runDisney after the Kids Race and leading up to the Disneyland Half Marathon - 2014/01/14

The runDisney Kids Race was earlier this morning and we've just been hanging out in the hotel room. I think there's more that we can be doing, so we all hopped back in the car and headed to Disneyland. I'm thankful for the $10 parking instead of the regular $35 parking. 

Let's go check out the expo again. Didn't see the official Honda car for the race weekend the last time we were here. 

The kids were really hoping to get some more of those Jelly Belly beans, but sadly the booth was packed up. I guess we are getting here pretty close to the end of the expo. I wasn't expecting it to close so early. It was open until 8pm on Thursday and Friday, but the day before the race, Saturday, only open until 4pm. 

The line for the Official Merchandise section was gone now, so we went to see if there was anything we had to have. 

Some cute gear, but nothing we have to have. I like the pin, but not for $20.  

On the way out, there was a display for the new Percy Jackson and the Olympians TV series on Disney+. The person working the area asked if we wanted to take pictures. 

<Simultaneously> Theresa - No Thanks, Joe - Yes! 

And we have costumes and hats! 

Joe - For sure yes! 

They asked if the kids ran in the race this morning and wanted to put on their medals for the pictures. 

And afterwards the photos showed up on the wall opposite! They were recording video of us during this time too. 

The asked T to sign a waiver so they could use it for promotional purposes. I wonder if we'll see these pictures again somewhere else? 

As we walked out of the expo, who happened to catch up to us? It's Angela and Ashley! That was random! They're headed to the beach tonight to try to catch the sunset and try In-N-Out for the first time. 

Yesterday we were chilling at the Grand Californian. Today we decided to enjoy the lobby of the Disneyland Hotel. After being a little disappointed with their snack pack after the race this morning (just a banana) we grabbed some gummy candy from CVS and some cheese & crackers from the lobby gift shop. 

I have memories of Ian trying to spin these teacups while Alli sat inside. 

Why are we hanging around here? Because I'm waiting for 5pm when a group of other Disneyland Half Marathon Legacy racers are meeting up! Patty organizes a Facebook Group for everyone to keep in touch and organized this meetup. 

And it's the biggest gathering yet! Over 50 of us! 

According to runDisney's records, there were just over 400 runners who had completed every Disneyland Half Marathon race. It started in 2006 and continued through 2017. After a brief 7 year break, here in 2024 it is starting back up again! 

We hung around chatting for a little while. 

Good luck everyone with the race tomorrow! 

Next, we are headed to get something I've been looking forward to for a while. And apparently looking at the line lots of other people have been looking forward to it too. 

Beignets! 

It's no longer the Jazz Kitchen Express, but is called Beignets Expressed now. 

And it gives us a chance to meet up with another one of my friends from Micechat that I've known forever. It's Ariel! She's from Northern California and is here this weekend to run her very first half marathon! 

Gotta fuel up the day before, right? Beignets with lots of powdered sugar! 

That a good one Alli? 

Oh my. I didn't even know beignets could have such a large void of disappointment. 

They're tasty! I like all the powdered sugar. 

Good to see you Ariel! 

For dinner we stopped by a nearby Asian market for Theresa and Alli, and grabbed Little Caesars again for dinner. 

Gotta get to bed though. It's going to be an early morning. 

Oof. So early. 

The alarm was set for 3:15am, but the night's sleep was fitful. I was awake before it went off. 

It's chilly outside, but at least there's no wind. 

Even the elevators are asleep this early in the morning. 

I made a Goodwill run before coming out to California to get some warm clothes that I could toss at the beginning of the race. 

Time to walk to the starting line. Just 1.7 miles away. 

The Toy Story parking lot was where runDisney suggested everyone park. At 3:45am it was ridiculously backed up in all directions. 

So many people trying to get in. And at $35 a car, I'd say Disney is doing pretty well too. 

I'd heard some horror stories about the lines to get through security at the 10k the day before. Lines to get through were topping out at 45 minutes, and at one point when it was clear the race was starting and they weren't going to get through the entire line, security allowed people to just walk through. 

I met up with Ariel who was happy to have bought a mylar wrap a few days earlier. 

There were 2 security entrances to the race corrals, one that was closest to the Toy Story parking lot, and another closer to the Disneyland entrance, a half mile walk away. People suggested the north security entrance was a lot shorter. We headed there and yes, it was nearly a walk through! 

Puttering around the finish area. There's a few port-o-potties, but there could always be a few more. The wait was over 20 minutes! 

And there's the finish line. I hope to see that before too long! 

Pre-race banana. Always. 

I said goodbye to Ariel and wished her luck in her very first race. She's off to Corral E. 

After showing my bib to a few people who were checking, I hopped in line at Corral C. How did I end up here? I had no idea. I submitted an estimated finish time, but runDisney said you needed to provide proof of that time within the last 18 months. I haven't run a chipped timed race since... maybe 2017 when I last ran here. 

Another friend of mine who did submit a time but was placed in a late corral asked about it during the expo. He was told "what happened is that the placement system glitched. If you said you would finish between 2:15 and 2:30, whether you submitted a proof of time or not, the system randomly placed you in C to E. People who didn't submit times were extremely lucky, and those who did are very unlucky. Unfortunately they can't move me up cause all the corrals are full."

Well that's a bummer. I just happened to be one of the lucky ones. 

While I was entering, who should come up behind me but Angela! 

We made our way over to Ashley who was closer to the front. 

And who else comes over but Judy! Well I'm just seeing all sorts of friends this morning! 

Let's get this race started!