This was my second runDisney event, and it's safe to say I'm a full convert. There is just so much going on, so much to see, so much excitement from the massive group of participants, and the management of a major marathon. Seriously, these races are great for casual and serious runner alike!

I ran the Disney Princess Half Marathon (if still feels funny to say that) as part of the annual Running USA conference, so it was fun to run with the rest of team BibRave and to also see so many industry friends. Race morning was cool but not cold, and based on the heat and humidity we saw in subsequent Orlando mornings, we were damn lucky on race morning.

As usual, traveling to the race was a breeze, and by following recommendations from Disney re: when to get on shuttles, etc., we made it to the start line without encountering any traffic. Shuttle picked us up right outside our hotel, dropped us off near the bag check, and we began the long walk to the start. Frankly, this didn't bother me at all, and I appreciated the time to loosen up before the race.

The true magic, no, miracle of Disney is the number of Porta Potties. Not sure they'd love that brand association, but it's seriously the most PPs I've seen at a race by far! There were massive banks of them everywhere, and Jess, Julia and I basically ducked in whenever we wanted, just because they were there. This is a huge expense, so I was really impressed how all in Disney went on the bathrooms. Kudos!

Race course was pretty solid - we started in Epcot, ran through Magic Kingdom and back to finish at Epcot. Running toward a huge purple sphere is pretty cool, even if you're not a Disney person, and Cinderella's castle never disappoints.

Aid stations were great, though I didn't use them much. But they had plenty throughout the course. Lastly - the SWAG. So good - absolutely fantastic medal, a prefilled box of food for you to just grab on your way to bag pick up, and bag pick up took like 1 minute. Seriously, Disney just moves massive amounts of people around with out those people having to make a single critical thought - it's just mindless, and participants are free to enjoy the experience rather than worry about where to go. So nice.

My race - I was feeling sore but pumped for the race - pumped because RUSA had a challenge so I wanted to see if I could finish with a high place. I started at 6 minute miles and tried to stay there as long as I could, and if things went well, maybe go a bit faster toward the end. I was able to run at that pace pretty comfortably and gradually move my way up until I was in 5th place behind the 1st female and 3rd male. They were starting to slow down a bit, so I moved forward and finished in 3rd overall. I know the 4th male could have given me a hell of a run, but he was clearly having a ball running with the first place female. So much fun to see her cross, and all the characters were there to congratulate her on the win.

Again - highly recommend Disney races now that I've done more than one, and I definitely understand the hype.