It's so early... The Disneyland Half Marathon starts before the world wakes up to ensure the parks and roads are cleared before guests arrive for their day of fun.
I had my alarm set for 3am, but was awake and not going back to sleep at 2:15am. Despite that, this year I'm not feeling nervous at all. My training has been solid for a year now. I'm healthy and I don't have any nagging injuries to speak of. 13.1 miles, especially 13.1 Disney miles, should be a walk in the park!
Like the sweatshirt? I visited Goodwill a week before to pick up some clothes I could wear to keep warm and then toss before the race begins. All those clothes get collected and donated again.
By 3:20am, I was out the door with all my gear.
The hotel we're at, which has been really nice, is a 1 mile walk from the starting line, so I've got plenty of time to walk there. They have already started closing off the roads by the hotel since the run will come all the way down here.
I submitted an expected finish time in line with my finishing time last year and was placed in corral B! She didn't submit a time and is a bit further back, but I'm sure she'll still have a good race too.
Being close to the front I was able to see the big screen and the announcers. It's Ashley Eckstein, the voice of Ahsoka Tano from Star Wars Rebels!
At 4:45am, I was in my corral surrounded by a bunch of other runners. Time for the hoodie and sweatpants to come off!
The president of Disneyland Ken Potrock welcomed us to the Disneyland Half Marathon.
And the Mayor of Anaheim Ashleigh Aitken welcomed us too! We clapped for all the police and EMTs who are supporting the event, as well as the sanitation and road workers who will be cleaning everything up afterwards.
Starting the morning with the singing of the National Anthem. I remember the days when they'd actually set off fireworks (at 5am!) when the race started!
And right at 5am, it was time to Go Go Go! (for the Elites and A corral).
Time for the B corral to move forward and wait our turn.
Almost time!
5:05am and off we go!
The first mile or so is for spreading out, dodging the people who are already walking, and getting into a groove. It's all outside of Disneyland on the Anaheim streets, so nothing too exciting to stop for.
Mile 1 and we're backstage Disney! A DJ was pumping tunes and encouraging everyone running by
The runDisney logo projected onto the back side of the Cars Land mountains.
Running through Ornament Valley!
And time to smile for some of the runDisney photographers! They are spread out all along the course to get our pictures. And while I do love having them there taking photos, which get easily linked to our Disney accounts via our bib number, I felt that this year the photos really lacked a sense of scale and location. Like the photo below, I'm running through Ornament Valley with the giant mountains lit up in the background. But you don't see that in the photo. Just a shot of me with black all around. Get a little lower and point that camera upwards!
Mater and Red are out cheering the runners and getting photos. There's a line though, so I'm not stopping.
Here at the Avengers campus, a cast member was taking photos for people. Captain America and Captain Marvel were cheering on runners.
Captain America - You can do this all day!
Just a little further, Black Widow was also walking along the railings and cheering.
Ah, Mantis and Gypsy are still backstage here, from A Bugs Land, before it was turned into the Avengers Campus.
Running through a big tunnel as we make our way backstage from the Disney California Adventure section over to Disneyland.
Backstage and completing mile 2!
Going into Star Wars Land there was a really narrow section. Maybe 10' across, if that. It wasn't a choke-point for me, but I wonder how the runners in the back will fare.
Here we are at the Millenium Falcon!
Stormtroopers - Move along. Move along!
Rey and Chewbacca!
Mile 3 and we're running along the Rivers of America.
It's the Country Bears! No time to stop, just get a passing picture!
But over in Fantasyland the Sword in the Stone doesn't have anyone there. Maybe today... Nope, still not the rightful ruler of England.
Time to get ready for the big photo. The one everyone hopes to get a good picture. Running through the castle. I waited just a little bit to find a gap where there weren't too many people running, so I wouldn't get blocked or anything.
And... well, that's me. Can you tell where I am? Sort of? Maybe? Is that a castle in the background. Pointing the camera just a little higher would have been better.
Getting off the course and taking my own with the Partners statue in the background.
Whoa! Here's someone I am definitely stopping for! The Disney Afternoon was a big part of my childhood. Seeing Chip and Dale in their Rescue Rangers outfits is a must!
I have been noticing something about these lines for characters too. They're moving fast! Turns out, when you get to the front, you don't use your own camera. There's a Disney photographer there taking photos and moving people through quickly! That's a definite win!
A quick shot at the floral Mickey before running across the Esplanade to DCA. The path has never taken us across our Disneyland stone, otherwise I'd be tempted to get a photo during the race.
I love seeing all the projections on the course. They make the buildings bright and vibrant!
Sadly the World of Color fountains were not running.
But this is a treat! The Three Caballeros! Jose Carioca, Donald Duck, and Panchito Pistoles.
And we're celebrating the Lunar New Year here too.
Mile 4 is completed. We're just about done with the Disney Parks portion of the race. This year, our route didn't take us through Tomorrowland, Critter Country, Hollywood Land, Grizzly Peak, or Pixar Pier.
One last parade float before we're on to the streets on Anaheim.
This year, the Disneyland Half Marathon got a big course change. In years past, you would exit Disneyland, run across the overpass on Ball Road and then weave your way around Anaheim, running by the Duck Pond and the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim hockey team, the LA River area, and the Anaheim Angels stadium. Along the way there would be school bands, Mariachi bands, cheerleaders, DJs, a bunch of classic cars lined up, and more. This year... Well, it's pretty much running through neighborhoods. There's no special structures we're running past. Just long straight miles.
Around mile 6, I saw a fellow Legacy Runner who was moving at a good pace and we struck up a conversation. Talking about all the past years doing it. The heat of some years when it was held in September, the fun times running through Angels Stadium on the warning track, and the characters. It made the miles pass by quickly.
Disney doesn't have any characters out here on the course outside Disneyland, but I always love seeing these Star Wars cosplayers out!
Thanks for coming out and cheering for everyone!
But these are the characters I was looking forward to seeing the most on the course. It made my heart very happy when I ran around the corner and saw these three cheering for me. It's super early in the morning (6:45am) but they were excited to come out and cheer for me.
Love you guys!
Ian made a two-sided sign and was happy to give away free high fives to all the runners going by. He said his hand was hurting after so many, but he definitely gave runners a little adrenaline boost when they saw him.
Off I go! There's 3 more miles left!
We may not be near the Duck Pond, but Wild Wing is here cheering for us all!
You might have noticed in the course map above that there is a long section where the run is on the same street! As I was running back towards the park, the runners who started later are still coming from it! I moved close to the center to cheer for any Legacy runners I saw, and to try to keep an eye out for any of my friends.
And she saw me before I saw her, but look! It's Ariel! She's having a great race! Not much time to chit-chat, go go go!
Loving the reggae music going on. It's always a boost.
My friend Judy found Theresa and the kids! Selfie!
And a short time later, Ariel saw them too!
Sweaty hugs!
T said she would watch the runners and see their faces light up when they saw someone cheering, and they'd go out of their way to get to the side to give the high fives.
My video of running up to see them, plus Theresa's videos of people coming over for high fives.
Alli secretly packed her runDisney shirt from last year to surprise me. You can see her showing me her shirt as I run up.
Even after seeing all the people they knew running, the kids stayed out on the course cheering people on. They were out for 2 hours encouraging people. Love them!
And here we are, back where we started. At mile 13 was the starting line of the race.
And just 0.1 miles beyond it, the finish line. Yes! Another successful year of running the Disneyland Half Marathon and my Legacy status is still intact! 14 years of running!
I was really happy with my time this year too! Despite a few picture stops and seeing the family for a couple minutes, I finished with a time of 2:11:45. I think that's my fastest Disneyland Half yet!
After crossing the finish line, I was directed to a special section where I received my special Legacy finishers medal (more pictures later).
Happy to have it completed!
Collecting my snack box and mylar blanket. Let me tell you, that blanket was so needed. I was freezing once I slowed down and all the sweat was just cold against my body.
I headed out to the course to cheer on all the different runners.
I especially liked seeing the clever costumes people wear, and when I could dig into my bag of Disney knowledge and yell an obscure character's name I got big smiles from them. Like Horace and Jasper from 101 Dalmations running with coats, caps, and a suitcase with puppies in it. Or a quartet of Tiki Birds, Jose, Michael, Pierre, and Fritz! I saw Indiana Jones and Short Round. And even Indiana Jones and someone dressed as a Boulder! There was even a Darkwing Duck runner!
I cheered for Judy as she ran by.
Afterwards we met up to get a few pictures at the different photo ops Disney had. They were very popular, and luckily Disney planned ahead, marking off giant queues on the ground for people to wait.
Official Disney photographers here too, so you couldn't use your own camera. But it did keep the line moving quickly. There were even tables to put your things down while you took the picture. Breaking the finish line!
Well, that's the 2025 Disneyland Half Marathon! It was a fun time. I felt great, and it was good to see some friends!
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