Hi everyone,

I am a Whippet based in Brooklyn who joined in December 2009 =). As some of you may know, I just returned from running the Disney Princess Half-Marathon in Disneyworld, Florida! If anyone has ever wanted to run a Disney race but balked at the price, I must say that it was all worth it and more! I am an avid marathoner (ran 6 so far) and half-marathoner (lost track of how many I've run...at least 11), but I chose the half-marathon for several reasons:
1) I love Disney Princesses
2) March is a great time for a half-marathon....I hate training for distance in the dead of winter and the Disney Marathon is in January
3) I wanted an excuse to go to DisneyWorld after not going for 11 years!
4) It's a great way to arrange a girls' weekend!
5) You're not as tired afterward so you get to enjoy the parks and have a decent flight home.
6) The Disney Marathon crosses a lot of parking lots and highways, so this was half the distance but twice as fun, and you still run through Epcot and the Magic Kingdom!

One of my main motivations was also the amazing tiara-shaped medal that all finishers receive at the end. It's the only medal I've ever seen with rhinestones on it! The expo was pretty good and all runners get a nice reusable mesh bag, freebies, and your bib says "Princess (Your name)" on it too! And gents, men can also run the half-marathon too! There were about 400 men that ran it, and a bunch of them wore tutus, dresses and tiaras-- no joke.

I went to Orlando for 3 days, 2 nights with two great friends and it was a lot of fun, and we booked a package with 2-day park hopper tickets and a Disney value resort (All-Star Movies). I only wish that we had more time for the parks--everything was pretty rushed; we basically went to Epcot, Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom all in a day and a half.

The race was definitely the highlight though-- great photo ops, taking pictures with characters (with shorter lines than on a normal day!) and having the park only open for runners and spectators! The course wasn't too tough, but it also was not easy. There were some boring stretches of road, banked curves on the highways leading up the parks, and some tough ramps. The entertainment and organization were top-notch: great volunteers, running through Cinderella Castle, loud Disney music at themed character stops, lots of costumed characters with "handlers" helping you take pictures, fireworks at the start, a fantastic medal, and GREAT post-race food spread! It was definitely right up there in the top 5 marathons/half marathons I've ever done (Barcelona Marathon, NYC Marathon, Nike Women's Marathon, and Disney Princess, and Akron). I was also pleased with my time; even though I had 12-15 minutes of stoppage time for taking pictures with Mickey and Minnie Mouse and various princesses, I still ran a 2:16 chip time! So I probably ran somewhere in the 2:02 range. My race results are below.

I will be posting pics on my Facebook profile, and please let me know if you have any other questions! I do aspire to run in Disneyland AND do the Goofy race-and-a-half challenge someday (half-marathon and marathon back-to-back), so let me know if you're interested! Thanks for reading!

-Lisa Cao

Distance HALF MAR
Clock Time 2:24:19
Chip Time 2:16:18
Overall Place 2688 / 10905
Gender Place 2688 / 10905
Division Place 359 / 1218
Age Grade 48.3%
5K Split 31:52
10K Split 1:08:09
15K Split 1:40:34

Way to represent, Lisa! Nice race report, too.

Hey Lisa! Great job and awesome time! Sounds like it was loads of fun. The overall & gender place numbers are exactly the same. Does that mean the guys that ran had no choice but to register as girls??

I'm in for the Goofy challenge. Registration's already open!

Hello!

I just joined the Whippets a few weeks ago. I have yet to do any training runs or anything but I am hoping to start soon. i just wanted to second what Lisa said about the Disney Princess half marathon. I ran it last weekend also and it was SO fun! It was my first half marathon and really race of any kind and i loved it. There were so many things to see along the way and running through the magic kingdom and through the castle was awesome. I didn't stop to take any pictures, i had a goal in mind of finishing in under 2 hours, which i am proud to say I accomplished, finishing in 1:59:02. It was a great day and i would recommend the race to anyone. I do have one question though Lisa, what corral were you in? i can't remember what i put down for my time, i think i put that i would probably be running 10 minute miles and i was in B. My friends that i ran with didnt put any time, or just put it was their first race (I forget what the options were) and they were in E. So i went back with them in E. After a few minutes or running we caught up to the walkers from the other groups and basically had to run on the grass for a few miles in order to bypass everyone that was walking. I was just curious what the breakdowns for the different corrals were, do you have any idea?

Hi everyone,

I am a Whippet based in Brooklyn who joined in December 2009 =). As some of you may know, I just returned from running the Disney Princess Half-Marathon in Disneyworld, Florida! If anyone has ever wanted to run a Disney race but balked at the price, I must say that it was all worth it and more! I am an avid marathoner (ran 6 so far) and half-marathoner (lost track of how many I've run...at least 11), but I chose the half-marathon for several reasons:
1) I love Disney Princesses
2) March is a great time for a half-marathon....I hate training for distance in the dead of winter and the Disney Marathon is in January
3) I wanted an excuse to go to DisneyWorld after not going for 11 years!
4) It's a great way to arrange a girls' weekend!
5) You're not as tired afterward so you get to enjoy the parks and have a decent flight home.
6) The Disney Marathon crosses a lot of parking lots and highways, so this was half the distance but twice as fun, and you still run through Epcot and the Magic Kingdom!

One of my main motivations was also the amazing tiara-shaped medal that all finishers receive at the end. It's the only medal I've ever seen with rhinestones on it! The expo was pretty good and all runners get a nice reusable mesh bag, freebies, and your bib says "Princess (Your name)" on it too! And gents, men can also run the half-marathon too! There were about 400 men that ran it, and a bunch of them wore tutus, dresses and tiaras-- no joke.

I went to Orlando for 3 days, 2 nights with two great friends and it was a lot of fun, and we booked a package with 2-day park hopper tickets and a Disney value resort (All-Star Movies). I only wish that we had more time for the parks--everything was pretty rushed; we basically went to Epcot, Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom all in a day and a half.

The race was definitely the highlight though-- great photo ops, taking pictures with characters (with shorter lines than on a normal day!) and having the park only open for runners and spectators! The course wasn't too tough, but it also was not easy. There were some boring stretches of road, banked curves on the highways leading up the parks, and some tough ramps. The entertainment and organization were top-notch: great volunteers, running through Cinderella Castle, loud Disney music at themed character stops, lots of costumed characters with "handlers" helping you take pictures, fireworks at the start, a fantastic medal, and GREAT post-race food spread! It was definitely right up there in the top 5 marathons/half marathons I've ever done (Barcelona Marathon, NYC Marathon, Nike Women's Marathon, and Disney Princess, and Akron). I was also pleased with my time; even though I had 12-15 minutes of stoppage time for taking pictures with Mickey and Minnie Mouse and various princesses, I still ran a 2:16 chip time! So I probably ran somewhere in the 2:02 range. My race results are below.

I will be posting pics on my Facebook profile, and please let me know if you have any other questions! I do aspire to run in Disneyland AND do the Goofy race-and-a-half challenge someday (half-marathon and marathon back-to-back), so let me know if you're interested! Thanks for reading!

-Lisa Cao

Distance HALF MAR
Clock Time 2:24:19
Chip Time 2:16:18
Overall Place 2688 / 10905
Gender Place 2688 / 10905
Division Place 359 / 1218
Age Grade 48.3%
5K Split 31:52
10K Split 1:08:09
15K Split 1:40:34

Great job both of you, and sounds like a REALLY fun race!!
I would have loved to run with the male "princesses"

Congrats Lisa and Jennifer!

Great race report. I'd love to see a picture of that tiara medal.