Year Four of the #PrincessMen was one of the more hectic, and short, trips of any year.
And now, writing this whole report longgg after the actual race I realize just how crazy the whole weekend and trip actually was.
At the time I was working at a marketing agency in Southern California. I kept my trip and travel minimal because I believed I was integral to the growth and success of this new company I was part of and helping build. In hindsight that was a huge mistake to miss out on time with my friends because the agency didn’t actually care about any of us, and laid off several of us just a few months later. It was a ridiculous and semi-hilarious period of my life to look back on. But oh well.
So, leading up to this race I decided to do an overnight flight on Thursday, to arrive Friday morning. And then I’d take a Sunday evening flight home. It worked out for a few reasons though. I didn’t have a lot of money – the agency pay was abysmal and I barely made enough to survive. And Beau and Biggs also had busy schedules at the time and were planning minimal travel as well to save money.
This year I would be doing the Challenge with Biggs, so we had to get there with enough time for Friday Check In
Thursday/Friday
12 AM, Flyin out
Thursday night I had booked a midnight flight out of LAX. It was a direct flight to Orlando, and as it turned out I also ended up having an entire row to myself. Somewhat uncommon, even for a JetBlue flight.
9 AM, Friday Morning Arrival
Friday after arrival we all got to the timeshare, I got cleaned up and changed for the day, and we headed to breakfast, followed by the Expo for race check in.
No Disney trip is complete for us without at least one group trip to IHOP.
After breakfast we headed to the Expo. Biggs and I would be doing the Challenge this year, so we had to check in and pick up our bibs earlier than the rest of the group who would only be running the Half and checking in later.
The rest of the day was hanging out, laughing, and catching up on life. Joe and Erin came by to meet for dinner with us. Back at the timeshare that the guys were trying on their costumes. Biggs would be debuting a new setup he put together.
Saturday – 10K Race Day
4:00 AM
Challenge, Day 1, Jasmine and Mulan!
An early morning as usual, and just the pair of us running today! We kept a pretty easy pace overall for the 10k. Running into several friends that morning, and of course stopping for some photos during the race.
One thing I will say after looking through all the race photos from PhotoPass was that Biggs managed to get into a LOT of shots. I feel like the fan really helps with grabbing attention though. haha!
Beau also came to hang out that morning and wait for us – in costume no less, even though he didn’t run that morning.
We hung out for a bit after the race. Said hi to old friends and new, and then headed out.
That afternoon we all hit Downtown Disney for Ghirardelli. I met up with Joe/Erin for some family photos. And then we all hit the grocery store to get ready for a group dinner with everyone. Having the whole group together at the timeshare is a great time, all the time. To be able to sit around and catch up with everyone truly is the best part of these trips.
Sunday – Half Marathon Day
4 AM, another early one
The gang’s all here!
This was one of the huge-group years! It was awesome to have such a large group together for the race.
This was the closest we got to any sort of group-photo on the course itself, haha!
We all ended up broken up on the course pretty quickly – like within the first four miles or so.
To be honest I didn’t realize the gap we had one everyone before the castle. So our group ended up split in two by the halfway point, and split in three by the finish.
Regardless of being broken up, everyone all had a great time. And if there was any result of us being split up it was that the following year it pushed everyone to train harder to be even more ready for the running and pacing.
Wrapping up the run that day we hung out to wait for the entire group, of course, after the finish. Said lots of hellos to anyone that came up to chat after the race. And then we all returned back to the timeshare to clean up and go eat. The sunny day resulted in all of us having some slight level of sunburn, haha!
And that afternoon Biggs and I had to return to the airport to fly home.
Like I said, a very short, and somewhat anticlimactic race weekend that turned out to be too rushed, and far too short. This was the weekend that made me realize shortening a trip due to work was not worth it. That my time with my friends in Florida is far more valuable because I see them so infrequently.
So let’s get to the photos from everything else – I’ll add more details in there.
Now, on to all the photos from the weekend!
Packed and ready to go!
LAX parking/shuttle portion of travel is one of the most annoying things
Decent legroom
Actually have a whole row to myself for the overnight!
Friday Morning:
Heading to breakfast
IHOP is a regular part of all of our trips since college
Expo time!
Gotta rock our own hashtag, right?
We were able to all find our princesses on the silhouettes
In hindsight, maybe Biggs should have found a way to do the Kids Race also
Hitting the Outlet mall to pass time and do some shopping. Biggs and Beau are buying identical shoes, apparently. Adorable
Lunch of champions
Back the timeshare. Joe and Erin and arrived later that evening
Anthony, flirting with the waitress
Yeahhh… this new wig I ordered for the race was absolutely horrible
Beau and Biggs were both trying on their costumes for the next day
Biggs had put together a new entire outfit
Gotta get the corset ready!
Seriously, it’s the moments like this during race weekend that are hilarious. A bunch of dudes just primpin’ and getting things set
Alright it all works!
Saturday:
it’s early, but we’re all awake
Beau is up and dressed to join us, even though he’s not running today
Trimming the belt ties cuz THOSE are just gettin’ annoying
Apple sauce = Breakfast of winners
We found Paola! Or actually, she found us
Biggs loves meeting all the Mulans on course
It’s dark as hell, but we out here!
Great sunrise view over the showcase
This is around the point that Biggs’ outfits tend to get realllly warm to run in
Beau, waitin at the finish!
Another Jasmine!
With Paola
First race, done!
With Mariah
With Erin
Everyone loves posing with Beau, tho
With Melissa and Diannys (who we regularly see at events now!)
With Jill, we’re costume twins!
With Teresa, another Jasmine!
With Andrea (i think?)
With Denise, who went as slave Jasmine!
Later that afternoon Joe and Erin caught up with us again for photos and to hang out
I always try to hit Ghirardelli if we can make the trip to Downtown Disney
Hitting the store for some groceries for group dinner
Everyone was going to meet us back at the timeshare
The Biggs family, Spoenemon family, and Bedford family all joined
Theresa/Flynn getting dinner going
Scott/Rapunzel and Ric/Elsa
This was one of the bigger group meals we had that wasn’t us going out to eat
Race Morning
Joe crashed with us to get ready with the group in the morning
Naidymar was one of the first to be ready to go tho
Wigs and accessories ready!
Getting closer to being ready to go
Trying to draw on Beau’s tattoo
Wait… that’s totally wrong!
Gotta restart!
gurlllll!
Ready for the hot weather ahead
Doing the best we can with the makeup pencil
And we’re ready!
First Jasmine of the day!
The gangs all here!
The long walk to the start
Getting closer!
Found another Belle!
Is this everyone!? Who’d we lose?
Another Jasmine on the course!
Founda Moana!
Found an Aladdin out there! I’ve seen Maynard at other events since this too!
Our group was totally broken up over the course at this point
Another Jasmine!
Whew! And we’re done! That was a HOT race day out there
Sunburn check!
We all got juuuuust a bit of sun today!
And sadly, just a couple hours later Biggs and I were back at the airport to fly home
The quickest trip we’d had for one of these races. And as I said before, it made me regret not taking more time to spend with everyone.
Flying out of Orlando will make you understand that Pre is worth it for this airport alone
Back home, and another Challenge wrapped!