Day 3
I have to admit that I had not expected to sleep much that night. With about a week to go, I started to panic. I was absolutely certain that I would not finish the race. I never doubted my stamina or that I had a 5K in me, but I somehow convinced myself that I would get swept. I really don’t know why as I had done a training run of the full distance and I came within the pacing requirement just briskly walking. Still, I managed to get myself in such a state that if somebody had offered me a reason not to go, I would have grabbed it with both hands. In the end, I slept like a baby. I fell asleep pretty much as soon as I switched the light off and with the exception of one quick trip to the bathroom, I slept through until the alarm went off at the ungodly hour at 5:00 AM.
We got up and ready and headed over to the station. Graham was ready to disown me when he saw my tutu. I had great fun pointing out other runners in tutus that got on at the intermediate stations and Graham just as gleefully pointed out runners that did not wear them. We had a smooth run to Disneyland Paris. Getting off the train and seeing runners everywhere was quite an experience. Considering how many people there were at the station, security was not too bad. I had the clear bag that we had received at package pick up with a few odds and ends. Graham did not have a bag. I sent him through the no bag line and told him to meet me at the other end. Shortly after he went through, they opened another line for people with bags and I was not far behind him. Once we were both through, we made our way to the Events Arena. Although the starting line was in a carpark at the bottom end of Disney Village, the access to this was via the Events Arena, which was at the opposite end of Disney Village. Still, it was a lovely morning and it was not that far in the grander scheme of things.
Before we entered the Events Arena, we put on our bibs. I then handed my bag in. I was not quite sure how this would work, but they used the same desks they had used for package pick up and you just went to the desk corresponding to your bib number and handed in the bag. We then left the Events Arena at the opposite end. There were all manner of backdrops set up just outside, but the lines were long. We figured that this still may be there when we came back. So we headed towards the corral.
The entrance to the corrals was marked with what looked like giant glow sticks in the same colours as the letters on the bibs. We followed the path around and it felt that we were doing a 5K just getting to the corral. When we reached our corral we were far enough forward to have a clear view of the starting line. I got totally caught up in the atmosphere and forgot how nervous I had been. I had some fun people-watching. There were a wide variety of running outfits from t-shirts from various running events, tutus and running skirts to full-blown costumes. There were quite a few people in chef’s outfits, a number of princesses and even people wearing character onesies. My personal favourite was a couple dressed up as Cinderella and Prince Charming. There was music and people were encouraged to warm up. There were also a number of quick speeches by various people linked to Disneyland Paris and this event.
Just before 7:00 AM there were some fireworks and the inaugural Disneyland Paris half marathon weekend was officially declared open. I got pretty emotional. Up to that point, it had not really sunk in just how special this even was. I was about to run in the very first Run Disney race at Disneyland Paris. The first runners crossed the starting line shortly afterwards. This was really well organised. There had been some concerns prior to the race about the fact that there only four corrals and the bottlenecks this could create. They subdivided each corral in starting waves, which worked very well.
We crossed the starting line around 7:10. The starting line was at the bottom end of the car park near the cinema. Graham had cautioned me to not get swept up by what everybody else was doing, but going at my pace. Initially I did get swept up in it a little and I ran until I reached the fountains in front of the Disneyland hotel. At that stage I thought I better conserve some energy and slowed to a fast walk. I entered the park and as I entered the tunnel underneath the railway station, I saw that a runner was taken off the course by a cast member. This served as a warning for me.
There were cast members cheering us on along Main Street. I started running again about halfway down Main Street. Running up to the castle had been one thing I had been looking forward to the most. When I got past the castle stage and the first characters (Cruella de Ville and Jafar), I developed a stitch. So I was forced to slow down to a quick walk again. I started to feel better when we came to the lagoon in Discoveryland, but I still got this sinking feeling when I passed the one kilometre marker. Suddenly 5K seemed to be a long way to go.
We took a lap around Space Mountain heading right around the lagoon that houses the submarine and then coming up the hill by Videopolis. That was where realisation hit that the course is nowhere near as flat as I had thought. Chewbacca was meeting people near Videopolis and this was a real temptation. However, the line was pretty long and I did not want to risk losing a lot of time. Apparently R2D2 was there as well, but I did not spot him. We then headed backstage for the first time near Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast. They had set up flashing lights in that area and there was some dance music as well as some cast members cheering us on. We re-entered the onstage area in Fantasyland near It’s A Small World. The route then took us past the Princess Pavilion, the tea cups, Alice’s Curious Labyrinth and Dumbo before crossing over into Adventureland. There we passed Pirates of the Caribbean where a lot of pirates cheered us on before heading across Adventure Isle. This was actually one of my favourite parts of the route. I had never ever set foot on Adventure Island and it was great to see this and run through some of the caves. We then re-entered the main land near Restaurant Hakuna Matata. A water stop had been set up just outside the restaurant. I did stop for some water. Shortly afterwards, we passed the marker for the 2nd kilometre. We crossed back into Fantasyland near Peter Pan’s Flight and then the route took us past Pinocchio’s Daring Journey, Snow White’s Scary Adventure and the carousel. This is when I noticed that all the rides were running. This was a nearly nice touch.
When we got to the castle, they were directing the runners down both sides of the castle to avoid a possible bottleneck. Running down the drawbridge towards the hub was another really magical moment. One regret that I do have is that I did not take the time to stop at the hub to have my photo taken with the castle in the background. Oh well, there is always next year. Shortly afterwards, I realised that I could have afforded to stop. As I headed back down Main Street and turned into Frontierland, I looked back further down Main Street and the area was wall to wall people. Those people had yet to make the look around Discoveryland, Fantasyland and Adventureland. I started to relax a little. Once we entered Frontierland, we turned left and passed Big Thunder Mountain. Once we reached Phantom Manor, we headed left again and backstage. The climb to get to the backstage area was pretty impressive. The backstage area was fascinating. We saw the backs of the some of the Main Street buildings as well as some facilities for the cast members. A further water stop had been set up on this stretch and I stopped again for some water. There was also an archway made from balloons in that area. We ultimately ended up on a service road that links Disneyland with Walt Disney Studios. Shortly before we returned onstage near the Animagique building, we passed the marker for the 3rd kilometre.
The next kilometre was probably my favourite. I had found my stride and felt confident and comfortable. The route took us past Crush’s Coaster were cast members were standing with signs saying “Just Keep Running”. We then went through the Toon Studio area where there was a line and a Photopass photographer, but no character. It turned out that Roger Rabbit was meeting and greeting in that area. If he had been out, I would have been seriously tempted to stop. As it was, I kept going. We turned into the Ratatouille mini land and just as I came up to the square in the area, Remy was coming the other way. Again, if he had been out when I passed, I may have stopped, but I was not willing to wait for him to return. Linguini was in front of Bistrot Chez Remy and was waiting for Remy to come back. I have also seen some photos with Linguini, Remy and Emile out together. The route then looped around Toy Story Play Land. There I stopped for a photo the first time. Near the entrance to Toy Story Play Land is a huge statue of Rex. Normally I would have just passed this buy, but I spotted that my favourite Photopass photographer Christian was taking photos there so I stopped for a photo. There was only one person in front of me so this did not take long.
The route then left Toy Story Play Land and went past the loading area for Backlot Tram Tour and Tower of Terror before ending up near Studio One. They had some cars from the now defunct Stars and Cars parade with their drivers out and I stopped on final time to get a photo. As I passed Tower of Terror again, somebody’s race had unfortunately come to an abrupt end and she needed attention from the paramedics. My heart went out to her. I was glad that I have been taking this steady even if this meant that I did not have any character photos. I passed Spider-Man in front of the New York taxi and the marker for kilometre four before leaving the parks for the last time. The final kilometre was in many ways the toughest one. Initially it looked like we were turning into Disney Village, but instead we ended up on some back road. The road was badly in need of resurfacing and there was quite a long climb. This part of the course was also incredibly boring. At one stage I crossed a railway bridge and from that point onwards I could hear announcements from the finishing line. Shortly afterwards, I turned into the carpark and at that stage I could see the finishing line. At that stage, I started running again. There were some spectators near the finishing line and probably the most inspiring thing I had seen all day was somebody on that last straight with a sign saying: “Congratulations stranger. I am proud of you.”
Running over that finishing line was one of the most exhilarating experiences ever. I had done it. I had actually done and finished a 5K. I may not have broken any records and I did not even achieve my best training time, which was 50 minutes, but I did finish which not so long ago, I would have considered being impossible. In the end, I was pretty pleased with my time of 56 minutes. I had wondered before the race if this would be a once in a lifetime experience for me. However, I was not even halfway round the course when I was starting to wonder how soon I could do another Run Disney event. The plan is to do a race at every Disney park that offers it. If we ever make it to
Castaway Cay, the 5K there is also a must do. This had been such an amazing experience. The races that are high up on my bucket list are the Princess weekend at Walt Disney World and the Tinkerbell weekend at Disneyland and yes, as much as Graham will want to disown me, I will wear wings for this. For now, I have booked the time off for the next Run Disney event at Disneyland Paris.
Once I crossed the finish line, the only irritating thing of the race happened. Just after the finish line, there was a bunch of characters dressed in running gear. I wanted to go over to say "hi", but there were a number of race volunteers stopping people from heading to that area. There were quite a few people in that area with more people coming over the finish line all the time and it did look a little congested, but they just should have moved the characters a little further along where there was more space.
I was not pouting for too long. A short distance away, they were giving out the medals and Graham was waiting for me in this area. He said he was grinning like the Cheshire Cat. They were giving out bottles of water and bottles of a sports milk drink and we took a bottle of both. We then got in line for the finishers' photo. This took a little while. Just past the finishers’ backdrop, they had set up tables where they were giving out bags with an apple, a small bag of roasted peanuts and a chocolate cereal bar. I was not hungry. Graham had my apple and peanuts and the cereal bar is still in my handbag.
We then headed back towards the Expo. The lines had gone down for the backdrops, but unfortunately there were no photographers there. There were however photographers nearer to the entrance to the Expo and we stopped for photos. Once we were inside the Events Arena, I went to retrieve my bag. The Run Disney merchandise area was already open as was the desk where they were selling the Run Disney Photopasses. I headed to the desk, but the till there did not work and I was sent to the merchandise area. There I was able to buy my Photopass and then the person who helped me took me back to the Photopass desk. This was then registered and I was asked to come back in half an hour to get the photo for face recognition taken.
We decided to use this time to get some coffee. We headed towards Starbucks, but people were queuing outside the door and we did not much fancy that idea. Graham suggested that we should check out the sports bar opposite. That had not even occurred to me. They were doing steady business, but there were only a couple of people ahead of us and the coffee they served was rather nice. While we were having this, I got a message from Michelle. She had only just finished the race and was heading to her hotel for some breakfast. We agreed that I would let her know when I would be heading to the parks and we would meet up then. Once we finished our coffees, we went back to the Expo to have photos taken with our bibs. I asked the photographer to also take a photo with my phone as I knew that the official photos would take a while. I knew that a lot of my friends on Facebook were cheering me on and I wanted to post photographic evidence as soon as possible.
When we were done with the photos, we headed back to the station. This time we did not have to wait long for a train and we had a smooth journey. At that stage I was feeling pretty cold so when we got back to the hotel, I snuggled up under the covers and feel asleep. At some stage, Graham woke me up to check if I was still planning to head for the parks or if he should let me sleep. By then it was nearly 13:00 and I decided to get up. I got showered and changed and then I headed out. Graham came to the station with me as he wanted to do some exploring. I did not have long to wait for the train. I messaged Michelle that I was on my way and was heading for Walt Disney Studios. She messaged me back that she was heading in that direction, too.
I figured that I should probably eat something before heading to the park. I stopped at the take away window at Annette’s Diner. They have a veggie burger, which sounded great. It was very nice, but unlike any veggie burger I had previously. This consisted of breaded tofu, Portobello mushrooms, aubergine, courgette, tomato confit, avocado and garlic pickles. It was very tasty. When I got to the park, Michelle had already arrived. We headed inside. As we came out of Studio One, something caught my eye. On the street opposite was Bellhop Goofy. Pluto was also with him. That was too good to pass up especially as the line was not too long. So we got in line. True to form, as we got near to the front of the line, they went in. When they came out again, Pluto came out ahead and initially I thought I was out of luck. Fortunately Goofy followed not long afterwards.
Once we had our photos taken, we headed over to Studio Tram Tour: Behind the Magic. Catastrophe Canyon is still going strong in Paris and with a 15 minutes wait; this was too good to pass up. We had not realised just how good this waiting time was. Michelle voiced an interest in Tower of Terror, but with a waiting time of 45 minutes, she decided to pass. I suggested that we should check out the Ratatouille ride. I have seen some crazy standby times over the last year, but the longest the wait for the single rider was up to that point was 15 minutes. That day it was 45 minutes. So we passed. Michelle was also tempted by Toy Soldier Parachute Drop. I had no interest in this. I took her handbag and we arranged to meet by the character meet and greet spots in the Toon Studios area. I noticed that there was no photographer with the characters so I passed. Michelle arrived shortly afterwards. The single rider line for that was 45 minutes as well so she sat this out. We went past Crush's Coaster, which had been high on her to do list and the single rider line for that was a whopping 75 minutes. Being in the park that day was not a great deal of fun. We did end up riding Flying Carpets Over Agrabah with a 15 minute wait and that is a result for this ride as it draws long lines.
When we had safely landed out carpet, we headed over to the Animagique building and got in line. A new show called Mickey and the Magician had opened there in July. Supposedly this will only run until the beginning of January. This would be a crying shame as this is an amazing show. I also find this hard to believe as the sets are more elaborate as the sets for its predecessor Animagique had been and that had run for years. There were also a lot of special effects. It just does not make sense that Disney spends so much money on a show that is only destined to run for 6 months. I think it may be a question of watch that space. The show is set in the 19th century studio of a famous magician and his assistant Mickey is charged with cleaning the studio before sunrise. Inevitably Mickey gets distracted and gets visited by all kinds of magical folk. The show is partly in French and partly in English and although I do not speak French, I had no issue understanding what was going on. I thoroughly enjoyed this.
Once the show was over, I had enough for the day. I said goodbye to Michelle. We had discussed on the first evening that we would go back to the little Chinese in Champs sur Marne that evening and she promised that she would let me know either way. I headed back to the station and again, I did not have to wait long for the train. As I did not have a key for our room, I made myself comfortable on one of the sofas in the bar area. I ordered a Coke and then spent some time catching up online. Shortly after I had ordered my Coke, Graham arrived. He ordered a beer and once we both had finished our drinks, we headed back to the room. We ended up having a nap.
Around 19:00 we were both awake again. I checked my messages to see if Michelle had been in touch, but there was nothing there. She also was not showing as being online. So we headed off for dinner. This time we ended up at our usual table again. Graham decided to go with chicken curry and rice from the a la carte menu and I had the buffet again. We shared a bottle of Muscadet. I had some pork spring rolls, salt and pepper prawns, salt and pepper potatoes and a chicken skewer for my first plate. For my second plate I went with fried rice with chicken satay, basil chicken and beef and onions. Graham decided to have some dessert. His first two choices were not available and in the end he had Peach Melba, which he enjoyed. I had some lychees and rum and raisin ice cream from the buffet.
After we had our complimentary sake, we paid and headed back to the hotel. We were halfway there when I realised that I had left my jacket at the restaurant so I had to go back. Fortunately it was not far. Once we got back, I switched off the alarm, put my various gadgets on charge and then we got ready for bed.