Tutus, glitter, pixie dust, Disney characters, singing, dancing, running…
This is what made up the Inaugural Tinker Bell ½ Marathon that I was lucky enough to participate in on this past Sunday (1/29/2012). My friend Sara emailed me two weeks prior to the race asking me if I’d like her friend’s bib since her friend wasn’t able to make the race anymore. I said “Absolutely!” and I was given my “wings” (AKA bib).
My cousin Rachel was already signed up with her mom, friend and other cousin so I was stoked that I could join them! My cousin already had her green tutu so I ran out to Party City and picked up a fabulous sparkly green tutu with gold ribbons. It’s amazing. (It will probably make a 2nd appearance on St. Patty’s Day coming up).
Since the race started at 5:45am and shuttle pick-ups were at 3:50, we had to wake up at 3am. Ouch. Luckily we stayed at one of the Disneyland hotels so we were nearby. My cousin Rachel, her friend Lisa and I shared a room and once we were ready we headed down to the lobby to meet the rest of our crew at the shuttle. But WAIT!!! The shuttle was driving away!!! We waved our arms and saw it slowing down the street. The three of us looked at each other and said “Is it stopping? Do we run? We RUN!” So we sprinted down the street flailing our arms to get on the shuttle. Phew! We made it. Chasing a giant Disney bus down the street at 4am will sure wake you up.
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| The Tinker Bell crew |
We arrived at the starting area, used the restroom, and warmed up our muscles. Then all of a sudden we there was this intoxicating smell in the air…BACON! Whoever was cooking bacon was creating quite the tease for a lot of people!
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| Me and my cousins Rachel |
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| Me Rachel and Lisa in our green tutus pre-race! |
After our mouths stopped watering, we were herded into our Corral where we waited for a long 45 minutes.
Finally the gun went off, and about 15 minutes later our corral crossed the Starting line. My cousin, her friend Lisa, and I were together the whole race, and let me tell you, these girls can SPEED walk! The first few miles ticked by…1…2…3…4…5.
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| Main St, Disneyland |
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| Running down Main St. |
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| The Castle :) |
We were laughing, singing, and admiring everyone’s costume. I have never seen so many tutus in my life! If you WEREN’T wearing a tutu (or a costume of some sort) you stood out like a sore thumb. Let me digress for a second – anyone who discounts walkers doesn’t know what they’re talking about. We were speed walking and we were passing folks! Yes, we walkers were passing runners (and I say this as a runner myself)! Anyways…one of the fun thing about Disney races is that the characters, Disney parade floats, and Disney holiday decoration adorn the course and we get to run through the park! This makes time fly by!!! So before we knew it were at mile 9 and feeling great!
Well, Rachel and Lisa were. They had been training doing lots of mid-week walks and long walks on the weekends. Me, not so much. As I mentioned, I’m a runner and walking uses very different muscles. Speed walking those 9 miles was making my hips scream! So I started running a nice easy pace with them as they continued to kick butt walking! I didn’t even see the 10-mile marker and before I knew it we were at mile 11 with 2.1 to go. The spectators thickened and we saw some of our family in the crowd cheering us on! It was such a great pick-me-up.
We rounded the corner and there was mile 12 along with Woody and the Toy Story crew. I had to take a picture for my hubby because people at his work call him Woody (there is a slight resemblance :-P ).
We saw mile 13 ahead and all began running. The three of us grabbed hands as we passed mile 13 and held them up together as we sprinted the last 0.1 miles across the finish line!
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| Finishers! |
We got our huge and heavy Inaugural Tinker Bell ½ Marathon medals and let me tell you, they’re so cool! Like I said, they are substantial, and in the center is a little Tink that spins! Adorable!
So we got our medal and waited for Rachel’s mom and aunt. It was Rach’s mom’s first Half! She was crossed soon after us and looked amazing!!! She kicked butt!!!! We took some pictures then headed over to get water, Cliff bars, and bananas. We hung out for a bit then I headed home. As soon as I got home I jumped in the shower. I hung my medal on the door knob and one of Sean's and my kitties, Tantalum started playing with it...so cute!
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| Little Tantalum playing with Tinker Bell (and scoping himself out in the mirror) I love this little guy :) |
After showering, I told my hubby I wanted bacon (that bacon smell at the beginning was teasing me the whole race) so he took me out to brunch at one of my favorite places for the most amazing egg-white omelet and bacon ever. Oh it tasted so good :)
We all decided the Tinker Bell ½ will become a family tradition and we will do it every year. It was so much fun! Thank you again to Sara and her friend who gave me her bib for this amazing race! Thank you thank you thank you!!!!!!
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