Recap of the inaugural runDisney Avengers Half Marathon at Disneyland

RunDisney + Comic books + Cosplay = 13.1 miles of Geek Heaven!

I've been running in costumes since the inaugural Tinkerbell HM in 2012. But this race was the most fun that I've had ever had dressing up in costume and seeing other people's costumes. I must say it was refreshing to see costumes OTHER THAN the typical Princesses and Fairies that tend to populate the other races.


STARTING LINE AREA

Just being in the starting line area was fun.  More people dressed up for this race than the other runDisney races. There were so many costumes of comic book characters, not just the ones featured in the MCU movies. I was geeking out with excitement just being there in that atmosphere.

I decided to dress a Loki. The highlights of my outfit were the horns and the scepter. I'll post a link here to a tutorial on how I made them in the coming weeks. [Update:  You can find the scepter tutorial here.]

[UPDATE:  As of Summer 2015, Disney no longer allows selfie sticks inside their parks.  As of January 6, 2016, runDisney has made even more restrictions regarding the use of costumes and props for security reasons. See my post for further details.]

The "aha" moment when the strangers around me first realized my scepter was really a selfie stick. Basically every time I attached my iPhone to it people commented on the awesomeness of my selfie stick scepter. TAKE HOME LESSON: Loki scepter elevates selfie stick from joke to badass.

MILES 1 TO 2

The first 2 miles of the race went thru the Disney Parks. The parks were decked out in Christmas decorations, so that was nice to see. Plus the Disney cast members were out there cheering for us.

This is me and my friends giving cast members high-fives to thank them for their service.

During the first 2 miles there were photo ops with 4 of the Avengers (Captain America, Hawkeye, Thor, and Black Widow).

However the lines to pose with each individual Avenger were crazy long, which is not a problem if you are a fast runner who started in an early corral. But if you're a slower runner who started in the G or H corrals (the last 2 corrals), you end up standing in line at your own risk because you might get swept.  I heard that for this race about 100-something runners were swept before mile 3, and about 300-something runners were swept at mile 10.  RUNNER TIP: If you care about achieving Legacy status or getting that Challenge medal, you do NOT want to be swept.

Not wanting to be swept, my friends and I posed for our own superhero pictures.

[UPDATE: We posed in front of the Haunted Mansion for one of the runDisney publicity photographers. Then for the 2015 race, runDisney ended up using that photo for one of their race weekend Twitter posts. How cool is that?]

MILES 3 THRU 6.5

After exiting Disney property, miles 3 thru 6.5 were heading south thru the streets of Anaheim and then southeast thru the cities of Garden Grove and Orange.  The only pretty landmark in that part of the course was Christ Cathedral.

Christ Cathedral

Aside from the weather [which is out of the control of any race director] which was unseasonably windy [hey, it's supposed to be windy in the O.C. in October NOT November], I would say that this was a relatively flat course in comparison to the other California runDisney races so far. [I don't know how it will compare to Star Wars HM because that course hasn't  been released yet].

At this point in the course, the Santa Ana winds [HEADWINDS!] picked up and made the race more challenging because the course ran by some construction sites [DUST!].  Reportedly it was a steady wind of about 15-20 mph with some wind gusts up to 45 mph. This was strong enough to topple over most of the mile marker signs and a few porta-potties. And apparently back at the finish line the winds pulled up one of the family reunion tents which made the race officials evacuate that reunion area.

It's not a toppled-over porta potty, but it is a tumbleweed...in the city.  That's some wind!

MILES 6.5 THRU 8

Then from mile 6.5 to mile 8, the course entered the Santa Ana River Trail. This section of the trail is a paved trail that goes along a golf course and then heads north toward Angels Stadium.  However, this part of the course was pretty narrow and created a 1.5-mile-long bottleneck making it very difficult to pass other people.  And the dust at the bottom of the riverbed wasn't much fun in the wind. Yet despite that, this part of the course featured my FAVORITE part of the race...at mile 7 Club Cosplay was out there in full costumes supporting the runners.

Everyone from Club Cosplay was so energetic and so nice to allow runners to pose for pictures with them. It was great seeing a wide range of Marvel characters being represented. My favorites were War Machine, Gambit, the young Professor X, Star Lord, and of course Loki. Many thanks to everyone from Club Cosplay for helping to make this such a fun race. I heard that runDisney has invited them back to future races. YAY!

This is from Club Cosplay's Facebook page. It shows just how many of them were at mile 7.

Check out this guy's spot-on Loki! He looks a lot like Tom. (He's on Facebook as "Loki Hates You."  Check him out.) He stayed in character, but I was able to crack a genuine smile out of him (see photo on the right) when he saw me go all fan-girl excited.

MILES 8 THRU 9.5

After surviving the bottleneck, mile 8 opened up to Angels Stadium.  Unlike the Disneyland Half Marathon, Angels Stadium felt pretty empty in comparison because it didn't have Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts cheering in the bleachers. But it is an inaugural race, so I have hopes that it will be filled in future years.

My two favorite race signs.
What was my favorite shout-out?  A volunteer handing out water yelled out "Hail Hydrate!"

MILES 9.5 THRU 13.1

The Avengers right before the finish line.

After exiting Angels Stadium, the course headed back towards the Disneyland resort. There really wasn't much to get excited about in that part of the course...except maybe this spectator sign.Once you get to mile 12, you're back on resort property and are pretty much guaranteed to finish without being swept.Near the finish line, the Avengers from earlier on in the race stood together on a stage and announced the our names as each runner approached the finish line.  Right at the actual finish line, there were some black-suited S.H.I.E.L.D agents "guarding" the finish line.













FINISHER'S AREA

After crossing the finish line, volunteers were standing there to put medals around our necks.  I did NOT take off my Loki horns, but the volunteer was a great sport and was able to somehow slip that medal over my horns and around my neck.

After receiving our medals, we took our finisher's photos.  Then we proceeded to receive the standard runDisney post-race swag:  one bottle of Dasani water, one bottle of blue Powerade, one banana, and one standard runDisney box of snacks.  It's a good thing I had a plastic grocery bag stuffed into my running belt.  [RUNNER TIP:  Bring a bag to use at the finish line.  It's handy for carrying all of those bottles and post-race snacks.]  And after getting the swag, runners enter the family reunion area which then leads to the main stage area, where there are tents for medal engraving, etc.

This was my first time dressing up as a bad guy for a race, and I must say it was way more fun than the other character I've been.  So many runners throughout the race course complimented me on my Loki costume, Loki horns, and Loki scepter selfie stick.  And the spectators seemed to cheer for Loki more often than the other characters. Maybe I'll dress as a villain for future races.  I guess I've been converted to the Dark Side. Next stop...Star Wars Half Marathon.