The 2nd annual Tinkerbell Half Marathon took place on January 20, 2013 with runners getting in their corrals at approximately 4-4:30am and started about 5am. This was my first half marathon so I was in Corral E (otherwise known as the last and fun corral). With runDisney it is suggested that you train at a 15 min/mile pace, or yes you will see that lovely high-spirited balloon pacer. I will set the record straight right now I did see the pacer and this short thing (meaning me) jolted when I saw him. Corral E hit the starting line approximately an hour after the first runner crossed, after getting past the congestion of the runners packed together it wasn’t bad. I started out with another girl from my team and we stayed paced together for the most of the first 11 miles and met up with another teammate after hitting the city streets. Robin was who I really paced well with the vast majority of the race and she was a huge motivator to me. 
The streets of the race were lined with family, friends and residents from the area who came out to cheer the runners on and I have to say the Red Hat Society ladies were an amazing group at approximately 300 ladies (was the number I had heard from others). Lots of people had made signs that really were a great pick me up to me and I am sure others felt the same way. As with the Neverland 5k the amazing Disney Cast Members and volunteers were out in full force handing out water and Powerade between each mile marker and Clif Shots at mile 9. They were amazing on being not just helpful in hydrating all of us runners but some were quite entertaining.
One of my m
ost favorites was seeing all of the different costumes! I went with more of the Periwinkle fairy from Tinkerbell wearing (you guessed it) a Sparkle Skirt! I had picked out a SparkleTech in Royal Guard to match my Team Up with Autism Speaks top and it looked great together and what girl runs the Tinkerbell Half Marathon without wings, wore white so I could get close to the iridescent color like Periwinkle. I can safely say I already have a wish list made for more Sparkle skirts also watch my blog for my personal review coming up this week and you can learn more about why I have fallen in love with these running skirts.
By mile 10 I had already seen the pacer once or twice (I will deny the second time lol) and somehow between focusing on finishing strong and attempting to block out the blisters forming I had my mind-set that I was a mile behind where we really were. I saw a couple of guys holding a sign up that said “You’re at MILE 11 you can do it!” and I turned to my running pals and said that isn’t possible we just passed mile 9. Low and behold we come around the corner and they are both laughing and saying “Christine it is mile 11!” OOPS, this was me focusing to get to the safety from the pacer which I had been reassured at mile 10 they say your home free. Apparently I had jolted forward enough I didn’t hear him yell that but how I kept thinking I was a mile behind were I was I honestly have no clue. I had set my goal to finish under the 4 hour time limit and proud to say that my official finish time was 3:44:55. All in all it was an amazing race and worth the pain I put my body through and as soon as I finished I asked how many days until the next one. Needless to say I want the Tinkerbell Half Marathon to be part of my Coast to Coast in 2014 so at the time of this posting there are only 319 days until the next race.
*Please note links are in this post that I am not associated with but would like to give credit to.*
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