Registration for RunDisney Virtual Disney 100 Summer Races

Another day, another RunDisney race to sign up for!  This morning was the registration for the RunDisney Virtual Summer Series of 5K races... and since this year's medals are themed to the Disney 100 Celebration, I was certainly not missing out on those!  

I love doing the virtual races, and I've signed up for quite a few of them.  We haven't actually walked all of them, but I've set my medals aside so I can earn them before I hang them up.  Eliot doesn't see the point in signing up for the races since he likes the in person events.  But as someone who can't do more than a 10K, I find it motivating to push myself more at home.  I think virtual races are great.  Plus, by signing up for the 2023 virtual marathon, I made sure that I walked those 26.2 miles to earn it while I was at Disney World back in January.  (Compared to that, these three 5Ks are nothing!)

At about 9:45 AM, I got on the website to start waiting for registration to open.  Sign ups for virtual races usually aren't too big of a hassle.  The waiting room kept telling me that I had between 2 and 4 (and 2 and 4 and 2 and 4) minutes left as it bounced back and forth between those times.  Then, out of nowhere I was ready to enter at 9:53... but the race didn't even officially gone on sale until 10 AM.

I was puzzled, and then I promptly got kicked back to the main page.  At that point, it wouldn't let me click any of the registration links.  I opened Chrome and got into that line... that was "recalculating" forever.  After a panicked phone call to Eliot, it was 10 AM and the original webpage on my Safari opened directly to log me into my account.

Less than 4 minutes later, I was registered for the 2023 RunDisney Virtual Challenge!

It was a relief to be registered after those 10-15 minutes of confusion.  Afterwards, I gathered my stuff to go out to the truck.  On the way to class, I called Eliot to let him know that I was all set and that he could close the registration waiting room webpage he had opened.  I was a few minutes late to sewing class again, but it was worth it!

So now, Eliot and I are doing all of the Disney 100 themed Virtual RunDisney Summer 5K Races.  (I signed myself up, but we do them together and share the medals.)  The three individual themes are Sorcerer Mickey for June, Steamboat Willie for July and Runaway Railway Mickey for August.  Then, when you do the challenge and complete all three of those races, you also get a special Disney 100 medal with Mickey and Minnie in their Disney 100 Celebration outfits (if you signed up for the challenge).

We probably won't get the medals until August, but I'm still excited.  We sometimes try to dress up for these, so I might try to Disneybound as Mickey for them.  Eliot and I usually just go on a walk around Witch Hole Pond since that's about 3 miles, but maybe we'll switch it up this year.  We could go on the Eastern Trail that we haven't walked on for years now, or maybe we'll find a new place to explore!

No matter where Eliot and I do our 5Ks, I'm sure we'll have a swell time!  °o°

2023 WDW Marathon Weekend Bucket List Results

How has it already been three weeks since I was preparing for the 2023 Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend by posting about my race weekend bucket list?

Time certainly flies.  Now that we're settled back in at home, I thought it was time to recap some of my bucket lists.  I figure since this is the first one that I posted, it should be the first one that I review!  So let's see how our marathon weekend turned out!

Melissa's 2023 WDW Marathon Weekend Bucket List

1.) Go to the Race Expo

We went to the race expo... I mean, you kind of have to in order to get your race packet and bibs.  The expo is always a lot of fun and we enjoy going.  Everyone is really excited for the weekend ahead.  It was pretty busy but organized this year.

2.) Buy Some Race Merchandise

Eliot and I had both seen a preview of some of the race merchandise on the Disney Parks blog.  I went to the expo knowing that I wanted the pink race weekend jacket and the Loungefly backpack.  Thankfully, Eliot was able to get into the virtual queue at a good time so everything we wanted was still there by the time we entered.  

Eliot decided to get the men's version of the jacket.  He got a Dopey shirt and I got a 10K Finisher shirt.  He picked up a few other smaller items.  We caved and bought matching 2023 Marathon Weekend Spirit Jerseys... and the general RunDisney Spirit Jerseys.  We broke the bank a bit, but Sara ended up buying both of our race jackets as our birthday and Christmas presents, so that definitely helped!  (Thanks Sara!!!)

3.) Take Advantage of the Photo Ops

I love all of the photo spots that they set up at the race expo.  We always stop to take pictures at the medal banners outside at the entrances to the ESPN Wide World of Sports.  There were also fun places to take photos inside of the different expo halls.

4.) Finish the Walt Disney World 10K

This was my biggest goal of marathon weekend.  I really wanted to finish my race.  It was an emotional few days for me with finding out that Nana had passed away the night before the races were supposed to begin.  I slept in the following morning since it was only the 5K and I didn't sleep well since I spent part of it crying myself to sleep.

Getting myself to the 10K start line the next day was already a huge accomplishment, and everyone told me that they'd be proud of me no matter what happened.  Eliot was extra attuned to me while we stood in the corrals.  I won't lie, it was weighing heavily on me, but I wanted to try my best.  I thought of Nana a lot during the actual race, and I wanted to finish it for her.  I just kept pushing ahead and I didn't want to stop other than to force myself to use the bathroom halfway through the race.

I tried to soak in the experience since I'm not sure when my next RunDisney event will be.  When Eliot and I passed the marker at mile 6, I felt a little bit of the pressure lift off of my shoulders.  Crossing the finish line was emotional.  I knew I would be in tears after everything that had transpired leading up to the race, but somehow I finished it.

5.) Take a Photo with a Character

Eliot and I didn't stop to take photos during the 10K because I was super paranoid about finishing and not getting pulled.  However, I was a little disappointed in our decision since Darkwing Duck was the last photo op.  His line was so long though... there must have been about 100 people in it when we passed.  

The universe was looking out for me though.  The following morning, I was excited to find that Darkwing Duck was one of the characters the start line photo spots before the half marathon.  While all of the runners were walking to the start line, I got in line to take a few photos.  And since I was second to last before he was leaving, I asked if I could take a photo of him by himself to send to my brother.  (I told Darkwing how much Jeremy loves him and he even posed for me!)  It was pretty magical.

6.) Watch Eliot in the Half Marathon

I was at the finish line waiting for Eliot to cross during the half.  He was texting me his location so I had an idea of when he'd be coming.  He doesn't look happy in the photos I took... but I'll give him a break; he was sore and tired after going over 13 miles!

7.) Watch Eliot in the Marathon

I missed Eliot at the finish line since he ended up getting pulled around mile 19, but I was able to see him along the way... more about that below on goal #9.

8.) Watch Runners from the Monorail

This was something that I discovered back in 2015 when Mom and I were watching Dad, Jeremy and Eliot do the half marathon.  It was so much run to watch thousands of half marathon runners from the monorail tracks.  I did it again this year and I really enjoyed it.  I even had a whole car of Monorail Lime to myself a few times!

9.) Meet Eliot in the Magic Kingdom

I had originally planned to meet up with Eliot in the Magic Kingdom for both the half marathon and marathon.  Unfortunately, I had a bit of bad timing and I just missed Eliot during the half marathon.  He was passing through the castle as I was making my way to Main Street.  However, I still thoroughly enjoyed my time at the Magic Kingdom.  

I soaked in a bit of magic while it was more quiet.  The Emporium was open so I went in there to warm up (it was freezing that morning) and I bought a Bruni magnet plush and a Rice Krispie treat while it was quiet.  I also got a ton of great photos without people in them.  I took full advantage of my time there, and it felt very therapeutic.

Obviously, since I missed Eliot at the Magic Kingdom for the half, I was determined to meet up with him on Main Street during the marathon.  Thankfully, we got there with plenty of time to spare.  Nori, Rick and I saw Sara run right by us, but she had her headphones on and didn't see us.  I texted Eliot to tell him where I was standing (right after the mile marker) so he came over to say hi.  I got a quick sweaty hug and kiss before he kept moving forward towards the castle.

10.) Take Photos of Medals in Parks Afterwards

This is one of my favorite parts of race weekend!  It's so fun to see everyone sporting their hard earned medals in the theme parks.  I didn't wear mine the entire time like I usually would have because the enamel was scratching and chipping too easily.  But I did take it out a few times for photos!  We took a few at Magic Kingdom and Epcot.

11.) Walk Enough Miles to Earn My Virtual Marathon Medal

I walked so many miles during this trip.  I didn't actually sync my Fitbit up to my cell phone until after our trip, but I was regularly getting about 16,000+ steps each day when I checked my watch.  The average woman needs to take about 62,926 steps to complete a marathon, so I definitely completed one marathon, but it probably ended up being more than that!  I'll have to go back and total everything up one of these days!

12.) Enjoy the Weekend and Have Fun!!!

Whew, this was an emotional few days for me, but I did have fun.  There were a lot of highs and lows throughout the weekend, but I'm really glad I participated in it.  

In the end, my 2023 Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend was a bit of a rollercoaster, but I'm so proud of myself for getting to the 10K start line, and I'm even more proud of myself for finishing it.  I definitely earned that medal with blood, sweat and tears.  On top of that... I was also able to complete my entire Race Weekend Bucket List!

The weekend didn't go as planned for all of us, but we tried our best.  Sara was able to finish the Dopey.  Eliot did the 5K, 10K, half marathon and walked about 20 miles in the marathon before he fell behind the pace and got pulled.  Nori finished the half and walked a few miles of the half before getting on a bus.  And Rick made it 11 miles into the half before they pulled him.  Eliot and Rick were both disappointed, but I think we did great considering the only person who actively trained for the weekend was Sara.  

We're all so proud of Sara for going 48.6 miles in four days!  Congrats Sara!!!

So that's a wrap on another RunDisney race weekend.  I'm not sure when Eliot and I will be back for our next one, but I'm positive that we'll eventually find ourselves back in the corrals and on those start lines again someday!  °o°

2023 Virtual Princess Challenge Registration

This morning, I once again traded my glass slippers for sneakers while I signed up for the 2023 RunDisney Princess Half Marathon Weekend Virtual Race Registration.

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The princess themed race weekend is my favorite RunDisney event.  Eliot and I have attended it in person twice: just the two of us in 2017 and with his family in 2019.  I've always dreamed of doing another princess race in person, but between the pandemic and how much it costs, I'm happy to have an alternative.  Plus, next year Eliot and I are already signed up to do the 2023 Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend in person.  I can't justify turning around and going back down to Florida a few weeks after that event takes place... especially if we have the puppies at that point!

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Thus, I happily opted to sign up for the virtual edition of the races.  Some people aren't a big fan of them, but I thought this was a great thing to come out of the pandemic.  I'm not sure if RunDisney will continue to offer virtual versions of their race weekends, but I'll probably sign up for princess weekend every year if they do keep it!  I will definitely miss being down there in person and experiencing everything that I love, but I'll still get to earn the bling and get the race shirts!  So it's a win-win in my book!

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Thankfully, this was smooth sailing like signing up for the virtual marathon.  I don't really know how registration went on Tuesday for the in person event, but the virtual side was quick and easy.  I was in the queue about 10 minutes before 10 am, and right at 10 I was switched over to the waiting room.  I only had to wait 2 minutes, and within that two minutes I was heading into register for Princess Half Marathon Weekend!

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I decided to register for the Challenge as well as the 5K.  I really like the artwork for this year's event, so I decided to just go for it and do all of them.  Plus, the princesses for each event are some of my favorites: Jasmine for the 5K, Belle for the 10K, Moana for the Half Marathon and Cinderella for the Challenge.  It's also the 15th anniversary of the half marathon and the 10th anniversary of the challenge.  Hopefully, they'll have really cool medals like they usually do for the anniversary events! 

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So, as of this morning, I am registered for the actual in-person 10K at Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend, the virtual WDW marathon, and both the Princess 5k and Princess Challenge!  I think it's time I lace up those sneakers... someone has got some training to do to prepare for next year's RunDisney events!  °o°

RunDisney Frozen Summer Virtual Series

This afternoon, I registered for the RunDisney Frozen Summer Virtual Series!  

RunDisney made the announcement about the races Monday, March 28th.  (They had teased the theme for this summer's Frozen races a few days prior.)  Registration opened today at 10 am, so I signed up as soon as I got back from my sewing class!

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Eliot and I have signed up for the summer 5K virtual races the past few years.  We've come up with a system that works for us.  One of us registers for the event, then both of us do the mileage together and we share the medals!

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Eliot and I still haven't actually done our mileage from last year, so we've also got those miles to walk this summer!  During the summer of 2021, Disney did a Lion King theme with the medals being themed to the original animated film, the Broadway adaptation and the live action remake.  It appears that they liked that general medal idea... 

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This year, the first medal is themed to the original film, Frozen.  The second medal is themed to the sequel, Frozen 2.  The third medal is themed to the Broadway show.  If you sign up to complete all three of those 5K events, you also get the Virtual Challenge medal which is of Olaf this year.  (You have to sign up for the challenge in order to get the Olaf medal.  It ends up costing you $15 more for all four medals.)  Of course, I'm obsessed with Frozen so Eliot and I had to sign up for the challenge.   

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Plus, signing up also made a lot of sense.  I haven't said anything about it on here yet, but over the past few weeks, Eliot has decided to do the Dopey Challenge next year along with his sister Sara.  These 5K virtual races will be stepping stones on his quest to train for the 48.6 miles he'll be undertaking next January!

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Unfortunately, the medals appear to be a little plain... but they are all snow globes so I'm hoping that they'll look a lot cooler in person.  I tend to like the medals that are different shapes more than generic round ones, but hopefully these will surprise me!  I know they will look good displayed alongside all of our other RunDisney medals!

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As of right now, I'm not sure if they'll be doing shirts for this event.  The event page mentioned a virtual race expo closer to the event.  I'm hopeful that there might be some fun Frozen themed running shirts.  Some of my favorite things at the in person race expos are the generic running shirts!  I'd love to get an Elsa, Olaf or Anna shirt!

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In the meantime, Eliot and I will be making plans to complete our Frozen and our Lion King virtual 5K races this summer.  We probably won't get the Frozen medals in the mail until sometime in August, so we've got plenty of time to go log miles of magic!  °o°

Ice Bucket Challenge

Eliot and I have been tagged to do the Ice Bucket Challenge for ALS Awareness that's sweeping our nation via social media.  (Ironically, we were actually discussing this over the weekend, and guessing which of our friends would be the first to challenge us.)  Eliot and I have decided that we're not going to participate in the challenge.  Now, before you start judging us and why we're not going to join in, this is our reasoning.

Although it seems to be the current thing to do, we're taking a different stance.  I've seen tons of my Facebook friends, television morning hosts and famous celebrities who are all doing it.  However, my mother taught me not to jump off a bridge just because everyone else was doing it.  I'm not knocking those of you who have participated.  Actually, it's quite the opposite; I applaud you.  I'm glad that social media has the power to do something to enrich our lives and make the world a better place for all of us to live.

I've heard that you have to dump the ice, or make a $100 donation instead.  In my understanding, the people who are getting soaked in ice water are not donating to ALS. (In fact, donating seems to be the less popular option according to my Newsfeed.)  Don't get me wrong, the ice bucket challenge did intrigue me when I saw everyone getting soaked in ice.  I even contemplated doing it while wearing one of my mouse ear hats to change it up a bit.  But honestly, I don't know how me dumping a bucket of ice water over my head will help someone fighting a horrible disease.  While I'm sure it would probably be entertaining to watch, that's not supposed to be the point of the challenge.  The point is to raise awareness about ALS.

ALS is short for Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and it's often referred to as "Lou Gehrig's Disease."  According to the ALS Association, ALS is "a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. Motor neurons reach from the brain to the spinal cord and from the spinal cord to the muscles throughout the body. The progressive degeneration of the motor neurons in ALS eventually leads to their death."  It's a horrible disease.  As the motor neurons die, patients may become totally paralyzed in the later stages of the disease.  (To learn more, visit the ALS Association.)

Before the challenge, I didn't know that much about ALS.  Now I've learned more about the disease and how it affects people who have it.  And I think that's the great part of social media.  But, I can't help wondering: where are the challenges to help stop gun violence?  To stand up for equality for men and women?  This challenge reminds me that there are still a lot of things we can do to help the world become a better place.

Over the past year or so, Eliot and I have done a lot of things to make a small difference in our world.  We've taken donations for and participated in the Walk for Wishes through the Make a Wish Foundation.  We've donated a box of Mickey Mouse soaps to a little boy named Konnor going to Walt Disney World through Make a Wish.

This summer, I donated an afternoon of my time helping clean the cat areas at the Hancock County SPCA.  (My family got our dog Lucky from the SPCA and he was a wonderful companion to us for almost 15 years.)

I have also donated hundreds of dollars to countless charities through the Virtual Runs I've participated in.  One of my favorites is Give Kids the World which is a 70-acre resort located right near Central Florida's world famous theme parks: Disney World, Universal, Sea World, etc.  It is a place where children with life threatening illnesses and their family members can go for a weeklong, cost-free dream vacation.  This is a great cause and it's near and dear to my heart since I've been blessed with so many opportunities to go to Walt Disney World.  It warms my heart to know I'm helping other kids' dreams come true.

In reality, there are many people that need a voice: the homeless, the hungry, veterans, domestic abuse victims, sexual abuse victims, people with other severe illnesses and more.  And there are many causes that need donations: disaster relief funds, animal welfare groups, environmental organizations, humanitarian organizations, etc.

Therefore, instead of participating in the Ice Bucket Challenge, we challenge everyone to donate your time, voice, or money to a cause that's near and dear to your heart.  In the meantime, I'll be finding another virtual run to sign up for to make a small difference.  °o°

WDW Half Marathon Prep

Well, the countdown is officially on for the Walt Disney World Half Marathon!!!  (It's a week from today!)  I can't believe that it's already time to be preparing for our trip!  I remember feeling like it would never get here when we left Disney last March.  Now, we're leaving in 3 days!  Tomorrow Eliot is planning to pack all of his things and I'll be working on getting the last minute stuff like laundry done!  Wow!

Photo Source: Pinterest (Original pin here.)

I'm pretty nervous and excited for the race itself.  I haven't gotten to train for the half marathon as much as I wanted to.  I did go to the gym a few times.  But between the holidays, going to my parents' house, and being sick for 2 weeks after Thanksgiving, it wasn't nearly as much effort as I'd wanted to put in!

I had high hopes for my virtual runs, but I didn't get that many done.  I'm apparently super picky with myself, because I probably earned 4-5 of them.  But since I wanted to track them all with my Nike running app on my iPhone, I didn't actually "count" any of the ones I did do.  I'm planning to earn the rest of them and kick it up a few notches in 2014.

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At this point, I'm telling myself that I'll finish the race, or I won't.  It's pretty simple! Either way, I'll be proud of myself for trying.  I'm not too fond of running in the first place!  So taking a big risk and leap of faith to do this in the first place is pretty spectacular!  

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The fact that it's a Disney race is making it a lot more exciting to me!  I'm so excited for the experience as a whole.  This will not only be my first ever RunDisney Event, but I've also never been to Disney while they're doing a race weekend!  I'm so excited to see everyone's race costumes, to see the entertainment and characters along the course, for the Expo and race merchandise and to see the medals in person!

Inspiration for my Minnie Costume. Photo Source: Polyvore

I'm was hoping to wear a costume of my own.  I tossed idea after idea around in my head but finally I've decided to go with Minnie!  What's more classic Disney than Minnie Mouse herself!  I tried to convince Eliot to dress up as Mickey, but no such luck.  Maybe once he sees everyone else he'll want to do it in the future?  A girl can dream right?

The Minnie Costume that I'm hoping to wear for the half marathon!

I've decided to wear my black running shoes, black capri leggings, and a black tank top. I'm thinking about buying a Minnie ear headband with her classic red bow! I also found a Minnie skirt and arm sleeves from Team Sparkle that I wanted to buy at the expo. Hopefully I'll be able to get them before they sell out of them!  I also thought about making Minnie bows to wear on my sneakers!  I think it'll be pretty fun! 

RunDisney tutus.  Photo Source: Pinterest (Original pin here.)

I'm excited to see all of the booths at the Expo.  We're hoping to get a few small RunDisney items and some race stuff.  But since I've never been, I'm not sure what to even expect!  When we registered for the race, Eliot and I also signed up for the special pin and I ordered the race necklace.  I know that RunDisney will have a ton of items. There will be a lot of booths for other running companies.  I really want to see the 2014 New Balance RunDisney shoe collection!

New Balance 2014 RunDisney Shoes.  Photo Source: Competitor

The race itself is 13.1 miles running from Epcot to the Magic Kingdom and back to Epcot. The halfway mark is somewhere around the Grand Floridian Resort.  My first goal is to make it to Cinderella Castle.  If I'd done the 10k like I originally planned, I would have made it that far.  Then I'm going to set my sights on the Wedding Pavilion.  It'd be nice to say that I made it to the point where Eliot and I got married.  

And at that point, I'm convincing myself that if I can get that far, I can go the distance! (Yes, that song from Hercules is my "theme song" and I will be singing it to myself the entire race.) I'm trying to mentally prepare.  They say that it's more mental than physical right?  I'm sure halfway through the race, I'll be cursing whoever "they" is.  But "they" have a point.  If I put my mind to it, I'm sure that I can do it.  As long as my knee doesn't completely cave out on me, I'm sure that I can keep a 16 minute pace for 13 miles. Thankfully, Disney is pretty forgiving in the time category!  

Photo Source: RunDisney Facebook Page

My parents, brother and I are planning to do a walk/jog anyways.  They haven't really trained either.  Eliot's the one who will be ahead of all of us.  We're all in the last corral or "walking" division, so I'm hoping to find a group of people we can join who are just happy to be at Disney in the race.

Eliot's already prepared his playlist for the race.  I'm hoping to work on mine tomorrow or Monday.  I have a few songs that I know I want to put on it.  RunDisney also recently did a social media survey to find out which song the runners wanted to be played at the Half Marathon Mile 7 and during the Full Marathon at Mile 21.  They basically had a 3 way tie, so they'll be playing "Roar", "Don't Stop Believing" and "Let It Go" at mile 7.  (Those are all actually songs on my planned playlist as well.)

Photo Source: RunDisney Facebook Page

If we make it to the finish line, we will have earned our half marathon Donald Duck medal! I'm sure I will eat like a pig in celebration, and will probably spend a good portion of the morning sitting in the pool at our hotel.  We're hoping to go into the parks with my grandparents later on in the afternoon and evening once we've recuperated a little. Hopefully I'll be sporting this beautiful bling around the parks that evening!

Photo Source: RunDisney Facebook Page

No matter what happens during the race a week from now, I'm very excited about our Disney vacation.  It's literally 19 degrees right now and it's been below zero for about 2-3 days.  And tomorrow and Monday aren't supposed to get much better.  I know 7 people who are not going to be complaining about the delightful 60, 70 and 80 degree temperatures that are waiting for us in Florida!  (Although, I think complaining about freezing on the other end of the vacation is definitely acceptable!)

Here's to finishing the half marathon and earning that new bling!!!  °o°