On Saturday, my sister and I ran our first Disney race in Anaheim, the Tinker Bell 10K. Can you tell from the picture above that we were pretty happy about it?

It was Mother’s Day weekend, so the two of us drove down from the Bay Area and picked up my mom from LAX on Friday night so that the three of us could enjoy the park together after the race.

The race started at 5:30 am, which is the earliest race start time I’ve ever had. Fortunately, my mom dropped us off at the starting line at 5 am to warm up and get into our corral.

My sister and I started in Corral B together with the plan to stay together the entire race. The only race she had ever completed was a Color Run 5K, and she had never run 6 miles before, so she was a little nervous about finishing. Fortunately, I knew this wasn’t a race to speed through, understanding that there would be tons of people on the course and lots of photo opps, so we planned beforehand to just take it easy and stick together the whole time.

I have to tell you, it was surprisingly easy to run in a tutu. If you run a Disney race, my #1 advice is to wear a running costume. That, and stop for the pictures. No PRs in the happiest place on Earth!

The course started outside of the park and allowed us to get the boring part out of the way first thing. We then entered Disneyland, ran through the backstage area, crossed over to California Adventure and its backstage area, and finished right outside of the park.

There were three water stations along the route, as well as mile markers with photo opps and fairies to take photos with along the way. All of the custodial staff cheered us on while running, which was awesome of them, but I was hoping for a few more characters.

My favorite sight was seeing a trio of spectators dressed as Cruella de Vil and her henchmen with signs that read “Run, puppies, run!”

Okay, so I did leave my sister at the very end of the race. She was so exhausted by Mile 6, and I still had so much gas in my tank that I had to book it to the finish line.

WE DID IT! I really like the medal; it was of good quality! The biggest disappointment was not getting any food swag after the race. We received a banana, water bottle, and Powerade, but there wasn’t anything else to munch on or take back to the hotel. We made the most of it by making a trip to Starbucks in Downtown Disney though. (My mom was super thankful for that!)

The ultimate reward? Enjoying my first Dole Whip in Adventureland that afternoon. It was AMAZING.

I loved this Disney run and will definitely do another! I would probably do the weekend challenge (the 10K on Day 1 and the half marathon on Day 2), allowing me to jog the 10K and take a bunch of photos on the first day, then run the half on the second. The Star Wars or Avenger races are calling my name, because I know Michel would run either with me.

Have you completed a Disney run? What was your experience like?

Happy running this week!

Melissa