Disneyland Part 3: Star Wars 10k
/After an amazing time at the Star Wars 5k, I couldn't wait to tackle the 10k course! On Saturday, January 17, I woke up again at 4am to prep for the 5:30am start. I chugged some water (so glad I got the 24 case of water from CVS), enjoyed the first half of my Dark Chocolate & Sea Salt KIND Bar (6PPV for whole thing) and prep my costume!
Oh and of course the pre-run photo. Didn't my wife do an AMAZING job with my Chewbacca costume? It is absolutely amazing!!
Like the 5k, we headed out to the Start Area at 4:45am. This time the wife would be running as well. She was bracing herself for Race 1 of the Rebel Challenge. While I made my way to Corral A, I dropped the wife in Corral E (last corral).
The Star Wars 10k offered a similar set-up to the 5k.
Rudy and Carissa did another great job entertaining the crowd.
I couldn't get over how close to the front I was. Oh hi Start Line. I get giddy every time I find out I am lucky enough to be in Corral A.
Oh no! Vader came and took Rudy to the Dark Side...
But after a quick sneak peek at the new Star Wars movie hitting theatres in December 2015, Rudy escaped the Dark Side!
What was funny was Rudy got a little excited to come back on stage and almost went up before he was officially "returned" to the Light Side! Ha. A funny thing to catch where I was watching from. :)
After another entertaining pre-race set, it was time to get the 10k party started!
Since we started from the same place as the 5k I knew we had some on ramps/inclines off the bat.
As you can see by the course map, we started out on the streets outside of the park and with it being 5:30am there wasn't much to look at. I will thank the few spectators out there for making some NOISE for us! :)
Mile 1: 7:57
I actually spotted a fellow Team Chocolate Milk member Jesus while out on the streets so I had fun catching up with him before we made our way to Disneyland.
I had to stop and get a picture with some Rebels on Main Street.
Mile 2: 8:06
They actually had a Marathon Foto rep at the Mile 2 marker sign, which is rare.
As I ran away from the Mile Marker, I snapped a quick picture of the Castle as I headed towards Frontierland before realizing there was a photo opp.
Frontierland was dark while we ran through so I once again used my trusty flashlight app on my phone to help my course. I did see a few people also rocking headlamps because of the early morning start.
I was surprised there weren't more park lights on through this section of the course.
From Frontierland we made our way to Fantasyland
Ummm maybe I was getting ready to raise the roof??
There he was... my Chewie!
Now at the few Disney World races I have done while in Corral A, I never waited in character lines (very lucky). Disneyland at this themed run - lines everywhere. I was happy to wait since I was lucky enough to have the time, but it was just an interesting thing to note.
After a quick photo opp in front of the Castle, it was time to make out way through the other side of Fantasyland before exiting the park.
Fantasyland was pretty well lit compared to Frontierland.
Mine Mine Mine
Oh hey It's A Small World... selfie time!
And then we were out of Disneyland and on to some backlot running. It isn't the best views, but the cast members sure bring their A-game when it comes to cheering you on in these parts.
Mile 3: 13:28 (yes you read that correctly - Chewie was worth it)
The backlot had some light displays on the building which you weren't supposed to photograph.
Umm... my finger slipped! ;)
There aren't too many exciting shots on the backlot portion of the run so my phone had nada until the Mile 4 marker.
Mile 4: 8:25
Now it was California Adventures time! Woo!
The lighting was awesome in the park as we came down Buena Vista Street.
There were some Rebels waiting for us at the end of the Street before turning towards the mighty Tower of Terror.
Oh don't worry Cars Land we will see you shortly, but Hi for now!
As we made our way towards Pacific Pier, I took a moment to check in with my body. Everything was feeling okay - the breaks for photos actually gave my legs mini recoveries throughout the run. Since it was early, I didn't feel too much intensity from the weather. I was actually happy and lucky that it was cooler so early in the morning. ;)
Just when I had a inner convo with my body, it was time for another photo opp - Boba Fett.
My Phone
Official Photo
I had a great time passing time in the line while chatting with the other runners and the cast members. Also I like that I look tanner in the official photo. :P
I made sure to get Boba Fett's photo since that is one of the wife's favorite characters. I thought if nothing else we could photo shop her into the photo. ;)
After that photo stop, it was finally time to get the shot of the iconic ferris wheel.
I mean how beautiful is it? I hear the ride itself is scary, but I like looking at it just fine.
Our tour of Paradise Pier continued...
It had to have a stop at Toy Story Mania. I love Mr. Potato Head.
And of course I stopped for an impromptu photo with some Jedis.
After finishing up in Paradise Pier, we officially headed into Cars Land ... right after passing the Mile 5 marker.
Mile 5: 12:54
And now a close run through Cars Land.
I definitely had better Cars Land pics during the 5k.
Yeah no idea what I was doing in this pic. Making sure they could see my bib number maybe? #Awkward
Once through Cars Land we were out of the park and doing backlot running until we hit the parking lot for Downtown Disney and straight down the street along Disneyland Hotel to the Finish.
Mile 6: 8:05
While the final mile wasn't all that exciting Disney-wise, there was amazing crowd support!! Lots of amazing CHEARleeders out there. :)
Official Time: 1:01:34 (my Garmin was only off by 5 seconds since I didn't stop it immediately)
Now 9.3 miles down and 13.1 to go. But first, medal time!
Then the Marathon Foto guy got artsy: Do a jump in celebration.
I kinda love it despite my shorts really showing.
And how awesome is the medal??
Seriously great bling!
I took myself, my medal and my snack box back to the Finish Area to try and catch some friends crossing.
I saw Justin (fellow WW member) who was also tackling the Rebel Challenge.
My Selfie
His "Normal" Photo
Aaannnnd I got to see the wife Finish. I may have started crying. Okay I was already crying. I love watching Finish Lines and seeing all of the emotion!
Once the wife visited the med tent for some ice for her knee, we headed to Earl of Sandwich for some breakfast before heading back to the hotel to get ready for a day of park seeing and tweeting up! ;)
***
Overall the Star Wars 10k was another great Disney race. I wish there was more light in the Frontierland section as it was the darkest part of the course.
Water stops and spectators were well staffed and full of energy.
I also picked up on the fact that there would ONLY be Star Wars characters for the races. I was hoping maybe a Disney character dressed up as a Star Wars character, but alas no go. Apparently they were at the Wookie Party, which we didn't want to pay for. Boo! But something I didn't know in advance for the theme races. Now I know!
I was happy with how I ran and used the water stops to walk and the character stops to stretch!
***
Next up: Star Wars Half Marathon!
