Previous installments have looked at Sleeping Beauty as the runner who needs to take a few weeks off even if she doesn’t want to, and Alice in Wonderland as the newbie runner who has fallen down the running rabbit hole.
This week, we’re working hard with my favorite runDisney Princess and one who suits Disney’s Princess Half Marathon perfectly…Cinderella Read the rest of this entry →
The 2014 Disney Princess Half Marathon registration opens June 11. (Photo: runDisney)
Disney Princess Half Marathon Weekend Registration
Runners, mark your calendars! Online registration for the runDisney 2014 Disney Princess Half Marathon Weekend from February 20-23 opens Tuesday, June 11 at noon EST. That includes registration for:
Plus, a lucky few runners will be able to register early for the 2014 Tinker Bell Half Marathon at Disneyland Resort in California with their Princess Half registration. Why would you want to do that? The new pink women’s focused Coast-to-Coast Race Challenge medal, of course. Online registration for the 2014 Tinker Bell Half Marathon officially opens on July 9.
Disney Princess Half Marathon Weekend Changes
Minnie Mouse high-fives runners at the Disney Princess Half Marathon finish. (Photo: runDisney)
Kim Smith passes the Cyclone roller coaster on her way to victory at the Brooklyn Half. She ran the race as a half marathon training run. (Photo: NYRR)
Sometimes races aren’t about racing. Toeing the line in competition is exhilarating, but sometimes it’s good to use the occasional race as a training run or fun run, especially during half marathon training.
Kim Smith won the 2013 Brooklyn Half on May 18 in a new course record of 1:11:24. But the three-time Olympian from New Zealand who lives and trains in Providence, RI wasn’t even racing. She ran the half-marathon as a tempo-pace training run, as she told me in pre- and post-race interviews for “NYRR On The Run at the Brooklyn Half.”
“I’m going to treat it as a workout,” Smith told me at the race pre-party the day before.
Indeed, Smith’s half-marathon personal best is 1:07:11, a full four-minutes faster than her finish time in Brooklyn.
“It was a pretty relaxed effort,” Smith said after the race. “I didn’t go all out.”
She said she’s training for the track season and will be back in New York City on Saturday, June 8 to race the Oakley New York Mini 10K, a New York Road Runners event that usually attracts a stellar competitive field. The women-only race boasts a $10,000 prize for first place, and past champions include the legendary Grete Waitz, Olympic-medalist Deena Kastor and World Champions Lornah Kiplagat, Edna Kiplagat and Linet Masai.
Kim Smith breaks the tape at the 2013 Brooklyn Half in course record time, though 4 minutes slower than her personal best. (Photo: NYRR)
I found Smith’s decision to run, but not race, really encouraging. Never mind the fact that not racing for her still might mean winning and scoring a course record. What’s important is that she set-out to do the race as a half marathon training run and did just that.
In my mind, there are three types of races for mid-packers like me: personal record attempts, training runs, and fun runs. Pros and elite runners have a fourth type that will likely elude me my entire running career: running for the win or the podium. Though I did once place in the top 10 women at a small local race, out of 65 ladies. While that will likely be my claim to fame for a long time, the other three types of runs will always have a place in my racing repertoire, especially during half marathon training. Read the rest of this entry →
But the rain didn’t stop me and over 3,100 other runners from tackling the UnitedHealthcare Providence Half Marathon and Cox Providence Marathon. A race where “HOPE” is the state motto couldn’t be anything but uplifting.
I certainly looked happy on race day, as this video my husband took attests. He’s newly obsessed with Vine, the 6-second video version of Twitter. I’m saying “Rhode Races” at the end, but it gets cut off a bit.
I opened my inbox yesterday to find my 2013 Cox Providence Rhode Races
Athlete Guide with official pre-race instructions for the UnitedHealthcare Providence Half Marathon on Sunday, May 12.
I have to say, I’m really excited for this race. It’s only the second race I’ve done in Rhode Island, a place I’ve fallen in love with in the last few years. And there are so many great running puns to be had with Rhode Island, as the “Rhode Races” series attests to.
I’m doing the Providence Half Marathon as a training run. No racing this one for me. My training has been patchy the last few weeks for various reasons—travel, work, all the usual suspects. I’ve been doing more cross training than running in the last month—snowshoeing, aqua jogging, swimming, biking. I have been running too, but not enough to have delusions of running a personal best. Read the rest of this entry →
The Walt Disney World Marathon (Photo: Marathon Foto)
Last week marked the sixth anniversary of my very first running race back in 2007. Last fall, I chronicled how I went from a person who loathed running to someone who loves it. How much do I love it? Over these last six years, I’ve run 53 running races with number 54, the UnitedHealthcare Providence Half Marathon, in one week and numbers 55, 56 and 57 already on the books.
Looking back at six years of racing, it occurred to me that certain races have a special place in my heart. Every runner has that race they look forward to every year, the race they’ve always dreamed of running, the race that moved them in unexpected ways. These are mine.
So without further ado, here are my “Races to Remember,” the running races that left the biggest impressions on me, culled from my six years out there on the road.
Disney’s Princess Half Marathon is getting a new 10K and a Glass Slipper Challenge. (Photo: runDisney)
Big news from runDisney! Disney’s Princess Half Marathon Weekend from February 20-23, 2014 at Walt Disney World in Florida is getting the royal treatment with a new Disney Princess Enchanted 10K and a new two-race challenge in the Disney Glass Slipper Challenge. Based on the name alone, I like it already.
Princess Half Glass Slipper Challenge
The Glass Slipper Challenge follows in the footsteps of the Dumbo Double Dare at Disneyland: runners complete both the new Disney Princess Enchanted 10K on Saturday and the half marathon on Sunday for a total of 19.3 miles. Best of all for Disney bling lovers, runners earn the inaugural Disney Glass Slipper Challenge Medal in addition to the medals from each event, including a new yet-to-be-announced medal for the 10K. Read the rest of this entry →
Desiree Davila (in black) poses with runners at the 2013 Walt Disney World Marathon Meet-Up. (Photo: runDisney)
Olympian and 2011 Boston Marathon runner-up Desiree Davila is no stranger to running Disney. I had a chance to catch up with the American running star at the 2013 Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend in January. We chatted about her recovery from injury, goals for the future and, of course, running at Walt Disney World.
“This is the only place in the world where people go, ‘I’m just doing the marathon,’” Davila said with a laugh.
Indeed, runDisney unveiled for the 2014 Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend the Dopey Challenge, an event that dares runners to complete four races on four consecutive days for a total of 48.6 miles: the Family Fun Run 5K on Thursday, a new Walt Disney World 10K on Friday, the Walt Disney World Half Marathon on Saturday, and the Walt Disney World Marathon on Sunday. The Dopey Challenge is already sold-out for 2014. But runners can still register for the Walt Disney World Marathon, Walt Disney World Half Marathon, and Goofy’s Race and a Half Challenge, where runners complete both the marathon and half marathon.
Desiree Davila, 29, didn’t run this year’s Walt Disney World Marathon. She’d been in long-term recovery from a femoral stress fracture, the same injury that forced her to drop out of the 2012 Olympic Marathon in London before the 5K mark.
After taking 12 weeks of from running, Davila slowly built up mileage and time on her feet.
“I took an extended amount of time off, let that all heal up, and I’m heading in the right direction now, making sure I’m 100 percent and slowly building mileage,” Davila said. Read the rest of this entry →
Now, Disney’s running branch has announced another slate of changes for the 2014 edition of the race, and a video to explain it all. Read the rest of this entry →
Run, Karla, Run goes Dopey at the Walt Disney World Marathon (Photo: Marathon Foto)
The folks at runDisney are at it again. After rolling out the biggest Walt Disney World Marathon yet—complete with a new race course and new post-race party—for the race’s 20th anniversary in January 2013, runDisney seems intent to top themselves once more with the introduction of the Dopey Challenge for the 2014 event from January 8-12.
If you think Goofy’s Race and a Half Challenge, where runners tackle both the Walt Disney World Half Marathon and Walt Disney World Marathon on consecutive days, was a lot of running then think again. The Dopey Challenge dares runners to conquer four races on four successive days: the Family Fun Run 5K on Thursday, a new Walt Disney World 10K on Friday, the Walt Disney World Half Marathon on Saturday and the Walt Disney World Marathon on Sunday. Runners who complete the challenge will earn a whopping six medals—one for each race, one for Goofy’s Race and a Half Challenge and one for the Dopey Challenge for running a total of 48.6 miles in four days. Read the rest of this entry →
Registration is now open for the 2013 Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon Weekend at Walt Disney World in Florida from November 8-9. It’s the final race in runDisney’s seven–race series, and, I think, the most fun.
Disney expects more than 20,500 runners to register for the weekend’s events, including 14,000 for the half-marathon. That will mean a whopping 175,000 runners will have registered for runDisney events in 2013—a record for the mouse house’s running branch. In 2012, 125,000 runners competed in runDisney events. Read the rest of this entry →
But since then, I’ve been floating in a nebulous training zone, half-heartedly running and doing some weight training, while philosophizing about being “fit.” I joined two friends in “Fit February,” which meant, for me, making healthier food choices—basically not eating ice cream every night—and exercising five days a week. I succeeded in losing two pounds during “Fit February,” but not much else. It’s been a long, cold, snowy and treadmill heavy winter.
So after two loosey-goosey months, it’s time to focus again, shake out the cobwebs and get some real training done. I’m not a runner who can train hard with no goal in sight. I need a big race to look forward to.
Rachel Booth wins the 2013 Disney Princess Half Marathon. (Photo: Preston Mack/runDisney)
When it comes to winning Disney half marathons, no one does it better than elite runner Rachel Booth. The 32-year-old mother of two won her fourth Disney race this morning at Disney’s Princess Half Marathon in course record time. It was her second consecutive Princess Half victory. She also won the Disneyland Half Marathon in 2010 and 2011. At four wins, she owns the most runDisney victories of any woman.
“It never gets old, for sure,’’ Booth said after the race. “As I got to Mile 7 and 8 and through Mile 10, I got to see some people [cheering] and that definitely gave me extra incentive.’’ Read the rest of this entry →
Bernard Lagat at the 2010 Fifth Avenue Mile. (Photo: Phil Hospod)
New York Road Runners announced today that eight-time American record holder Bernard Lagat, 38, will make his half-marathon debut at the NYC Half on Sunday, March 17 in New York City.
“I’m excited to be running a half-marathon,” said Lagat in a press release. “It’s a big step up in distance, but I think I’ll be well prepared. Of course, there’s a bit of uncertainty, but that makes it exciting; the challenge is what really appeals to me.” Read the rest of this entry →
Sean Astin has run the Tinker Bell Half Marathon two years in a row. He set a personal best time at the inaugural Tinker Bell Half Marathon in 2012, finishing in 1:59:07.
But this year, the actor took it easier and stopped for photos along the way, finishing in 2:26:51. Read the rest of this entry →
I’m not the fastest runner and I’m not the slowest, but I am a running nerd. A journalist by trade, I love to research, read, learn and cogitate. So stick with me. Like all good nerds, I’ll do the homework and share it. But the running is up to you!
