Confession of a Disney-Running-Nerd

I have been a lover of Walt Disney World since college.  I'd never been to Disney World before then, despite multiple pleas as a youngster to my parents. But when I was 19, I was in Cocoa Beach, FL with my then-boyfriend visiting his family, and he suggested that we go to Disney World for a day or two while we were down there. Truthfully, as an adult, I was rather indifferent about the idea. I'd been to Hershey Park as a youngster, how different could it be?  But, once I got there, I was utterly and completely captivated. 

From the moment Cinderella's castle came into view from my seat on the monorail, I knew it was truly a magical place. I became a loyal fan[atic] from that point on, even working there after I graduated college.  I'm now officially one of those annoying people who will without any encouragement supply her friends and loved ones with fun trivia facts about the park as we stroll around. (And, by stroll around, I definitely mean maintain a rigid time-schedule so we can squeeze in as many attractions as possible into a very long day.  Fellow fanatics I'm sure know what I mean.)

My happy place...

Whatever marketing guru at the Walt Disney Company cleverly realized that A.) Most Disney World fans are fanatical (Because, seriously, who is paying $13 for a Tinkerbell key chain?!), and B.) Most long-distance runners are fanatical (Because, seriously, who is paying $100 to run for four-five hours, something one can do for free??), thus C.) combining running with the theme parks was a surefire million-dollar idea is truly a genius!!  The first WDW Marathon was held almost 20 years ago (1994), and since then it has become a booming business. 

I had to have it.

Last year, I rather impulsively signed up for the Disney Princess Half Marathon in Orlando.  Mainly because I had seen the medal at the Baltimore Marathon Expo and it became my hearts desire. Fortunately for me, the tourism industry was still not quite healthy back then, and a trip to WDW was easily do-able at virtually bargain basement prices. 

After earning the insanely fabulous and beautiful princess crown medal last spring, the urge to earn the "Coast-to-Coast" bonus medal crept up on me.  I found the cheapest possible hotel, and signed up for the Disneyland Half marathon, possibly one of my very favorite races to date. (Also, fortunately, I had to be in Wyoming for work immediately following the trip, so I only had to pay for my outgoing flight.)

2010 happened to be the 5th year anniversary of the Disneyland Half Marathon, so instead of the magical castle medal (which I desperately wanted) I got a colorful Mickey mouse medal.  Even though it wasn't the gigantic gold castle, there's no denying, it's extremely awesome.  The beautiful coveted (and magical) medals are one of the reasons crazies like me shell out hundreds of dollars to run these races.  I will definitely be envious of any runner who comes home with this year's Disneyland Half medal.  

The Coast-to-Coast bling.

I just found out recently that the 2012 Disney World Half Marathon, which I have signed up to run in January as part of the "Goofy Challenge," is going to be the 15th Annual WDW 1/2 Marathon--which of course means, a SPECIAL medal!  Yipee! Oh, what fun colorful trinket will it be?!













 

The OLD Disneyland Medal.  Which I will never earn...

My FABULOUS Mickey Mouse Medal!

The recently unveiled 2011 Medal. I WANT.

If you haven't figured out by now, I've got a decent helping of lunacy when it comes to this subject.  I also don't have the budget to go chasing glittery Disney medals across the continent multiple times a year. Thus, I devised a handy-dandy list/schedule for the next several years, so I can stagger out my Disney-related races so they coincide with their anniversary dates.  (I know, brilliant, right?)


Here's the schedule:

2012 - 15th Anniversary of the WDW 1/2 Marathon
             Inaugural Tinkerbell Half Marathon (I'm not attending this, but I might do the
             Disneyland race again, because of the new "D" medal.)

2013 - 5th Anniversary of the WDW Princess Half Marathon

2014 - 20th Anniversary of the WDW Marathon and
             5th Anniversary of WDW "Wine-&-Dine" 1/2 Marathon

2015 - 10th Anniversary of the Disneyland 1/2 Marathon
             10th Anniversary of the Goofy Challenge

2016 - 5th Anniversary of the Tinkerbell Half Marathon

If I'm still on my feet/able to move my knees after 2016, maybe I'll add some more races to this list.  Most likely, Disney Inc. will have added several more races and/or reasons I need to run through Sleeping Beauty's castle!