Twenty Twenty.
If there was ever a lead up to an all-around strange weekend it was the 2020 Princess Half Marathon.
Writing about it after the event, and completing this blog much after the events of 2020 and Covid closures, it’s almost eerie to think about the feelings and all around attitude of that weekend. Coupled with the crazy weather we had with temperature shifts between the 5k (which we didn’t run), the 10k, and the Half. And also considering this weekend was a fairly short weekend for all of us.. I can’t help but consider this race memorable for so many reasons.
I was a year into a new job and a new company, and extremely busy back home at work. I was actually getting calls and emails during my vacation – which was frustrating to me since these trips go by so quickly already.
But we had pretty much the whole crew back again for one more race.
However most of all was a weird, looming uncertainty of Covid and parts of the world starting to get severely impacted by it. I distinctly remember standing in the corrals the morning of the Half thinking “in a few more months something like this would be incredibly sketchy…” and it was only three weeks later that businesses and things shut down. My work went fully remote. And lives changed for many, many people.
That being said, it was still a great weekend with everyone and overall it flew by incredibly fast.
So let’s get into the surprisingly-cold Sixth Year as the PrincessMen at Walt Disney World!
Thursday
An afternoon flight for me and Beau out of LAX over to Orlando. I remember the girl that sat between us on the flight ended up passing out almost immediately on the plane, haha!
At the airport Biggs arrived aroudn the same time and we made our way out to the timeshare we’d be staying at through the weekend
Friday
It turned out that a cold front had blown in that morning. The Frozen themed 5k was apparently quite cold from everything we read online, haha. We had got up, got dressed for warm weather to go check in and then realized we all needed to layer up with pants and jackets instead of the shorts and tees we were wearing.
Joe and Naidymar caught up with us to all go check in together at Wide World. Once at the Expo we were able to catch up with Theresa and her family as well – she would be joining us again to run but Scott would not be this time. Ric and Lauren were also at the Expo which made this one of the few times we’ve all been there to check in together. The funniest thing about that is we were all too busy catching up and talking to realize we didn’t get one big group photo other than our bib pic. I suppose that’s my fault since I’m typically the one making sure we do.
Saturday – 10K Race Day
3:20 AM – and FREEZING out at Epcot
This was honestly a pretty brutal start to the weekend’s events. Firstly, my costume is mostly mesh running as Jasmine. Which is great when it’s the Sunday Half and hot and sunny.
But arriving at the Epcot parking lot and getting out of the car I THOUGHT I would be ok until the race started. I was wrong.
Beau immediately wrapped himself in a runDisney space blanket he had in his car. I was just trying to stay warm without until some of our friends came over and gave me a blanket as well.
That morning they actually a big tent set up for on-site merchandise that we and several other people hid inside of because it was marginally warmer. Lauren, Threresa, and Ryan all caught up with us there before the start – they were doing the challenge as well, just not all in costume.
Once the race started Beau kept his blanket on the first mile or so. I was laughing and joking about how I would need to run my normal, much faster, pace if I had any hope to warm up in the first couple miles.
As soon as the crowd started to break up you could just feel the bite of the air. However Biggs was doing just fine because his version of Mulan that day was pretty layered up.
I kept us moving at a more brisk pace than we might have otherwise done because it was just kind of miserable in that weather. But that being said we still had a blast as usual seeing other dudes-as-princesses out there, as well as other lady-jasmines and lady-pocahontases to say hi to and take photos with.
However we did NOT stick around too long after the finish. Typically we’d hang out to see people and see hello to all those we normally see at these events. But as soon as we stopped running we cooled back down pretty quick and it was time.to.go. I honestly don’t think I’ll ever forget arriving back at the hotel and getting in and standing in a really hot shower for waiting for my core to warm back up.
The rest of the day was spent as a group shopping and bouncing around a few usual places like IHOP for brunch, Downtown Disney for Ghirardelli, and other shopping. Dinner that night as a group back at the timeshare, with the usual stories and laughter before an early race morning for the Half
Sunday – Half Marathon Day
3 am wakeup and getting ready with the group
Race day is always a blast, but Race Morning is always just SO early.
An alarm at 3am is only midnight back home for me. But getting up and getting ready with all the guys in the timeshare is always a blast.
Ric and Joe and crashed with us that night at our place. So it was Jasmine, Pocahontas, Mulan, Belle, and Elsa getting ready that day together.
Naidymar got up and hung out with all of getting prepped (and I’m pretty certain went right back to bed after we left!)
This particular race morning was chilly, but not nearly as bad as the day before. We still used the runDisney space blankets we kept from the day before until the start of the race. I won’t lie and act like it suddenly became a warm weekend by any means. hahaha.
Catching up with Ryan, Theresa, and Lauren, after the entrance we started making our way to the corrals. Aaron and Danielle were there to race, too, but they got too caught up in traffic and entry so they didn’t catch up to us before the start of the race. It was definitely a bummer to not have Ariel with us there at the start.
Got a little broken up on the course as usual, but most of made it to the castle together! Lots more photos down below, as usual.
The race itself was another great day as always. It warmed up so much by the end that by the time Aaron and Danielle caught us at the end of the event he was just in his seashells, haha!
That evening we all went out for wings and then ice cream. Our friend Kate caught up with us, too, which was awesome since we don’t always get a chance to see her when we’re in town.
Monday
The next day Beau and I were on a midday flight. So that gave me, him, Biggs, Naidymar and Joe one last chance to hang out for a bit for a get coffee and donuts together. Then it was off to the airport and Beau and I were flying back to LAX together. It’s funny to think about how many years Beau and I lived in SoCal but rarely were able to make our flight work together with our schedules.
Finally back home later that afternoon it was back to real life. I would be heading back into a very busy work week, and then became an incredibly strange and busy year with the shutdowns we all suspected were ahead.
It would be two more years until we all raced the Princess again.
And onto everything else from the weekend!
throwing in some captions as usual about the trip!
The previous summer I came across these gold Nike Run shoes that look just like slippers. HAD to buy them for my costume.
One of the very few times we ever had a flight together to go see everyone
The girl in between me and Beau passed out almost immediately after takeoff
made it to Orlando! Now to wait for Biggs
Found him!
Arriving at the timeshare that night, due to the size of our party there was an entire extra room attached out our multi-room booking. So that’s where I ended up
Huge bathtub, which probably would have been amazing to use with how cold the weekend turned out
I was dressed and ready for SUMMER weather having left sunny California
We quickly realized that we were underdressed and everyone put on pants and got sweaters
Off to the Expo!
‘…oh we plan to..’
Beau has a whole run/medal themed to him this year!
Theresa found us!
Always fun to walk the Expo, even you don’t end up buying anything. It’s fun to just enjoy the excitement
Lookin good brotha
Paola found us! It’s been great to make friends at these events over the years. Even if we only see them once a year
Interesting massage tool shape choice
Now to the Disney Race Merch building!
The gangs all here! Theresa and her family, Danielle was there to checkin/race also (but at her own speed)
Ready to run!
Went out shopping later that day to the Outlets for the hell of it and it was SO cold
Saturday Morning / 10k Race Day
Breakfast of Champions
Checkin the fit
Biggs with all his layers
I always get a kick out of these photos because we all have the most ridiculous collection of pictures together over the years
Much quieter for the 10k arrival and parking
I was already freezing
Beau had a blanket. Smart man.
Lorren found us!
Look how bundled up everyone is
We ended up hiding in the merch tent that morning because it was just so cold. Lauren, Theresa, and Ryan arrived a bit after we did and caught up with us
this was 100% the proper attire for the corrals
I ended up getting a blanket from friends that morning
Heading to the start line. Everyone still in blankets, hoodies, and layers
Almost our turn!
Again, people were running IN their blankets that morning. I heard the 5k the day before was even worse
Found another Pocahontas!
Who wore it better? Beau crashed her photo that she was having someone take of her by the lagoon
Found an Elsa out there! Didn’t even need Ric that morning, who knew?!
Always great to see people each year who remember us!
Heading out of Epcot and I turned to Beau like “It is STILL.DAMN.COLD”
Done!
Got our snacks! Now just have to wait on Biggs
Chips and Cheese breakfast
Biggs wasn’t too far behind. Along with Paola
Lauren, Ryan, and Theresa turned up just shortly after we were done.
And we did NOT stay long after this since it was just so cold out that morning. Everyone was pretty much leaving right away
First one done!
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Let’s throw in the runDisney Photographer photos here:
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We’re gonna find out this is basically plastic one of these days. I know it.
Off to breakfast with everyone
I always laugh at gas being like $1+ cheaper in Orlando
Buyin the essentials at Downtown Disney
And this will make a great addition to my kitchen at home
Always a must-do for beacons of healthy living, such as myself
Going to dinner with everyone that night
Ric was our Uber and we were crammed in the back
Half Marathon Race Day
Got Beau marked up for his Pocahontas tattoo
Some of the guys gettin pretty
Joe was feelin’ it though
Naidymar was awake to support us, even though she was on as little sleep as the rest of us
Ric had brought an mattress to stay the night with us so we could just go as full group in the morning
A little hairspray touchup to the wigs
Lookin great! As always
Had to get Naidymar in there because she’s still putting up with all of us after all these years
Theresa found another Flynn who was giving out wanted posters!
And I found another Jasmine!
Heading to the corrals!
Everyone lookin ready to run!
It was definitely another cold morning though.
We all had blankets pretty much
And we’re off!
By the time we reached the entrance the group was bit broken up already
Slightly different course this year
And the resulting traffic on the course was pretty crazy
We’re all just walkin in a huge group at this point
Got to Main Street
Heading out of the park
Now time to start the long stretches of highway
Another one done! Ric was great this year and stayed with us the entire time!
Joe hit every Powerade table he could as we walked by
Found a Maui out there!
Sydnee came by to say hi as usual!
Paola was rockin her Pocahontas outfit that day
A lady Gaston!
And another dude Pocahontas!
It wasn’t too long before Aaron, Danielle, Biggs, Ryan, Theresa, and Lauren all finished and found us!
Scott was there at the finish, too, to support Theresa. Bummer not having him running with us anymore
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Andddd the runDisney Photographer photos:
Crashin other people’s photos since 2015!
I really hope this guy got that photo of Chris’ fan blocking him. hahaha
Making all these other people’s photos even better. lol!
Half the group at the castle
So many great group photos this year
Chris did a great job of running by as many photographers as he could!
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And Brunch time with everyone!
The wings here are actually amazing – and it’s like two blocks from where we were staying
And we HAD to get dessert, too, cuz we’re champions like that
Got to see Kate that evening, too!
Another Challlenge weekend completed with everyone
Monday and heading home
Coffee and Donuts before our late-morning flight. Joe came by to say goodbye to us, too, since he was nearby
Back at the airport. These weekends are never long enough with everyone
Lines at Orlando are reason enough to get TSA Pre
Beau and I waiting for our flight
No one sitting in the middle this time!
And we out!
Yeah, we’re home
And like that, the weekend is officially done
Are you REALLY home in SoCal without traffic on the drive back to your place?
And with that another Princess race is wrapped up, and it’s back to real life tomorrow.