Race Report - 2011 Disneyland Half Marathon & Coast To Coast Challenge
9/04/2011 04:47:00 PMSome pretty cool heavy metal bling and a nice tech shirt. |
Pre-Race
Anya and I arrived at LAX Friday afternoon around 4PM local time. After an interesting shuttle ride to our hotel in Anaheim just outside Disneyland, we dropped off our bags before turning around to get on yet another "shared" Disneyland/Anaheim bus shuttle to the Disney Helath & Fitness Expo, where we needed to go to get our race packets, e.g. bibs, tech shirts and other free goodies.
Race Day
3:30AM came quickly and Anya really, really didn't want to get up any earlier than absolutely necessary. We wanted to get on one of the race shuttles around 4:15AM, which to her meant she still had 45 minutes of sleep;-) I managed to fix a couple of cups of coffee before we headed to the nearest bus stop, where about 10 fellow runners had already assembled waiting for the bus. We arrived just in time, boarding the arriving bus just 2 minutes later.
Due to about 15000 registered runners, the race start was broken up into 7 seperate start corrals A through G. While I was listed in corral A, I lined up in corral C with Anya so I could pace her (the rules allowed for faster runners to line up in a lower corral, but not the other way around). The differences in start times were not as extreme as at Disney World. We started just about 15 minutes after the first corral took off.
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Anya and I exiting the Sleeping Beauty Castle. |
The sun finally started to increase the temps just a little bit, but that really didn't make this race any easier for Anya. She continued to struggle with the same problems she started the race with. Only now, there was another problem. Because she was running tense for most of the race due to her pain, she now had to content with back pain, which had never been a problem for her before. We now needed to add very short breaks to allow her to at least try to stretch her back and provide some relief.
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Anya and I passing home plate at Angels Stadium. |
Those last miles were extremely rough on Anya and I am so proud of her sticking it out and making it across the finish. There was jsut no way that she wasn't going to finish this thing and get that coveted "Coast To Coast Challenge" medal reserved only for finishers of an East Coast Disney World Half/Full Marathon and a Disneyland Half Marathon in the same calendar year.
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The 2011 Disneyland Half Marathon course. |
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Two very happy "Coast To Coast Challenge" Finishers. |
Post-Race
After a quick nap at the hotel, we headed back to the parks for some additional excitement. I had decided even before the race that I would reward myself with one of the famously ginormous turkey legs for lunch. Anya couldn't muster more than a corn on the cob in butter, but we were both pretty happy. We knew we had another treat coming at dinner time at the Blue Bajou, were she had made reservations for us months ago. Dinner didn't disappoint either as I enjoyed a fantastic filet mignon with veggies. The only thing that would've made this meal even better would have been an ice cold beer, but (as I found out that evening) that is not on the menu:-(
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