I swung by Disneyland after work to pick up my race packet for the Avengers Infinity Gauntlet Challenge. It was the standard runDisney packet pickup and expo. First I went down the ramp to pick up my bib and get my photo taken for the challenge. Then I went back up the ramp to get my race shirts in the expo.
10k
Half Marathon
Infinity Challenge
After picking up my shirts, I checked out all of the vendor booths as well as the official merchandise. Thankfully I did not see anything that I absolutely needed to buy! I got in line to spin the wheel at the Angels booth. They were giving out straw hats. Most likely they were leftovers from a game earlier in the year. However they were really stingy. You had to spin a grand slam in order to win anything.
On my way out, I saw that they were once again selling a special cocktail at the expo. This time it was the Dr. Strange's Elixir. I have yet to see anybody order one.
Before leaving, I got in line to take a photo with my bib in front of the Super Heroes Half Marathon background. The cast member that was taking pictures wouldn't let me leave until I flexed my muscles like the Hulk since I was wearing a green shirt. Before I obliged I told her, "I don't have muscles, I'm a runner!" :)
Friday 11/11
Once again I signed up to volunteer for the 5k. So at about 2 am, I parked at the Simba employee parking lot and made my way over to the volunteer check-in at the Sleeping Beauty Pavilion. Per the norm, the majority of the volunteers were high school kids. Since I was by myself, they once again put me in the finish line area to pass out medals which was fine by me.
Once our team was assembled, we made the walk over to the medal distribution area. After some instructions from the team leaders, we began opening boxes and getting the medals out of their individual packaging. We hung about 10-15 medals per rung.
It was fun to hand out medals. The medal for this race was the classic version of Captain America's shield. It was cool to see my friend finish among the first with his hand-cycle. Even though we were rotating in and out, my arm got quite sore from holding those medals! Bring back the colorful plastic medals! :)
Goofy Joe!
After my volunteer shift was over, I headed over to the Disneyland hotel lobby to wait for my friend to go have breakfast. She had 3 kids with her. We all walked over to Tiffy's Family Restaurant at the Southeast corner of Disneyland Dr and Katella Ave. I thought the place was understaffed. It took a while for anybody to show up to seat us and to take our order. After looking through their menu, I ordered their corned beef hash. I got my eggs cooked over hard with hash browns and white toast. This was one of the better corned beef hash that I've had at a diner even though I'm fairly certain that it was from a can. The food wasn't bad, but service was as slow as molasses. Service was fine once they got around to us. Perhaps the next time, I should stop in here for some homemade ice cream outside of the usual busy meal hours. Some of my friends have said that their ice cream is really good.
Corned beef hash
After breakfast, I drove into work to put in a half day. Once I got home from work, I picked out my clothes for tomorrow's 10k. At first I wanted to run in some sort of costume, but eventually I decided on running for Team Red, White, and Blue!
Saturday 11/12
Per the usual, I got ready and rolled up to the Mickey and Friends parking structure at about 3:30 am. After I paid for parking and parked my car, I took a quick cat nap before getting my stuff ready. After using the garage restroom, I made my way over to the staging area. I saw that they were giving out a special gift to annual pass holders. I think it was special Avengers can of Coke. This was a first that I've seen!
Special AP Gift?!
While waiting in the bleachers near the stage, I met up with a couple of my friends from Las Vegas. Looks like he got the memo on the shirt! Twinning! :)
Kirk
The race started at 5:30 am, so I was in corral A by 5 am. I met up with my fellow Disneyland legacy buddy there. There was a lady dressed up as Minnie Dr. Strange. Some people are pretty darn creative with their costumes and mashups! I saw a few people dressed up as Deadpool. The Hulkster was there again. I think he's been running this race since it began in 2014. Dr. Strange showed up to say a few words before the start of the race since it was the Dr. Strange 10k.
Dr Strange!
Deadpool looks shorter in person
The Hulkster is looking a little thin these days!
Dr Strange
Lately my left foot and right hip have been feeling better, so I wanted to do a stress test by running hard from the start. I was pleased to run a 7:22 for the first mile. It didn't feel too hard, but I slowed it down a bit because I don't have the stamina to maintain that pace for another 5 miles. I was pretty winded by the time I got to the 5k marker, so I took a quick walk break. For the second 5k, I ran as fast and hard as I thought I could maintain for another 3 miles. I tried to speed it up a bit in the final mile, but I didn't have much left in the legs as I cruised through Downtown Disney.
10k finish line
10k medal
Finish: 50:48
Click here for my Garmin data.
It felt good to run at a faster pace. I have to get used it again. My goal was to finish sub 50 minutes, but I fell a little bit short. It was good to see that my left foot and right hip was better, but I still have a ways to go to get back to where I was. Patience.
After grabbing some drinks and a post race food box, I made my way to the reunion area to meet up with my friends. After we traded race stories, we went our separate ways. We would meet up again tomorrow for the half marathon.
Post race food box
Around 11 am, I returned to Disneyland for my evening volunteer shift at the expo. Parking for volunteers was different this time. They marked my car with a strip of paper, so that another parking attendant can let me into a different parking area. We used to park with the rest of the park guests. I believe that they want to get the volunteer parking in control.
Volunteer check-in time was at 12 pm, so I spent some time in the expo floor checking things out at a leisurely pace. I got in line to spin the wheel at the Angels booth again. This time they were being very generous. They had many boxes of straw hats to give out, so every spin was a winner!
Souvenir Anaheim Angels hat
Just as it was last time, I was assigned to race shirt distribution. I was at one of the medium size stations with an older gentleman. He wasn't too talkative at first, but we started having lengthier conversations as the shift went on. At about 1:30 pm, I was given my lunch break. It was the same delicious catered food. If we had more than 30 minutes, I would definitely pile on some more food!
Volunteer lunch
After our shift was over, I took a picture of the Honda Fit pace car on the way to checking out. It's the perfect size for a pace car.
Honda Fit pace car
Sunday 11/13
Per the usual, I got ready and arrived at Mickey and Friends parking structure at about 3:30 am. I parked in a line of cars waiting to park. They didn't open right away and some of the people were getting quite restless. There was even a driver that got out of his car and was going to push away the gate arm! The parking attendant ordered him back inside his car. Drama! Thankfully they opened soon thereafter. Definitely gone are the days of showing up early for free parking!
Today I showed up in the starting corral a tad earlier, just a few minutes before 5 am. I met up with my friends again... just the usual suspects. They were dressed up as Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. Later my fellow Disneyland legacy buddy showed up for a obligatory pre-race selfie.
Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver
Robert
Some of the runners up in front were Hydra supporters and were having a fun time shouting names of sponsors that they made up. Most of them to poke fun at the Magoo that was playing Captain America as well as the absence of Iron-Man or Tony Stark.
Captain America
Before the start of the race, they once again honored those that have served in the military by bringing up a runner that represented each of the branches of the military. They should definitely continue doing this each year as they are the real super heroes!
Runners representing each of the military branches
The first mile went okay, but I started feeling the soreness in the right hip during the second mile. I decided to slow it down during the third mile. I took several quick walk breaks here and there. My friend once again caught me just as we were leaving the Convention Center as we approached mile 6. When I made the turn at Harbor Blvd, the 2 hr pace group passed me. I would find out later that my friend was pacing that group. I took an extended walk break just after crossing the 10k marker. A female runner passed me and told me that I can't run to the marker and stop! I wasn't sure if she was being serious or not, but I replied that it was 1 hour into my run and it was time for my scheduled walk break. Out of the hundreds of races that I've run, I believe that was the first time that I had been called out for walking during a race. If she only knew how many times that I've already taken a walk break up to that point. :)
The second half of the race continued to be slow with regular walk breaks every 30 minutes. This part of the course was much improved with the removal of the Santa Ana River trail as I made my way over to Angel Stadium via Gene Autry Way. Once I started to head back to the park for the finish line, the course remained relatively the same as with the years past.
Added another stone to the Infinity Gauntlet
Finish: 2:17:09
Click here for my Garmin data.
I like this course the most out of the 3 years that I've run this race. I like that runDisney continues to tweak things to try and improve the race. This year's medal was relatively the same as the other two years, but it wasn't a spinner. I'm perfectly fine with it not being a spinner, although I wish that they would update the design.
Looking at some of my recent half marathon results, I'm seeing a slight improvement trend. I guess progress is progress even if it's a little. I hope that the left foot and right hip continues to get better so that I can start running my half marathons in under 2 hrs.
09/04 Disneyland Half Marathon 2:23:37
09/25 Disneyland Paris Half Marathon 2:19:35
10/30 Rock n' Roll Los Angeles Half Marathon 2:18:00
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