Can you say PR? At Disney??? That is right. On April 22nd, as a part of the RunDisney Star Wars Dark Side Challenge, I ran the 10K, with the half marathon to follow the next day (separate recap later). Because I do not run 10K events too often, I wanted to push my efforts and try and break my previous best of 55:44 at this distance back in 2012. Mission accomplished. I ran a 51:57 on my way to a new PR!
Well I started the post at the end, so now I will back track a little and review the race. First, it is Disney & it is Star Wars themed, so that makes it all great!
We stayed at the Animal Kingdom Lodge – Jambo House for this trip. I always enjoy this view from our balcony!
Because Disney races start so early in the morning, 5:30 AM, it was an early night Friday night. With all the gear ready, off to sleep I “tried”…
The alarm clock woke me at 3:00 AM, and I was on the bus to the race by 3:30 AM. Upon arrival at the Magic Kingdom Parking Lot (aka Transportation & Ticket Center) there were people everywhere. Which was weird at 4:00 AM, but this is RunDisney!
I met up with my running buddies, Matt, Kira, & Becky.
After we met up, we decided to jump in the shortest character line that was available, and luckily it was Boba Fett. You will learn more on this choice throughout this and the half marathon post to come. The characters available were Boba Fett, Captain Phasma, Darth Vader, Jabba the Hutt, & Kylo Ren. We caught pictures with the rest of them at the finish area. Becky waited for a little while for us, but it took almost an hour just to see Boba Fett, so she headed to the corals a little earlier.
Me & Boba Fett
Matt, Kira, & I with Boba Fett
There was good entertainment in the waiting areas prior to the corrals opening.
After our picture with Boba Fett, we headed to the Corrals. Becky & I were in Corral A, Matt & Kira were in Corral C. So we all used the porta potties, wished each other well, and off to our corrals. Rudy, Carrisa, and some other dude entertained us for a little while.
Then some Storm Troopers gave us some orders, then it was time to hit the road. I great Disney fashion, each corral starts with fireworks.
This, however, was my first 10K at Disney, and I was disappointed in the level of fireworks for this race. The half marathon fireworks were far better!
Here is the map of the course for the 10K. We started at Magic Kingdom and ended in the Epcot parking lot.
As I said earlier, I was going to go all out for this race. My initial goal was to run a sub 50 minute race. For the first 3 miles I was on pace for doing that. Then it started to warm up and I knew I was not going to keep up that pace. My second goal was to best my best 10K time in a half marathon, which was 52:49. Mission Accomplished with a 51:57! So, as you can see in the pictures below, which you should contrast later to my pictures in the half marathon post, I was killing myself in this race. But it was worth it for the PR! There were a lot of character stops on the course, including a great showing from the 501st Legion; however, since I was going for a PR I did not make any stops. I saved that for the half marathon.
When it was done, I had my PR, not the sub-50 that I wanted, but I will gladly take a new PR. I enjoyed the course. That was the first time I had ever got the opportunity to start in Magic Kingdom and finish at Epcot. Miles 2 and 3 were a little boring, so hopefully in years to come, they will add some entertainment there, but other than that, I enjoyed the route.
In the finish area, they once again had the characters available to take pictures with. Becky stuck around and waited for me to finish, and we took in the character photos together.
BB-8
Captain Phasma
Becky & I with Captain Phasma
Kylo Ren
Boba Fett
Darth Vader
Boba Fett arresting me
The spoils are always good after a RunDisney event. Here is to another completed race.
We have great fashion sense, I guess!
Thanks to my “0.0 Someone Has To Take The Pictures” for capture this picture of running friends!
Oh, and for those wondering…. Yes, there was a post race cupcake in the parks that day!
Well we spent most of the day post race at Magic Kingdom. Then it was early to bed again to get ready for the Star Wars Dark Side Half Marathon the next morning. That recap should be available soon.
Thanks for following!
