runDisney Wine and Dine Half Marathon Recap

One year ago I ran my first half marathon at Walt Disney World. That was was the Wine and Dine half marathon. I was relatively new to the runDisney community only having run the 2012 Disneyland half marathon just a few weeks prior. I was alone that weekend, but ended up being introduced to some amazing people that I happy to be able to call friends. 

With the busy weekend I had being King of the Tweets and running around like a crazy person, I was anxious to get down to business at the 2013 Wine and Dine half marathon. My #CorralG family have been planning this reunion race for months. Not only were we excited to see one another, but we were anxious to wear matching outfits and run together. For the half we decided to wear INKnBURN pirate tech tees! How we ended up deciding on that is actually a mystery to me, but we looked awesome and got lots of compliments.

Pirate Captain and his lovely Wenches!

The race evening started with a pre-race food stop at Via Napoli in EPCOT. We ate yummy margarita pizzas and pasta and filled out bellies...but we didn't over do it.

Marcia @TravelRunEat and Kira eating all the things!

After that, we grabbed our gear and headed to the Beach Club and waiting in line for the charter bus to whisk us away to ESPN Wide World of Sports complex, which is where the race begins. Minus the two empty buses that pulled up to the bus stop, paused, and drove off that went well lol. We boarded the bus and were off. Once we arrived at WWOS, we gathered our group of friends and conquered the field, some folks waited in line for character photos, others went and a checked bags, and others secured a spot in line for the port-o-potty (total glam I know). 

With only a few minor glitches in the pre-race celebration (characters leaving without the line being cut, extra long potty lines) the pre-race festival was entertaining, and definitely got the blood pumping...you know since the race doesn't even start until 10PM.

I was going to run the race with two of my #CorralG sisters, Marcia and Jill...who were lucky enough to be my pirate wenches for the evening. We ran into some awesome folks in Corral D, like Pam and Christine from We Run Disney!

Hanging out with Pam and Christine from We Run Disney

Before we knew it, we were off! Fireworks shot into the sky from the start line banner, bright lights signaled the beginning of our 13.1 mile party...and our souls were ready. The weather this year was much better this year compared to what I remember from last year. There was humidity present (but when isn't there it's central Florida), but temperature wise, it wasn't to bad...pretty mild and slight breezes throughout the evening. 

Marcia, Jill, and I decided to do the Galloway and do 2/1 run/walk intervals. We didn't want to overwork the race. We wanted to have fun, and retain the capability of being able to walk the next day haha. We took off out of Corral D and enjoyed a leisurely run through Walt Disney World. We had many laughs, lots of character stops, and plenty of potty stops haha. All in all, we had a blast just the three of us. A few of our other friends were running with other friends, but it was fun running into them on the course. You know what else was fun, pretending to be a gazelle as I leap downhill repeatedly and causing a minor chain reaction of 4 other people wanting to follow suit. THAT was hilarious.

Pirates!

We felt strong throughout the entire race! Given we were doing 2/1 intervals this made for a really easy run. We also kept our pace pretty steady throughout the race, so personally I felt absolutely no fatigue in my muscles. I could have kept going! One of my favorite parts about this race is the Osborne Family Spectacle of Lights at Disney's Hollywood Studios! It's bright and whimsical! All the buildings in the New York back lot are covered from top to bottom in dancing Christmas lights! It really makes you feel alive and puts you right into the holiday spirit! And of course, doing running through it with your friends makes it that much sweeter! And of course, being photo bombed by some of Jacksonville's awesome runners is always fun ;)

What in the world?

One thing I hoped runDisney brought back this year was the mile 13 laser show! As you exit Epcot and make your way to the finish line, at mile 13 there is a laser show with great high-energy music! runDisney didn't disappoint! The girls and I joined hands and trotted through the laser show feeling proud of ourselves. Now the Gods were pleased with us because Mickey and Minnie were waiting at the finish line to cheer us across the finish! This was exciting for Marcia because she has never seen the mice at the finish! I was so excited I think I may have screamed! We took pictures with the awesome duo. And out of this experience came my favorite photo of the weekend...

This photo basically sums up my entire weekend! I was surrounded by awesome friends, I got to run my favorite race, and just felt happy! Someone tweeted to me and told me my whole body is smiling in this photo! I may be almost 30, but I absolutely believe in Disney Magic! I had an amazing time at this race...can't imagine spending it any other way! What is your favorite memory from the race?