick from Erick Paul Photography who took all of these lovely photos. Thanks so much for capturing this wonderful day!

Wine and Dine 2019 Part 4: Two Course Challenge

The Wine and Dine Two Course Challenge was my third runDisney challenge but the first one I got to dedicate a full training schedule to without having other races interrupt my training. I'm not going to lie. This wasn't my favorite training cycle. Much of this training was done in the depths of summer (which in Florida can last well into October) and it was rough. I knew running back to back training runs regularly would eat into my social calendar but having the runs take so much longer due to the heat made it extra difficult. It even made me decide not to do the Wine and Dine challenge again. (Which lasted just until they announced the 2020 theme of villains! Guess who wants to do the challenge again now?)

I do feel like I had a much better approach to running a challenge than I did at my previous two. Challenges take a lot out of me and we decided to prioritize rest and recovery this trip rather than park time. I loved getting to just chill in the hotel room and read a book! We also made sure to get naps plus I took an epsom salt bath after each race. We made it to bed early on Saturday night before the half and did lots of foam rolling over the course of the weekend. I also made better food choices on Saturday. (There's still always Sunday to eat all the things!)

I know for a lot of people these runDisney weekends are their time to get in the whole Disney experience. As a passholder, that's not the case for me. I was ok doing just a few Disney things and saving the rest for a nonrace weekend. It's definitely something to consider when planning your race-cation especially if you are running a challenge. And our rest paid off because Will and I both PR'd the half marathon. The moral of the story: don't slack on your recovery during race weekend!

I love going to Magic Kingdom on the Monday of race weekend. We almost always stay Sunday night in a hotel so we don't have to worry about rushing out of the hotel after the half. Magic Kingdom has some awesome places to get medal pictures. Will and I decided to go very Millennial and take some medal photos in front of the purple Instagram wall but the castle is always a great choice too!

Will rocked out all three medals but I'm a big believer in wearing only one medal at a time. And that challenge medal was seriously heavy! I bring a medal holder with my in my bag to store my medals in while I'm going on rides like Space Mountain where they might fly up and smack me in the face. (Tutorial here.)

We ran into Jen and Heather in Magic Kingdom and we all road Space Mountain together. It just worked out that we all had overlapping fast passes. It can be hard to arrange meet ups with people during the weekend because we're all busy and we're all tired and we all have different priorities race weekend but sometimes really spontaneous things like this happen. It really added to the Disney magic! The people I've met through runDisney are just amazing and the weekends wouldn't be nearly as fun without them.

Up next is the post about the Youtube vlogger meet up which is always one of my favorite parts of the weekend. If you have a chance to go to a meet up, definitely do it! I know that various running Facebook groups do meet ups so be sure to ask if your group is doing one. It's so amazing to get to meet your internet friends in real life.

Wine and Dine 2019:

Part 1: Expo
Part 2: 10k
Part 3: Half Marathon
Part 4: Two Course Challenge-You are here.
Part 5: Meet Up and After Party

Wine and Dine 2019 Part 1: Expo

It's been a whirl wind runDisney weekend and I had such a blast. I'm starting the recap of my first Wine and Dine weekend with the expo. Will and I were running the challenge so we had to go to the expo on Friday to get our challenge bibs. We drove into Orlando early and were at the expo about fifteen minutes before it opened. For Star Wars weekend, we did this as well and it was really nice to get in and out of bib pick up quickly. We saw none of the crazy lines that are typical of opening day of a runDisney expo which is awesome.

The new ESPN set up dumps you right into the licensed runDisney merchandise area after you get out of bib pick up. It's really convenient especially if there are some race specific souvenirs you have your eye on. Sadly, we found the official merchandise pretty lacking this year. From talking to other people, it seems like a lot of stuff sold out on Thursday which is sad. I don't know if they ordered less product this year, if people went crazy because it was an anniversary year or if the ebay resellers were out in full force. I had my eye on the Wine and Dine Tervis mug and the mini medal replica pins all of which were completely sold out on Thursday. So I just ended up with the challenge magnet.

I've not been a huge fan of the generic runDisney merchandise. I get so much free running gear from the races I do that I can't justify buying more shirts when I got three from the race weekend already! Plus, they're designs tend to leave me underwhelmed. So my wallet left the official merch area still very full!

Then we popped over to the vendor area to get our shirts and check out the running stuff. The race shirts were an interesting selection of colors-gray, dark blue and bright orange. Personally, I love the bright colored shirts as it helps with visibility when running outside. So I was happy with the shirt designs this year. I don't wear a ton of long sleeved shirts since I live in Florida but these are pretty cute.

I also felt pretty underwhelmed at the vendor area. There were empty booths and it seemed like several regular vendors didn't make it to Wine and Dine this year. Since this is my fourth runDisney weekend this year, I already had my favorite companies and I tend to order from them when they have a sale rather than waiting to purchase in person at the expo. But the Altra booth had a pair of my discontinued Escalante 1.5 in my size so I snapped them up. Will also got a pair of Altra racers. Yay for new shoes!

I also picked up a few other souvenirs over the weekend. The 10th Anniversary gift for half marathon participants was a luggage tag in the shape of the medal. It's pretty cute and I'll probably hang it in my office next to my mini medal replica pins. We also picked up our passholder Food and Wine Festival magnet and coasters. So cute! :)

Wine and Dine 2019:

Part 1: Expo-You are here.
Part 2: 10k
Part 3: Half Marathon
Part 4: Two Course Challenge
Part 5: Meet Up and After Party

runDisney Tag

Disneyland Paris weekend recently wrapping up and Wine and Dine weekend just around the corner, all of us runDisney runners are so excited for the start of runDisney season! There's a runDisney tag going around and I thought it would be fun to share my answers as we're waiting for our next race!

How did you first hear about runDisney?

I first heard about runDisney when, as a passholder, I accidentally went to Epcot during a race weekend and I saw all of the runners. I didn't think much of it at that point. After my husband got into running and was looking into other fun races to do, he found RezRuns on youtube and we really discovered the magic of runDisney races from there. 

How many runDisney races have you done?

I have run 5 runDisney races on Disney property, 4 virtual races and completed 4 challenges. My first race was the WDW Marathon Weekend half marathon in January of 2019 so I jumped in the deep end of runDisney and did all of the weekends this year. (I'm coming for you Wine and Dine!)

What is your favorite runDisney race or weekend?

I have to reserve my final judgement until after Wine and Dine but WDW Marathon Weekend is my favorite so far. It's the biggest weekend and there are always so many more people at this weekend. It's like a big runDisney family reunion. I also adored getting to cheer for the marathon runners! Since I usually do the half marathon, the other race weekends don't offer that opportunity. It's really a magical experience cheering on the amazing marathon athletes.

What is your favorite park to run through?

It's so hard to choose! I really love running through the parks in the dark because they are so beautiful all lit up! So I guess that would make Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom my favorite.

What is your favorite runDisney medal?

I absolutely adore my Donald medal from WDW Marathon Weekend 2019. It's beautiful plus I have such an emotional attachment to it because it was my first runDisney race and my first half marathon. The runner up has to be my Kessel Run medal. The Millennium Falcon is hard to beat!

What is your favorite runDisney t-shirt?

I'm not a big running shirt person. I actually donate most of my shirts from local races! I want bling not shirts. lol I do really love the Mulan shirt from the 2019 Princess 10k. I love the bright green color and it feels really fun to me.

What are three songs on your runDisney playlist?

I'm a weird runner because I almost never listen to music while running. I'll run with silence for shorter runs or podcasts on longer runs. And I never listen to anything on races. But if I did listen, Go the Distance from Hercules, How Far I'll Go from Moana and Almost There from Princess and the Frog.

Do you go for a PR at runDisney races?

It depends. Sometimes, I just run slowly and enjoy the whole race. Sometimes, I run for time. And sometimes, I go fast just to get as much race done before the weather gets awful!

Which characters do you always stop for?

If there's a character that goes with the costume I'm wearing, I'll stop for them. If I'm doing a challenge, I'll usually stop for loads of characters on the 10k and stop for fewer on the half. I'm not a huge character person so I don't have a lot of must sees.

What is your favorite pre/post race meal?

Such a hard question! I am a fat adapted runner so I don't need to carb load. The day before a race, I try to eat similarly to how I eat at home with a focus on making sure I'm getting all my veggies. The morning of, I need tea and maybe a banana but I do run fasted a lot. After the last race of the weekend, I'm all about treating myself! I love saltly snacks immediately after the race and Dole Whip later on in the day.

What is your favorite costume you've run in?

I love my Cinderella costume from WDW Half Marathon! It was so magical to run as Cindy through her castle! 

Which costume are you most excited about running in?

I'm planning on running as Lady Tremaine for Princess Weekend 2020. It'll be cool to have the Cinderella and the Lady Tremaine photos side by side.

Birthday Disneybound

What's a girl to do for her 30th birthday? Go to Disney World, of course! To celebrate, we booked one night at the Caribbean Beach resort and a Keys to the Kingdom tour in Magic Kingdom.

We started out the trip by hanging at the resort and checking out the fun pirate pool. We don't usually make it to the pool during race weekends so it was nice to have some chill time. Plus, it was definitely warm enough for a swim.

Our first park of the weekend was Animal Kingdom. I absolutely love Animal Kingdom! It's so beautiful and perfectly themed. I really feel like I'm somewhere else when I'm there. I wore my brand new Kiss the Girl athletic top for the perfect mermaid vibe. We grabbed dinner at my favorite Animal Kingdom restaurant Satu'li Canteen and then it was off to park #2.

Guess who else turned 30 in May? Hollywood Studios! It's so much fun sharing an (almost) birthday with a Disney park. Fun fact: My baby sister shares an almost birthday with Animal Kingdom. We didn't really do much at either park but I just love hanging out and enjoying the Disney ambiance.

The next morning, we headed out super early to Magic Kingdom for our tour. I really wanted to do the Keys to the Kingdom tour because it takes you behind the scenes in Magic Kingdom and let's you see how some of the magic is made. It was a lot of fun and we had really great tour guides. The tour includes lunch at Pecos Bill, which is another favorite. We got unlimited guac which is not longer on the regular topping bar. They sure know the way to this girl's heart!

I got in touch with my villain side for day 2. I paired my Evil Step Villain top with a red circle skirt and black belt. I knew I needed to be comfortable for a five hour walking tour during Florida summer. There were plenty of water stops and rest breaks during the tour and the guides did their best to have us stop in the shade but it was still quite hot by the end of the tour. I was really happy that I had opted for cute and comfy.

One of my friends saw this photo of us and asked if that made Will Cinderella's dad? I told him it didn't matter if he was Lady Tremaine's first hubby or Cindy's dad, it didn't bode well for him. lol

We ended the trip at Epcot for a really brief visit before heading home. What a magical Disney trip!