The Happiest Race on Earth

The Disneyland Half Marathon was last Monday--Labor Day. SD and I spent a few days at our new house, then drove down to Anaheim for the weekend. We stayed at a Residence Inn, which was handy because it had a kitchen. I was able to burn make oatmeal before the race.

The race started at 6 a.m. and they wanted all runners in the staging area by 4:30. Oh, man! That meant I had to get up at 3 so that I could dress and eat in time. Although I had been cool, calm and collected about running this, on Monday morning I was a nervous wreck! I wanted to make sure I got to the race on time.

No worries. SD had purchased the VIP spectator package, which meant that he could park at the Disneyland Hotel. We just had to get there before the streets were closed. His spectator pack also included a buffet area, finish line seating, and a ticket into Disneyland.

Hurry up and wait. We got to the staging area in plenty of time and I dropped off my gear bag. SD hung around for a little while, and he took my picture. Then I told him he could go. It was pretty boring. Announcers were trying to generate excitement, but it was just too early. The moon was still out!

Some of the runners costumes were amusing. One guy was dressed as Buzz Lightyear; it was a clever costume, but not too practical. Temperatures were in the 80s already and it was humid. There was a Snow White and several Minnie Mouses; the funniest was this guy, whom SD photographed coming into the finish.


To ensure I had an empty bladder, I made myself use the porta pottys twice, then went to line up. There were about 13,000 people signed up, although I don't know how many people actually started. Less than 10,000 finished. I was in Wave 2 and I was about in the middle of the chute. Now I needed to pee in earnest, but if I left the chute, I'd be way in the back when I returned. And I'm not sure I could even have gotten out, with so many people. I'd look wistfully at the bushes nearby, but I just had to "hold it."

To distract my thoughts, I talked to a woman who was near my age. I looked her up in the finish results and she came in 15 minutes later than she planned but she finished. She's from Arizona and her first race was the RnR Marathon AZ earlier this year! SD took this picture of the front of Wave 2. As you can see, it was packed!


After the National Anthem, the first wave went off--with fireworks! Then it was our turn--more fireworks! No wonder the admission fee was so high. I crossed the starting line and started my watch as Micky and Minnie Mouse waved to us.

It was pretty crowded and didn't really open up much until about mile 5. The chute was loaded by first come, first serve, not by anticipated finish time, so I passed a lot of people. I really needed a Biffy, but made myself pass the first set so that I wouldn't have to wait in line. When we ran through the California Adventure, I was able to use the restroom with no waiting.

After the California Adventure, we headed into Disneyland. This is what I came for! It was all so familiar, even though I haven't been there in about 20 years. We ran through Tomorrowland, past the Swiss Family Treehouse, saw the SS Columbia, and past Pirates of the Caribbean where Capt. Jack Sparrow waved to us from Tom Sawyer's Island. We didn't go by It's A Small World, which I would have liked. Then it was through Sleeping Beauty's Castle and out of the park.

There was a lot of spectator support, especially marching bands (although they weren't marching.) I don't know if they were college or high school bands. There were lots of cheerleaders too. My favorite entertainment, however, were the Mariachi band (playing La Cucaracha) and the Tahitian drummers and dancers. Those drums provide a great cadence to run to. Seeing all this reminded me of how diverse Southern California is.

We ran past the Honda Center, home of the Anaheim Ducks hockey team, and there was very enthusiastic crowd support there. My name was printed on my race bib, so it was cool to hear people call out to me as I ran by.

We ran along the Santa Ana River for a little bit and that was the only real hill we encountered on the course. It wasn't much of a hill and I ran up it, although a lot of people were walking. The heat was getting to a lot of people, but I ran in heat and humidity all summer, so I was acclimated. I also carried sports drink, because I can't stomach Power Ade, and it helped that I was constantly replenishing my electrolytes.

Next to Disneyland, the coolest part was running through Angel Stadium, home of the Los Angeles Angels (which is redundant if you think about it.) We ran through the infield, which has a nicely cushioned surface, and a camera was projecting our picture onto the Jumbotron! We were at mile 10 when we exited the stadium.

My plan was to run a consistent 12 minute mile pace, which is my marathon goal. My plan fell to pieces. I didn't know how to run 12 mm and take 1 minute walking breaks every nine minutes, so I only walked through the water stations. Fortunately, there were alot of water stations. I had my Garmin, which kept saying I reached the mile before I ever reached the course mile markers. Probably from dodging all those people.

As I neared the finish line, I started to kick it. Just then some idiots crossed the street, with babes in arms! I swore at them, and don't even feel bad that I swore in front of their kids. I don't usually do that, but they were endangering the runners as well as their small children. They knew exactly what they were doing and I have no patience for people like that. >:(

SD was waiting with camera at the finish and he caught this shot of me running in (I'm the one in the pink shirt.) Final chip time was 2:39:05, a 12:08 pace. A little slower than I was hoping for, which is discouraging because I don't think I could have kept it up for another 13.1 miles. My legs were fatigued! According to the Garmin I ran 13.51 miles, which I'm sure is from running around all those people. I stopped Le Garmin at 2:39:11, which is an 11:46 mm pace. I like those numbers better, but of course, they don't count!


But let's spin the numbers! I was 126 out of 430 for my division (50-54), which puts me in the top third of my age group. However, among women my age (54) I was 16 out of 72--top 20! My time for the Fargo Half was 2:28:57 back in late May, so by comparison this was slow. Although at Fargo I was pushing myself and at Disneyland I was trying to pace myself. My age grade, something I've never seen before, was 50.8%. At 60%, you're considered "local class." Right. I'm sure not expecting to be in that range, but it's nice to be in the top 50 percentile!

Thanks to SD for taking pictures and being such a supportive husband. :-)