Last year when we were in the early stages of wedding planning, we gave our Disney Wedding consultant what we thought was a completely ridiculous request. After several weeks of back and forth, we were finally approved for the THIRD EVER ceremony to happen in Disney's Animal Kingdom!!! We were given very limited options for dates and times, but one in particular stuck out to me - February 26 - for two specific reasons: 1. It's my Grandpa Ed's birthday 2. Isn't that Princess Weekend?!!! If you've been reading my blog for a while, you probably aren't the least bit surprised that I planned my wedding around both a race and a Disney trip. I could probably write a whole blog post about how much fun planning a Disney wedding was, including the backstage tours, meeting with our chefs in the Epcot kitchen, cake tasting, evacuating during Hurricane Irma.... But anyways, let's skip right to one of the first events of our wedding weekend - Princess 10k! We decided to go to the expo on Thursday (mostly because we were able to get Flight of Passage fastpasses on Friday). The expo started at noon, but we got there about a half hour early and were able to get right in to pick up our packets and shirts with no wait! I was surprised that we earned a spot in A corral -- that was a first for me! As is typical for RunDisney, the race started so early in the morning. We were dressed and in line for a bus by 3:40 am. The ride from Riverside to the start area was quick and uneventful. We did a few laps around the Epcot parking lot to get a 10 minute warm up in, and that's when I realized I forgot to bring a Gu with me. I had originally planned on racing this, but decided to just have fun due to the high humidity. We got to the start area wayyyy too early and had to wait before we could even get to our corral. After what seemed like forever, we watched the fireworks go off and it was finally time to start!!! Miles 1 & 2- 8:44, 8:35 The pace felt easy despite having to spend much of the first mile weaving through other people. I had forgotten how so many walkers cheat the system to start in the first corral - easily my least favorite part about Disney races. This part of the course wasn't terribly exciting or memorable. There were a couple characters and an enormous tv that I think was playing Moana. Disney has a magical way of making those boring highway miles go by fast ;) Mile 3 - 8:43 During this mile, we were able to watch a couple other corrals start. Yay fireworks! We finally reached backstage Epcot and got to the World Showcase and IT WAS SO MUCH FUN!!! This is the first race I've done that went through there and I was thrilled! It is super pretty and I don't remember ever seeing all the countries lit up like that. Truly a unique experience that made the race so worth it! Running through Italy was so exciting, seeing where our first dance was going to be and looking for spots that would be good for wedding pictures. Mile 4 - 8:54 On to the Boardwalk! Did I mention I've never run here before? There were a couple small hills that took maybe 20-30 seconds to climb. I enjoyed all the spectators that were out cheering us on! IT WAS JUST MAGICAL!! Miles 5 & 6 - 8:59, 9:16, 8:07 kick pace I've never been a front of the pack runner before, so it was really special for me to experience the World Showcase and the last little bit through Future World without much of a crowd. When we ran through the UK, Jamie and I made sure to point out where our dessert party would be later that night! We stopped in front of the ball for a picture, but got yelled at by the photographer for jumping :( As always, the on course entertainment was a blast and we quickly made our way to the finish line! 10k in 55:26, 8:55 average pace
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Hello, my name is Alyssa!I'm a momma to Emerson Lilly and two fur babies, a distance runner, and just a girl full of sparkle and quirks. I love traveling to races and exploring new places to run! I started this blog in 2014 as more of a journal to keep track of training for my first marathon, and I've continued to post about training, races, and other things happening in my life. Also, I'd like to be your best friend. :) Categories
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