2012 Disneyland Half Marathon Race Recap

If you haven’t figured it out by now, I’m a little bit of a runDisney and all things Disney nut.  Too me, Disneyland is sacred ground.  It’s where the magic began, the first Disneyland theme park, and it is also one of my favorite races to run!

 The Disneyland Half Marathon is usually held on the Sunday of Labor Day weekend.  2012 marked my  2^nd Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend were I earned my 2^nd Coast to Coast Challenge Medal.  The Coast to Coast Medal is awarded when you complete a runDisney half marathon or marathon at the Walt Disney World® Resort and the Disneyland® Resort in the same calendar year.

 TIP:  Plan to register for the Disneyland Half Marathon when the race opens.  It is quick to sell out especially with the new Dumbo Double Dare Challenge added in 2013.  I registered myself for Dumbo and my family for the Disneyland Family Fun Run 5K at the Walt Disney World Marathon expo in January.

 I was running this Half Marathon with my running buddy and fellow runDisney addict, Alison, and her daughter, Dani, who was celebrating her birthday!  Both Alison and I were coming off of injuries inflicted during the summer training months and Dani was super tired from long days spent at the office.  We decided to have fun and take it “slow.” 

 

We define “slow” as running like a lunatic through the parks to every character stop to pose with as many characters as possible.

We were all assigned to Corral B and made our way from the Fairfield Inn over to the start of the race on South Disneyland Drive.  It was a quick and easy walk and probably took less than 15 minutes.  We stopped in Downtown Disney to use a flushable potty before actually getting into our corral.  The above video shows you highlights of our race.  Below details the course.  Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about the race, course or my runDisney Disneyland experience.

The Course:

The Disneyland Half Marathon course runs down South Disneyland Drive by Disney’s Paradise Pier Hotel and Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa.  Then it turns left and runs along the south boarder of Disney California Adventure on West Katella Ave until turning onto South Harbor Blvd and into the back of Disney California Adventure.  

Then it winds through Cars Land, Paradise Pier, Hollywood Land upon exiting into the esplanade.  From there the course goes into Disneyland.   It takes you behind Walt’s firehouse apartment and then into Town Square and up Main Street U.S.A.   There the course turns into Frontierland and wraps around into Fantasyland and through Sleeping Beauty Castle before turning into Tomorrowland.  From there the course then leads into Toontown, behind scenes and onto West Ball Road.  

The course then continues along the streets of Anaheim.  The crowd of supporters are car enthusiasts, cultural dance groups and area school bands.  The miles go by quickly as we pass the Honda Center and make our way to Angel Stadium.  This is highlight of the race!  Area Boy and Girl Scouts come out to cheer on the racers outside and inside the stadium.   

There is no bigger thrill then running through that stadium and seeing your face on one of the jumbo-screens.  

Once you are out of the stadium, you are at Mile 10 and then there’s just 3.1 miles along E Gene Autry Way and S. Anaheim Way.  I’m not going to lie to you and tell you that these few miles are full with excitement and entertainment, because they are not.   Be prepared to either run with a buddy or listen to some music.  It will be needed.  Then we turn left onto Disney Way and then once again into Disney’s California Adventure, onto Downtown Drive and past Disneyland Hotel  to the Finish!

2012 Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend –Race Expo & Good Neighbor Hotel

For the 2012 Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend, I was supposed to travel with my family, but I had torn my TFL (tensor fasciae latae) in June.  Per doctor’s orders I had canceled both our Disneyland Hotel reservations and my daughter and my 5K race entries.  

My ortho had said no to any summer race until the Marine Corps Marathon in October.  However, since I had just run the Rock ‘n’ Roll Providence Relay – the 8 mile leg – and had no problems with my hip, I talked him into a “doctor’s note.” 

 

So I ended up attending the 2012 Disneyland Half Marathon weekend with some of my running family – Alison and her daughter Dani.  Alison and Dani had graciously allowed me to bunk with them at the last minute.   

Alison had broken her foot a week after I had my injury!  So both of us spent the summer training months recovering and were not expecting much of a race.  However, we were definitely in for a good time since it was Dani’s birthday and we were at DISNEYLAND!

We flew from Logan to LAX on JetBlue and took the shuttle to Anaheim.  We arrived at Disneyland around 2pm and headed straight to the expo.  By the time we had arrived to the offical runDisney booth, they were sold out of Coast to Coast Women’s Small shirts and Disneyland branded Sweaty Bands.  Never-the-less we were still able to spend $$$ and found a fabulous Coast to Coast shirt at the Raw Threads booth. 

TIP:  Get to the runDisney expos early!  Try to shoot to arrive when the expo opens if you have a specific item you want to purchase like a Coast to Coast shirt or Minnie/Mickey New Balance shoes!  Also, I purchased my Coast to Coast shirt at the 2013 Walt Disney World Marathon expo prior to actually earning my Coast to Coast medal at Disneyland Half Marathon this year because I have missed out on this shirt twice before!

Next we picked up our race bibs for the 5K and Half Marathon.   I had forgotten that I had canceled me and my daughter 5K race entries when I canceled my hotel reservations.  But it turns out that it didn’t matter.  Since race entries are non-refundable, both bibs were printed and it only took a few minutes for the runDisney staff to locate them.

Since it was later in the day, the expo was not at all crowed and shopping was a pleasant experience.  We were able to see the 20^th Anniversary Marathon medal up close and register some remaining family hold-out’s for the Walt Disney World Marathon weekend.   We also got to catch up with Barbara and Jeff Galloway and Another Mother Runner’s – Sarah and Dimity.

Next stop was dinner in Downtown Disney - which was steps from the Disneyland Expo.  We had burgers for dinner at House of Blues in Downtown Disney.  I like Downtown Disney better in Disneyland Resort than Walt Disney World.  To me it seems an extension of the parks and I enjoy its location between the parks.

I think we ended up going back to the expo at least three additional times to either register for races or shop!  But since we were in Disneyland and it was just a short walk not a bus ride!  

Alison had made hotel reservations OFF PROPERTY (I know the horrors!!!) at a Good Neighbor Hotel.  We stayed at the Fairfield Inn Anaheim Disneyland Resort right on South Harbor Boulevard.   This hotel was clean, beds were comfortable and the water pressure was good.  It included free WiFi and had a fridge in the room.  There was also a pool and it was located close to a McDonalds.  All in all very close to the magic….you could see the magic since it was located just across from Space Mountain and a short walk to the main gates.  I'm sure it was also ½ the price of the Disneyland Hotel.  

All in all, I would recommend the Fairfield Inn hotel if you wanted to stay off property.  However, when staying off Disneyland property I would use a stroller for children 5 and under.  

Up Next the Disneyland Family Fun Run 5K