Disneyland Tinkerbell 1/2 Marathon

"When you are between asleep and awake, the place where you can still remember dreaming...is where I will always love you." ~Tinkerbell

See my "Tinkerbell" wings...

This last Sunday at 5:45 a.m. I embarked on the very first Disney Tinkerbell Half-Marathon (13.1 miles). 

After battling a knee injury after my Malibu Half Marathon in November, I had the doctor's okay to participate. This race was one of the hardest to start mentally because-as my husband says "you always prepare for the worse" and I was preparing for not being able to finish. I hadn't had a solid long distant run for the last three weeks and I was placed in the very front running group "A".

With moderate knee pain, I walked only at the water stations. The beginning of the race I kept to the 10/11 minute mile that was planned. Later in the race I found myself running my normal pace for the last five miles. See race here from my Garmin watch.

The time above is the clock time, not the chip time. Took me about a minute to actually cross the start line. 

Highlights of the Race:

-The beginning of the race started with fireworks for 9,386 "Tinkerbell" runners.

- I dressed as "Tinkerbell" with borrowed wings from my dear friend Amy and my Tinkerbell Sweatband worked and was unique. 

- The first 4 miles was through DISNEYLAND. The whole park had the rides going and all of the characters out along the route. (Peter Pan's Lost Boys were riding the Carousel & Captain Jack was by the Pirates of the Caribbean ride)

source: runDisney

-The support of thousands of families and friends was amazing throughout the whole race. It was truly a moving experience. 

- Best sign that I saw when running was a tie between "Just keep swimming...wait running, running" (From Finding Nemo) or "This is the worst parade ever" (weird but funny)

-At Mile 4 I kissed my Prince Charming. He didn't see that coming. 

 -Lance and my parents were able to get text messages on my progress during the race. That has never been available before. 

- I didn't hardly listen to my ipod because there was pep bands, cheerleaders, Red Hat Ladies, marching bands and even an Army band along the whole route. My favorite was the Hula Dancers. 

- The last three miles were through Disney's California Adventure. I ran past characters and stopped with the characters of Toy Story for a photo. (People were lined up in Disneyland for photos with characters-there wasn't a line for the Toy Story characters and jumped at the opportunity.)

One of the coolest things to ever happen at a race

ARE YOU READY.....

Sean Astin from the 1993 football movie "Rudy"

That is Sean Astin up above, he finished just seconds ahead of me. 

source: seanastin.com

Why is this a highlight?
Because he played "Rudy" in the 1993 Notre Dame Football movie. One of my favorites, lets just say I have the whole "Rudy" soundtrack on my running mixes. 
And this photo was shared on the runDisney page and he just finished SECONDS ahead of me. I could have beat Rudy!! Ah HELL!

My bad knee was sore after the race.

Official Results:

Time: 2:08:59

Pace: 9:40

Overall: 1,012/9,386

Division: 154/1,407

Fastest finish time Ever!

And what bothers me was that I had an injured knee, if I had been 100% it could have been a lot faster. But so thankful that I was able to finish!

One of the greatest trips to Disneyland ever!

So what is a girl going to do after running 13.1 miles?

Her Prince Charming takes her to Disneyland!! He followed me the best that he could during the race and after walking through the park he walked nearly 13 miles himself, so we both did half marathons that day. 

No races for me for awhile. After seeing the doctor the day after, he was surprised by my finish time, but now I can't run for the next two weeks. OUCH! Time to really heal my knee. 

~Amanda