Star Wars Half Marathon at Disneyland

The inaugural Star Wars Half Marathon at Disneyland was last weekend. Let me tell you all about the wonderful time I had! This was my second RunDisney event so I was a little more prepared as to what to expect. This time around I had a hotel for 2 nights and a 3 day parkhopper pass. I went with my 13 year old niece Alycia, and my two cousins, Vanessa and Flora met up with me. We left Saturday morning and got to the expo right at 9am. As we were walking in we were able to see the start of the kids race. It was ADORABLE. Nothing like Star Wars nerds growing up and dressing up their kids. I know I would be the same exact way! At the expo I was prepared for long lines for sold out merchandise, but to my surprise I was able to walk right in to a pretty well stock merch section at the expo, where I easily dropped like $400. UGH. BUT it was ALL star wars related. I buckled and got one of the Dooney and Burke Star Wars purses. I went through the expo which surprisingly was not THAT big and did not offer a lot of freebies. I am a sucker for freebies! I stopped by the ProCompression booth and saw one of the fellow ambassadors, Linzie, who was wearing an awesome R2D2 running shirt from inkburn. I was instantly jealous. But it turns out that my homemade running R2 tank top was a great hit. From the expo we went right into it and hit up California Adventure, Disneyland and Rainforest Cafe, all before heading to the hotel. The hotel I stayed at the Super 8 on Disneyland Dr was walking distance to the trams to get to Disneyland. Which worked out perfectly on race morning. I got settled into the hotel and got everything ready for the next mornings race @530am. Then it was back to Disneyland. Two of my cousins met up with me at Disneyland, this is my first time hanging out with them outside of a family party. It was great, and really made my heart smile that I had a cheering section that was family. AW. It was also nice because then I had adults that were able to look after my niece and get her safely to Disneyland to cheer me on at the race. The race was AWESOME! I could hardly believe that it was a real thing, I mean I love Star Wars so much! It was so awesome to see all the different costumes that people thought up! I was able to easily stroll from my hotel to the area I needed to be in first gear check and then finally around to the starting corrals. I must look for the opening crawl that is specific for the half marathon, it was awesome. Then they had it like when you are going to take off to hyperspace and it said RUN. 3CPO and R2D2 were at the starting line, and said they would also be there at the finish. I was so stoked I really can't explain it. I always get this feeling when I run a race, of like joy and excitement and just all around emotion, but this one gave me an extra feeling of happy. We ran through some of the parking back lot before actually entering the parks, there was theme music here and there which kept the excitement going. Once we got into the park then of course there were characters from the movies that we could stop and take photos with. The good thing about the Disney races is that they are always willing to take a photo with your cell phone as well. I probably shouldn't have stopped at the first random Jedis that I saw because that took minutes away from being able to meet Darth Vader! But luckily I have a photo with him from my first Disney race, the 2012 Disneyland half. I then met Luke and Leia! I ran by some storm troopers hanging out near the merry go round, and could help to think how cute it would have been if they were riding some of the rides in that area. I then stood in line to meet Chewbacca right by the Matterhorn. It is the cutest picture! But then my time had come while I was waiting near space mountain to get my photo with Darth I found I was 5 minutes behind pace, and they were already sending out the imperial sweepers! NOOOOOOOOOOO! there was no way to out run them, and they could pick you up at anytime! So I debated and decided that my Medal of Bravery was more important than meeting a sith. The next leg of the race took us into California adventure where I didn't stop and meet anyone. Bobba Fett was out as well as some more Stormtroopers and Rebels. I did stop and get my pic snapped in front of the Ferris Wheel and Screaming Over California. Out side of the parks was 9 miles in Anaheim, which seemed to go by nicely. There was a whole street that had characters from the movies, cosplay people, I am not sure exactly what this means but it equaled lots of people dressed in awesome star wars costumes. Now I really regret not stopping to take pictures of them all! But I was running solo, as always, and so I couldn't stop to have my photo taken because I had no one to take it. WAH! R2 and 3CPO were at the finish like along with Darth Goofy, but since we were running to the finish there was no way to get a picture of them. When I was coming 'round the finish line I spotted my cousins and my niece and got to wave at them and hear them yell "Go Becca," which I hardly ever get to hear so it was really a nice feeling :) After the race we went into Disneyland and enjoyed are day. I stayed at the park until closing on Monday. My procompression socks not only helped me navigate through the couse but I wore them all day Sunday and Monday to aid with my recovery. I felt better on Monday than I did all 3 days, and on Tuesday I was able to run on my lunch break. This race was really great, and although I think RunDisney events are really over priced, I am already making plans to run the race again next year. Next year I want to plan it out so I am there Fri-Mon, because I want to do the rebel challenge and be able to see more characters. I am hoping that maybe Alycia or someone will want to run with me! I have almost a whole year to work on it. Next up is my 27th half marathon, the West Hills half, it is another inaugural event, and should be pretty low key. I'll have another entry about my acceptance to Team SunRype for the 2015 season! I'm also submitting my application to Eternal water again and am waiting to hear from Headsweats and Procompression. Fingers crossed! I'll try and post some pictures from the Star Wars Half when I get on my own computer! #everyrunisblessing