About a year ago, I gave myself the goal of completing a half marathon. 13.1 miles is a long way & I wanted my first one to be fun. So, I chose the Tinker Bell Half Marathon at Disneyland. I trained & the event had finally arrived. I completed the half and it was better than I dared to think it could be. Here’s my recap of this awesome event hosted by Run Disney:

COSTUME

Since this was going to be my first Disney run & it is Tinker Bell themed, I really wanted to dress as a fairy. I chose Fawn. In reality, my costume resembles Fawn very little. But she was my inspiration. I wouldn’t typically pay good money for an orange shirt.
Headband: From Sparkly Soul. I hadn’t decided what I was going to do with my hair. Typically I do a basic pony tail. But, Fawn wears a braid. I also wanted to add a dash of green to my costume & hadn’t quite figured that out. When my friends & I went to the Expo Sparkly Soul was selling sparkly green headbands. The day of the race I wore the sparkly green headband and put my hair in a side braid. It worked perfectly. The headband stayed put and the side braid didn’t drive me crazy like I was afraid it might.
Shirt: Nike
Skirt: From Sweet Spot Skirts. When I ran the Heartbreaker 10k, Sweet Spot Skirts was there as a vendor selling their reversible skirts.
Leggings: Nike
Socks: Nike
Wings: From Sparkle Athletic. Before I left home I sewed the middle part of the wings to my shirt. The day of the run, I put one safety pin near the top of each shoulder. Totally worked. The wings didn’t shift or bobble. I could hardly tell they were even there. Awesome! I should run with wings more often.

I also wore pretty magenta Jamberry nail wraps that had a woman running on them. Super cute. However, I really don’t like the nail wraps. Maybe it’s just me. Maybe my nails are too curved. Maybe I’m too picky. But, I can’t get them to be wrinkle free no matter what I do. And, it never fails that whenever I do my hair one strand gets caught under a wrap. Annoying. I knew I wouldn’t like wearing them, but I had them and saved them for this run. So I wore them.

WAITING TO START

The run started at 5:30am. I left the hotel at 4:30 and headed over. It was a little bit of a jaunt, but I figured it was a good warm up. I stopped at a restroom in Downtown Disney for one last tinkle. I’m glad I did because the lines at the porta potties closer to the start were crazy long. I didn’t really know where the start line was, but I just followed the crowd & eventually found my corral, which was D. Then, I waited impatiently. Right around 5:30 the elite racers & Corral A began their run. According to my phone, I crossed the start line at 5:56am.
I was happy to see the 3 hour pacer nearby, as that was my goal. I figured if I stayed near her, I would make my goal and have no need to worry about getting picked up by the sweeper. However, I lost sight of her by Mile 2, probably from me stopping to take a million photos once we entered the parks.

AWAY WE GO!

I was so excited & could hardly believe I was about to actually run this race. Tinker Bell began the countdown and Minnie & Daisy cheered us on. The first mile, or so, was outside the park. Rounding a corner and seeing the beautiful California sunrise was a perfect start to the race.

RUNNING THROUGH THE DISNEY PARKS

Right around Mile 1 we made it into the Disney parks. We ran through California Adventure, Disneyland, Downtown Disney & the Disney back lots. I had the music on my phone playing like I usually do while running. But, there was so much excitement & other music around that I ended up taking out my earbuds.

CHARACTER SIGHTINGS & PHOTO OPS

Throughout the parks were various characters ready for photos. No offense to the others, but I only stopped for the fairies. Oh, and a horse. I took a picture with a Disneyland horse. Yes, I did.
I was thoroughly impressed with how efficient the lines for the character photos were. At the main characters, there was a professional photographer. But also there were plenty of Disney cast members ready to take the photo with your own camera. The lines moved quickly with everyone antsy to continue their run.

Holy cow, there’s Jack Sparrow! He was up on a ledge, so we couldn’t take a pic with him. But, it was still fun to see him.

Left: While running through the back lots, there were a variety of items on display – like this Toy Story float from a parade. So, so awesome!
Right: The Lost Boys on King Arthur’s Carrousel. I loved those guys.

RUNNING THE STREETS OF ANAHEIM

This was the section I was worried about. I was afraid I’d get bored once out of the parks and therefore notice how tired I was. There was still about half the race to go and no Disney fun to entertain me. But, nope, I didn’t get bored.
While running through the parks, I stopped a lot. Outside the park, I focused more on my running. But, took walk breaks when needed. I know the reason my spirit was high even at Mile 10. It was all the people cheering us on. It’s hard to feel defeated when so many people are rooting for you. Hundreds, thousands, of amazing people making my first half marathon a truly great experience.

NEARING THE FINISH

I DID IT!

I don’t even know how to describe the feeling I had at that moment. I did it! I completed a half marathon! And, I even felt good at the end.

PLAYING IN THE PARKS THE REST OF THE DAY

After I finished, I was tired. But, not too tired to enjoy the parks. I absolutely wore my medal that entire day. I was/am proud of it.

FIT BIT

A little extra bonus for me that day was my phone chiming at me telling me I had new messages. Five messages throughout the day, to be exact. It was Fit Bit alerting me that I earned a new badge. I’ve been wearing my Fit Bit for almost a year and the highest step badge I’d earned was for 25,000 steps. That day in May, I earned the 30,000, 35,000, 40,000, 45,000 & 50,000 steps badges. A half marathon + playing at Disneyland the rest of the day = 51,746 steps.

SWAG

I couldn’t have dreamt about a better race experience. My costume came together and worked well for 13+ miles. 16,000 runners/joggers/walkers and very little chaos. Many bathrooms & porta potties throughout the entire race, so lines weren’t long. Running down Main Street, USA! Captain Jack Sparrow & The Lost Boys spunky attitudes to make me giggle. Hundreds of Red Hat Ladies. So many fun signs to read & entertain me. The weather was coolish & only started getting warm near the end. Plenty of water & powerade stops. My friends that came with me on the trip were so, so encouraging and proud of me. An awesome medal with a twirling Tink.

There is only one damper on the whole event. And, that is that I do not have an official race time. My e-chip never registered me going over the start line. Boo! This explains why my hubby never received email notifications as I was running. Thank goodness I had set both my Nike+ and Map My Walk apps to record. I also took plenty of pictures with the time listed in their properties. So, I have an idea of my finish time. The Nike app recorded about a half an hour less than the Map My Walk. That’s because whenever I stopped & waited in line for a photo or bathroom break the app paused. Which tells me, I stood in line about half an hour through the course. On my Bib & Bling Board, I recorded my time at 3:19:56. If I had an official time, it should have been close to that. It wasn’t quite the 3 hour mark I was aiming for. Although, the Nike app recorded it at under 3 hours. I don’t mind that my “official” time is 20 minutes more than I was hoping for mainly because I felt good all the way to the end. Had I pushed myself even more, I don’t think I would have felt as great when I finished. So, I’m glad I went at a comfortable pace, finished strong & was able to spend the rest of the day enjoying Disneyland.

Now my dilemma is which half to do next?

Click here to read my recap of the Neverland 5K.

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Last week I completed my first ever Run Disney event – the Neverland 5K. It was a great experience, even if it did rain.

I flew to California with two friends on Thursday & we spent the entire weekend enjoying Disneyland & California Adventure.

This post contains affiliate links.

COSTUME

A couple years ago, I made myself a Red Queen costume to go along with my kids Mad Hatter & Alice Halloween costumes. I cut off the long sleeves & shortened the skirt & voila a Red Queen costume fit for a 5K.

Crown: I made a crown using glittery gold craft foam and tied it to a headband. It worked splendidly. I wore it all day.
Dress: The pattern I used before my recent alterations, when I first made the dress, was McCall’s M5954.
Bra: Panache Underwire Sports Bra – I have a couple of these bras. They are absolutely my favorite while running.
Leggings: Nike

EARLY MORNING

The 5K started at 5:00am. So, so early. We left the hotel about 4:30 and headed towards the castle, which is where the race started. So, so awesome.

I, obviously, dressed as the Red Queen. One of my friends pulled off a fantastic Sully costume. And, my other friend wore the Neverland 5k shirt.

Fireworks & Tink flying over the castle were the signals that the race was about to begin! We were so excited, to say the least. It was an emotional moment for my friends. Two years prior, they completed this very same 5K. That was their  very first 5K. They’ve gone on to do over 40 5K’s in the 2 years since. I’m so proud of them. And, here we are in the most Magical Place ready to tackle another.

RAIN. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

Southern California was in desperate need of rain. However, we are from Oregon & see plenty of rain. So we were not impressed. It started out just sprinkling, which was ok. But, then it got heavier and we realized there was no way we were going to finish this 5K before turning into wet rags. The Disney Cast Members wore ponchos while handing out the water. Smart people.

WALKING THROUGH THE PARKS

The course took us through Disneyland, California Adventure & the back lots. It was fun seeing the back lots & the items they had on display for us. While on the course, when you saw Peter’s shadow you were supposed to cock-a-doodle-doo. My friend with the dark hair was an awesome cock-a-doodle-doo-er. We tried to enjoy ourselves despite the rain.

CHARACTER PHOTO OPS

There were plenty of Neverland characters available for your photo taking pleasure. Hook & Smee were popular. As were Wendy & Peter near the end. We opted not to take photos with those characters. I’m thinking we just had no desire to stand in line while it was raining. We did, however, get a quick pic with these fun pirates.

THE FINISH & OUR MEDAL

One of the best things about this 5K was all the great costumes. Definitely one of my favorites were 3 ladies dressed as Flora, Fauna & Merryweather.

The Neverland 5K medal is made of a rubbery plastic material making it seem kind of chincy. However, it is super cute with the Lost Boys decorating it.

SWAG

At the finish we received a box of goodies. It had all sorts of things in it: goldfish, a clif bar, hummus, cashew roca, and a couple things I’ve never heard about. It was great stuff to snack on throughout our weekend at Disneyland.

HOW WE SPENT THE REST OF THE DAY

After resting for a bit, we headed back to the parks and spent the rest of the day enjoying Disneyland & California Adventure. We had a lunch reservation at the Blue Bayou. My friends raved about the Monte Cristo, so that’s what I ordered too. Oh! So good! It’s not the type of thing I usually eat. But, it was delicious.

My friend with the dark hair did our Red Queen & Sully hair earlier that morning for the 5K. She did such a good job that it stayed even through the rain. We chose to keep our hair dos throughout the day. I’ll admit, I felt a wee bit silly walking around with a crown all day.

Two days later, I ran my first half marathon. Check that post out here.

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To train & keep me motivated for my first half marathon in May, I signed up for another 10K.

Honestly, there’s not much to say about the run. The weather was nice, which can be rare around here in February, so that was a bonus. It was a 5K course that the 10Kers ran twice. At the end I did get a nice looking medal.

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This was my first organized race in 5 months. Although I took a break from running in December, I went right back to it in January beginning to train for my first half marathon in May. So I thought I was prepared to run this 10K. I absolutely underestimated the hills on this course. They were real killers. I finished with an ok time, but boy was I tired.

Top Left: The start.
Middle Left: When I was a kid, my grandparents lived on this road. It was fun running past it.
Bottom Left: Finished & tired.
Bottom Middle: After finishing there was an electrolyte drink, Golazo, available. I had never heard of it, but it wasn’t too bad.
Right: Bling to add to my Bib & Bling Board!

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Previously I had done 2 color fun runs & my boys were wanting to do one, so we did the Color Vibe.

The nice thing was that kids 12 and under could do the event for free. Of course they didn’t get any swag, but no biggie, I just bought extra color packets for them to throw. Buying color packets isn’t necessary to do the event, but one of the best parts is getting to throw color at your friends & family. To me, it’s worth paying for extras.

They loved it. They wore moustaches and sunglasses & totally embraced getting colorful.

THE FUN RUN

The event is a fun run, basically meaning you do not receive an official time. You can run, jog, walk or stroll. Just have fun & make it to the finish line. That’s exactly what we did. There was 10 of us in our group. We got colorful and had fun.

Top Left: This is my sister’s father in law. What a fun guy, huh.
Middle: This is the fun part – running through the color zones. Of course my kids loved it.

THE FINISH

Bottom: These color runs typically have music and an announcer on stage at the end. At certain times everyone throws their color and it creates a beautiful powdery mess.

If you’ve never done a 5K and would like to, but are nervous about how to go about it, a fun run is the perfect place to start. There is absolutely no pressure. Some people run them, many people walk, everybody has fun. It’s about getting out there and being active at your own pace.

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Almost exactly one year ago I signed my hubby, John, & I up for the Warrior Dash. It was much cheaper if we committed so far in advance. So, I signed us up. Then waited.

I have friends who have done it and this muddy, obstacle filled race was on my bucket list of 5k’s. This weekend was finally our time to give our all at the Warrior Dash.

It was all I thought it would be. Challenging, yet loads of fun… except the never ending steep hills. Those sucked.

THE MUDDY OBSTACLE TRAIL RUN

Of course, what makes this event different from other 5K’s are the obstacles. It’s not a race to get your PR, but a race to challenge you in a different way.

Top Left: 3, 2, 1, Go – complete with fire!
Top Right: Alcatraz. This was our first obstacle, so I was actually excited to hop in and get wet. I wasn’t real graceful climbing onto the island, but I did it. Totally doable. And, a great obstacle to start the event. However… when I was trying to be silly waving at my husband I jabbed & scraped my leg on a stick standing up in the pond. That’s what I get for trying to be silly… Funny, that’s exactly what I tell my kids when they get hurt while messing around. It really didn’t hurt too bad when I did it. But today, it looks horrible. It’s big & red and purple.
Bottom Left: The pipeline. A long net tunnel. Definitely doable, but a bit awkward.
Middle Right: Mud Mounds. Slippery, muddy mounds to crawl up & slide down with soupy mud in between. Farmer John jumped across each of the soupy sections. I, however, sloshed my way through them.
Bottom Right: Muddy feet & legs within the first mile. Bahaha. I thought I was muddy.

Top Left: When I got to this climbing wall obstacle I was nervous. It was steep and tall and intimidating. I did it, though, with no problem.
Bottom Left: Goliath. Climbing ropes to the top, then sliding very quickly into a pit of muddy water.
Right: Black, stinky, thick mud goo is what this was. It was horrible. The mud was deep & extremely thick making it incredibly difficult to move through. Even Farmer John had a hard time with this one & he flew through all the other obstacles. It was impossible to move more than a teeny tiny inch at a time. I imagine someone could easily have a panic attack in there. This was not your everyday common mud. I think we’re  smiling in this pic because we’re glad we made it out alive.

WE FINISHED!

Oh man, was I glad to be done. Those hills, the heat & that black mud obstacle at the end had wore me out. We earned our medals that day.

GETTING CLEANED UP

There was a pond available to scrape that weird sticky black mud off before getting in your car.

This was not just any ol’ typical 5k. It was a challenge. I was worried about the obstacles, but they really weren’t much of a problem. A couple of them had me nervous, but I completed them just fine. There was nothing I felt I could not do. The most challenging part was going up all the hills. There was hill after hill with obstacles in between.

On my slower running days, I will run a 5k in about 45 minutes. So, I gave us the goal of finishing this obstacle filled race in an hour. We didn’t. It took us about an hour and a half. Some time was wasted while waiting in line to get through the obstacles and also I hadn’t counted on all those hills. We walked more than I planned. I wasn’t going for time anyway. I just thought we would do it quicker.

I’m so glad we did it. I think my hubby even had fun.

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Over the weekend my sister, a couple friends, niece, & daughter took part in the Color Me Rad 5K. We walked the 3.1 miles beginning at the event center, on to the road, through 4 color stations & back to the event center.

This is a fun run, so it’s not timed. We just walked & had a good time.

Last October I did the Color Vibe & this 5K was very similar. The Color Vibe seemed to have more people & was louder, but the focus of the event – which is color – was pretty much the same.

WE’RE HERE & READY TO GET COLORFUL

BEING RAD

Top Left: Color stations along the route have volunteers throwing color at you as you go by. The first color was pink.
Middle Left: Rad tattoo that came with our race packet. We also got a tshirt, sunglasses, rad sticker & 1 color bomb.
Bottom Right: My niece & Princess K are both 6, so they did the race for free. Score! And, they loved it.

THE FINISH

Top: Party full of people throwing color bombs at the same time. I love this part, although it does get quite dusty as all that colored corn starch fills the air.
Middle Left: Probably my least favorite part. I love all the color & I don’t mind being messy. But, having an ear full of powdered color is just weird.
Bottom Left: My sister & I. You know, ’cause we’re each “One Rad Mama!”
Bottom Right: Us colorful “adults” at the end of the race. It’s nice to be silly once in a while.

This event was low key & fun. There was no pressure to race hard. I simply enjoyed a walk with my daughter, conversation with friends & lots of color.

Although it appears to be quite a crazy time, it really wasn’t overly crowded or too loud. It was very family friendly.

If you are looking for a PR, this probably isn’t the best race option. But, if you’re looking to get off the couch & do something fun with family & friends this 5K is perfect.

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Thanksgiving morning the kids, hubby & I completed the 4 mile Turkey Trot at the Oregon Zoo.

The race began near the World Forestry Center. Then continued through Washington Park, down the hill towards the Portland Rose Gardens, back up the hill and finished inside the Oregon Zoo.

It was a good event with great weather and a bit of challenge for the kids. Their legs were sore the next day, but they all want to continue doing these type of events.

Top Middle: A costume a loved
Middle: Running through Washington Park
Bottom Right: At the end we each received a chocolate turkey. Yum.

The kids did great. They ran some, they jogged some & they walked some. We finished the race in 1:10, which I thought was fantastic.

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I participated in a number of 5k’s throughout the summer & the Ugly Sweater Run will be my last one of the year.
The first time I ran/walked a 5k in March was horrible. I was so extremely exhausted by the end. By November, at the Ugly Sweater Run, I was able to run (jog slowly) the entire thing. I was tired but not overly exhausted & I had done it 13 minutes quicker than the first one I did in March. I am proud of that.

Top Right:It was kind of a dreary day running through the streets of Beaverton, but it never really rained.
Bottom Left: Finished
Bottom Right: As a finisher, you earned a beer or hard cider. I chose hard cider since I don’t care for beer. The cider was good, but it did upset my stomach, making me wonder what the craze is for serving beer after a run. I’m wore out, the last thing I want is alcohol.

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I began running in February & wanted to sign up for a few 5K’s to keep me motivated. I talked a few friends into doing it with me and we had a fabulously colorful time.

SWAG

Our shirts, bibs, sunglasses, & color packets.

WAITING FOR THE RACE TO START

No need to wait for the race to start to have fun. We opened our color packets and had a blast.

ALONG THE 5K COURSE

Top Left: The fun of running while color is being thrown at you.
Bottom Left: Girlfriends I went to high school with. We’re still in touch & I’m so glad they came and did this with me.

WE FINISHED

I think we all would agree this was a great way to spend an October morning. When’s our next event ladies?

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