I swung by the race expo after work to pick up my race packet and shirts. It was the usual layout, but I quickly noticed that a lot of the usual decorations were missing. Gone were the Tinker Bell decorations on the ramp down to the bib pick up. It was just a generic carpet down the ramp. I'm actually fine with that, but after running this race for the past 5 years, it was a pretty noticeable absence. After getting my bib and my pink Coast 2 Coast Challenge bracelet, I headed up to the expo floor to pick up my race shirts.
Tagged to get my pink Coast 2 Coast medal
As I was picking up my shirts, I recognized some of the same people that volunteer all the time. After collecting my shirts, I breezed through the vendor booths. There wasn't really anything geared for guys since it was still a women's race. I then got in line to take my customary photo with my bib and the Tinker Bell backdrop. On the way out, I did a quick walk-through of the official merchandise to see what they had to offer. The Tinker Bell shoe ornaments looked pretty cool, but not cool enough for me to drop $26.99 for 1 shoe.
For whatever reason, runDisney switched from using volunteers to paid part time temporary workers starting with this Disneyland race. Those workers were hired through two staffing agencies. Some of the reasons that I've heard for this change was because of legal issues, volunteers being unreliable, and not wanting to give out complimentary park passes. Overall the expo experience wasn't affected by this change. Besides the lack of decorations, there was no other noticeable changes for the packet pickup process.
5/12 Friday
While at work, my friends and I noticed that social media was blowing up over some of the changes at the Tinker Bell 5k. The number one complaint was that there were no photo opportunities with Disney characters along the course. The reasoning that I heard for this change was that course entertainment was rated very low for prior years... the character stops were causing participants to miss time cutoffs as well as causing congestion on the course. I guess removing them entirely was the wrong move. Even though it would seem like people were on the edge of rioting, I remained pretty confident that runDisney would bounce back for the 10k and half marathon. Even if they didn't it really wouldn't affect me because running a runDisney race for me wasn't about being entertained or stopping for photos. It's cool to see Disney characters out there along the course and I have stopped for photos from time to time, but I'm usually there to race, to find out how fast I could run that day.
Thankfully I only work half days on Fridays during the summer. So as soon as I was off, I made my way over to Downtown Disney to eat lunch at Earl of Sandwich. Initially I didn't like this place, but after ordering different items on the menu throughout the years, I've found a few sandwiches that have been pretty darn good. I had the Earl's Club for the first time and it was another good sandwich! It's also one of the more affordable food options at Downtown Disney.
Earl's Club
After lunch I swung by the expo to peruse at a more leisurely pace. After I was done with that, I went to The Coffee House that was nearby and located just outside of Goofy's Kitchen to get a Dole Whip Float. I found a nice shady spot outside to sit down and enjoy my treat. It was quite refreshing since it was a hot day. It definitely hit the spot!
Dole Whip Float
As it got closer to check-in time, I made my way over to the Ramada Anaheim Maingate North hotel. Staying at a nearby hotel for the weekend would allow me extra sleep and not have to pay $20 each day for parking! I was able to check in a bit early. They put me in a room way in the back at the building that was located past the pool. The nightly rate was pretty affordable, but I was able to get my entire stay for free by using my points.
I unpacked and went through my race packet and stuff. I thought the shirts for this year was pretty lame, lackluster, and cheap looking, but it could be because I wasn't the target audience. Oh well, it's not like I needed any more running clothes. :) I laid out my flat runner for tomorrow's 10k. I had thought about leaving the wings at home this year, but then when would I ever get the chance to wear them?
10k flat runner
My friends and I met up at The Cheesecake Factory over at the Anaheim GardenWalk for dinner. It's always fun to hang out with some of my favorite Disney loving friends! Since I knew that I was going to order a slice of cheesecake for dessert, I decided to order their Cobb salad for my meal. Of course I caught some flak for ordering a salad, but hey, it's my body and I'll have to live with my decisions. :) It would turn out that their Cobb salad was huge, however it was one of the worst Cobb salads that I have ever eaten in my life! I still finished it before I ordered a slice of their lemon meringue cheesecake. I'm not a big fan of sweets, but that was an awesome treat!
Dinner with friends
Cobb salad
Lemon meringue cheesecake
Thank goodness I had to walk back to my hotel! I felt significantly better after taking a long stroll after such a big meal! Along the way I stopped by the Shell gas station to buy some water. Back at the room, I relaxed and watched some Hook. What an appropriate movie for the weekend! It was as if everything was all planned!
Hook!
5/13 Saturday
I got ready fairly early and made the walk over to the race. I entered through the Disneyland East Esplanade where I went through security check#1. After walking through Downtown Disney, I went through security check#2 to get into the staging area. Since I was there early, I used a portapotty while I waited for one of my friends to show up. I wanted to give her a gift before I checked my bag. While waiting for my friend, I spotted my friend Richard getting ready his Tinker Bell/Russell mashup costume. This guy is really creative with his costumes!
@blingwhore getting ready!
Once I checked my bag, I headed for the starting corrals. First I went through security check#3 to get back into Downtown Disney. Then they were checking for bibs at the walkway just outside of Earl of Sandwich. After slowly making my way down to the corrals, it was much easier to move around as the earlier corrals went left and the latter corrals went right.
10k starting line
While waiting in the starting corral, I bumped into several familiar faces. One of them was @gojorunner. She almost always runs in a costume. This time she was dressed up as Darkwing Duck. One of my friends was dressed up as John Darling. I wish that I was more creative. All I did was strap on a pair of blue pixie wings. Peter Pan showed up on stage to send us off on our race. All I could think of was that annoying Geico commercial. :) I wasn't really paying attention, but I think he was telling us to crow if we see any of the lost boys out on the course.
@gojorunner as Darkwing Duck!
Latino Heat and John Darling!
This reminded me of that annoying Geico commercial! :)
Once the race started, I blasted out of the gate. The Latino Heat caught up to me and ran with me for a little bit. Once we crested the first overpass out to Ball Rd, he pulled ahead of me. Once I reached the first mile at about 7:30, I backed off of the pace and settled into a more manageable 8 min per mile pace. I got a bit tired during the 3rd mile coming up through the castle. I managed to barely make it into one of the finisher guide photos. I recovered a little bit for the last 5k and made it to the finish line in under 50 mins just as I had planned. Near the final stretch, there was a young girl struggling. She would leapfrog me a few times as she ran much faster than me when she was running. I eventually pulled ahead, but she nearly smoked me right at the finish line!
I barely made it into the finisher guide!
10k finish line
Finish: 48:54
Click here for my Garmin data.
The left ankle still wasn't 100%, but at least I was able to get some speed out of it! The more I run shorter distances like a 10k, the more I enjoy running them. One thing that I didn't enjoy was that they were playing the Peter Pan song, Following the Leader, on an endless loop. That got annoying really quick! Near the end of the race, I asked one of the cast members if they were enjoying the song. They laughed and said that they have to listen to it for a few more hours! :)
I should check my socks before I wear them. The pair that I grabbed had a hole in it which caused a blister to form. I checked my second pair that I was going to wear for tomorrow and it also had a hole in the same spot. Looks like I have a few pair of socks that need to be retired and taken out of rotation! Good thing I brought a pair of compression socks. They didn't have holes and will have to do for tomorrow's race!
10k medal
After getting my medal, I continue my way through the finisher chute while picking up a bottle of water, a Powerade, a banana, and a snack box. Finally I got my finisher photo before going into the reunion area. I picked up a Nesquik drink and my gear bag before meeting up with my friends... the usual suspects.
Post race snack box
I was going to walk it, but my friend gave me a ride back to my hotel. Ever since I got my FitBit watch, I've been more inclined to walk whenever possible. :) After getting clean up, I relaxed in my room until it was time for lunch. I walked over to the McDonald's near the corner of Ball Rd and Anaheim Blvd for lunch. I ordered the Quarter Pounder meal and used the app to get one of their signature crafted pico guacamole burger for free. The guacamole had a nice kick to it, but it was one messy burger. I still prefer the usual tried and true, Quarter Pounder or Big Mac.
McDonald's!
For dinner, my friends and I met up at The Cheesecake Factory again. This time I ordered their crispy pineapple chicken and shrimp entree from the special menu. It looked great and was very tasty, but it was a bit too sweet for my taste. It was definitely much better than the Cobb salad yesterday. I was tempted to order another cheesecake, but I refrained. If I had, I would've ordered their key lime cheesecake.
Crispy pineapple chicken and shrimp
Once I got back to my room, it was the usual routine. I laid out my flat runner for tomorrow's race and relaxed while watching some TV. Good thing I didn't try sleeping early as the fireworks at Disneyland were going off and it sounded really loud as if they were shot just outside of my door!
Half marathon flat runner
5/14 Sunday
Per the normal routine, I got ready early and made my way to the starting area just as I had done yesterday. Just like yesterday, I had to go through the same number of security check points. This time I didn't wait around and started heading to the corrals right after I checked my gear bag. While going through security with my wings on, the security agent was taking an exception to my wings. The wings were wide enough that I went through the metal detector a little sideways. He made me go through it again and made me force my way through with the wings. Then he proceeded to wand me. I know he had a job to do, but he should do a better job at assessing the situation. He should've have me take off the wings or just wand me right away since he had a long line of people to screen! After two days of numerous security screenings, it was clear that they really need to re-route the flow of traffic to avoid unnecessary double or triple screening.
Along the way to the corral, I bumped into the legendary Jeff Galloway. I talked to him very briefly and it turned out that he was heading up the pacing groups. One of my friends was among the pacers. I got a quick pic with her before I continued on my way to the corrals.
It's Jen!
I made my way up to corral B and made a quick stop at the small cache of portapotties just outside of the corral. The girl behind me said that she was impressed with how fast I was. All I had to do was a quick tinkle! :) While waiting in the corrals, it became pretty clear that the race announcers were stalling time. However they did something pretty cool. They had everybody get out their cellphones and lit up the still-rather-dark sky.
Light it up with our cellphones!
Once the race started, I was moving pretty well, but my legs weren't feeling very zippy. I was actually feeling pretty good through the first 10k. Then it became quite the struggle for the next couple of miles. I was wondering if it was because I was drinking Powerade instead of Tailwind. From the few times that I've used Tailwind on my training runs, I never had that sudden drop in energy. The Clif Shots at about mile 8 were spread out over several tables. Usually they'll have volunteers handing them out, but this year they were self-service. I had no trouble grabbing a vanilla flavored gel without breaking my stride which wasn't too hard since my run had decayed into a jog by that point. Around the 10th mile, my good friend caught up to me. She checked up on me to see if I was okay. At that point I was ready to walk it in, but I tried to get my legs going again and to keep up with her. Eventually my friend fell behind. I kind of felt bad because I might have stolen her energy or made it look like I didn't want her to pass me. Far from it because if it weren't for her, I would have definitely thrown in the towel and walked it in. Just as I passed the mile 13 marker, I saw my friend cheering along the side of the course.
Headed for the finish line
Half marathon finish line
Finish: 2:00:25
Click here for my Garmin data.
For this race, I didn't want to wreck or further injure my left ankle especially with the Brooklyn Half Marathon coming up. However I also didn't want to run a mediocre half marathon. So I'm glad my friend was there to give me a morale boost so that I could make an honest attempt to get in under 2 hours even though I came in about 30 seconds too slow.
Collecting my challenge medals was again a chore most likely because poor instructions were given to their hired help. Everything was fine with getting my half marathon medal with the extra legacy lanyard. They had a row of people lined up at the very end specifically for legacy runners. Now for the challenge medals, they first checked my photo to verify that I was the registered participant that had picked up the bib. Then they were going to give me only the pink Coast 2 Coast medal because I had the bracelet. I had to asked them for the Pixie Dust Challenge medal which they initially denied me until I showed them my bib again. I'm sure it was because legacy runners had different colored bibs than regular participants for the Pixie Dust Challenge that threw them off. They seriously need to train these workers better!
Half marathon medal
Pixie Dust Challenge medal
Pink Coast 2 Coast medal
After grabbing the usual post race drinks, snacks, and goodies, I made my way over to the finisher photos. After that, I got my gear bag so I could free up my hands. I then joined my friends in the reunion area to take all of the obligatory post race photos.
Photobombing my friends!
Once we went our separate ways, I made the walk over to my hotel. As I got to Harbor Blvd, I came across people that were still making their way along the course to the finish line. A lot of them were congratulating me when they saw my medals. I cheered them on and encouraged them to go and get theirs! I waited for the last participant to go through before walking to my room.
After I got cleaned up and checked out, I headed home. There was a ton of traffic on Harbor Blvd heading south all waiting to turn (right) west onto Ball Rd. I was able to make my way out and turn (left) east on Ball. It turned out that everybody at that intersection was trying to get to Disneyland Dr while the race participants were trying to leave the Mickey & Friends parking structure. I saw officers directing traffic, but it was pretty close to being a complete standstill.
Overall I had a fun time and race experience at Tinker Bell. However not every little thing ever bothers me at a race. I always try to roll with the punches and go with the flow. Maybe that's why out of the hundreds of races that I've run, only about 2 races have ever made it on my sh!t list, Malibu Marathon and Camarillo Marathon. Honestly the only thing that really irked me was the redundant security check. I understand that safety was and is priority one, but I don't need to go through the metal detectors 3 or 4 times. Here's a pretty good exhaustive article over on the Mouse Planet on what others had found wrong with this year's race, you can read it here.
