4/26/17 Somehow the girl who swore she would never be a runner after a disastrous attempt at joining the track team almost ended her entire athletic career with an ACL tear that resulted in four stints on crutches and two surgeries in four years, has become not only a runner, but a marathoner. In 2014, I signed up for my first RunDisney race and was bitten by the bug.
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The Disneyland Half Marathon usually falls either the last weekend in August, or the first weekend of September. I scrolled through future calendars and in 2021 the Disneyland Half Marathon should fall on my thirtieth birthday, assuming Disney doesn’t move it to another weekend or something to mess with me. My goal is make that my thirtieth race, hence 30 by 30. I originally wanted it to be my thirtieth half marathon but I would have had to start this plan sooner for that to work out financially. I may end up taking the 5ks off or combine the Challenge races into one if I start getting too close to thirty too soon . As of right now, I have three rules for this plan. I may add to these rules, but I will not change them.
- Virtual Races do not count, although I may use those to help motivate me to train.
- Only races with medals count.
- Pictures or it did not happen.
I am hoping all of this will help motivate me to stay on my training schedule. I have a bad habit of laying out an extensive, color-coded training schedule and then not sticking to it. As of yet, I have never not finished a race, but I have been too sore to walk the next day (or next several days after I got hurt during the marathon). I want to get more involved with the Hogwarts Running Club virtual races and running for charities while I’m at it. I also hope to have costumes or outfits for all my races, but we’ll see how that goes.
- 11.8.14 Mickey’s Jingle Jungle 5K Untimed
- 2.22.15 Princess Half Marathon 3:01:57
- 1.7.16 Walt Disney World 5K Untimed
- 1.10.16 Walt Disney World Marathon 7:47:00
- 2.20.16 Enchanted 10K 1:26:21
- 2.21.16 Princess Half Marathon 3:25:11
- 11.5.16 Ratatouille 10K 1:25:07
- 11.6.16 Wine and Dine Half Marathon 3:23:01
- 2.26.17 Princess Half Marathon 3:12:54
- 3.25.17 Color Run 5K Untimed
- 4.22.17 Star Wars Dark Side 10K 1:39:12
- 4.23.17 Star Wars Dark Side Half Marathon 3:24:33
- 11.4.17 Wine and Dine 10K 1:30:29
- 11.5.17 Wine and Dine Half Marathon 3:35:50
- 11.11.17 Give Kids the World 5K 00:40:58
- 2.24.18 Enchanted 10K 1:26:20
- 2.25.18 Princess Half Marathon 3:33:59
- 12.8.18 Give Kids the World 5K Untimed
- 2.24.19 Princess Half Marathon
- 11.3.19 Wine and Dine Half Marathon
- TBD
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The ones without times are ones that I am registered for or plan to run but have not happened yet.
I hope to add the Disneyland Paris Half Marathon to this list, but at this point I do not know that I can commit to it financially. I would love to knock out the Goofy or Dopey Challenge at some point in this, and I am so mad myself for signing up for the Walt Disney World 10K next year instead of the Goofy like I originally planned. I also hope to put the Knoxville Half Marathon on here and the Kentucky Derby Mini Marathon.
Current medal count as of April 25, 2017: Twelve race medals, plus three Challenge medals for a total of fifteen.
11/8/17 Well, I always said this was the plan unless Disney decided to mess with me and they have. As of October 18, all West Coast RunDisney races are on hiatus until further notice. So, while it is entirely possible the races will back on by 2021, it doesn’t seem likely. I am now working on a new plan, but nothing has been decided. There’s the possibility of finding a non-Disney race to run on my thirtieth birthday but I’m not sure that sounds fun. I’m also considering going to Paris that year since that race falls the month after my birthday, but it’s not quite the same. In addition, I’m starting to get concerned if I keep up with my current pace, I’ll hit thirty races long before I turn thirty since I’ve added two more 5Ks to my schedule since I last updated this. I may have to go back to my original plan of it only being Half Marathons, but I’ll admit that sounds exhausting.
Current medal count: 14 race medals, plus four Challenge medals for a total of eighteen.
11/12/17 I ran the Give Kids the World 5K as Wonder Woman. I am super confused how my time was that fast as much as I stopped for photos, but it helps when you have the entirety of the Justice League cheering for you. This resulted in four medals in eight days.
Current medal count: 15 race medals, plus four Challenge medals for a total of nineteen.
3/17/18 I have updated this to include the Princess Half Marathon and Enchanted 10K from last month. As of right now, I have no plans to sign up for any major races until the 2021 Dopey Challenge. That’s the year I turn thirty and my new plan is to do the Castle Chateau Challenge with the Disneyland Paris Half in September. I’m not overly excited about this plan, but it is currently the best idea I have.
Current medal count: 17 race medals and five Challenge medals for a total of twenty-two.
1/13/19 Updated to reflect current schedule of races. Please see the 2019 RunDisney Update. Current medal count: 18 race medals and five Challenge medals for a total of twenty-two.
