Occasionally I like to feature other things on my blog aside from my bookish endeavors. If you’ve been reading for a while you probably know that I’m a huge Disney fan, so naturally I jumped at the opportunity to participate in Disneyland’s annual Tinkerbell Half Marathon weekend. My aunt and I headed down to compete in my first ever race, the Tinkerbell 10K on Saturday (she did the half marathon two years ago).
The race started at 5:30am, and we started with the A group (runners are placed according to their average mile time). It started in downtown Disney behind the Grand Californian hotel, and looped around Ball Road and through the front entrance of the park. We ran for the first two miles, averaging about 11 minutes per mile (I was a little out of shape from being under the weather the week before, so it admittedly wasn’t my best possible time).
Once we entered the park after mile two, we alternately jogged/walked so we could stop for photo ops with characters and enjoy the ambiance of the park, so quiet in the early hours of the morning. I’m a huge fan of finding characters in the park so coming across Alice and the Mad Hatter was a treat since I haven’t been able to snag photos with them before (sadly, it was the Disney version and not Morpheus). All of the rides were up and running while we ran through the park so we could get the full Disneyland atmosphere.
After the run finished (6.2 miles) and we received our medals and snacks, we spent the rest of the day in the park, which I’ve really missed since I haven’t visited since August. It was pretty crowded and that night Tomorrowland shut down at 5pm because the after party for the Tomorrowland movie premiere was being held there…sadly, it was really secure and I didn’t manage to catch a glimpse of George Clooney. (Also, does anyone know what those Tomorrowland books are about? Are they spin offs of the move? I keep seeing them pop up at bookstores…) We found the springtime characters milling around all afternoon at the Big Thunder Ranch stage and I got pictures with several of the Disney rabbits. We also were able to do some of our Disneyland musts despite the crowd: Haunted Mansion, watching the parade, riding the train around the park, getting to ride the Jungle Cruise on a boat where a friend of mine is a skipper, and ending the night with ice cream from Gibson Girl (best waffle cones ever).
Though I’m bummed were were a few weeks early for the launch of Disneyland’s 60th year Diamond celebration (starting May 22), it was great to be back in the park and participating in a new activity. I love running and do it nearly everyday, so getting to do it at Disneyland was really a special treat. The trip was a great way to further get me excited for my Disneyworld trip this fall, and I can’t wait to participate in the Neverland 5K run at Disneyland in the future!
Have you participated in the Tinkerbell run before? Are you planning on attending Disneyland during the Diamond Anniversary?
You lost me at 5:30am (back to my zzz’s).
But this is pretty neat–I never knew they did marathon thingy’s at Disney!
Yep! They do them at Disneyworld too! I believe Disneyland’s next run is a Star Wars run; they all have fun themes!
This is so cool!! A) The fact that you got up at 5 to run B) The fact that you ran around Disney and C) I didn’t know they did this! Honestly, it looks super fun! (Despite the fact you have to run…) Thanks for sharing! 😀
~Kaitlin
It was a blast! I actually really like running (it’s one of my favorite forms of exercise) so that part wasn’t that bad! (Although I rarely run for six miles at a time lol…more like 2 or 3)
I am not a runner but this sounds like so much fun! It looks like you had a blast. I have never been to Disneyland and I have only been to Disney world once when I was little. I hope to go to one or the other sometime in the next couple of years. 😀
Oh wow! I grew up with a lot of very Disney-centered people so even though I didn’t live close to the parks I was lucky enough to be taken at least once a year! For a while I lived near one of the parks so I had an annual pass and went all the time. Definitely missing that now!