Posted by Kelly

Yesterday, Chuck and I ran the Disneyland Family Fun Run 5K.  No, that’s not a typo—both of us actually ran!

A couple months ago, I read a story about a resident in Tehachapi, who participated in the 2008 Disneyland Danskin Women's Triathlon. I remembered that she talked about how all of the events took place in the park and to me that was probably the coolest thing I’ve ever heard of.

For the past five years (more for me), Chuck and I have been fascinated with Disney and for someone to announce that you could run around the park before it opened to the public,  well, I had to find out where to sign up.

I came across the Disneyland Family Fun Run 5K, and thought that would be great opportunity for Chuck and me to start getting in better shape.  I already do approximately 10-20 minutes of yoga 3-5 times a week, but I knew I needed to add cardio to my routine, plus I wanted to spend more quality time with Chuck.

Chuck and I began taking walks around our neighborhood in the evening.  Those walks slowly turned into jogs, which then turns into little sprints.  With the exception of expected and unexpected trips to New York and allergies, we kept a fairly regular schedule of exercising.  Not only was training helping us physically, but it was a great opportunity for us to relieve stress and tension.

On Friday, Chuck and I headed down to Anaheim.  For those who don’t already know, we’re annual pass holders, but our pass does have blocked days, most of which are around holidays and in the extreme heat of the summer—in other words, days that wouldn’t interest us anyways.  Friday was not one of them, but Saturday was.  We decided that we would go down and pick-up our race packets, and then wander the parks for a couple hours. 

We both enjoyed a really nice meal in California Adventure’s Wine Country Trattoria, and then rode Soarin’ and Pirates of the Caribbean.  We retired to our hotel room at 9:30 p.m., so we could get a good night’s rest.  Unfortunately, I spent most of the night worrying that I wouldn’t get up in time for the race, but I managed to get us both up in time. 

The race began at promptly at 7:00 a.m. on Saturday morning, so we made sure it we arrived by 6:30 a.m.  The start was a short distance from our hotel, so we got a good warm-up in before the race.  It was so cool seeing everyone come out of their hotel rooms with their race numbers on.  I felt like I was part of an elite group. 

We were welcomed by live toy soldiers barking at us.  My favorite was "This seemed like a good idea two weeks ago. " They announced that the race was sold out, with 4,000 participants. 

Through out the race you were cheered on by cast members and characters.  You even got to run behind the scenes, which was the coolest.  It was very humid, which we’re not used to now that we live in the desert, but it wasn’t hot, so it was somewhat tolerable. 

I had two goals going into the race: beat Chuck and get a medal.  I managed to do both.  I finished in 43 minutes and Chuck finished in 45 minutes.  Both of us within the maximum pace request. 

It was one of the most challenging, rewarding, and fun activities I’ve done, and I’m so glad I could do it with my best friend—my husband.  I’m really proud of us. 

It probably seems like I’m making a big deal out of a little 5K (3.1 miles) fun race, but let me pose this one question to you: how many miles did you run Saturday?

And it’s not over.  Next: Pasadena 5K.