RunDisney Tinkerbell Half Marathon: new security procedures

The 5th Annual Tinkerbell Half Marathon weekend starts tomorrow.  This will be my 5th year running it as a legacy runner.  However there will be some new security procedures in effect for this year's Tinkerbell races.

This isn't the first RunDisney race in California with the new security measures.  The first one was the Avengers Half Marathon weekend in November 2015, and then they added metal detectors at the Star Wars Light Side weekend in January 2016.  However it WILL be the FIRST time that the Tinkerbell race weekend will have them.

For any 10K and Half Marathon Tink runners out there, BE PREPARED for a longer walk and longer time to get to your corrals. The corral entrances USED TO BE close to the street corner of Disneyland Drive and Katella, which was great if you stayed at the Grand Californian Hotel or the Paradise Pier Hotel, because the corrals were right outside the front door.

But ever since they added these new security policies, in order to enter ANY corral, all runners need to go thru a security checkpoint to get your bag checked (SPIbelts count as bags).

UPDATE:  There are now several security checkpoints and th are at locations DIFFERENT than the ones for the January 2016 Star Wars Half Marathon:

(1) One for those walking from the Mickey & Friends Parking Structure toward the main stage area & bag drop off.

(2) Another one located in the Downtown Disney valet parking area (near ESPN zone), which is for those walking from the hotels that want to enter the main stage area & back drop off.

(3) And finally a third one to enter the corrals, located at the Paradise Pier parking attendants booths.

So, what does this mean?

If you're coming from a hotel that's located on Harbor Blvd, just take the same route you usually do to get to the main park gates, walk thru Downtown Disney, turn left at the Earl of Sandwich, and walk toward Paradise Pier Hotel.  The security checkpoint is located near the parking attendant booths for the Paradise Pier parking lot.

If you're coming from Ball Road or the Parking Structure, walk toward the main stage area, pass thru that security checkpoint, then walk toward the AMC Theater, turn right at ESPN Zone, turn left at the Earl of Sandwich, and walk toward Paradise Pier Hotel.  Go thru another security checkpoint  located near the parking attendant booths for the Paradise Pier parking lot.

If you're coming from the Disneyland Hotel or the Grand Californian, walk thru Downtown Disney toward ESPN Zone, turn left at the Earl of Sandwich, and walk toward Paradise Pier Hotel.  The security checkpoint is located near the parking attendant booths for the Paradise Pier parking lot.

May the Pixie Dust Be With You all this weekend.  And Happy May the Fourth!

Star Wars: Han Solo Running Costume Vest

The inaugural Star Wars Half Marathon: Dark Side race weekend at Walt Disney World is less than one week away! Since I've already run the Star Wars Half Marathon: Light Side at Disneyland this past January, I'm eligible to participate in the Kessel Run Challenge (a special Coast-to-Coast Challenge that's specifically for the Star Wars races) and receive the Millenium Falcon medal.

I decided to take this opportunity to add an upcycled costume to my growing wardrobe of running costumes.

I first started with a black 100% polyester shirt (same material and feel as other running shirts) that I found for just $4 at a thrift store.

Step 1:  I took off the sleeves at the seam.

Step 2:  I chopped off the bottom of the shirt at the waist to make the final vest shorter.

Step 3:  I cut a vertical line down the front middle of the shirt to transform it into a vest.

Step 4:  I hemmed the arm holes and the bottom hem of the vest.

Step 5:  I used the leftover fabric from the sleeves and the shirt bottom to make pockets based on Internet pictures that I found of Han Solo's vest from "Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope."  [If you're not already aware, Han Solo has different vests for ANH and RTJ.]  No, I did not use a template; I just eyeballed it and cut.

Step 6:  Now just add a white running shirt (I can use either a long sleeved or short sleeved one) and blue bottoms (either running tights or a running shirt), and I have quick & easy costume that is comfortable enough to run a race and adaptable enough to run in any type of weather.

runDisney's Star Wars Half Marathon Weekend (The Light Side) startstomorrow & UBER free ride code

This will be a day long remembered.

Okay, I'm being a bit dramatic. But it's finally here!

I'm interested to see how different the atmosphere will be at the race this year with the recent changes to runDisney's costume policy.

At any rate, it's going to be a crowded weekend at the parks. Star Wars fans and runDisney fans will be converging upon the Disneyland Resort this weekend from all corners of the globe.

For anyone flying in for the race, I thought I'd share an Uber code for $15 off your first Uber ride (use code UBERRUNDISNEY). Useful for the trip between John Wayne Airport and Disneyland. Redeem it at link below. https://www.uber.com/invite/uberrundisney

May the Course be with You!

Run10Feed10: 2015 swag bag

This is my third year participating in the Women's Health Run10Feed10 event.  Unlike last year, I wasn't able to attend a live running event this year.  So this year I did the "Run Your Own 10K" virtual race option for a $28 registration fee.

I received my goodie bag today. This is the swag bag that all participants received.  It is a limited edition FEED projects bag.  And it came filled with goodies!

These are the contents of the bag:

1. Limited Edition FEED projects Voyager canvas & jute tote bag, retail value = $50.
2. Medela promotional collapsible water bottle, retail value = $1.43.
3. Colgate Total Advanced Whitening toothpaste, 0.75 oz, retail value = $1.19.
4. Colgate Total $1 coupons (2)
5. Colgate Total Gum Health mouthwash, two 2.0 oz bottles, ($5.29 for 16.9 oz), retail value = $0.62 x 2.
6. Hydroxycut Drops liquid supplement in Fruit Punch, two FULL SIZE bottles, retail value = $6.99 x 2.
7. Geico promotional Malibu Sunglasses, two pairs, retail value = $1.89 x 2.
8. Strong Girl Pre-workout supplement in Strawberry Mojito, 0.26 oz ($49.99 for 7.73 oz), retail value = $1.68.

TOTAL RETAIL VALUE: $73.30.

I have to admit that participating in all of these runs is made even more fun by all of the swag that they give runners at these events.

runDisney featured our Avengers group costume on Twitter

runDisney featured my group costume photo for the Avengers Half Marathon on their Twitter account!  I'm famous!  Okay, I'm exaggerating.

During the 2014 Inaugural Avengers Half Marathon (see my race recap here), one of the runDisney publicity photographers followed us throughout the park and shot a few photos.  She even took a group photo of us in front of the Haunted Mansion.  But the only photo I ended up seeing during race weekend was the photo of us high-fiving cast members that runDisney posted on January 16, 2014 on their Facebook page.

After the 2014 Avengers race weekend was over,  never saw the one of us in front of the Haunted Mansion in any of the runDisney Facebook photos, so I just figured that it was lost and that I'd never see it.

But then for the 2015 Avengers Half Marathon Weekend, runDisney posted that photo on their Twitter account.  How cool is that!?