I went into work at my usual earlier time. I ended up having lunch with my coworkers at I Heart Pancakes. I ordered my usual order which was their t-bone steak and eggs with hash browns and pancakes. The food tasted fine, but I did notice that the food was a bit oilier this time around. Long story short, that food did not stay inside of me very long. It took the express lane through my colons.
T-bone steak & eggs
Pancakes
After getting off of work, I hopped in the car and drove over to the Disneyland Hotel to pick up my race bib. They were letting us park in the Pixar Pals Parking Structure for $10 if we show them our check-in pass. However my GI was still not feeling good, so I called an audible and headed over to my timeshare, WorldMark Dolphin's Cove to check into my unit first. It was a pain in the butt finding a parking spot before going inside to get my room keys. I was given a tiny bottle of water and checked into unit 125. Then as with the usual procedure, I was directed to make a stop at the concierge station. The lady was very friendly and pleasant and wanted to get me signed up for an owner account review. Even though I told her that I had already attended one just a few weekends ago, she still wanted me to go. She stopped when I told her how I was poorly treated when I was in Florida for the Dopey Challenge. I told them that the majority of Club Wyndham salesmen were rude and the absolute worst. So, yeah, no thank you! With that, I was able to take my stuff from the car up to my room.
WorldMark Dolphin's Cove
When I got to my unit and changed out of my work clothes. I made sure to clear out the colons first before I started my trek up to the Disneyland Hotel. With the diarrhea, I had to make sure that I stayed hydrated as it wasn't a very short distance from the timeshare over to the race expo.
It was already pretty dark by the time I had arrived. Thankfully, there seemed to be more of a rush of people heading into the security screening lines for Downtown Disney than there were people heading over to the hotel. The signage seemed to be a bit confusing, but having done this before, I knew to head upstairs first to pick up my race bib. After showing my check-in pass for the bib number and my ID, I was given my legacy Disneyland Half/Dumbo Double Dare bib as well as the coveted Coast-to-Coast Challenge wristband. I got a drink of water from the dispenser before heading out.
Disneyland Hotel
Disneyland Hotel Convention Center
Coast to Coast wristband
Next, I headed downstairs to the ballroom to pick up my race shirts. Per the usual, the shirts were distributed on the left-hand side as you enter. As I headed in the direction of the vendor booths, I bumped into a fellow Disneyland Half Marathon legacy runner from Hawaii. I also bumped into a fellow Perfect Dopey that saw my hat. He was also a Perfectly Goofy. There weren't too many freebies being given out, but I picked up some stickers, a Zootopia 2 lithograph, and a Bauducco wafer.
Not sure what this was for?
10k race shirt
Half marathon race shirt
Dumbo Double Dare race shirt
Jeff
Mark Dannerth, a Perfectly Goofy and Perfect Dopey from Santa Clarita
Freebies
Sample
Finally, I checked out the official merchandise. Per the usual, all of the popular items were picked clean yesterday. I didn't find a single Dumbo Double Dare item! That's fine by me, less money that the Mouse could possibly extract from me! :D
On the way out, I stopped at the Percy Jackson area where I picked up a pin and purchased a Dole Whip served in a Disneyland Half Marathon weekend souvenir cup. It was a mango and vanilla swirl. After I was finished, I went to the restroom to rinse out the cup.
Percy Jackson Dole Whip
Souvenir cup and pin
I got in line for a pre-race bib photo in front of the Disneyland Half Marathon back drop before heading out. I also checked out the awesome decorations inside and around the lobby area of the hotel. I then went through Downtown Disney on my way to getting dinner at the GardenWalk.
Downtown Disney
I had dinner at Johnny Rockets. I found an empty seat at the counter and ordered a Rocket Double cheeseburger. Normally I would also get a shake to go with it, but with my GI issues I decided to just stick with the burger. I thought the burger was a lot greasier than usual, most likely a poor food choice. After paying the bill, I noticed that there was such a huge crowd with lines and security outside the House of Blues. I never knew it was such a happening place! It would appear that they had a separate music venue and lounge from the restaurant. I had only been to the restaurant at Disney Springs in Florida.
Rocket Double
After dinner, I swung by the WorldMark Anaheim property to buy some coffee at the WorldMarket as I still had money left on my gift card. I bought a couple expensive cans of La Colombe Draft Latte for $4.55 per can. Since Starbucks would not be opened that early, these would serve as my pre-race coffee. Back at my room, I laid out my flat runner and took a shower before calling it a night.
Coffee from WorldMarket
10k flat runner
Saturday 1/31
I woke up super early to get ready for today's race. As I was getting ready, I noticed that I was still not fully recovered from the bout of diarrhea. Also, all that was coming out was a bright green colored liquid. I left my unit at about 3 am for the walk over. Per the usual, I stopped at the Toy Story Parking lot restroom to use a urinal. I quickly realized that I needed to use a toilet as well. Before heading over to the start area, I waited at the GardenWalk parking structure for my friend. For some reason, both of us were placed in corral B.
GardenWalk parking
Slumming it in corral B :D
Richard
Mickey
My goal for the 10k was to finish in under 50 minutes, but my friend wanted to run at a more leisurely pace today. When corral B was released, we couldn't run at a decent pace from the get-go. There was just a wall of walkers and slowly moving people in front of us. I had to hop on the road median to get around them. Fortunately, I think I got everything out of my system as I was able to run at a hard effort without having any GI issues. I was able to run at about a 7:30 min/mile pace during the first mile. I ended up following a guy dressed up in Winnie the Pooh colors as he was going at the same pace. In hindsight, I probably should've just maintained the pace, but I sped up after reaching the first aid station and entered Disney California Adventure park. For the most part, it felt great to be moving a bit faster again.
When I crossed over to Disneyland, I had to back off on the pace a bit as I wasn't quite in shape to hold that pace for a 10k. As I ran past Tiana's Bayou Adventure, I finally realized that my weekend alarm was going off. The runners around me were wondering what that was! I slowed down a bit to get out the phone to shut it off. Per the usual, there were some rather dark sections inside the park. The ground was also wet and somewhat slippery. Is that why cast members tell you not in run during rope drop? As I got onto Disney Way for the final stretch, I kind of let my foot off the gas when I saw that I was going to meet my goal.
10k finish
10k finish: 49:18
Click here for my Garmin data.
After crossing the finish line, I received my medal. Then came the bottle of water and Powerade. That was followed by a banana and the runDisney post race snack box. I got in line to take some finish line photos while I waited for my friends to finish.
10k finisher medal
Post race snack box
Mickey shadow
Breaking the finish line tape
Marcia and Robert
Heather
On the walk back, I stopped at the Starbucks near the corner of Katella Ave and Harbor Blvd to pick up breakfast. Before going inside, I placed an order for a double-smoked bacon, cheddar & egg sandwich. I needed to order 3 sandwiches to earn 80 stars. It seemed like everyone else had the same idea as the place was pretty packed with runners.
Starbucks
As I was climbing the flight of stairs, I felt a bit light-headed and my legs were wobbly. As soon as I got inside my unit, I ate my sandwich and drank some water. In hindsight, I probably should've eaten the sandwich right away instead of waiting until I had gotten back. I then took a shower before lounging on the sofa watching some English Premier League matches.
Breakfast
At about 9 am, I finally dragged myself back out to go cash in a free reward for 4 Chick-n-Minis at the nearest Chick-fil-A over in Orange on Main St. I placed my order on the mobile app before driving over. I queued up in the drive-thru lane from off of Main St. The line was long, but it moved fairly quickly. In addition to the Chick-n-Minis, I got a berry parfait with granola.
Chick-fil-A drive-thru
I ate my second breakfast and resumed vegging out on the sofa after getting back to my unit. The bout of diarrhea really took a lot out of me. I was literally pooped! I had to peel myself off of the sofa to head back to Disneyland for the Half Marathon Legacy group photo that was scheduled for 12:30 pm.
4 pcs Chick-n-Minis, berry yogurt parfait
It was good seeing my fellow Disneyland Half Marathon Legacy runners/walkers! I personally thought it was quite depressing that the Disneyland races were going back on hiatus after just coming back from a 6 year break! I understood that at Disneyland, they had to deal with the city of Anaheim especially with these big upcoming construction projects. While over in Walt Disney World, they had plenty of their own Disney property to use for their races. At least I'll still have the Dopey Challenge to look forward to every January! After the group photo, we all pretty much scattered. I used the nearby restroom before heading out. I was tired enough that instead of walking the whole way back, I got a bus ride over to the Toy Story parking lot.
Disneyland Half Marathon Legacy photo
At about 2:30 pm, I headed out to go get some salty snacks at Target and to eat a very late lunch or very early dinner at Soup Shop. As to be expected, the parking lot at the Anaheim Town Square was a complete zoo. It would seem that State College Blvd and Lincoln Ave was a hot corner. After finding a parking spot, I walked up to the store. It was probably a bad sign that I saw a note at the entrance that said that minors were not allowed inside without a guardian. I looked for my usual Bounder Canyon Kettle Style potato chips, but I couldn't find any. Instead I bought a bag of LesserEvil Organic Himalayan Gold Popcorn, Good & Gather Organic White Corn Tortilla Chips, and a gallon of purified water.
Buying some salty snacks at Target
LesserEvil Popcorn
Organic white corn tortilla chips
I hopped in the car and drove a bit closer to the Soup Shop. I ended up finding a spot in between Wells Fargo bank and the Tesla Supercharger station. After being seated, I ordered the usual combination pho without cilantro. This time however, I also ordered their egg rolls. The pho was good as always, but I would definitely skip the egg rolls on future visits. Not worth it to say the least!
Egg rolls
Combination pho
Later that evening, instead of going back out for more food, I would stay in and eat the entire bag of tortilla chips. I laid out my flat runner for tomorrow's half marathon and took a shower before calling it a night.
Half marathon flat runner
Sunday 2/1
I got ready and left my unit at about 3:15 am. When I reached the restroom at the Toy Story parking lot, I only used the urinal this time. I was pretty confident that I had gotten all of the diarrhea cleared out of my system. However, my GI system just didn't feel very settled. At first I waited for my friend at the GardenWalk parking structure just like yesterday. It would turn out that he was running late, so I texted him that I would meet him at the starting corral since I still needed to use a portapotty. My friend eventually called me to let me know that he had lost his bib. He was looking for the solutions booth to get a replacement bib. I waited for him near the entrance of corral A where I bumped into a couple of familiar faces. As the start of the race approached, I made my way inside the corral and positioned myself next to the 2 hour pacer. Eventually, my friend showed up.
Mr Perfect, Alan!
Brian
Anaheim mayor, Ashleigh Aitken
Pluto, Mickey, and Minnie
I told my friend that I was planning to run about a 8:30 min/mile pace from start to finish. For the most part, he had always been just faster than me no matter how fast I had gotten! Today was no different. After the first mile, I noticed that we had sped up and were going a bit faster than my desired pace. I stuck with him until we reached mile 5 when the course transitioned out onto the streets of Anaheim. While I backed off on the pace, he maintained that pace. I was hoping to made up some distance on my friend on the climb up and over the 5 freeway overpass, but there would be no such luck. My friend was actually pulling ahead! At about mile 6, we made a left turn onto Anaheim Blvd and headed north. Most people were disappointed that we would not be running inside Angel Stadium this year.
Running Through Sleeping Beauty Castle
Shortly after reaching mile 7, we made a left turn onto Broadway, followed by a right turn onto Clementine St. Then there was a short little out and back lollipop on the Center Street Promenade roundabout before getting back on Clementine St. Next was a bunch of turns, starting with a right turn onto Lincoln Ave, left turn onto Lemon St, and a left turn onto Cypress St to reach mile 8. From there we ran the perimeter of Pearson Park. As I made the right turn onto Lemon St, I was a bit surprised that I was doing mentally well and still holding on to that 8:30ish pace. For the next section we were zigzagging blocks to get in the necessary distance with a left turn onto Lincoln Ave, a right turn onto Anaheim Blvd, a right turn onto Lehman Way, and a left turn on Clementine St to reach mile 9. With a left turn onto Center Street Promenade, we made it back onto Anaheim Blvd as we headed south. This section was nice as we got to see those that were behind us until we continued past Ball Rd. Shortly after making a left turn onto Cerritos Ave, I reached mile 11 and was caught by a runner dressed up as a wizard. He was making Lord of the Rings jokes, so I couldn't tell if he was Yensid, Merlin, or Gandalf. :D The toughest part of the course was probably an out and back along Lewis St. We had to run the underpass twice. However, I had been focusing on strengthening my legs, so I was able to maintain my pace. After making a left turn onto Anaheim Blvd, I knew that I had about 3/4 of a mile left. I got a bit emotional when I made a right turn onto Disney Way. Once I reached Clementine St, I emptied the tank for the final u-turn for the finish line.
Half marathon finish line
Half marathon finish: 1:51:41
Click here for my Garmin data.
I was quite pleased with my race. I could definitely feel the strength in my legs from all of the daily hilly 5 mile hikes around my neighborhood! I was able to maintain the pace throughout the entire race without a fade in the final miles. Overall, I liked this new course. Although it was a unique experience, I never was really a fan of having that little short jog around the warning track inside Angel Stadium.
Shortly after crossing the finish line, I caught up to the runner that was dressed up as a wizard. I thanked him for the jokes along the way as the race was coming to a conclusion with about 2 miles to go. I got a quick selfie with him before we continued on in the finisher chute.
Yensid, Merlin, or Gandalf? Take your pick! :D
I then started receiving my medals. First it was the half marathon finisher medal with a legacy runner lanyard. They had spotters to help identify runners that were to receive any special items. I also received a Dumbo Double Dare finisher medal with a legacy lanyard. Last but not least, I received a Coast to Coast Challenge medal after they cut off my wristband.
Half marathon finisher medal
Dumbo Double Dare medal
Coast to Coast Challenge medal
4 medals
After that, my friend and I got in line to get some post race medals. We got one with each background as we weren't sure as to when these races will return to Disneyland. With the last hiatus being 6 years, there was a possibility that we might be done with running by the time they return!
Mickey shadow
Breaking finish line tape
Robert breaking tape
Me and Robert
After we were done with all of the post race photos, my friend and I started heading out for the GardenWalk. We ended up taking the long way out as we were on the wrong side of the fencing. I thought there would be a break in the fence between the road and the sidewalk. There wasn't, so we had to go all the way to the end of the fencing at Clementine St before coming back around. I took advantage of this long detour to get a picture of the mile 13 marker. It might be a long while before we get to see that again!
Start line
Mile 13 marker
My friend headed into the parking garage for his car while I headed up to get some food at the Starbucks. This was one of the most expensive locations outside of NYC or an airport! They weren't taking mobile app orders, so I had to place my order the old fashion way with an employee at the counter. I ordered 2 sausage, cheddar & egg sandwiches to earn 80 bonus stars. I also got a grande flat white to go with the 2 sandwiches. There weren't any tables inside, so I took my food to one of the vacant tables outside.
Starbucks at the GardenWalk
Breakfast
Sausage, cheddar & egg sandwich
After I was done with my breakfast, I started walking back to my timeshare. I was mostly packed already, so I got my post race stuff in order before hopping in the shower to get cleaned up. I loaded up the car and exited the property. Fortunately, there was an available check-in parking spot. I parked my car and went inside to drop off the room keys.
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