RunDisney Halloween Half Marathon

The second RunDisney Halloween Half Marathon took place this morning and I am SORE. I’ve run several half marathons but haven’t run one since having a baby five months ago. My friend who joined me had never run one at all and I highly recomended starting with a RunDisney half. They take such good care of you and it’s so much fun to run one.

My friend finished and did fantastic. I tried my best but had to walk most of it and was pulled at mile eight when they had to close the course. Unfortunately my body hasn’t fully healed but I still had an amazing time!! From the expo to the run, the whole experience was amazing.

Expo experience

My friend and I went to the final day of the expo. I’m sure the experience was different for the first day, especially since they required you to join a virtual queue if you planned on shopping during the Expo on the first day. It probably has its benefits, but it just sounds stressful to me 😅.

The Expo took place in the Disneyland Hotel which is where we were staying for the night. Bib pick up and tshirt pick up was extremely quick. The rooms were massive with multiple check in stations so there were essentially no lines. The rest of the expo was mainly a shopping experience. There were a lot of different vendors with Disney themed merch and running gear… but we didn’t end up buying anything. A lot of it looked pretty cheap to be honest. There was a Hulu Halloween experience that was fun to walk through and we got free laces but that was about it.

Brooks x RunDisney

Brooks designed three shoes for RunDisney that were available to purchase at the Expo. There was a Mickey themed shoe and a Minnie themed shoe that were cute but not my style. And then there was THE shoe… The Brooks Ghost x RunDisney Halloween Half Marathon shoe. I’ve been wearing the Brooks Ghost model running shoe for over a decade now and immediately fell in love. It comes in two color ways: black and deep purple. Both shoes have a glow in the dark sole and come with two different shoelace options. They cost $160 which is pretty on par with what they normally cost. You can find certain colors/older ghost styles for $90 on amazon but they range well past $200.

Race Course

The RunDisney Halloween Half Marathon started at five am but runners are grouped by their pace time. That means the fastest runners went first, then the next group and so on. My friend and I were in group F so we didn’t end up running until 5:45 ish. He took off running with the crowd and I stuck to the right letting others pass me as I walked. It was still pitch black out besides the glow from the Blood Moon.

I’ve run a Half Marathon through Disneyland before but this race spent much more time in the parks. The first half mile we ran down Katella before entering the backstage area of California Adventure. We popped out in Cars Land as the sky started to get lighter. The course then wove back and forth through California Adventure (both “on stage” and “backstage”) before crossing into Disneyland. You didn’t leave the Parks until after mile six which was really exciting. Cast Members and Characters cheered you on the entire way as DJs played high energy music. They also provided Powerade and water every three miles (it might have been every two miles but it was a bit of a blur). Medical stations with biofreeze and personel were also available. Shuttles were available after mile six for anyone that just wanted to run through the parks/was injured and couldn’t continue.

The Balloons

I assumed I would get picked up by the shuttle because I knew I couldn’t run. My postpartum body just wasn’t fully healed or ready. I managed to make it past Mile 7 before “the balloons” passed me. The balloons are official pace keepers who wear balloons that walk at the slowest pace allowed for the race. RunDisney crew closed the course just before mile 8 and anyone behind the balloons had to get on a shuttle. I was completely fine with this; but everyone else on the shuttle was in tears! I couldn’t believe it. Most of them had stopped to take pictures with characters without realizing they had to keep a certain pace. If you do a RunDisney run I suggest enjoying the characters but not waiting in line to take pictures with them. A simple selfie will do!

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Character Sightings

All the wickedly fun villains were out for the RunDisney Halloween Half Marathon. Below is a list of all the characters I noticed along the course today along with as many pictures I could get while walking by. *Please note, if you stop to take pictures with every character you will fall behind the cut off pace and be picked up by the shuttle. SO MANY PEOPLE WERE CRYING ON THE SHUTTLE OVER THIS.*

• Maleficent (at the starting line and finish line)
• Lots-o-huggin from Toy Story
• The Vampires from The Nightmare Before Christmas
• Graveyard diggers from The Haunted Mansion
• Pain and Panic
• Cruella
• Voodoo trees? From the parade? Princess and the Frog? I don’t know haha
• Evil Queen
• Pterodactyl from the train ride (my favorite ride, I was actually really excited 😆 )
• Chip and Dale
• The Fab Five (Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Donald)

I fully plan on running this next year once my body has healed. It was such an amazing experience from start to shuttle! Have you run a RunDisney race before? Which one have you done or which one do you want to run? Let me know in the comments below!

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