My last race of the year was supposed to be a 10k, but I got my dates wrong and was not able to attend. So, I looked around for a race that was on Sunday and picked one that was close to me and inexpensive.

I decided on the Santa Workshop 5k, benefitting Toys for Tots. I'm super glad I did because I got to finally meet my friend John from Run. Geek. Run (Disney). It's really funny how it happened. I went to grab my bib and then headed back to my car to wait (because it was pretty chilly outside). As I was walking back to my car, I saw this guy in his car rocking out to music and I thought "gee, he looks familiar", but quickly adverted my eyes. When I was back at my car and was scrolling through Facebook, I saw that John had posted that he was at this race. We pretty much messaged each other at the same time, confirming that we both had recognized each other from our interactions online. I love the blogging community!

It had been two weeks since I last ran, so I had no desire to run all out and get exhausted. I ran with John and we had a good time chatting and sharing stories. It was great to have an unexpected running buddy!

The race started out pretty cold, but by the last mile, the sun came out and quickly warmed things up. It then felt like a Spring day! (It ended up getting into the 60s).
The race was well organized and well staffed. The race shirt is of really good quality and is softer than most shirts you get at a race. I proudly wore it for the rest of the day.
My official time for the race was 36:58:21, an 11:55 pace. Not too shabby!

Just a week after my Disney World races as part of the Wine & Dine Half Marathon Weekend, I decided it would be smart to run another half marathon in Maryland near Carderock. I had previously run this same course/race in during this past spring and really enjoyed myself, so I figured I would do it again.

I had an 8am start and it was COLD! It was in the 30s when we started and it was hard to keep warm, especially while just standing around waiting for the race to begin. Luckily, we finally started and I quickly warmed up. I ended up taking off my jacket (and just wore a long sleeved tech shirt) after the first couple of miles. My ears were covered and I had gloves that I took on and off as needed. I’m glad that I wasn’t freezing the entire race!

The race started out pretty well. I was keeping to my intervals of run 2:15 / walk 1 and was keeping a pretty steady pace of 12:30. Not terribly fast, but I did just do a long run the previous weekend!

Once I hit mile 10, though, I hit a wall. My body started to shut down, even though I was taking my fuel. My feet were also really starting to hurt (I need to get them checked out…it’s the bottom of the foot where the heel meets the back of the arch, on the outsides of my feet.)

I shuffled for the next 3 miles, chatted a bit with a woman who was running her first half marathon, and finally finished with a time of 2:51:01, about 10 minutes longer than the other race in the spring.

Regardless, I had a great time and still enjoy the tree-lined, lock-full, river-seeing course!

What comes after a trip to a runDisney Expo? A race of course! I had signed up to do the Jingle Jungle 5k in addition to the Wine & Dine Half Marathon. Call me crazy, but I LOVE Disney races!!! I did a double race last year by doing the Happy Haunted Trails 5k and Tower of Terror 10-miler on the same day. I survived, so I figured that it was a good idea. (And it was!) I dressed up as Christmas Olaf (Thanks Lydia!) and got ready for a great race!

I got to Animal Kingdom in plenty of time to go to the bathroom and then stand in the ridiculously long line for Christmas Mickey and Minnie. But, if I’m going to be standing around anyway, I might as well get some pictures out of it! The people around me in line were nice and we chatted about some of the outfits and costumes that we saw. About an hour later, I finally made it up to Mickey and Minnie! I also stopped for pictures with the Christmas scenes and then still had plenty of time to make it over to my corral.

I was in Corral A!! I have only been assigned to Corral A one other time: for the Happy Haunted Trail 5k (but I moved back to be with my family). So I was pretty excited this time to be able to start first! I’m pretty sure that they did corrals based on our names or our sign-up times because there was a wide mix of people in it, from the elderly, to young children, to the winner of the 2014 Disney Marathon! Regardless, I weaseled my way to the very front of the starting line!
Imagine my surprise when the person next to me turns around and says “Hi Katie!” I’m famous! LOL! It turned out to be Debbie, a follower of my blog and a Team #runDisney member! We chatted for a bit and got ready for the MC’s to start their pre-race show.

Of course Mickey and Minnie joined the MCs at the start line and I had a great view! And finally – we were off! By the time I was 3 steps past the start line, the winner of the marathon was already 1/4 mile away! Crazy! Regardless, I jogged a bit, but didn’t push myself too hard and soon tons of people were passing me. No worries, though!

The first mile of this race was through the parking lot of Animal Kingdom. The energy of the race was so good that I got to mile marker 1 so fast! Soon we were entering Animal Kingdom. Because this 5k was untimed, my goal was to stop for every picture stop. I wasn’t going to run much of the race because I wanted to save my energy for the half marathon later. I also wanted to just have a relaxing time with thousands of my best friends! The first stop was Santa Goofy!

We ran to the left of the Tree of Life and through Africa, where I met up with Rafiki and Timon.

Then we crossed through towards Asia, but not before stopping for a picture with the Tree of Life.

Next up was King Louie and Baloo!

We then ran past Expedition Everest and then ended up backstage. I had run back here during the Disney Marathon in January and the Expedition Everest Challenge, so I had seen this area before, but they had some characters and props back here waiting for us!

I got to visit Winter Donald:

I got to see the back of Everest and the huge Animal Kingdom Christmas tree un-assembled! (This was pretty neat to me!)

And of course, Pluto with his festively decorated house!

There was a dragon. And a crocodile!

Finally we were back on track and I saw Chip and Dale. The line was a bit long, but I was not in a rush!

All in all, I thought this was a great race! I love Animal Kingdom anyway, so running through it is pretty awesome for me. There were a lot of characters out and I loved seeing everyone in holiday-themed costumes!

Three miles sure do fly by when you are having an awesome (slow) run at Disney! It took me about an hour and a half to make my way through the race. Those picture stops do take a long time!

And of course I had to get a medal shot! A lot of people complain that the 5k medals are rubbery medallions, but I still think they are very special and I wear them proudly!

I loved this race and would do it again!!!