The hardest part of running a RunDisney Challenge isn’t actually running the second race, it’s getting up for the second race. You would think being tired from the Enchanted 10K would make it easy to fall asleep early, but you’d be wrong. (At least in my case.) So sure enough that 2:20 a.m. alarm went off and I dragged myself out of bed for the Princess Half Marathon. I put on my awesome pink skirt that Donna made me, the white tank top I use for Marie, and grabbed the ears and tail. My cat looked at me like I had lost my mind as I headed out the door.
I had to drive a different route to Epcot this time since I knew the access roads behind Magic Kingdom would be closed, but I still managed to get there right around four. I had one friend who was running the Half as well, and somehow, we managed to park only a few spots away from each other. I met up with Andria and her friend, and we all walked in together.
The character lines weren’t quite as out of control this time, and we jumped in line for Merida. The person manning the line was saying it was about an hour, but we made it in less than half of that.
Andria was still waiting on another friend, but I was anxious to get to the start corrals so I headed off by myself. I was in the second to last corral, and I wanted to be as close as I could to the front of it. The more space you put between yourself and the last runners to cross the start line, the more time you have to stop for characters.
Today would be different. I would stop for characters and not worry about time. Well, try not to worry about time anyway.
This was a much longer walk to get to the starting corrals, it took about fifteen minutes to get to where they were setup behind Epcot.
I picked my way around runners and headed as close to the front of Corral G as I could manage without being completely rude. There were a couple of other girls sitting down and I plopped down right behind them, sitting on the jacket I’d brought. It was just chilly enough that I felt it was warranted, even though I knew I’d ditch it before the race started. RunDisney gathers up all the clothes left behind and donates them to charity, which I think is pretty cool.
The sound system was either working much better, or the speakers were in better places, because this time I could hear everything. Although people still sang along with the National Anthem. Since when is that a thing?
The Fairy Godmother once again arrived to send off the first batch of runners. She had us all recite “Determination, commitment, and perseverance.” Then she counted down, “Salago-doola, Menchicka boola, one, two, three!”
And off the A corral went at exactly 5:30 a.m. One of the announcers mentioned that there were twenty-seven corrals. No, there were eight corrals and they were somehow being split into twenty-seven waves of runners. I am really not a fan of RunDisney handling their corrals that way, but I understand it. They have to staff less corrals, and this year they would have run out of letters. What would corral twenty-seven be? AA? ZZ?
I started at precisely 6:26 a.m., thank you runner tracking. I actually thought I would be in the second wave of G and was surprised to find myself in the first wave. I hadn’t put my Running Buddy on my waist yet, I was planning to do it all after I videoed the fireworks but I found myself crossing the start line with it still in my hand. I started strong for a few minutes and then slowed to a walk to try to secure it.
This is where I started to regret the Marie costume. I had compression shorts, then the skirt, then the tail. I had to get my Running Buddy onto the compression shorts, under the skirt and tail. This was way more of a struggle than I anticipated, and I spent a good five minutes fighting with it. Finally, I got it secured, got my one earbud in, and started to run for real just as I reached the marching band out to cheer us on.
I came to the first water stop and made a slight error in calculations. I always do Powerade, not water, if it’s available. I moved past the first tables with water looking for Powerade, only to find there wasn’t any. Since I refuse to turn around, I kept going without getting anything. Whoops.
I was a little way past the first mile marker when I heard cheering. I looked to my left and saw the first male runner headed back, already done with most of the course. The first female runner was about a minute and a half behind him, and she was also met with cheers. They had almost an hour’s head start on us, were moving at a ridiculously fast pace, and had already finished the first ten miles.
I came down the ramp towards the Magic Kingdom toll booths and found Captain Jack Sparrow and Barbossa in their usual place in the middle of the median. They were in front of what looked like a large rowboat rather than the full-sized pirate ship. Even though I had had vowed to stop for more characters, I had actually met them last year so I was okay skipping them.
Just past the second mile marker I saw an adorable older couple dressed as Mary Poppins and Bert powerwalking faster than most of the runners were moving. I heard a girl next to me say very loudly, “Okay, how are they going faster than me?” and had to stop myself from saying something snarky.
There was a heat advisory for the race, announced a few days ahead of time, and I was already dripping with sweat. The fluffy tail against my back was no help, and I found myself hating pretty much everything about my costume. I knew it was only going to get hotter, and I wasn’t sure keeping the costume was going to be the wisest decision.
I came around the curve past the toll booths into the Magic Kingdom and found the Heroes waiting for me: Flynn Rider, Prince Eric, John Smith, and Phoebus. Normally with the characters you almost can’t see who it is for how long the line is, but this line actually went in the direction we were running, so you could see the characters and keep going to get in line instead of going back.
I jumped in line. I hadn’t stopped for the heroes group since my first time running the Princess Half, and I wasn’t going to miss them this time. While I was waiting, I moved my bib from my shirt to the skirt. If I wound up ditching my costume, I wanted it to take as little time as possible. I thought about getting rid of it then, but I didn’t want to throw it just anywhere for some random Cast Member to have to pick up.
Flynn, Eric, Phoebus, and John Smith were wonderful as always, and I kept going. Just around the corner, I’d never been so happy to see a water stop in my life-they even had Powerade this time! I grabbed two cups and kept going, hitting the 5K marker at 7:16 a.m. Not bad seeing as I stood in a long character line and had to stop to secure my Running Buddy.
A little further down were a pair of Guest Relations Cast Members cheering everyone on. Few people realize this but the sweeper vans are driven by Guest Relations, and they don’t actually want to pick anyone up. I even knew one of them! I jogged through, swinging over to high-five Jeff and yell, “Hi Jeff!” which is something that has happened on pretty much every RunDisney race I’ve ever ran. He yelled “Hi Chelsea! I like your costume!”
The next character I encountered was the Witch from Snow White, but we met her at the Wine and Dine Post Race Party so I didn’t have to feel guilty about passing her. I turned into the tram entrance to the Ticket and Transportation Center and passed several members of the Hogwarts Running Club cheering on the runners. I chugged up the stupid hill and ran past the monorails where the Japanese Drummers from Epcot were out in full force. The show usually only has four or five performers, and there were at least fifteen out!
Just past the drummers was another water stop and the fourth mile marker. I headed up the road towards the Contemporary Resort and the dreaded water bridge, resolved that I’d ditch my costume as soon as I got backstage at Magic Kingdom.
You might be wondering what a water bridge is. It is the connection from the man-made Seven Seas Lagoon to the natural Bay Lake that crosses over the road by Magic Kingdom. If it sounds hard to believe, don’t worry, my mother didn’t accept that it existed until she saw a boat go over it.
The reason I dread the water bridge is it’s a very tight area with only one lane of traffic and a sidewalk to travel through. It’s uneven, often under construction, and it echoes really loudly under there. Plus, it’s an insanely steep hill down and then back up. I try to always run down hills, but this one is too congested.
There were only a handful of spectators out in front of the Contemporary, but it’s not an area that’s easy to access unless you’re staying at that resort so it’s to be expected. I passed the fifth mile marker and I was surprised to find us turning to go through the bus loop instead of taking the walkway into the backstage area of Magic Kingdom. This was awesome since it brought us in through the main gates of the park and under the train station, except this messed up my plan to ditch my costume backstage. On the top of the train station they had a bunch of the Main Street characters cheering us on and commentating, including the Suffragettes and the performers from the trolley show.
I ran up through Main Street U.S.A. past the cheering hoards, surprised I didn’t see more Photopass photographers out. I didn’t want to wait until I was out of Magic Kingdom to get rid of the costume, but I didn’t know what to do. As I turned into Tomorrowland, I decided I’d just have to leave it in a bathroom. The Cast Member in me couldn’t bring myself to just strip in the park and toss it somewhere. I passed Buzz Lightyear next to the Lunching Pad and headed for the bathrooms next to Cosmic Rays. There was a long line out the door and I slid past it, yelling, “I’m sorry, I just need a sink!”
I went up to the sink and pulled off the ears, the tail, and my shirt. It’s been a few years, but I used to play Ultimate Frisbee in nothing but a sports bra all the time. There was a custodial Cast Member cleaning up and I looked at her, “I am so sorry. I’m leaving these. Can you take them to Lost and Found?”
“Sure, no problem!”
Thank goodness. I left, hoping I’d get them back but it wouldn’t be the end of the world if I didn’t. I think the whole ensemble cost about $15 and this was the second time I’d used it. (Side note: after being on hold half an hour with Lost and Found, my costume never made it there, but that’s okay!)
I headed back into the park, running towards Fantasyland. I saw the White Rabbit and the Queen of Hearts out by the teacups. I really like the White Rabbit, but I’m not a huge Alice fan and I had a feeling there would be better characters ahead.
I was right; just outside Gaston’s Tavern was the man himself! With Belle! I jumped in line immediately. It’s hard to find Belle in her blue dress these days, and meeting her with Gaston was too good to pass up.
I was heading towards my favorite part of the Princess Half Marathon, running through Cinderella Castle. I was extremely surprised to find Photopass photographers on the other side, but without their cameras. No one was taking castle photos unless you wanted to go line up in front of the stage! I was happy to pass on that as I have plenty of standing castle photos, I like running ones! I can only assume it was bottle necking too badly with people stopping so they told the Photopass not to take photos. Coming down the Castle ramp people were trying to stop and the photographers there were yelling at them to keep going.
I headed into Liberty Square where Tiana, Naveen, and Louis from Princess and the Frog were out. I love Naveen, but I decided I should keep going on this one. It was too close to the line for Belle and Gaston and I needed to make up some time. It was already after 8 a.m. and Magic Kingdom opened at 9 a.m. I figured they would be sweeping people out soon eough!
Just past the entrance to Frontierland was Woody, and in front of Pecos Bill was Cowboy Goofy. At first, I only saw the hat and I got excited thinking it was Pirate Goofy. When I realized it was a cowboy I kept going. Sorry Goof.
Right beside Splash Mountain was the sixth mile marker, and as I headed backstage I saw the train parked with an engineer for photos. Ahead of me I could see the Maleficent dragon float from “Festival of Fantasy” and the Princess float from the old “Celebrate a Dream Come True” parade. Prince Charming, Cinderella, Aurora, and Phillip were all in front of it, and the line was MASSIVE. I looked to see if it was the Prince Charming I happen to know in the real world, and it wasn’t, so I kept going happily. None of those are characters I particularly care about.
There was another water stop behind Splash Mountain, and the 10K marker. I checked my watch as I waited for the text to come to tell me how I was doing, because I once again picked Pokémon Go over using a fitness app. It was 8:12 a.m. I was at a total run time of 01:46:31 and averaging a little over a seventeen-minute mile. I was pretty content with that for the time being. RunDisney requires a sixteen-minute mile, but as long as you’re not at the back of the pack, you have much more time. With another character stop and an emergency costume change, I really wasn’t doing that bad at all.
Before any serious runners reading this judge me, I also don’t train. I sort of just pick up and run, which I know is not overly smart but it works for me. The last time I went running before the Enchanted 10K was in November.
What goes up, must come down. Immediately after my favorite part of the course is my least favorite, the stretch behind Magic Kingdom. You exit onto the service road and are squished into one lane of traffic until you get to the Polynesian. It’s miserable, people are loud and complaining about how tight it is, and there’s usually some shoving. Thankfully the Princess Half is almost entirely all women, and I’ve never been hit by a female runner. I have been knocked around by a few male runners, and this was the area that I rolled my ankle during the 2016 Walt Disney World Marathon when I got hit by a guy almost twice my size. I’ve never been overly fond of this stretch since then.
DJ Elliot, who is my favorite of Disney’s DJs, was just around the bend telling everyone not to worry, because the last runners were just now getting into the park at 8:20 a.m., and that the park had to be clear by 8:30 a.m. We had almost two miles between us so we had plenty of time!
Outside the Grand Floridian I’m used to finding Mary Poppins, but this time they had Tinkerbell and a few of her fairy friends. Near the Wedding Pavilion they usually have a few guys in tuxedos with a glass slipper, but they were heading into the trailer as I passed them. I saw one girl go over to talk to the manager with them, and I guess they were done for the day.
I reached the Polynesian Resort where finally the course widened back into a multi-lane road, thank the Mouse. Genie was out in the same place I met him in 2015 with the same Mickey Mouse golf cart, but without his tourist outfit. It was just traditional Genie. He was the only character I saw out on both the 10K and the Half Marathon.
A little beyond Genie, just before the stop for the energy jelly bean… things, were a couple of attractive gentlemen hanging out with muscle cars. They had microphones and were commentating and cheering on the runners. I’m fairly certain one of them had been posing as a construction worker behind Epcot the day before.
Lining the road along one side were a series of purple signs with jokes that I am fairly certain were written by a rogue Jungle Cruise Skipper.
“What kind of blush does Mulan use?”
About twenty yards down was the punchline, “Mulan Rouge!”
Another twenty or so yards away, “Why did Jasmine go to the fruit market?”
“To find a date!”
It went on like this for quite a while, and I loved it. Such a simple thing to add and it was hilarious.
Further on down the road I could hear more people on microphones and I perked right up as I recognized the camel from the Wine and Dine Half Marathon. I had passed the famed Adventurer’s Club because I didn’t know who they were until we saw them perform at the Post Race Party, and I stopped dead in my tracks. No one was going to meet them! The Adventurers Club was an amazing night club act that was very Jungle Cruise-esque back in the days of Pleasure Island, and now you can only find them at special events. I raced over, and then had to struggle to get my phone out for the picture. They were all exactly the same as when I met them in November!
This was when I discovered that the camera on my phone had somehow been on since Belle and Gaston, and my phone was now on 16%. I switched my music off and put up my headphones up. I’d need something for photos at the end!
I normally don’t mind the long stretch between Magic Kingdom and Epcot so much once you’re on the open race, but the sun was high in the sky and the temperature was climbing. I’ve never ran a race when it was so hot before, and I was so happy I’d ditched my costume. Everyone was hot and cranky, and dripping with sweat. The volunteers and Guest Relations we passed were doing their best to cheer us on, but pretty much everyone was walking.
I passed Jeff again and could hear him yelling, “Best parade ever!” but I didn’t stop to say hi this time. I was a little embarrassed I’d ditched the costume he said he liked.
I hit the 15K marker at 8:59 a.m. Now at a total run time of 02:33:41, but I’d brought my average time down to 15:12 miles instead of 17:00. At least it was an improvement! I now had a projected finish time of 10:01 a.m. and I was determined to make it by 10:00 a.m.
Captain Jack and Barbossa were still out in the same place I had passed them before, but this time their line was much shorter. I still elected to keep moving. How many Pirate pictures does a girl need?
The next Powerade and water stop I actually got both. The pink sweat band on my arm was so soaked I was actually wiping sweat back onto my face instead of off. In what I thought was a rather brilliant move, I dunked it in the water cup and rang it out so I’d at least be wiping my face with clean water instead of sweat.
Not twenty yards past the water stop they were handing out wet sponges so we could cool ourselves off and wipe our faces. Well, it can’t be that bad an idea if Disney did it too!
I stopped for a picture of the tenth mile marker. Since it was the tenth anniversary of the Princess Half, it had its own special mile marker instead of the normal reusable ones.
When you’re running by yourself you catch random snatches of conversations around you. Sometimes you join in, sometimes you don’t. I heard two women next to me saying they could never run the Star Wars Half Marathon because they wouldn’t survive the heat in April.
“Oh no, I ran Star Wars last year and it was not nearly this hot. There was a heat advisory then too and it still wasn’t this hot!”
They laughed and I kept going.
Ahead was one of the stupid on ramps the course takes you through. Designed for cars, not people, they’re usually at a slant you would never notice in a vehicle but my bad knee hates them. Even if I wanted to run up them, I couldn’t. It’s a long slow walk with my bad knee yelling at me, “WHY ARE WE DOING THIS!?”
Then right at the top of the hill, where he always is, was the Green Army Man from Toy Story barking orders and telling people to keep moving. I could see one runner doing an impressive number of pushups and I just shook my head and kept going.
I headed across the overpass and looked back at the runners below. They stretched as far as the eye could see! Clearly, I didn’t need to worry about time! I kept hustling though and jogged down the next hill. I didn’t have a lot juice left and was going to save most of it for when I got to Epcot, but I still had a goal to make.
I passed a few signs about Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, the official charity group for the Princess Half Marathon and there was another water stop just past the eleventh mile marker.
One long switch back and I’d be at Epcot. I so just wanted to be done! There was a big teletron screen at the end playing clips from Disney Princess movies.
My favorite costumes on their way up the hill towards Epcot.
As I came to the final hill that led directly into Epcot, there was a runner who had already finished and was holding up his medal. “You’re almost there!” I jogged down the hill and tried to keep up a run as I started to pass some spectators who were cheering. I got to the Epcot bus area and it was packed. I managed to keep a quick pace through there even though my body was not happy about it. I made my way backstage to find Mrs. Incredible at what I was fairly certain would be the last character stop. I don’t like meeting the Incredibles; I think they should be face characters because they’re a little creepy, so I kept going.
The final water stop was backstage at Epcot and I headed out next to Spaceship Earth. I just had to run to the start of World Showcase and it would be over! Less than a mile to go!
Epcot was playing the soundtracks of various Princess movies and “How Far I’ll Go” from Moana came on. I’ll be darned if I didn’t find myself in a sing-a-long with over half the runners in that area. I’ve never tried singing and running before, but it didn’t make it as hard to breathe as I expected.
I held my skirt out as I passed the Photopass photographers, running pretty much the whole length of Epcot. I’ve never worn my bib anywhere but on my shirt and I was worried they wouldn’t be able to see my number with it on my skirt.
I made the turn at World Showcase and headed back towards Spaceship Earth. There were plenty of people stopping for pictures there, but it’s the same as the Castle, I much prefer action shots.
I made my way backstage at Epcot for the final stretch. There was a Gospel Choir on the right and just around the corner from them was the final mile marker! I started running as hard as I could but slowed down when I saw the line for selfies with Prince Mickey. I hopped in line and it only took a moment. I wish the character attendant had been taking photos, I understand they were trying to hurry but I really don’t like selfies with characters.
I got my picture with Mickey and turned around to sprint the twenty something feet to the finish line. I had a bad feeling I was in between all the photographers, and I discovered I was right when my photos came up on the Photopass app. No finish line photos for me.
I moved down to where they were once again handing out the medals. I tried not to growl as I took it and put it around my own neck. I was delighted to see that like the Enchanted 10K medal, this one also spun! I hurried to get another cooling towel and start wiping my face off as I checked my watch for the text with my final time. I finished at 9:59:33 a.m. with a time of 3:33:59 and a 16:20 average per mile. Not my fastest time, but definitely not my slowest!
My poor phone was hanging on at 3% and I hurried to get my Fairy Tale Challenge medal so I could get to the characters. I hopped in line so they could check my bib against the photo from the RunDisney Expo and on I went to get my medal. Thankfully, they actually presented it and put it around my neck instead of just handing it to me. THE WAY ALL MEDALS SHOULD BE GIVEN TO RUNNERS.
I headed straight out, moving as quickly as my sore legs would let me, to get to the line where Anna and Elsa were switching out. I haven’t seen them since they moved from Magic Kingdom, and I just don’t have the time for their two hour line at Epcot. I checked with the attendant that all characters would be out until 10:45 a.m. and I was thrilled, I had plenty of time. I even wound up with more time than I thought because most the people in front of me were waiting for Anna to leave and Elsa to come out, so they let me jump in front of them.
I then headed over to Rapunzel’s line. Of all the Princesses available, she is my favorite to meet. While I was waiting, a text from Andria came in asking where we parked. I told her to come join me but they had elected to sit and stretch, which was honestly probably a much smarter decision. Rapunzel’s line moved super quickly and I was up in no time. “Congratulations! It was such a beautiful day to run through the Kingdom!”
“Yes, beautiful, but hot! Half my costume is still at Magic Kingdom!”
I don’t think she knew what to say to that. I moved on and jumped in line for Mulan. She was in her Princess dress that I actually don’t like, but I had the time and I’d already seen Merida. While I was waiting, I was eavesdropping on the Cast Members behind me. They were extending characters until 11 a.m. but would be swapping Snow White out for Mulan. Since the Half Marathon medal was Snow White themed, this worked great for me! Most of the line seemed happy about this, and we let the girls who really want to see Mulan head to the front. There were at least two dressed as her, and after my disappointment of not getting a photo with Marie the day before, I didn’t want them to go through that.
Snow White congratulated me, but she didn’t remember me from the RunDisney Expo. That’s okay though! She had a lot of princesses to meet.
I finished with Snow White and out of one of the equipment tents wandered my friend Glen! He worked with me on the World Famous Jungle Cruise and lately has been a sounding board for a lot of my video projects. We talked for a minute, and then I began the long trek to my car. I would have hugged him but I was way too sweaty for that.
I stopped for one last picture with the Princess Half Banner after taking a photo for another group and began the long trudge to my car.
The Princess Half Marathon is my favorite RunDisney race I’ve ever done. It has the best course, the best theme, and the best characters. I also like that it’s mostly female runners, because I’ve never been hit by a female runner the way I have male runners. I just feel safer on the course. I’ve now run it more than I’ve run any other Disney race. It was my first Half Marathon, and for a little while at least, now my last.
Some of you might remember I had this whole 30 by 30 plan where I was going to run thirty races by the time I turned thirty, and then the Disneyland Half Marathon should have fallen on my thirtieth birthday. RunDisney has now ruined that plan when they canceled the West Coast races for the foreseeable future. This was my seventeenth race and seventh half marathon, and while I could still easily hit thirty by 2021, I’m not sure I still want to. Even living here and not having to pay for a hotel, the races are a huge financial commitment. They aren’t cheap to being with, and I usually end up having to take at least a four-day weekend if I’m running a Challenge. I’m not complaining, I love four-day weekends, but I’m trying to focus on getting my financial goals under control before I go back to physical ones. So, for the moment at least, I am putting a pause on RunDisney. (I say this now, but I have the registration date for Wine and Dine circled on my calendar so we’ll see how this goes.) I do have a new plan for 2021 that involves the Dopey Challenge and the Disneyland Paris Half Marathon, but it’s not quite the same as running on your birthday.
I highly recommend the Princess Half to anyone who wants to try a RunDisney race. If you’re not up to the full 13.1 miles, start with a 10K or a 5K. The only thing stopping you from doing it is you.
Don’t ever let anyone tell you being a Princess is a bad thing because this Princess now has four Disney Challenge Medals and seven Half Marathon Medals.
Pictured below are the details on the 10K and Half Marathon medals I received.
Cost: The Disney Fairy Tale Challenge registration was 362.44 including tax. I spent about $45 on skirts and the shirt I wore for Stella Lou.
Value: 10/10. Just because I’m taking a break doesn’t mean I want to.
Duration: It’s a solid three to four days with the Expo and two races.
Add Ons: They have a VIP Runner’s Retreat package for $120 that gives you a private area before and after the race with characters. From following Character Hunter on Twitter, I know they had Disney Villains who were not on the course at all so that’s kind of cool. There’s also snacks included and a padded stretching area.
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