samc
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jun 15, 2005
Hi everyone! Congrats to all the princesses! I got back yesterday, and had an AMAZING time!
I just thought I'd post my personal experience re: the corrals and taking pictures and congestion, etc. As many of you know, this was my first half marathon and first RunDisney event, so I had absolutely no idea what to expect.
I do know that I trained for months and months at a 9-10/minute mile pace, and very legitimately submitted a 10K time of 56:17 to earn my place in Corral A. While I did not walk any any point during the entire race, I still did not cross the finish line until 3:30...over an hour after I anticipated finishing based on my usual pace.
Yes, I was forced to slow down quite a bit due to the ridiculous humidity (I've been training in NJ's 30-degree temperatures for the last few months, after all), and I did make a few unexpected pit stops (I was struggling with some stomach issues in mile 8), but I was absolutely one of those runners taking tons of pictures. I stopped for almost every single character and also took various photos along the course, including all of the mile markers, photos in front of the castle, etc. Yes, I would have loved to finish a whole lot sooner, but I have no regrets.
I've run a bunch of 5Ks, 10Ks, etc. and know all about proper race etiquette, so I was always very careful to move to the side to take photos, etc. I was absolutely running as fast as I could (although I was struggling to maintain an 11-12 minute/mile in the humidity) between photo stops, and did find myself doing lots of weaving around slower runners and walkers towards the end when all of the later corrals had caught up with me...but I can't complain, it's my own fault! I know that there were many first-time half marathoners this weekend, and now that I've been through it, I'm not sure that I'd ever run this race with the hopes of a PR...but I would highly recommend it to a first-timer.
It was a ridiculously expensive weekend and I'm a Disney freak, so to me, enjoying my race experience was more important than what the clock said when I crossed the finish line. I can register for any half marathon and put my training to the test, but if you're going to spend the money to take a pricey trip and run through Disney theme parks, I see no reason why you shouldn't allow yourself to have a little fun along the way. I went into this race knowing that it would probably be hot and crowded, and yes I wanted to do my best, but I also wanted to have fun and capture all of those silly photo ops and memories of my first half marathon.
So that's my story of how I ended up finishing among corral H runners, even though I rightfully earned my place in corral A and could have definitely finished in 2:15 or 2:30 if I had been more disciplined with my photo breaks...but I wouldn't have done this race any other way.
Couldn't agree more - this was also my first half marathon I was in corral C though - didn't get a ton of pictures but had a great time! The humidity didn't bother me (typical alabama weather) but I didn't expect the route to narrow so much