Disney 1/2 Marathon or How to Facebook and take pictures while running!

This weekend Dave and I drove down to L.A., picked up our youngest daughter, Laura at college and headed to Anaheim for the Disney 1/2 marathon. This is the 3rd year we've done this race. We started when Laura was a freshman, missed last year because we procrastinated and it sold out and decided to do it once more for her senior year!

This race is even more fun because we meet up with a couple of our college friends and a few others. To me, one of the best parts of racing is getting to see friends :)

Our friends got to the expo before we did and waited in line to take a picture in front of the castle. We missed getting there by a few minutes so Laura and I just took our own picture with some strangers in the background.

After packet pick up we headed over to check into our hotel. Our friends had booked rooms for all of us right across the street from Disney so it was a great location. We headed over to Cheesecake Factory for an early dinner and then headed back for an early bedtime. We set our alarm for 4:00 since the race starts at 5:45.

Walking over in the dark.

Waiting in our corral.

The three of us had decided to run together for this race, not worry about our time and just have a good time. The course starts near Downtown Disney, winds around a couple of blocks and then into California Adventure and Disney. There are a lot of characters out and available for pictures and we took full advantage. 

As the race started, the sun was starting to come out as we ran into California Adventure.

World of Color Fountain Show was going on as we were going by.

Heading down Main Street.

Has to stop for the Aladdin folks!

Captain Hook and Company

Heading into Tomorrowland

Darth Vader was really creepy!

This gal was born to play Snow White. She was adorable.

One of the best parts of the race was getting to go behind the scenes at Disney. This year they had 2 mini-conks and a horse out. Of course, we had to stop for a picture.

After leaving Disney, we headed out onto the streets of Anaheim. A lot of the course was lined with bands, cheer teams, dance teams and this group of Mexican Folklorico dancers.

A new addition this year was several blocks of vintage cars. Very cool!

Passing the Honda Center (home of the loser Ducks) Dave and Laura had give a Go Sharks sign!

We headed into Angel Stadium and ran in the dirt track around the field. The stadium had a bunch of scout groups cheering us on.

View from the field.

Fun to be this low.

This woman had a great sign.

Finished and with our bling.

Some mother/daughter stretching.

Our whole group had a fun race and took the time to take it all in.

This was my slowest 1/2M ever! I think we came in just over 3 hours. We stopped to take pictures, I Facebooked, sometimes we walked for a while and sometimes we ran. It was just a nice, no pressure race and I'm really glad we decided to just have fun. Lots of great memories!

After the race, we cleaned up and all went out to lunch to celebrate the race and one of my friends birthdays. Then we dropped Laura back at her house and headed up to Dave's parents to spend the night. They were having their annual bocce ball party to we had a chance to visit with some of their good friends.

Monday morning we headed home and of course hit some L.A. traffic. Luckily, it cleared up fairly quickly and the rest of the ride was uneventful.

This is the shirt and medal we got.

Our old cat, Tiger, likes to sleep between our pillows. She probably spent most of the time there while we were gone. Hopefully, that white towel we put between the pillows caught all the hair she likes to leave there!