That's right, folks. I will be taking on the Disney Coast to Coast Race Challenge this year. Woo hoo!
(If you are not a runDisney aficionado, this challenge means that within one calendar year I will run one RunDisney half marathon at Disneyland and another at Disney World. I will thereby earn two medals for the two half marathons, in addition to one of the adorable Coast to Coast Race Challenge medals pictured above!)
The cards fell in place very nicely for this endeavor. Here is the plan:
The Disneyland Half Marathon takes place over Labor Day Weekend. As luck would have it, the 2014 NAAAP Convention takes place in Anaheim this year and happens to be scheduled for the weekend following Labor Day. (Usually the NAAAP Convention takes place in August, so the September timing this year was a huge stroke of luck!) Since the two events take place on consecutive weekends with a short workweek in between, I got permission from my workplace to stay in Anaheim and work remotely that week. Excellent!
I haven't been to Disneyland since I was a young child, so it'll be great to go again after so many years.
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| Disneyland!!! |
The exact travel plans to Anaheim are under investigation right now, but there are some absolutely amazing lodging options available on Airbnb (helloooo, Pacific Ocean!)
Then, I am planning my second running of the Disney Wine and Dine Half Marathon in Orlando. I had a BLAST running it last year and I am so pumped about doing it again. This time around, I plan to take even more advantage of all that Wine and Dine has to offer (e.g. finally wearing a costume to run? I am bouncing around the idea of trying to dress up as Lilo from Lilo and Stitch.)
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| Left: Stitch Right: Lilo |
The official race date hasn't been announced for Wine and Dine, but my guess is that it will take place sometime in November. In any event, I have lots of flexibility in my schedule to accommodate!
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| Disney World! Recognize the image from the front of the Coast to Coast medal? |
Who else is planning on running either of these races and/or going Coast to Coast this year? Any tips on the Disneyland Half Marathon specifically? Suggestions on Disneyland Park or the surrounding areas? I am all ears!!! (Both literally and figuratively!!!)
Ooh this sounds cool! And you would look great as LILO :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Xaar! The Lilo costume would be relatively easy to pull off, too - basically just a Hawaiian dress, lei, and maybe a flower in my hair. We're looking to go low-maintenance for a first-time race costume wearer. =)
DeleteYes, the Lilo look would be very cool!
DeleteThanks, Pete!!! =)
DeleteExciting! The way things all fell into place this is clearly meant to be!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Marcia! I've always been a believer in letting the chips fall where they may. E.g. if I want to eat some ice cream and I have trouble opening the container, maybe it's a sign that I shouldn't be eating it? LOL
DeleteWhat an awesome goal to go for! I think it was meant to be that your conference is both in California and right before the Disneyland race. You are going to have a fantastic running year!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Amy! I very much appreciate your confidence in me! I have very high hopes for this year, myself. And you are going to have a fantastic running year, too!!! Can't wait to see how you kick the year off with the EP Marathon!
DeleteYou will have lots of fun things to look forward to this fall :)
ReplyDeleteI want that medal, but still need to figure out how to make it work. If I'm doing it this year of course I would have to make the Disneyland half work. The only thing holding me back is I have no one to go with me, which of course isn't a total deal breaker but would make the trip more fun.
Kayla!!! Thank you, you too! I am super excited that you will be running the Disneyland Half, too! It is going to be SO MUCH FUN to get together and catch up. I can't wait!!!
DeleteJealous!! I want to do a Disney race some day... just don't know when, yet.
ReplyDeleteI hear you, the Disney races do take some planning word since we aren't fortunate enough to be local to them. However, the word on the street is that Disney will be announcing some new races soon - so hopefully this means that there will soon be more of them to pick from!
DeleteYay! I am so happy you get to do this!!!!! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, Kim! I am becoming more and more of a Disney fanatic with each passing year, no? =D
DeleteI am planning to do both races this year too! Let's meet up there. I've ran in both Disneyland and Disneyworld so I have both medals. Yay me!!
ReplyDeleteZenaida!!! YAY!!!!! You are the Disney running queen this year and that is so cool that you are going to get not one but TWO Coast to Coast medals this year!!! I can't wait to meet up with you in Anaheim, it is going to be a BLAST!!!
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