Most race weekends start out by traversing the expo. RunDisney races are no exception, and with a race weekend with 50,000 runners, I was dreading the expo! I must say, they made improvements from last year! I was lucky and was able to go Wednesday morning, only about an hour and a half after it opened, and I went in with a plan. I headed straight to the RunDisney merchandise, as I knew there were a few items I wanted and I was hoping the lines would be short.

For those of you that are looking to run your first RunDisney event, something I always get is an “I did it” shirt! These have the course map on the back, so it’s a great souvenir for each race I do! In the past they have only carried these for races 10 miles or longer. If you are doing the 10K, they only have 1 shirt and it’s not an “I did it” shirt. I’m hoping they add more options in the future, but for the two 10Ks I have run for Disney, this has been the case.

A change they made this year was having 2 levels of booths for picking up your bibs, which meant that I didn’t have to wait on a line for the first time ever! They also added more vendors into the stadium area. While this allowed for more options, that meant that there were 3 buildings you needed to explore.

After surviving the expo, it was time for my first race! This year was the Inaugural 10K, featuring none other than Minnie Mouse! This was a new distance and new course to be excited about. The start of the race was reminiscent of the DL 10K, in which people didn’t really know what was going on. While the corrals were organized, we didn’t know when we were going to start.  At the Wine & Dine there were about 2-5 minutes between each corral, so my assumption was that was how the 10K was going to run. Well, I was wrong, and there were 10 minutes between each corral. Being in the last corral, meant that I waited 40 minutes to start!

I was a little frustrated waiting around, but once the race started I had a lot more fun! The course starts out running about 2.5 miles on the roads, which is pretty normal for Disney events. We entered Epcot in China and ran halfway around the world past France, and exited through the back entrance. From here we ran around the Boardwalk and passed the Swan and Dolphin as well as the Beach and Yacht Club. This was the only area that I saw some spectators, and there weren’t many, but that could’ve been because I was so far back!

Heading back into Epcot, we came in next to the Figment ride, and went around Spaceship Earth and out to the finish line!

Overall I liked this race! I think it’s great that RunDisney is offering an in between distance for runners. Half Marathons are a big undertaking and it’s great that there is another option longer than a 5K for runners of all ages and abilities.  Personally, I will try and stay a legacy runner for this race and the Enchanted 10K (Princess weekend) because I enjoy the 10K distance so much! I also can’t turn down a chance to dress up in a costume for a race. 🙂

Pros:

• Love the 10K distance
• Course was easy and enjoyable
• Liked seeing “different characters” (Football Goofy and Mushu)

Cons:

• Long wait between corrals
• Not many spectators
• Not many character stops or entertainment along the course

Meredith is a 29 year old living in South Florida. She started her running journey with the 2013 WDW half marathon and has been hooked on RunDisney ever since! You can find her on Twitter @MSchechter1218 and over at her blog, justanordinarygirlinfl. Meredith will be back later today with her WDW half marathon review.

What’s your favorite race distance? Have you participate in a runDisney event (or will you be at the upcoming weekend’s Tink race)? What do you look forward to most during a race?