Those who know me know that I love Disney. There is just something magical about that place and it keeps bringing me back. So when my friend said that he would like to run a half marathon, I instantly thought of the Star Wars race since he is a Star Wars fan. What better way to run your first half marathon than surrounded by Star Wars characters and music. It actually didn't take any convincing since he said yes almost instantly. Once he was in, we had to convince the rest of the crew to run it too. Jenny was in and she dragged Corey along without giving him a chance to say no. Karen was game for giving it a try despite never seeing a Star Wars movie. We sadly couldn't convince Jo to run with us again. I think we scared her away at the Princess half two years ago and she will probably never run a half again (sorry Jo!).
The next decision was if we wanted to complete the Kessel Challenge. Disney has several cross country challenges to compete in the themed half marathons in Disneyland and Disney World. Jenny and I decided that we might as well do them both and get the extra medal and while we were at it, lets do the extra challenge each weekend. Yes, that meant we signed up for the 10k and half marathon in one weekend (twice). Hiram and Karen were busy with a wedding in October so they passed on the race weekend in Disneyland in January, but would be joining us in Disney World in April.
Disneyland Star Wars- The Light Side
Corey, Jenny, and I signed up to participate in the Rebel Challenge. Corey is way too fast for us and did his own training, but Jenny and I did most of the training runs together with a few other friends. We were mostly ready for the race weekend.
I was so excited to go out to LA. I hadn't been there in years and I was going to get to see my cousin. Also I had never been to Disney California Adventure or Universal Studios Hollywood. We had a crazy busy weekend planned, but it was going to be great.
I flew out Thursday night so I could have a bit of time to catch up with my cousin. It was nice seeing his place and how he was adjusting to the California lifestyle. We grabbed breakfast the next morning and then I went to the airport to meet Jenny and Corey. We had rented a house about 1.5 miles from the race site with the plan of walking to the park when needed. We checked into the house (very nice) and walked to the Downtown Disney area to grab lunch and visit the expo. We managed to get our bibs, walk around a bit, and get home and ready for bed at an early hour. The thing about Disney races is they start crazy early (5:30am) and you need to be there at least an hour early to get to your coral in time.
Saturday:
Our alarms went off around 3:30am, which wasn't too bad given our jet lag made it seem like 6:30. We quickly got ready for the race and walked 1.5 miles to the race start. I was excited to see a new Disney course and see how Disneyland races would compare to the east coast races. While waiting for the race to start, they had several MCs talking about Star Wars and trivia questions. We all realized how little we knew about Star Wars, but it helped the time go faster. The race went through both Disney parks but it seemed like you were on dark side roads often. Running through the parks is always fun though. I hadn't seen California Adventure and appreciated the theming. I forgot how small the castle is at Disneyland. Our plan was to enjoy the race and not push it since we still had to race the next day. We did exactly as we planned and finished in 1:03:03. We were smiling the whole way and actually seemed to enjoy it. I was disappointed by the lack of characters but was hoping the next day would have more.
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| Before Corey ditched us to move to the front of the coral. |
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| The race start didn't include fireworks, but instead featured a laser show |
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| Ready to run! |
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| California Adventure! |
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| Still semi disappointed at how small the caste was |
We finished and then immediately went back to the house to get cleaned up and head to Universal. There was a small issue though. Our shower wasn't draining which is a problem when you have three people that need to shower. We ended up using the trash can to drain the water into the sink so each person could take the shortest shower ever. Thankfully the owner had someone come to fix it while we were at the park. We did the best we could cleaning up and took off for Universal Studios which really is in the Hollywood Hills. It was fun driving by the huge houses and seeing the California life. We made it to Universal and decided to hit the back of the park first before the crowds made it back there. It is incredible how well they built this park onto the hill. We enjoyed the Mummy, Transformers, and Jurassic Park without too much wait.
We enjoyed lunch at Krusty Burger and then had fun hitting a mix of more rides and finding characters to take pictures with. Amazingly, the characters at Universal didn't have long lines so we figured why not. I really enjoyed the Universal Studios tour through the different sound stage areas. It was cool to see the different sets and enjoy the King Kong and Fast and Furious clips. That definitely sets this apart from Universal Orlando. We also enjoyed Hogwarts and the Harry Potter area. It was really a smaller copy of the Orlando park. It was beyond crowded so we enjoyed it briefly and moved on.
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| Studio tour |
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| Jaws! |
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| Incredible disaster scene, but I can't remember what movie this is from. |
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| Hogwarts |
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| Harry Potter world |
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| I had to jump in line for a pic with Shrek while Jenny and Corey were waiting for coffee. |
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| Jenny and I were so excited to find the girls from Despicable Me |
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| Then we found the bad minion! |
We enjoyed the park but probably stayed a little too late given our race the next morning. We grabbed dinner at the City Walk area and finally went home. It was a great day with another early morning and full day to come.
Sunday:
Another 3:30am wakeup (this one was harder) to get to the half marathon on time. It was perfect running weather, but a little chilly to stand around waiting for the race. The race started the same way the 10k did and we were finished running through the parks way too fast. I was happy to see a few more characters in the park including two Storm Troopers that we got a quick pic with.
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| The line was too long for us, but I love C-3PO and R2-D2 |
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| Perfectly placed for a good pic. |
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| Selfies work well, but sometimes it is worth someone else taking the picture. |
You were out of the parks around mile 4.5 and the rest of the race is on the roads around Anaheim. They had some local marching bands and cheerleaders out on the course, but we quickly got bored. Luckily around mile 8, we saw a Disney cast member with R2-D2 and couldn't pass up a picture. Then we looked up and saw all of the COS players. They lined mile 8 and we took several pictures. I truly think these guys saved the race. We were bored just running the streets in Anaheim and they brought back the theme and made everyone smile.
Around mile 10, our legs were finally getting tired. We pushed through and tried to stay out of the "dark spot", which every runner has met at some time. Luckily my caffeine gel kicked in so I could at least try to keep Jenny distracted. At the very end of the race we ran the tree lined street with the moon peaking out at us. I loved it and it gave me just the right amount of energy to push to the finish. We finished in 2:19:58, which was good enough for us.
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| Loot from the weekend! |
With the races out of the way, we still had to hit both Disney parks! We were all tired and sore, but we picked ourselves up and got back to the parks. My cousin Brad joined us and brought much needed energy to the group. We walked the 1.5 miles to the park, grabbed a quick sandwich lunch, and went to California Adventure. This is a cute park and I was happy to be able to explore a bit. We got on several rides (missing the Cars ride) and even got pictures with Woody and Goofy. We also discovered the joy of playing Heads Up while in line to help the time pass. It definitely provided a lot of laughs.
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| Jenny's favorite character! |
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| Testing some dance moves. |
Then it was off to Disneyland (right across the street). I really wouldn't recommend a park hopper to hit both parks on a short day after racing a half marathon. We were wearing down quickly. Jenny and Corey went to find a snack while I dragged Brad to get on more rides. We didn't get on many in this park, but we had a lot of fun exploring, enjoying a nice dinner, and trying not to fall asleep on the Finding Nemo sub ride. I finally had to throw in the towel and head home to get some sleep. It was so much fun to get to spend the day with Brad. I can't wait to visit him again (and maybe hit the beaches and hikes instead of amusement parks).
It was a short weekend in LA, but we definitely got our money's worth. I didn't love the Disneyland race courses, but we still had a lot of fun. Once home, I had to present Callie with her medals since she did all the training and would have loved to do the races. She definitely earned the medals. But we didn't get to rest when we got home because we had to start training for the Disney World Star Wars challenge in April. On to the next race!
