Princess Half Marathon- Inaugural Enchanted 10k Recap!!!!

3am Saturday morning came very quickly. We had an early dinner the night before and tried to be in bed by 9:30. We laid our outfits out the night before and got everything ready. I was not sure the bus situation or how long it was going to take to get to the start line so we planned on being at the bus stop by 4 the latest. 

We got ready faster then expected and were out the door by 3:45. Our bus stop was right behind our room so it only took a few minutes to get there. To my surprise there were not many people waiting for the bus.The bus ended up coming very quickly and was not full at all. We got right on and were headed for Epcot. As soon as we got off the bus there were tons of people already there. We flew threw bag check, then we headed over to the corral area. We didn't want  to go right into our corrals yet so we stood around listened to the music the DJ was playing. He was very entertaining and the people around us dancing  were hilarious we loved it! We split a package of sports beans, used the bathrooms and then headed into the corrals. 

We were both in corral A which I was really happy about, it meant we could take our time and stop to take pictures if we wanted to. My plan for this race was to take it slow because I had the half the following day and I was completely unsure of how my knee was going to be feeling . I had been having some SERIOUS knee pain for the past month every time I ran so I was incredibly nervous how it was going to feel during and after these two races. At around 5am they closed the corrals off and then they walked each corral to the start line.

I was so excited to get started I couldn't wait to see what the course was like. My Mom was a bit nervous but so excited as well this was her first runDisney race and she was dying to see know what she was going to see along the course. At 5:30am we were off! We started off great no stopping or shuffling along everyone was moving I was really happy about that! As soon as we turned out onto the main road we spotted Elsa on top of an overpass and there was snow floating in the air. I ran ahead snapped a pictures and we were on our way. The first three miles flew by, after we saw Elsa there weren't many more characters outside of the park. We then headed into the back of Epcot we were both still feeling great. I was pacing my Mom and trying to avoid any knee pain. It did start to ache however. Once we were in Epcot we went down by some of the countries and then headed onto the boardwalk. There were characters along the way I remember seeing Goofy and Jiminy Cricket but we did not stop to take out picture with them. My Mom just wanted to keep going. The boardwalk was one of my favorite parts because it was softer on my knees and a lot brighter then the rest of Epcot. Following that we past the Genie and Lumiere and we were making our way to the finish line! 

The race flew by literally the shortest six miles I have ever run. I was glad that I stayed with my 
Mom, had I decided to go at my own pace I think my knee would have really been bothering me. She felt great at the finish, we were both sweating because it was so humid but it was a nice change from the 20 degree weather back home. 

We went and collected out medals, I got my 10k finishers bracelet for the Glass Slipper Challenge and then we headed over to get our finishers pictures taken. We grabbed our food boxes and headed to the buses to get back to our room and shower. We didn't feel like staying around the finish line very long we wanted to get back so we could spend most of the day in the park and still have time for a mid day nap. 

We went to Hollywood Studios for the rest of the day, riding Rock n Roll a Coaster and Tower of Terror and eating at 50's Prime Time Cafe. We then headed back to the hotel and slept for two hours (oops...We were only suppose to sleep for an hour!) and then headed to Epcot to ride test track and grab some dinner! We both had  a great day and were happy with our race, but I had to get to bed early for my half in the morning! Another 3am wake up for us! 

My overall thoughts on the 10k...I was hoping for a little more entertainment/crowd support. My mom said to me at the end  "I was expecting it to be a bit more entertaining"  and that is how I felt too. I had really talked up the Disneyland Half Marathon and this seemed to be lacking a bit of the magic that I felt in there. I felt the number of cast members out in my previous runDisney race really out number the amount of people out during this one. Ok enough complaining we did have an incredible time during the race. I loved that we ran together and just took it easy instead of going all out. I kept saying we spend too much money on these races to just fly threw and not enjoy them so that is really what we tried to do. I need to be more in the moment instead of always wondering what is going to be next. As for the terrain of the course, it was pretty flat there was one banked on ramp that was not too friendly on the knees but overall I enjoyed the course. There were a few small hills but nothing serious. It was not super easy but not challenging either. Overall we had a BLAST!

QOTD: Do you like hills in a race or would you prefer the whole thing to be totally flat?

In case you missed it here is my recap on the Princess Half Marathon Expo!!