A Run Fit For A Princess

Saturday I did something I honestly never thought I would do.

I ran…ok walked…a 5K.

Disney pretty much has a hand in everything y’all.  They even have a whole line of business dedicated to people who love to run.  It’s called runDisney and they host various runs throughout the year in both Florida and California.

We have a couple of 5Ks, 1/2 marathons, and a whole marathon every year with literally thousands of people coming to participate.  Epcot plays a major role in each of the events, so I’ve had the opportunity to work at two of the running events last year.  I helped during the Wine and Dine 1/2 marathon during the Food and Wine Festival and during Disney’s Marathon Weekend in January.

So when my best friends family said they were coming to Disney to do participate in the Princess Marathon Weekend, I figured it would be a good chance to see these running events from the other side.  From the perspective of the runner rather than an employee.

We did the Mickey and Minnie Royal Family 5K.

I’m not gonna lie I was a tad nervous about doing it.  I didn’t want to be one of those people who decide to do a run and then end up getting sick in the middle of it and have to be taken to the medical tent.

Then I saw the actual course through Epcot.

The run was through Epcot and through Epcot only.  Y’all I walk this pretty much daily.  Ok maybe not everyday but seriously I’ve walked around Epcot more times then I can count.   Heck when you walk around the World Showcase alone you’re walking 1.3 miles.  Therefore, walking around the Showcase 3 times is basically a 5K.  After I saw this picture my worries completely vanished.

In fact the only thing I was not looking forward to after seeing this was waking up at 4:30 in the am, because we had to be at the starting line by 5:30.  Blegh.

The race was so fun.  We were in coral B, so we were the second group to start walking.  I decided to dress the part of a running Princess Aurora (or Sleeping Beauty), complete with a pink Princess crown and pink and white tutu.

We got to Mile 1 after about 15 minutes.  I’m honestly not sure if that’s good or not but I figure it is!
The Disney Princesses were scattered throughout the course but their lines were super long and we weren’t feeling the whole wait in line thing.  Plus, we wanted a semi accurate time of our walk.

Here are a few photos from our very early morning stroll.

This is me, Abby, and her sister Laura before the race!

Jordan ran the race with some of here sorority sisters and we caught each other just before!

And there’s me at the finish line!  We finished the whole course in about 45 minutes.  Then went and stuffed our faces in a delightful breakfast.

Overall I’d say runs are fun, especially Disney runs.  At the end I did have to remind myself that it was worth paying money to walk around a place I can technically walk around for free because I was doing it with some great friends.  And I got a medal out of it too.

And got to wear a tutu! 🙂

Ps. If you’re a runner and are interested in runDisney, click here for a complete list of races they host!