Disney Family 5K race report

Submitted by Linda Iroff @LindaofNote

The Disney Family 5K at Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend was the first big event I’ve been to (we’re talking 10,000 runners vs few hundred!) as well as the first time I’ve run (well mostly walked) with my daughter Joy. It was also her first race ever, and she'd not even trained for it!

The whole thing was a total delight!! Well the getting up at 4am sucked a little, as well as trying to choke down some food while still half asleep, but Joy and I managed to dress ourselves (wings & tiara for her!) and catch the bus to the starting area.

It was dark and chilly and in our general confusion we missed finding fellow #run3rd Captain Tony Conticello and the rest of the Pacebook Running Club. :-( Fortunately we had gotten the chance to meet Tony and other members of the club the evening before, and also met up Sunday evening after the full Marathon.

Life is like a box of chocolates!

By the time Corral D got to the starting line, the first of the elites were finishing. Still, when the fireworks went off, it was a thrill to get underway!! It was fun to see various Disney characters along the way, but the lines were too long to wait for photos. We did however stop to take many other photos, and for Forest Gump who was dispensing much appreciated chocolates!

I spy a #Run3rd Fairy in the pre-dawn light!

The race started in the Epcot parking lot, and it was actually rather a long boring way through the pre-dawn chill until we got into the Epcot itself. But eventually the darkness yielded to to the rising sun and after a potty break, the stroller division was passing us! We decided to jog a bit to make up for lost time. We also circled back at one point to make sure the official course photographer caught us running rather than walking staring down at our iPhones, LOL!











Our pace was pretty pathetic, but that’s because we kept stopping for photographs, imposing on strangers to take pics of us, then returning the favor to take pics of them. Soon enough though we saw the 3 mile marker (stopped for pics of course!) then ran the last hundred yards or so to the finish line. I put on a burst of speed near the end, but made my move too soon, and Joy with her longer legs was able to pass me at the line!

We had such fun, it’s easy to see what Disney races are addictive. Yes, I think a winter trip to Florida to visit my daughter and runDisney will become a happy tradition!!