It’s Sunday.

One day after running the Beauty and the Beast Royal Family 5k.

And I’m sore!

My legs hurt, my back hurts, my ABS hurt!…but I’m loving it. It’s that I-know-I-did-something-good hurt…and we had such a great time! Here’s a run down of how yesterday went…

At 4:15am our alarm clock went off. We hopped out of bed (okay, so my mom hopped out of bed…I more slunk out of bed) and donned our athletic wear and running shoes, and without prick, pinned on our race bibs. Remember how I blogged the night before about maybe needing some Pixie Dust to help our untrained hinds cross the finish lines? Well, I might have sneaked some in my sneakers. 😉

By 4:50am we were out the door to catch the provided transportation from our hotel to EPCOT, where we would run the race. Buses ran from 5:00am to 6:00am at the Disney property hotels. You could also drive your own car, if you wished.

After a short bus-ride we arrived at EPCOT, where the runners were already starting to pile up. The buses dropped us off right at the start-line, where they had booths set up for people who had yet to pick up their race packets and a bag check for those who wanted to leave items behind while they ran. On the backside of the booths was a long chain-link fence. On the other side of that fence was where all of the pre-race festivities were taking place. They had tables set up with Powerade dispensers and red paper Disney cups, and placed throughout the lot were trash cans, recycling bins, and clothing bins for any outer wear that you didn’t want to wear while running and would like to donate. Oh, and lets not forget the lovely row of Porta Potties that skirted the lot along the backside of the fence, as well.

On the far end of the lot, right next to the starting line, a small stage was set up with a sound system and in front of it was a French village facade where Belle and the Beast were greeting and taking pictures with guests. Since we arrived early we were able to get our picture with very little wait.

Gaston made an appearance later on, but at that point the wait was so long, it was pointless to stand in line. I snapped a picture from the sidelines…

There was a D.J. and two hosts for the event, Rudy and Cassidy. They went around interviewing some of the runners, while the D.J. played some “warm up” songs for us, including the Cha-Cha Slide, the Hand Jive, and the Macarena!

There were so many people dressed up in costumes! Some silly. Some cute. Some….ridiculous. I wish I would have taken some pictures of them. I am sure they would have let me. I will have to do that next time. It was quite obvious, though, that the trending costume was a tu-tu. I suspected some women would be wearing them, because I had seen pictures online, but I had no idea so many women (and some men!!) would be wearing them. I have to admit, if my mom and I didn’t feel amateur enough already, we certainly felt it without a tu-tu. Like we had missed the memo.

About a half an hour before the race started we were all shoved into line in front of the start-line. After a couple more songs, the singing of the National Anthem, and a pep talk from the D.J., it was time to start the race. In true Disney fashion, Belle and Beast, along with the hosts and D.J., yelled

Be. Our. Guest!

and fireworks (yes, fireworks at 7:00 in the morning!) shot out from the start-line banner and the front of the massive crowd of runners hit the pavement running.

Now, incase you missed my Running the Race post from a few weeks back, I would like to reiterate that my mom and I are not runners. This was the first 5k we had ever run, and she was the only one that had somewhat trained. So there we were, pacing ourselves at a steady jog towards a cast entrance into EPCOT. I think the Beauty and the Beast song ironically and best described the two of us…

Both a little scared,

Neither one prepared…

You get the idea.

We finished the race at a despicable 43 minutes, but in our defense we did run the first mile and half without stopping, and we added to our time by taking a short potty break (c’mon, princesses have to powder their noses to make sure they are still pretty while they are running) and we stopped for a picture in front of Spaceship Earth. We would have loved to take our picture with the Disney celebrities we passed, but there were lines to greet them, and we didn’t have minutes to spare if we were going to make it to the finish-line in time. I guess the people waiting were sprinting from one character to the next. Over the course of the race we saw Mulan, Dopey, Snow White, Aladdin, Jasmine, and Pocahontas. I was impressed to see Pocahontas! She is rarely seen in the parks. I hate I didn’t stop to snap a picture of her.

We did end up walking a little bit, but overall we jogged most of the way, including our victorious pass across the finish-line. It felt so triumphant with the music playing and bleachers full of complete strangers cheering everyone across. I would be lying if I didn’t say a few tears were shed between the two of us.

At the end of the race we retrieved our “medals” and never felt more accomplished.

In addition, they were handing out bottled water, three flavors of Powerade, and little baggies of post-race snacks, including a banana, orange, bagel, trail mix, and sanitizing hand-wipe.

Confession: We skipped the healthy option and went for Mickey waffles back at the hotel.

Ahh hush-up! We deserved it. 😉

We had an amazing time. What a great way to experience your first ever 5k! We are already making plans to do it again. Maybe we will train this time and get fast enough to actually stop and take pictures with characters. Maaaybe one day we will be able to work up to running the half marathon!

Heh. Maybe.

Thanks for reading along with us! Below are a few fun pictures from the first day of our trip that I couldn’t post because of my phone. Enjoy!