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2006 Disneyland Half Marathon Report: Donald Pemberton
Expo
I arrived at the Disney money trap friday afternoon with Tammy and her three boys over an hour late due to the LA traffic. I missed my "shortcut" turnoff and ended up stuck in traffic for what seemed like hours. I bailed out and took the side streets for the final 10 miles.
As usual I am anxious to hit the Expo and get my race packet and goodies, and to buy "official" merchandise before they sell out, so hotel checkin was going to have to wait!
The official parking for the Expo was this multi-story parking garage that I swear was 2 miles away from the Expo itself. I wish they had us park closer, but I guess they didn't want us cluttering up the Downtown Disney parking lots.
The Expo was pretty small compared to other ones I've been to, but they had the basic stuff and guest speakers. The Penguin was there but I just missed his speech. Packet picket went quick, the free tech t-shirt was nice (I could do withing long sleeves though), and the volunteers friendly.
The gift shop was in this small space, and there was a line longer than the type you see for those exclusive nightclubs. I would have liked to have seen a bigger selection; I got my usual finishers (I Did It!) t-shirt and a magnet. I also bought one of those Disney pins made especially for the race. Maybe it'll be worth something someday.
Sorry - no pictures of the Expo.
Leaving the Expo behind schedule we rushed over to our hotel and arrived just as my Aunt and Uncle arrived. Haven't seen them in over 4 years so it was nice to see them again and get caught up on family news. We had dinner in the hotel's restaurant, and despite the warnings, I ate a little of the spinach that came with my Salmon. I am a daredevil!
The Parks
On saturday we went to California Adventure. I haven't been to Disney since this park opened, so it was something I wanted to see. There wasn't much of a crowd there so most lines were pretty quick. The best ride there was "Soaring over California". Pretty cool. We hopped on some other rides, and before long the kids were bored and wanted to hit Disneyland.
Here's a picture of the gang:
$100 to upgrade the tickets and 30 minutes later we were in Disneyland. This place was REALLY crowded. Packed. We managed to hit some of the big rides before it got close to dinner time. I wanted to eat and get back to the hotel early because the race was in the morning.
Around 6:30pm we headed over to the Hungry Bear Restaurant. This place was always a favorite of mine growing up; loved the "Lumberjack" cheeseburger. So you can imagine my disappointment that this item no longer exists. Their menu was now a basic menu with no fancy names for anything. I still got the cheeseburger, it was still good, and we sat and watched a new employee practice docking the Tom Sawyer raft about a dozen times.
I got back to the hotel by 8pm, got my stuff together, and got to sleep before 9pm. The only time that I ever go to bed this early is the night before a half/full marathon.
Pre-Race
The race was at 6am, and Disney wanted us there by 4:30. I decided to wake up at 4:30. This would normally be impossible for me to do, but a race is just enough incentive to wake up while its still dark outside. Getting ready and out the door took no time at all.
There was a line at my hotel for the free shuttle, so I hoofed it. Walking to the start area along hotel row was like a scene from one of those zombie movies. Everywhere I looked I saw people filing out of their hotels and making the march along the sidewalks.
I got to Downtown Disney pretty quick, and met up with some of our board members. Dennis, the DBDiva gang, and some LA RoadRunners were there with a good assortment of pre-race food and drink. Thanx to those that brought this stuff. Much appreciated.
From left to right: Richard, Jason, Jodie, and me.
Ok, now a word about my hair. Its not mine. Can you tell? I wanted to wear something for the race, and looked at various hats for sale in the parks. Tammy suggested the pirate dreds - she has a thing for the Depp'ster - so I bought what must have been the last one for sale at the gift shop. Cool look for me huh? If I had a nickel for every "AAAARRRGGG" that I heard....
Back to the race.
About this time it was 5:30am. Time to hit the start area. I've been to several large races by now, and wasn't concerned about being able to get into the right corral (B) 30 minutes before the start. Not so at Disney.
I guess because they told people to get there by 4:30, everyone must have listened. Corral B was full and there was no way to get near it. I ended up in what I think was Corral D. As usual, nobody paid much attention to obeying the Corral assignment. It was more of a first come - first corral situation.
The gun went off on time at 6am. 10 minutes later my corral started moving.
At 6:15 I finally got to the start line.
There was this strange looking pair of mice at the start. It was still dark so my camera did not get a good picture of them.
We're off and running - finally!
The excitement of the moment and seeing the start line must have been the reason that I forgot to hit the "Start" button on my Garmin. I hate it when this happens. A quarter of a mile into the race I remembered though.
Can't Garmin build an auto-start/auto-stop feature? 
I got to see Dennis ringing the cowbell before the first turn, then he was off to get to his spot on mile 11.
There were a few people in costumes, or wearing mouse hats, along the way. This couple looks like they got married recently.
Running thru the parks was awesome. I wish the whole course was just a circuit inside the parks. Time went by pretty fast, lots of Disney employees out cheering us on, and the Disney characters were out all over the place.
(Judging from the expression of some of the workers faces, I don't think the word got out to everyone)
Here's a couple of shots running thru California Adventure.
Hey - is that Lilo and Stitch over there? I've got to stop and get a picture with them!
Then we entered Disneyland.
Some of the characters had long lines, so I just took pictures of other people standing next to the characters. Goofy and Donald were pretty popular.
Did I mention how cool it was running thru Disney? Not since I was a kid did I make such good time getting from Tomorrowland to Frontierland!
Ah - the moment we've all been waiting for. The run thru the castle. I was a little disappointed to see the ASI photographer on the back side. The lady at the Expo assured me that they were going to have someone taking pictures going thru the castle, not approaching the castle. Oh well. I guess there wasn't any place for them to set up in front of the castle.
Frontierland - here we come!
Hey - there's the famous Jack Sparrow! They had to put him above the course for his protection. The women were going crazy!
Time to leave Frontierland, which meant...
A run down Main Street! How cool is this! Watch out for those railroad tracks!!
- - -
Part 2 is coming soon. I had to break this up because there is a 30 picture limit to the posts.
Running thru the parks was a lot of fun. Getting your picture taken along the way with some of the characters was an added bonus.
Alright, where did I leave off. Oh yeah. We just finished running down Main Street and leaving Disneyland behind. Now its off to the streets of Anaheim.
Not much to report on this stage of the race. We've all seen streets before. Disney did a good job of placing cheer squads and high school bands along the course to break up the monotony.
These people don't look like high school kids.
And these ladies are most certainly not high school kids. Something for the guys to cheer for.
After winding out way thru the streets, we finally got to run past the arena where the Mighty Ducks play.
Then down a canal.
And thru Angel Stadium! Very nice addition to this race, being allowed to go into this ballpark.
We didn't get to run the actual bases, but neither do some major leaguers!
If you look up at the right time, you'll get to see yourself on the jumbo screen.
Coming around home plate this guy in front of me tripped and fell, causing his girlfriend to stop. As he was getting up, he assumed the "one knee" position and proposed to her. In Vegas I got to see a wedding on a race course, now I got to see a proposal on a course. I think she said yes, and they must have left to find a priest because I didn't see them again afterwards.
This was a nice sign to see coming out of the ballpark.
Here comes mile 11, and there he is - Mr Cowbell. Great job Dennis giving us runners support. Hopefully your knee will heal up and you can join us for these races real soon.
After a short break talking with Dennis and enjoying a cup of gatorade, it was back to the race for the final 2.1 miles.
The final mile or so was thru Downtown Disney. The course really got thin here and you had to dodge people trying to cross over in a few spots.
Ah - the Finish!
I complete the course in 2:47:17. I'm still puzzled by my slow start. According to the results web site, my 5k time was 54 minutes. What?!? How much time did I spend taking pictures? Did the "slow runners/walkers that so rudely clogged up the front of the race when they clearly should be in the back" affect my time this much? I'll need to analyze my Garmin's data for this answer.
Disney provided lots of food and drink at the finish. Some people were carrying trays full of food with them. The finish line area was a mad house. It was difficult for spectators to get there from the course, and it was difficult to get around inside this space. At least 20 minutes went by before I was able to find/be found by Tammy.
We were going to walk back to the hotel, but couldn't find a way to cross over the course. So we returned to the finish area and found the shuttles. A quick ride to the hotel, shower, pack up, checkout, and we're off to the post-race get together at the Jolly Rogers.
Denns, Albert and family, and Melissa (Canon) we're already there. David (lvrunner) showed up a little while later. It was great meeting up with you all for some breakfast and conversations. Thanx Melissa for taking the time to arrange this.
From left to right:
Albert's grand daughter (?), Melissa, Dennis, Donald (me), Albert, and David.
Sorry Albert, don't remember your grand daughter's name.
Overall I had a great time with this event and would most certainly recommend that you do this next year. It is, however, going to take place over Labor Day weekend. I think this is a mistake on Disney's part. They need to have this event on one of there slow weekends.
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