Will Write 4 Travel: Disney's Princess Half Marathon 2013 Race Report

Well, I did it! Not as well as I had hoped, however. My goal was to finish under 3 hours, including an allowance to stop for photos. Didn't happen. It just wasn't my day. First of all, Aunt Flow decided to pay me a visit on Saturday, which meant Sunday was awful. Secondly, it was hot, hot, hot and humid. I've been training in 40 degree weather, so I guess I wasn't prepared for how the weather would affect my body.

Oh well, at least, I have lots of room for improvement!

Rebecca and I started our morning at 3:30 am and got changed super fast in order to board the bus to Epcot. We made our way to the Race Retreat. I wanted to make a potty break so I did that first, only to have my corral called as I was standing in line. We were able to snap a few pictures before I grabbed two bananas and a water bottle, said good bye to the sis and headed out to the corrals. It was on the walk to the corrals that I realized my mistake. There were port-a-potties everywhere, and I still had an hour before the start time. Definitely could have taken my time at the Race Retreat! Ugh, not cool.

This race is huge and makes for a very crowded walk to the corrals, not to mention a very crowded half marathon course.

Photo credit: Cruising Goddess

Made it to corral C. Now what?

Stretch and self-portraits before my corral was off at 5:49 am!

The fairy godmother and fireworks sent off each wave.

Since I knew I had to stop for the bathroom, I decided not to stop for any character photos unless the line was really short. So I didn't take a picture with the pirates. Arr.

Photo credit: Cruising Goddess

Made it to Mile 1, only 12.1 to go!

Still dark out, but almost to the Magic Kingdom!

My first character stop was with Lightening McQueen. No line here.

And here's Cinderella's castle! The part leading up to the castle was so motivating. There were tons of spectators along Main Street to keep us going.

There were photographers along the course so I borrowed the next two photos. This is what I pretend to look like when I'm running a half marathon.

And apparently, this is what I actually look like! Haha!

I ran into a few more friendly faces before the home stretch!

Finish line, here I come! The last two miles were rough. Curse you, hills! Net time: 3:07:47. Ouch. I placed 13,617 out of 21,235. That's a lot of ladies.

I made it back to the Race Retreat for breakfast and then headed back to the hotel room to wash up.

That was the end of my trip! I had a few hours to nap and pack before I took the Magical Express back to the airport. What a wonderful weekend! Can't wait for Dumbo Double Dare in September!

Here are my split times from my Nike running app:

Mile 1: 12:04

Mile 2: 10:53

Mile 3: 10:00

Mile 4: 13:03

Mile 5: 12:22

Mile 6: 14:51

Mile 7: 11:24

Mile 8: 13:55

Mile 9: 11:28

Mile 10: 10:04

Mile 11: 21:17

Mile 12: 17:50

Mile 13: 9:48

As you can see, I was all over the place. Average pace: 13:34. I'm not sure what I was doing during miles 11 and 12, but I hope the Disneyland Half will be an improvement! I didn't run a perfect race, but I think my first bling was still well-earned!