The alarm went off dark and early at about 2:20 for the Disneyland 5k. Some May think we’re crazy waking up that early but as with all Disney runs, we’ve learned getting there early diminishes stress and gives more time for prerace memories to be made.
When discussing our race costumes for the Disneyland Half we were brainstorming ideas and I found these adorable Mickey ears on Etsy and we just knew we HAD to be Wilderness Explorers from the movie “Up”. We wanted a bright colorful costume and this was one I’ve been wanting to do for a while. Laura did an amazing job making the sashes which I know was time consuming and tedious and that looked fantastic! I have to say costume planning is one of my favorite parts of these races.
So we headed from our hotel toward the race and realized NO ONE was around. It was kind of creepy and we wondered if our alarms were wrong. But finally we reached the security checkpoint and saw a handful of other runners. We made our way toward the stage where there was a dj playing music trying to get the crowd to wake up a bit and get excited for the race ahead. Well anything involving dancing and we are there ready to go.
There was an announcer at this race weekend we didn’t recognize from previous races but he immediatelym came up to us and loved our costumes and asked us to stay near the stage so he can add us to some of the preshow. He was really fun and ended up being at all of the races. His name is Kevin Gregg and I think he definitely was a great addiction to the Rundisney announcers. We hope they bring him back.
More people began to arrive and the costumes for this race were so “Incredible” . For real. I’m astonished at the talent and creativity you see.
They had some fun photo opportunities (a real pizza planet truck) and signs to get some great pictures prerace, but no character meets which I didn’t expect since they haven’t done before for Disneyland runs I’ve been at.
Carissa and Andrea came to the stage with some prerace announcements. They had Mr Incredible there and a faux fashion designer that was hilarious. A really fun touch to entertain the crowd while waiting.
After that we headed to the corrals. The Disneyland 5k is the only Disney run that’s I’ve been in corral. The same as Laura so this is so exciting for us. We got there super early and we’re right up front ready to go. And promptly at 5:00 (a half hour earlier than previous years, thank you run Disney) we were off.
We immediately headed toward California Adventure. We turned left and entered the back stage of the park. Basically behind Paradise Pier.
I didn’t know how the character stops would be for this race. At the Tink 5k there was a stir when there were no characters. We weren’t sure if there would be for this. So we went in with a list of fun photo opportunies we wanted to catch thanks to our friend Jenna Lynn just in case. If there were character we’d do both! Why not!! We def weren’t planning to run this race too much. We wanted to make the most of it and save our legs especially for the half. We rounded the corner and got one of our first photo ops. Probably one of my favorite places to run at any Disney property’s. Carsland. Here’s the first stop. Laura may have pulled her back out a bit, but totally worth it
Quite fitting with the hot temps we were experiencing. Throughout this race we would be sure to stop and get photos with some non character photo opportunities that we discussed in a prior podcast/YouTube video. This made the race even more fun. Kind of felt like a scavenger hunt while running. Please note: we def we’re trying to get a good time running, more like having a good time running.
We made our way stopping for characters and plenty of other photos along the way. California Adventure really is a gorgeous park to run through. There really is so many places you just have to capture. And don’t forget things like the airplane near soarin, the trolleys located through the parks or the Walt and Mickey statue.
We exited California Adventure and made our way to Disneyland. The sun had come up and I just love running through this park. There is so much to see and so much charm around every corner.
Due to our excessive photo taking, and just really taking our time throughout this race, by the time we got to Sleeping Beauty’s Castle there amount of people around us were quite minimal. This made running through the castle so fun. Laura and I were cracking up the whole time because it felt like a runway fashion show. We had about 20 photopass photographers taking pictures of us. It was one of those funny memorable moments.
Before we headed down Main Street U.S.A., we got our traditional picture in front of the “Partners” statue, and made our way out of park toward mile 3. This definitely was our longest 5k ever.
The character stops included in this race was
There were plenty of character stops for a 5k. These included:
- Mater
- Lightning McQueen
- Merida
- Green army men (selfie stop)
- Lotso
- Jessie
- Mr Incredible
We finally made it to the finish line, crossed and got our gorgeous Incredibles 5k medal
After the race we stopped for a photo with the 5k backdrop they had set up. They had a tent in the finishers area from Otterbox and they were giving away prizes from spinning a wheel. I saw they had sunglasses and dragged Laura over there. Luckily then I’ve Otterbox rep helped us both get the free sunglasses!! Yay! These would be perfect addition to our Half costume.
I really enjoyed every moment of this race. Rundisney did a great job fixing anything people seemed unhappy about with the Tink 5k. The whole atmosphere felt like a party. I’m crosssing my fingers there will be more in the future as I wait with everyone to find out the fate of future Disneyland races.
