Friday, March 2, 2012

2012 Disney Tangled Royal Family 5K and Kids Races Recap!

We boarded the runDisney bus around 5:40 am from the Riverside with no wait time and relaxed and snacked during the short drive to Epcot. 
When we got there, it was amazing to see the setup Disney had with the tents for the next day.  This area was closed off to us but I was glad to get the chance to at least see what was coming my way early the next morning.  After our bags were checked, we made our way to the staging area and got approached by a photographer!
We continued to make our way through the crowd of people and got to the line to see the Tangled characters was incredibly long.  Pea was excited to see a glimpse of Maximus though.  After yelling at the kids for fighting with each other, a Disney reporter came up to us with the race director and asked for an interview.  Lol, great timing as Pea was getting herself composed.  The director asked Hubby if we thought the Incredibles were going to win and he just kind of stood there with his mouth open.  Awkward, so I then kinda leaned over him and said of course!  The kids are fast or something like that.  Not sure if Pea was still teary eyed at this point (It was beyond early and someone is really sensitive when Mama yells at her) but I'm sure it did not make for the best footage.  Oh well ;)

It was getting close to 7am so time to head to the corral.  We made our way to the back so no one would get trampled..  This was not a chip timed event either, but being a runner, I understand that some people will just want to go full tilt and I did not want my kids in their path so we headed towards the back.  Probably took a good 5 minutes before we got to the starting line then we were off!  Traffic was jammed up pretty good as we made our way through the parking lot, past some porta-potties for Sunday and a train, then to the back lot of Epcot.  We entered the park between Mexico and Norway.  It was cool to get to see some of the behind the scenes areas that the cast use.

The kids were doing awesome, weaving around and running!  I think Mulan was the first character we came to but the line was long and Pea and Monkey did not want to wait.  We stopped for water at stop 1 just after mile 1.  I of course had my own, but the family partook in the corney water.   After that we headed towards the Americas when a lady yelled to her friend, "I can't believe a 5 year old just passed me!" I think I then yelled something along the lines of "She is 8!"  Too funny!  We took our second water stop behind Canada (I think) and then made our way back into the park after going behind down thru the boat entrance area of Epcot.  Then we saw the ball!  The kids were still going strong and having fun!  No complaining for the Incredibles!  Awesome!  It was so fun keeping up with them and easy to track them in the race since we were all "Matchy, Matchy!"
I posted the above picture on Facebook after the race and my Mom was shocked the kids were running with adults.  Granted not that many kids did the race on their own, but there were quite a few that were doing great!  I'm so proud of Pea and Monkey.  Monkey said his legs hurt and his chest did too but he had fun and they both were so proud of earning their medal!
I see a lot more 5Ks in the Incredible family future!

After all the excitement we headed back to Riverside and grabbed a quick bite to eat and dropped off our coats and extras that we had in bag check.  We got the bus to the ESPN center again to walk around the expo and head to the kids races that started at 11am.  Pea and Monkey were signed up for the 400m. 
It was a long wait for the event to start.  There were several waves of the 100m, then a few waves of the 200m then 400m was off around 11:40 or so.  Hubby was waiting by the finish line while I decided to sprint after Pea and Monkey as we already lost Pea for a second in the Expo center earlier due to the crowds.  The kids finished and got yet another medal to proudly display through out the rest of the weekend.

While the kids races were fun, since they do the 5K I would not sign up for them in the future as I would rather spend that time relaxing by the pool before lunch and a nap instead of the travel, waiting and running.

We headed back to the Riverside, ate lunch and took well deserved naps!  Pea, who is not a napper, was the first to fall fast asleep.  After our naps and showers, we headed to the Magic Kingdom where we enjoyed the rest of the afternoon and had a wonderful dinner at Narcosees. 

Great day!!!

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