Faith, Trust, & Pixie Dust: The 2015 Tinkerbell Half Marathon Weekend Recap

This weekend, I flew out to Anaheim, CA for my very first Disney Land runDisney event!  I signed up for The Inaugural Pixie Dust Challenge last summer and the time had finally come for me to earn the coveted PINK Coast to Coast medal.  This is my experience running the third most popular women's themed half marathon in the country (behind the Princess Half Marathon at #2 and Nike Women's Half Marathon at #1).  In the end, I'll even tell you which I preferred: Tinkerbell Half Marathon or Princess Half Marathon. 

After a cancelled flight and a delayed connecting flight, I landed in LAX pretty late on Friday.  I picked up my rental car and headed straight to the expo.  Once I got valet parking, I had just 20 short minutes to make it to the expo to pick up my race packet.  I walked right up to the line and grabbed my bib and race shirts with just enough time to look around.  The first thing I noticed: almost all the merchandise was sold out, including the wine glasses!  All I really wanted was the wine glass.  After all, I will run 13.1 miles in a big circle just to drink a big bottle of wine, guilt-free.  The expo took place at The Disneyland Hotel and was open Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.  Many of the usual runDisney vendors were at the expo.

After waking up bright and early on Saturday morning (3:15am to be exact), I took a ride on the Anaheim Resort Transportation.  Four day transportation on the ART was included in race registration fees for the weekend.  After being dropped off and walking through Downtown Disney to get to the starting line, I was ready to run.  At the Tinkerbell races, bystanders were actually able to experience the energy and excitement at the starting line.  Approximately 10,000 pixies took off just after 5:30 am in a total of four corrals.  I was in corral B, so I didn't deal with much crowding on the course. 

The course primarily took us through Disneyland and California Adventure parks.  There were photo opportunities will all the Pixies (except for Tinkerbell) and plenty of water stations along the way.  The course took us past Aurora's castle, but of course, actually running through the castle is reserved for The Tinkerbell Half Marathon course, only.  The finisher medals were great.  All the pixies were included on the medal, even Tinkerbell.  I proudly wore my medal around Anaheim on Saturday (I even wore it  the blue carpet event at The Tomorrowland World Premier!).

A carbo-load and early bedtime led to an easy 3:15 awakening for The Tinkerbell Half Marathon on Sunday morning.  Upon arriving to the race, I was greeted with much more energy and excitement than the previous morning.  With 16,000 registrants, The Tinkerbell Half Marathon spread runners across seven different corrals.  Placed in corral B again, I did experience a lot of crowding just after takeoff.  Although the course was very wide (sometimes spanning across five lanes of traffic), I felt the corrals were too big.  This course started off exactly like The Tinkerbell 10k course for almost the first two miles.  Tinkerbell made an appearance for photo opportunites around mile 4, with of course an expectedly long wait to meet the Pixie.  After going through both parks, the rest of the course took us through neighborhoods and a downtown area in Anaheim.  I did not see a character for the entire second half of the course since we were no longer on Disneyland property. 

I finished the course with a high-five from one of my favorite characters, Minnie Mouse (my dog is even named after her)!  Shortly after crossing the finish line, I was handed a Tinkerbell Half Marathon medal.  I then proceeded to the tents to claim my Pixie Dust Challenge and Coast to Coast Challenge medals.  Although all the medals this weekend were beautiful, my favorite piece of new bling is definitely The Coast to Coast medal.  It features the iconic image of Walt holding Mickey's hand.  I received the limited edition pink medal for completing both women's themed half marathons on each coast of the country.  Since this is the only race-specific Coast to Coast medal given out by runDisney, the backside of the ribbons feature logos for both The Princess half Marathon and Tinkerbell Half Marathon. 

In the end, I had a great experience during Tinkerbell Half Marathon Weekend.  Would I do it again?  Probably not.  I enjoyed The Princess Half Weekend much more.  There was an element of magic that was missing from Tinkerbell.  The Princess Half Marathon kept the momentum going for 13.1 miles with music and characters all along the way.  I would run through WDW back roads any day over downtown streets and neighborhoods in Anaheim.  With the larger property, Walt Disney World is more successful at putting on an empowering race for female runners.  I recall girls crying tears of joy upon crossing the finish line at The Princess Half Marathon and did not see anything like that at Tinkerbell.  Running through Cinderella's castle was much more enchanting than running through Aurora's castle.  The atmosphere was unparalleled.  Both races were great, but when it comes down to it, I would take glass slippers over fairy wings any day.  I will run The Glass Slipper Challenge every single year until I am no longer able to run.  At that point, I still may even walk it just for the experience. 

The 2016 registration for Princess Half Marathon weekend opens on Tuesday July 14th at Noon.  If you are an annual passholder like myself, you can register early beginning Tuesday, June 20th at Noon. 

runDisney has announced they will continue to host Tinkerbell Half Marathon Weekend during Mother's Day for future races as opposed to their original January host weekend.  Registration for the 2016 Tinkerbell Half Marathon weekend will open up later this summer. 

Have you run Princess and Tinkerbell Half Marathons?  Which do you feel is the better race?

xoxo,
RunBarbie

RunDisney Registration

Some information has been updated on 7/12/2016 to reflect current RunDisney policies.


So you're interested in running around Walt Disney World or Disneyland and you need some help getting through the registration process... Well, you've come to the right place!  I have been participating in RunDisney for a few years and have gotten into every race I've wanted since registering for my first race in 2013.  I'm fast and efficient when it comes to registration and I have some tips to ensure YOU will get into the race you want.  Before you know it, you'll be training for your dream race!


I tell my friends all the time that registering for a runDisney event is no joke.  It takes strategy because these races sell out very quickly, sometimes in just minutes.  If you're a little late to the party, you can plan on being placed in a queue between 5-30 minutes before beginning registration.  If you're too late to the party, you can count on these races selling out!  Also, expect the website to run slower than usual (Lilly girls crashing the internet during the Endless Summer Sale kinda slow). I typically have the RunDisney website pulled up on my computer at least 15 minutes prior to the start time so I can avoid any queue line and register without interruption.  I also have an account with active.com, so logging in beforehand and having all your information ready will speed up this process.  Once the website allows you onto the registration page, you will have 15 minutes to complete your registration. 


During registration, runners will be given the opportunity to submit a Proof of Time for corral placement if they believe they will complete a Half Marathon in 2:45 or less.  Proof of Time is no longer required for runners who believe they will require more than 2:45 to finish the Half Marathon.  Since you only have 15 minutes to complete registration, I recommend waiting to submit your POT.  This can be done up to approximately three months before the race.  A POT for a Half Marathon must be a distance of 10k or longer and a POT for the Marathon must be a Half Marathon distance or longer.  Failing to submit a POT can result in placement in the last corral so it is very important you return to the website during the time frame to submit this information.  Simply select the event you are submitting a POT for, select the registration tab, and scroll down to Proof of Time for the link.  Deadlines vary for all races, so be aware of the POT deadline for the race which you are registering. 


During registration, the runDisney Twitter page will post updates on the status of its races.

Although the runDisney website does not update immediately, the 10k is usually the first race distance to sell out.  The challenges and 5k's are also very popular.  I have seen the 2014 Wine & Dine Half Marathon take 24+ hours to sell out while the 2015 Wine & Dine Half Marathon sold out in approximately 30 minutes.  Princess Half Marathon and Glass Slipper Challenge has taken approximately two hours to sell out since I began running it.  There really is no way to tell how quickly an event will sell out, so it's important to register sooner rather than later. 


Since registration can be a little overwhelming, I have a few other options to get you running the most magical miles on Earth:


1)  Early registration is available for annual passholders.  This registration opens up one week early and is also available for Disney Vacation Club members.  From my experience, there are not crazy queue lines or errors loading the website.  If you're going to run more than one runDisney event per year, it's well worth it to invest in the annual pass.  I have one and it's already saved me money on my trips. 


2) Run through a charity.  I ran the 2016 Dopey Challenge for St. Jude.  I bypassed all the craziness of registration by going directly to the St. Jude website.  I searched for WDW Marathon Weekend and was able to register for The Dopey Challenge within minutes.  At the time of my registration, only 5 spots were remaining for The Dopey Challenge.  There were also limited spots available for all other races and challenges so these do tend to sell out quickly, as well.  A full list of charities participating during each individual race weekend are listed on the event page under Registration.  The links will provide you with information regarding fundraising minimums and benefits.  For your reference, The 2016 Dopey Challenge required a minimum $2,500 donation and includes registration for all four races, a pre-race pasta party ticket and post-race hospitality tent.  If you would like to donate to St. Jude on my behalf, you can do so at www.heroes.stjude.org/AmandaRunsChicago


I also have tips for fundraising as well as more information on running for charity here. 


3) Lastly, you can run through a travel provider.  Participating travel providers are listed under the Registration tab on the event page and the links will provide you with the requirements for each one.  They typically require a minimum hotel stay or the purchase of park tickets.  These will cost no more money than if you purchased them yourself and you get the added benefit of a Disney vacation planning specialist to guide you in booking your vacation.  Requirements will be listed on their website.   


Now, you should be all set to register for a runDisney event!  What events are you running in the upcoming year?  Do you have your costumes planned out yet?  What about a training plan?  Share your experiences registerring for your first RunDisney event below!

xoxo,
Amanda