Disneyland Half Marathon race report by Tracy

Tracy Burwell gives Sean Astin #run3rd wristbands.

Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend Report
Submitted by Tracy Burwell @ATurtlesPace

Half marathon weekend was an awesome #Run3rd event! For me, it began on Friday afternoon when I arrived at the expo with fellow Captain Dawnley Burwell.  Together we explored the expo, picked up our bibs and headed over to see Sean Astin’s presentation. We got there a bit early to see another speaker, and to our surprise, Sean was sitting in the front row waiting to help another presenter! I sat in the empty seat next to him and when he turned around I got a huge smile and hug! We had an opportunity to talk for a few minutes about #Run3rd meet-ups, his training, my training, and his goals. It was pretty cool to just chat about running and ‘stuff’ with the founder of the organization that has changed my life and encouraged so many others.

#Run3rdphotochallenge by Kelli Shrewsberry

By the time Sean began his presentation, it was standing room only! He began by sharing how he started running by chance by accepting a friend’s invitation to a race! He wasn’t sure he would do very well, but he showed up and ran. From then on he found running freeing, and one of the best ways to explore a new town when traveling. And we all got to see a video of him sharing the #Run3rd mission, explaining the very simple concept of how we run 1st for our self, we run 2nd for our family and friends, and we run 3rd for others.
















His presentation also included an overview of his acting career, including a story about having to gain weight and not run during his role as Samwise.  We all know hobbits are a little chubby, so running was counterproductive to his character. Sean also shared his incredible spreadsheet of his running miles. The man has been increasing his mileage for months and charting his progress! He will be well over 125 miles for August alone, with his ultimate goal of sub 4 finish time at the upcoming Marine Corp Marathon in November!

Half Marathon weekend included 3 races (5k, 10k and half), and Sean ran all of them!  The two meet-ups brought many new faces, and we gave away a couple of patches, and scores of #Run3rd bands to everyone at the meet ups!  Dawnley will fill you in on 10k race and meet up in her report, so I will focus on the half, which was for me, beyond inspiring! At the half meet-up, Sean made contact with each person in the group, shaking hands, hugging, taking pictures, and listening to the beautiful, and sometimes, heart tugging dedications the runners were carrying. It was truly inspiring to watch him encourage and give hope to people he had just met! He even took the time to help a fellow runner stretch! All this, while preparing to run 13.1 miles! From the meet-up, we all headed out to our corrals.

Team #Run3rd for the Disneyland Half Marathon

Half marathon morning presented us with a pretty steamy run with temperatures over 80 at the finish line, and even hotter for the slower paced runners. The starting line was packed, and finding a place to run was difficult, but once I broke free, I had an incredible race thru the parks, past the blocks of vintage cars, and through Angel stadium where I was on the jumbo screen and heard my name announced! This was exactly what I needed at mile ten to just keep going.

Free hugs from Kris Przeor

Along the route, two #Run3rders and incredible trained tri athletes, Kris and Mindy Przeor managed to spot me and encourage me personally along the route. I still can’t figure out how they got to so many places to cheer us on but their encouragement and that of other volunteers and my sweet family was incredible and made my race that much better!

The finish line was super sweet as it meant major bling having completed the 10k the day before. I was a successful Dumbo Double Dare finisher! It’s was an amazing feeling to cross the finish line all alone, yet in a crowd, surrounded by Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Daisy, and what seemed like a million cheering people. Like Sean has said, once we cross the finish line, we have done something that no one can ever take away from us!