Three Disney castles (Photo: Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disneyland Paris
Three Disney theme parks world-wide offer Disney races—Walt Disney World in Florida, Disneyland in California, and Disneyland Paris in France. Iâ€
m going to run a half-marathon, or more, at each of them in 2016 (partially as a media guest of runDisney).
Iâ€m a lifelong Disney fan. My dogâ€s name is Cinderella, after all. And Iâ€ve been a runDisney fan since I tackled the Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon for the first time in 2011.
But Iâ€ve only been to Disneyland once and Iâ€ve never been to Disneyland Paris. So Iâ€m incredibly excited to hit all three parks in one year to get the full back-to-back-to-back runDisney experience.
Minnie & Mickey at the Inaugural Disneyland Half Marathon (runDisney)
Which Disney Races To Run?
I really toyed with how I wanted to approach this adventure, and how to choose which three Disney races I’d run.
Did I want to run the three “title†races at each park—Walt Disney World Half Marathon, Disneyland Half Marathon, and Disneyland Paris Half Marathon? That would take me through all three castles and give me the “big picture†experience. I considered it as the most obvious way to experience each theme park as a runner.
But I ruled out that approach for one main reason: Iâ€d be missing out on a themed race. Yes, yes, those events are Disney themed, but not focused on a specific world like the Star Wars races, Avengers Super Heroes Half Marathon, Tinker Bell Half Marathon, or Disney Princess Half Marathon. To get the full runDisney experience, I think you need at least one themed race.
Star Wars Half Marathon (runDisney)
I did want at least one park-titled even on my list, though. Disneyland Paris only has one race weekend, so it had to be the Disneyland Paris Half Marathon in September. One title race: check.
I also decided to rule out the events I know really well. Iâ€ve run the Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon twice, Princess Half Marathon twice, and Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend twice. So I crossed those off the list. That left one event at Walt Disney World: the inaugural Star Wars Half Marathon in April, themed to “The Dark Side.” One themed race: check.
I just had to choose my adventure at Disneyland California. I ruled out Star Wars Disneyland because Iâ€d be running Star Wars Walt Disney World.
Iâ€ve never run the Disneyland Half Marathon, but Iâ€d already be running the title race at the Disneyland Paris Half Marathon. That left the Avengers Super Heroes Half Marathon and the Tinker Bell Half Marathon. Iâ€ve never run Avengers and Iâ€ve run Tinker Bell once.
Runners at Tinker Bell Half Marathon (runDisney)
I already had a title race and a movie-themed race on my list, but no women’s Disney races. Their female-focused race festivals are among the three largest in the world, alongside Nike Women events. So I decided I wanted a womenâ€s race to be a part of this quest, rather than two movie-franchises. That way Iâ€d have one park titled race, one movie-themed race, and one women-focused race. Three very different worlds for the full scope of Disney races.
So there you have it. The puzzle was complete. The races? Star Wars Half Marathon at Walt Disney World in Florida in April, Tinker Bell Half Marathon at Disneyland in California in May, and Disneyland Paris Half Marathon at Disneyland Paris in France in September.
Let The Training Begin
First up is the Star Wars Half Marathon in April in eight weeks. Tinker Bell Half Marathon will be the culmination of my current training cycle in 11 weeks, with Disneyland Paris Half Marathon kicking off the fall.
There will be costumes. There will be high jinks. There will be lots of Disney. Bring it on!
As mentioned above, Iâ€m attending these races, in part, as a media guest of runDisney. As always, all opinions are purely my own. Seriously. For more information read my Disclosure Policy.
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