2014 Disneyland Half Marathon Preview

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2014 Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend

This weekend, August 28-31, is Disneyland’s Half Marathon weekend. (This is #9, for those keeping track of such things – like me.) Events include the Health and Fitness Expo Thursday-Saturday, the Family Fun Run 5K on Friday morning, the Disneyland 10K and Kids Races on Saturday, and the Half Marathon on Sunday. The Dumbo Double Dare race challenge, where participants run both the 10K on Saturday and the half marathon on Sunday, will be held for the second time.

According to runDisney there are 18,000 registered for the half marathon, 10,000 for the 10K, 6,000 for the 5K, and 1,500 for the Kids Races. Of the half marathon/10K runners, 6,000 are registered for the Dumbo Double Dare. All 50 states are represented, and there are runners from 25 different countries. In 2013 there were 17,800 registered in the half, 8,400 in the 10K, 5,000 in the 5K, 1500 in the Kids Races and 5,300 in the Dumbo Double Dare. So the 10K and 5K are both seeing a 20% increase – hope that won’t translate to overcrowding on the race courses.

This will be our 7th time running the half marathon, and Lee and I are signed up for the Dumbo Double Dare again, also. We really enjoyed this race challenge last year, though we are hoping for slightly cooler/less humid conditions this year. So far it’s looking promising – the forecast is for 67 at the start rather than 73 like we had last year.

We had a great time running the Inaugural Disneyland 10K last year. I thought the course was very well laid out – all but the first two miles are on Disney property, and there was a lot of in-the-park time. I really enjoyed the finishing stretch running through Downtown Disney to the Disneyland Hotel, where there were so many spectators to cheers us on along the way. The course wasn’t too congested, either. My biggest complaint last year was that it was almost three miles between the first and second water stops. It was very warm and humid last year, so I was really thirsty by the time I reached the second water stop. This year it appears runDisney has addressed this: according to the 10K course map the water stops will be at mile 1, mile 3.25, and mile 5.75. Much better.

Something different this year is that the 5K and 10K will be held on separate days. Last year they were both on Saturday morning, with starts only an hour apart, and that complicated the start process – there was a delay in getting the 10K runners to the starting corrals. Though it was nice to start the 10K at 6:30 instead of 5:30…we got to sleep in a little. 🙂 This year the 5K, 10K, and half all start at 5:30. (5:30 does not seem like a very “family friendly” time for a “Family Fun Run 5K”, though.)

One of the things that I was hoping for was that they would change the theme of the 10K each year like they do the 5K, and it appears that I got my wish! Last year’s theme was Alice in Wonderland, and this year it’s Lilo and Stitch! Whee!!!! So that means new 10K bling, of course:

2014 Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend

As you see, the Disneyland Half Marathon medal also received a slight re-design.

Last year there was a huge demand for merchandise when the Expo opened on Friday morning. Disney was not prepared for it, and the lines were long – and they also ran out of almost all of the Dumbo Double Dare merchandise that first morning. It will be interesting to see what happens with the merchandise area at the Expo this year. We won’t arrive until Friday afternoon, and I hope there will still be something left by then. Though I need another shirt like I need another hole in the head…

Speaking of shirts – as a Dumbo Double Dare participant I will receive three shirts: one for the 10K, one for the half marathon, and one for the challenge. And this year, for the first time in Disneyland Half Marathon history, there was the option of selecting a women’s cut shirt when registering for the race! That makes me very happy, since the unisex shirts just keep getting larger and larger – even an Extra Small is too big for me, and in fact my XS shirt from last year’s race fit Lee!

The Disneyland Half Marathon is an “easier” race for us because it’s close to home – we can drive instead of fly, and we get to stay in our own time zone. Still, we enjoy staying for several nights and turning it into a long weekend where we can spend some time in the parks, and hang out with friends who have come to run the races.

Disneyland Half Marathon, here we come!

(I’ll be blogging about our race experience, but if you’re interested in reading updates during the race weekend, follow me on Twitter: @AllEarsLaura)

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Laura Gilbreath is a native of San Diego, CA. She has been making the trek up Interstate 5 to Disneyland since she was a small child and terrified of talking tikis and hitchhiking ghosts. She and her husband Lee enjoy trips to Disneyland and Walt Disney World, as well as sailings on the Disney Cruise Line.

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