My husband and I just completed our very first half marathon at the Happiest Place on Earth: Disneyland!

The race started at 5am – we woke up at 3am to get ready and it was about a 30 minute walk to the starting gates. We we in the last corral (the “party” group – aka. “business in front, party in the back”), so we didn’t actually start running until about 5:45am.

There were SO many people crowded into a small space – we started off at a slow pace, about 13-minute miles, but that was okay (the pacer car picked up people who were slower than 16-minute miles). There were a few times we bottle-necked on the race – at mile 3 where there was a narrow curve and they had conveniently also put a water station in the same spot, and around mile 4 as we tried to run across the Sleeping Beauty Castle bridge and pretty much came to a complete stop.

We did not wait in any lines to take pictures with characters on the route, because we were afraid we would lose too much time and get swept by the pacer car! Maybe next time if we’re more confident…

Miles 2-5 we were in the Disney parks, staring in California Adventure and then going to Disneyland – and the last 8 miles of the route were along the roads and highways of Anaheim (not super exciting, but that’s okay!)

The route was a bit treacherous – we were warned by multiple people and also on the Run Disneyland Facebook group to watch out for slippery spots and potholes on the trail. I think since we had a slow pace, we were not in as much danger of falling as the faster runners – we passed a spot where someone had wiped out and there was (what appeared to be) blood – more than what a simple scraped knee would have merited(!)

Miles 10-13 were the hardest for me. My pace slowed down, and my legs felt so heavy. My knees were killing me too. The farthest distance I had ever run previously was 12 miles, so I knew I could do it, but I was so ready to be done!

We had some spectators cheering us on, and some of the signs were pretty funny. Here were a few of my favorites:

“I’m sure this seemed like a good idea 11 months ago”

“Worst Disney parade ever”

“Run like your copyright is expiring”

At the finish line, they had announcers, and Mickey and Minnie were there cheering us on! The announcer literally said, “You weren’t the fastest, but you finished!” (I wasn’t sure whether to laugh or be slightly offended – we decided to laugh!)

“The proof you can do hard things is one of the most powerful gifts you can give yourself.”

_{Nat Eliason}

I am still a little bit in shock that I actually ran 13.1 miles. This is something I never thought I was going to be able to do – the task seemed so insurmountable. Especially because four years ago I had foot pain and swelling (a complication from running) which ended up with me needing foot surgery and with one of my doctors telling me that my feet were “not designed for running” and maybe I’d like to take up swimming instead?

It took me a year and a half of healing and recovery (cue the knee scooters, crutches, and physical therapy) before I could really start running again after that surgery.

So what possessed me to want to run a half marathon? What made me think I could even do it?

A year ago in January of 2023, I was going through a really dark time. I had a lot of anger and depression, and I guess grief too. I decided that running would be a good way to channel all those negative feelings into something positive. I fully expected to run out of steam, but I never did.

After 6 weeks of running and slowly increasing my distance, I decided I would try to sign up for the Disneyland half marathon in 2024. Registration was a full 11 months in advance – and at that point I could only run about 3 miles. I was really nervous about committing to do something that I had no evidence I could actually do, but figured the chance to run a Disney marathon would give me the motivation I needed to keep training.

The day of registration, as I was sitting by my computer waiting for the exact moment I could try to register (it sells out super fast!) my husband Dean decided he wanted to sign up to run with me. I am so glad he did, because it was so great to encourage each other on this journey of training. We never actually trained together the entire past year, but that made it really special to run side by side and to both experience our first half marathon together! I admit, I got a little emotional when we crossed the finish line together (just a few minutes shy of the 3-hour mark.)

It’s been exciting to start 2024 off with achieving a big goal – I’m definitely interested in training for another half marathon, maybe 2025?

If you’re interested to know about my training process, stay tuned for another post: My Tips for First-Time HALF Marathon Runners.

Here’s how the race played out for me, tracked by Runkeeper: