This weekend I did a 1/2 marathon at Disneyland. At the beginning of the year, we did the Disney World Marathon weekend in Orlando, and I swore it would be at least three years before I stepped foot in another Disney park.
The thing is, Disney knows how to make a buck, and they know runners, and runners love medals. So they give you the opportunity to earn 5 medals by running three races: if you run the Disney World 1/2 Marathon followed by the full marathon the next day, you get a medal for each race plus a third medal called the "Goofy" for running both races, since you are truly goofy for wanting to do that. Then if you run the Disneyland 1/2 Marathon in the same year, you get the medal for that race plus a medal called the "Coast-to-Coast" for running in both Disney locations in one year.
I was originally just going to fly down, run the race, and come back, pretty much a 48-hour trip on my own. I would be meeting up with Mary's parents, who were doing the race the second year in a row. But at the last minute we decided that Mary and Celeste would come too. So we found someone to watch the kids and off we went!
Sometimes I bemoan the money that Disney takes from me and the fact that everything is pre-programed there: they even tell you where to take snapshots of your family! But it really was a fun time, the race was great, and even though the park was crowded (Labor Day and all), we enjoyed the shows, the parades, and the rides.
This was the first 1/2 marathon I've raced, and it was nice! I finished in 1 hour and 41 minutes in spite of some ankle pain that I was having, and when I finished, I didn't feel trashed like I do after a marathon.
The trip was still 48 hours long, but it was much more enjoyable with Mary and Celeste with me. Now for sure I'm going to take a Disney break, unless they come up with a new way for me to earn medals... Oh look, they have a new marathon relay with a Chip and Dale medal this January... Dang it!
