Yesterday I missed the cutoff time at the Anaheim Expo due to your friendly traffic from LA to the OC. Because of it, I wasn’t able to get a goodie bag nor my race singlet. This morning was event #1 of 2 in one day. Even then, no matter how early I woke up, I caught traffic to the event. That’s LA for ya.
Ok, enough about my whining, and let’s get to the event. I was able to finally get my singlet at the info booth, and I was off to the corrals which was a bit different than I’m used to. They were more vertical, rather than horizontally sectioned off like the Rock N Roll Marathons. The sun wasn’t out yet, but I could feel that high energy from everyone. The crowd consisted of all ages, coming in all shapes and sizes, meaning, some people were dressed either Disney costumes or running gear.
We ran through Disney California, through Disneyland, through the sidestreets of Anaheim, to the Honda Center, Anaheim Stadium, then back to Downtown Disneyland at the ESPN Zone. It was such a fun race because through the parks, we stopped and took pictures of the rides, the characters, and the crowds. We would pass our times singing to old school jams by Boyz II Men and Jodeci. We would play games splashing water on each other, tell funny running (and drunk) stories of our past, and the usual antics we would do during our training. I ran with a few TNT alumni, and also some first-timers. It felt great not thinking about the time we’ll finish. I was afraid the day would be too hot, but it was manageable. It was a little humid at first, but I got used to it. We ran at a 5:1 interval the whole way, taking it VERY easy considering there was one more race to go that night!