RunDisney's Inaugural WDW (Minnie!) 10k

After the 2013 WDW Marathon weekend, I wasn't planning on going back for 2014 (I was hoping I could do Tinkerbell weekend instead). Then, the WDW 10k was added to the marathon weekend lineup and when I saw the character who was hosting, I knew it was a must do. 

Minnie! 

I calculated and it worked out perfectly to squeeze one last trip to Disney on my annual pass before it expired. So, it was done. The race was held on Friday morning, which didn't thrill me that I had to take a day off of work, but I dealt. Luckily, everyone I knew that was traveling down that weekend was attempting the Dopey Challenge, so they would already be there and someone could pick up my bib for me (Thanks, Fred and Karen!). I flew in Thursday night, which wasn't ideal, but hey! You only live once and it was only a 10k. I eventually got to the hotel around 11pm, then turned around and woke up at 3am to get ready for the race.

Once I got to the start area, I made a beeline for coffee. Not making it in the room beforehand was a big mistake. Normally, on a full night's sleep before a 5k, sure. I could wait that long for caffeine. Working on 3 hours of sleep with a 6.2 mile run ahead? This was about to be a very dangerous situation for all parties involved. Luckily, there was coffee at the start, but I'm pretty sure that coffee didn't kick in until I crossed the finish line. Bummer, because I really could've used it at that on-ramp no one told me about at mile 1. 

Daisy and Minnie(s)!

It didn't feel like they changed the corral system much for this race. There were only 5 or so of them and there was about 7 minutes in between sending them off. We hung out in the back of ours, giving ourselves room to breathe and then off we went! 

It took me until about 1.5 miles in to realize it was disgustingly humid and I wasn't used to running in it. Yuck! But it was a runDisney and I was running it- what did I expect? I bring the cursed heat! I was hoping some good character stops would distract me. I saw that Remy and Emile (Ratatouille) as well as Flik and Atta (A Bug's Life) were out on the 5k course the morning before and REALLY wanted them to be out again. No such luck. In fact, I wasn't impressed with the characters on course at all. Even if I was, the lines for the 1st couple of characters were ridiculous. Peter Pan and Wendy alternated with Captain Hook and Smee at mile 1.5, then there wasn't any others until you got to World Showcase. Mushu was in China (got his picture at the 2012 Fiesta 5k) and The Genie was in Morocco (got him at Princess last year). We didn't stop for any of them because their lines were too long. 

 Running back into Epcot

Stopped for The Green Army Man as we entered backstage.

Running around the countries in the dark was beautiful!

Football Goofy was outside of the ESPN Zone. His line was pretty obnoxious, but it was mile 4.5 of a 6.2 mile race and I wanted to stop. There was no way I was only getting one character photo. Pam texted a friend who had finished the race already to find out what other characters were out, so we would know who to look for and if we wanted to stop or not. (note to self: text Sarah at Princess about this!)

The Boardwalk as the sun was coming up.

Once we got back into Epcot, we saw Chip and Dale. Their line wasn't long, but I think it's bc it was hidden. 

Those parade people were out again. They're still taunting me from the WDW Marathon's 20th anniversary mile 20 spectacular.

Then it was time to cross the finish line! Done and Done. It was pretty crazy to think I had only gotten to Orlando about 10 hours previously and I was already done running. I hadn't even been to the expo yet!

I noticed there were more characters at the finish line area, which made it a little better that the course entertainment was lacking. I believe this happens at most, if not all, WDW races, but I'm usually trying to get back to the hotel as quickly as possible. I should probably hang out in the finish area more often!

Daisy- she was my muse after all!

And what's Daisy without Donald?! 

The line for Minnie was INSANE and after about 10 minutes of waiting and barely moving, we gave up. I was starving (note to self: Book a buffet for Glass Slipper Challenge!) and needed a shower. I do love that they put Minnie in the finish area, instead of on course, so everyone had a chance to get a picture with her if they wanted. I believe everyone in her line got a picture, which is awesome she stayed out that long. 

Overall thoughts:

I think my expectations were a little high for this one. After we had such a great experience at the Disneyland 10k, I was hoping for the same. The 10k is my favorite distance, so that's always a plus. I was excited about the new course that took you completely around the boardwalk- I've honestly never been! It was beautiful (even if it was a tad slippery), especially as the sun was coming up. I also really liked that they kept this race at 5:30AM (instead of pushing it back like the 5K)- you stay out of the sun longer but you're still finished super early! It was great.

BUT- 1 character stop on the 3 mile stretch of highway didn't cut it for me. There were a few cars along the course (and a TV monitor with cartoons?)- playing annoyingly loud music. Those were definitely not needed. I'd suggest replacing them with another character stop or 2 on the highway (the more original/rare the characters, the better) and it would be perfect!

The new and improved race shirts are amazing! Better material, cut and the adorable design is the cherry on top. Offering women's cut makes all the difference; I'm excited I'll actually wear this one. It almost makes me sad I didn't run more of the races to get more of the shirts- but then that would've meant I had to train. Fingers crossed the Glass Slipper Challenge ones are just as good! 

What character would you like to see runDisney theme a race for?