Run, Karla, Run!

The Walt Disney World Marathon (Photo: Marathon Foto)

Last week marked the sixth anniversary of my very first 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 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.

Races To Remember Read the rest of this entry →

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.

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 →

Sean Astin Talk Tinker Bell Half Marathon

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 →

Runners earn their wings. (Photo: runDisney)

There was plenty of faith, trust and Pixie dust on hand at the Tinker Bell Half Marathon on Sunday, January 20, 2013 at Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, Calif. The second annual running of the women-focused even saw a new course record, celebrity runners, and nearly 12,000 participants flying across the finish line of the women-focused event.

Angela Escay from Carmichael, Calif., won the 2013 Tinker Bell Half Marathon in a course record time of 1:24:30, besting the 1:27:52 that reigning champ Kellie Nickerson posted in 2012. It was Escay’s first race in three years after undergoing ankle surgery Read the rest of this entry →

Drew Carey promotes healthy living through running. (Photo: runDisney)

Celebrities: “They’re just like us,” as Us Weekly’s recurring feature constantly tells us through pictures and silly captions.

“They go camping!”

“They get caught in the rain!”

“They scream for ice cream!”

We can add, “They run marathons!”

Since celebrities are merely people who happen to be famous, it makes sense that some of them would happen to be runners with marathoners among them. Oprah Winfrey, Ryan Reynolds, Will Farrell, Drew Carey, the list of famous folks who have tackled 26.2 or even 13.1 miles is plentiful and includes actors, singers, models, politicians, chefs, writers and other notable folk.

But it seems that regular runners can’t get enough of celebrity runners. Spotting a celebrity on the street or at a restaurant is enough to thrill many fans for a lifetime. But running with them? It takes celeb spotting to a whole new level. And races increasingly advertise the celebrities they have on their roster to entice and inspire runners.

Take the upcoming 20^th Anniversary Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend presented by Cigna, which includes a half-marathon on Saturday, January 12 and marathon on Sunday, January 13 near Orlando, Florida. The race’s organizer, runDisney, brought comedian and The Price Is Right host Drew Carey and singer and Dancing With The Stars vet Joey Fatone out to greet fans this morning at the Walt Disney World Marathon Meet Up event for about 100 runDisney Twitter followers. Read the rest of this entry →

The 12 Days of Disney Running Christmas celebrates the spirit of joy that Christmas and Disney bring. For a full list of lyrics, check out my first post on the song. Merry Christmas from RunKarlaRun.com!

All photos courtesy of runDisney.

(Photo: runDisney)

The “12 Days of Christmas” was one of my favorite carols growing up.

In honor of the child that lives not-so-deep within me, I’ve crafted the “13.1 Days of Disney Running Christmas.” I love that Disney celebrates the child in all of us, and that Disney running does it while putting one foot in front of the other.

So here is my homage to Disney running and the Walt Disney World Marathon, which my true love and I will be tackling on January 13, 2013. I tried to incorporate as many elements and runDisney events as I could—including the brand new Dumbo Double Dare at the Disneyland Half Marathon and bonus verses in homage to half-marathons. If you prefer, I’ve created a very silly video version here. Enjoy! Read the rest of this entry →

The start of the 2012 Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon. (Photo: runDisney)

Nearly 14,000 runners stormed Walt Disney World Saturday night for the third annual Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon. The half marathon is unique for it’s 10 p.m. start and a private after-party at the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival that lasts until 4 a.m.

It’s also a race that holds a special place in my heart. It’s the one that started my tumble down the Disney running rabbit hole. Read the rest of this entry →

Running as Prince Charming and Cinderella. (Photo: brightroom)

Disney’s Expedition Everest Challenge took place Saturday night May 5 in Walt Disney World’s Animal Kingdom theme park in Florida. Runners faced a 5K laden with obstacles and clues to a mystery they had to solve in order to finish. Some runners tackled the race in running costumes, dressed as their favorite Disney characters, like Minnie Mouse, and others ran as the fearsome Yeti of the Expedition Everest roller coaster.

As a veteran of three Disney races—the Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon, Tinker Bell Half Marathon, and Disney’s Princess Half Marathon—I know the slide down that particular rabbit hole all too well. After running my first Disney race sans costume and my second Disney race in a store bought Tinker Bell costume, I decided to go all out for my third Disney race. I learned from Team Sparkle running costumer extraordinaire Kelly Lewis that when it comes to pulling off a successful Disney look that’s comfortable and easy to run in, the devil is in the details.

Armed with a few pieces of basic running gear and a creative outlook, my fiancé and I transformed into Cinderella and Prince Charming’s athletic alter egos for Disney’s Princess Half Marathon in February. Here’s how to make your own Cinderella and Prince Charming running costumes. Best of all, the only tools you need are a needle, thread, safety pins and tape. Read the rest of this entry →

Photo: runDisney

Forget three: 20 is the magic number. Especially when you’re talking about Disney magic.

Registration for the 20th anniversary edition of the Walt Disney World Marathon, the original Disney running event that started them all, opened last week. In honor of the race’s 20th anniversary, ‘20’ is the watchword for the weekend. The event will feature a special 20th anniversary Mickey Mouse medal, special entertainment at the 20-mile marker and a new post-race party at Downtown Disney. Race organizer runDisney expects the marathon to sell out with a field of—you guessed it—20,000 runners for their biggest race yet. Read the rest of this entry →

Disney’s Princess Half Marathon was a fairy tale race.

If you keep on believing, the dreams that you wish will come true. Cinderella sang those words and I took them to heart. At Disney’s Princess Half Marathon in Walt Disney World in Florida, I channeled my inner Cinderella and believed that I could break my half-marathon personal record (PR). Disney races aren’t for PR’s many people say. Just have fun, they tell you. But on Sunday, Feb. 26, I learned that it’s possible to PR and have fun too.

Running in Costume: Cinderella and Prince Charming

For starters, I feel compelled to confess: I ran in costume. Not just that, I cajoled my fiancé, Phil, to run in costume with me—as Cinderella and Prince Charming. Cinderella has long been my favorite princess, ever since I saw clips of the film on my Fisher Price Movie Viewer Theater back in the early 1980s. I even named my dog Cinderella. What better character to summon for a half-marathon than a gal who knows how to put her head down and work hard?

I found that once you put on a costume and give in to the Disney spirit, it’s inevitable that you’re going to have a good time, no matter how painful the running itself may be. Read the rest of this entry →

Letting kids race teaches them that fitness is fun. (Photo: runDisney)

When Disney puts on a race, they don’t just plan one running event. As the world’s largest media empire—Disney sits at No. 1 on the Fortune 500 list of entertainment companies—they orchestrate an entire weekend of festivities that everyone in the family can enjoy, from first-time runners to marathon masters, kids to adults, and even spectators. That’s one of the best parts of Disney race weekends: there is something for everyone.

At Disney’s Princess Half Marathon Weekend from Feb. 24-26, my family is putting the Disney races to the test. At least one family member will be participating in every race distance offered during the weekend, including the Princess Half Marathon, Tangled Royal Family 5K and Disney Royal Family Kids’ Races. We’ll also hit the Pasta in the Park Party at Epcot and Disney’s Fit for a Princess Expo. This is my third Disney race weekend, but the first with my nephew and niece. It makes me happy to pass along my love of running to another generation. But more than that, I think it’s important to include kids in fitness events from an early age. Read the rest of this entry →

As runDisney’s training consutlant, Jeff Galloway designed a series of training programs for runners tackling Disney races. (Photo: runDisney)

Jeff Galloway knows running. He’s been an Olympian, a U.S. record holder, a coach and a running innovator. Galloway developed the RUN-WALK-RUN method to help runners train injury-free. He has coached more than 250,000 runners, and his books on running have sold over 1 million copies. As runDisney’s official training consultant, Galloway designed a series of training programs, videos and tips for runners tackling Disney races like the upcoming Disney Princess Half Marathon on Feb. 26. Galloway has a long history with Disney—he’s run the Walt Disney World Marathon every year since its inception in 1994.

“Run, Karla, Run!” caught up with Galloway at the Tinker Bell Half Marathon social media meet-up on Jan. 28, where he led a group of 45 runners on a two-mile morning jaunt though Disneyland and California Adventure parks. Participants were chosen through Disney’s social media channels like the Disney Parks Blog, Disney Sports’ Twitter handle and the runDisney Facebook page. Having a chance to run with Galloway is a once in a lifetime opportunity for most runners. Getting him to tackle your burning running questions? Even better. After the run, Galloway sat down with the meet-up to answer the group’s training questions. Here are the highlights from all of the runners’ questions: Read the rest of this entry →

The author and her soon-to-be-fiance after the Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon. He proposed just a few moments later.

I met this guy. After chatting a while, he mentioned that he was registered to run the ING New York City Marathon. He’d never run a marathon before. Heck, he’d never been on a single run, he said. He belonged to an Ultimate Disc league, a sport that requires a lot of running. But he was no runner. His sister had talked him into it, he said. The race was nine months away and he had no idea how to train for it.

As luck would have it, I was a runner. I ran the New York City Marathon just three months before, and was registered to run it again as well. So I offered to show him the ropes of marathon training, and take him on his very first run.

It was an unseasonably warm February day. We headed out to Central Park, where we’d met for a casual walk just a week before. We ran up to Belvedere Castle overlooking Turtle Pond and the Great Lawn, then jogged through the Ramble and back to the southern entrance to the park. He’d never visited those parts of Central Park before, he said. Stick with me, I said. As a runner, you see a lot of things you don’t notice otherwise.

Well, he stuck with me. Four years later, that guy is my fiancé, and running has played a large part in our courtship. Read the rest of this entry →

Kelly Lews (left) and Carrie Lundell (right) pose with Minnie Mouse in their do-it-yourself Team Sparkle costumes. (Photo: runDisney)

If you’re running Disney’s Princess Half Marathon or Bay to Breakers in San Francisco, or any other themed race, wearing a running costume is awfully tempting. Wearing a super hero cape for a Spartan race or fairy wings for a Disney run can be a fun way to get into the spirit. But for the women behind Team Sparkle, it’s more than fun. It’s a way of life.

Kelly Lewis, Carrie Lundell and Elise Wallace are spreading the power of sparkle with their line of sparkle skirts, sleeves and racing legs for runners. They encourage runners to put together do-it-yourself running costumes made of running-friendly fabrics so they can spread the sparkle spirit at races nationwide.

“You can wear something fun, you can wear something technical and still run fast,” Lewis says of the Team Sparkle spirit. Read the rest of this entry →