This past weekend I particpated in Disneyland's Inaugural Tinkerbell 10k. I have been lucky enough to be able to run in several rundisney races, but inaugural races are truly special. It is the beginning of another fun event, another run to add to the annual list. As runDisney says, "Every Mile is Magical."
What made it even more "magical", was running the 6.2 miles with my younger sister. We decided to take it easy and enjoy running through the parks while they were empty (if you count 9000+ runners as empty) and get a few snapshots along the way. We both were a bit disappointed with the amount of character spots available, we were thinking there were going to be more than a handful. Yet, the rare characters from Haunted Mansion made up for it.
Overall, the race seemed not as "packed" as the 5k, 10k and Half Marathon that Disneyland hosts during Labor Day weekend. There were only four corrals (A-D). The start and end point differed from the Disneyland Half Marathon weekend races too. Disneyland Half Marathon races start and end near Downtown Disney parking, whereas Tinkerbell Half Marathon races start near the Paradise Pier hotel and end in the Simba lot. It is worth noting that Tinkerbell could have always had this start and end point, this was my first year participating in this runDisney weekend. The smaller feel was lost when moving along the course. There were many areas where the course narrowed and it was hard to even get through. In past races, there is usually an announcement that the course narrows, but during this race we were not always warned. And strangely, at each hydration point, I observed people getting water and standing around chatting or "resting" while they were drinking which caused some congestion along that point. The finish line was typical Disney hospitality. Plenty of volunteers were available to place the medal around runners necks and to pass out water and Powerade. The medal volunteers were great in offering to pose for a picture placing the medals on the runners and the photospots photographers were eager to take pictures of people in different configurations (solo, with friends, with phones, etc). Such a great way to end a race, with people eager to help capture the memories!