Wife Mother Runner Dumbo Double Dare Archives

Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend Hotel Recommendations

September 20, 2016

I’m starting a new section of my blog which will provide you with hotel recommendations, especially to use for race weekends. Cost is a factor when I travel for race weekends because I am traveling alone and want to do it as cheap as I possibly can because I really just need a bed, shower and coffee maker.

When I went to Disneyland for the past two Dumbo Double Dare Races in 2016 and 2015 I stayed at the Best Western Plus Pavilions. I was very happy with this hotel last year and booked again at the same hotel this year. It is close to the Disneyland Resort area and Downtown Disney and is just about a 15-20 minute walk to the starting area for the races. It is also a more direct route to the races which does not require you to go though security and bag checks like you do in the area between Disneyland Magic Kingdom and California Adventure.

I also booked this hotel for the price. I was able to book it for $135 per night and I use hotels.com so that I can earn free nights. When you book again to the same hotel you also get special pricing. They also offered something great this year that I took advantage of. With their location right next to Denny’s, you are given a voucher for each night you stay there to use for breakfast the following day between 7:00 – 10:00 a.m. And your choices are not just a muffin and coffee. You can choose from eggs, pancakes, toast, tea, coffee, or juice and a side of bacon, sausage or turkey bacon. I made sure to take advantage of this the morning of the 10K since I finished early enough to take a fast shower and head over to the restaurant before 10:00 a.m. I thought this was an excellent addition to their accommodations there.

They are also located on a road that makes my return trip to the airport very easy because there isn’t usually theme park traffic when I depart on Sunday late morning.

I am very happy with the cleanliness, the amenities, the bed and how quiet it is at this hotel. I suits my needs perfectly for a race weekend. Check out my video of the hotel.

runDisney Star Wars Dark Side Challenge Medals Released

December 4, 2015

Are you running the Inaugural Star Wars Dark Side Challenge in April? I am! I try to run almost every inaugural event that runDisney launches. But then that means I have to keep running them so that I can eventually earn legacy status with their special recognition.

Today runDisney launched their medal designs for the Star Wars races in April and they look awesome! I wish I were running the Star Wars challenge in January in California so that I could also earn the Star Wars Kessel Run Challenge Medal. It’s all about the BLING!!!

Photo by runDisney

There was another teaser in the email which was the announcements for the registration dates and race dates for 2016 and some for 2017. As a fellow Mickey Miler, Eddie McCoy pointed out. There is the caveat at the bottom of the list telling us to stay tuned for 2017 additional race dates. Wonder what that means!

Photo by runDisney

Which races will you be running in 2016 and 2017? I will be running the Dopey Challenge, Princess Glass Slipper Challenge, Star wars Dark Side Challenge, Tinkerbell Half Marathon and the Dumbo Double Dare. With intentions of doing Wine and Dine when registration opens.

Dumbo Double Dare 10K

September 24, 2015

The first day of racing for us began on Saturday for the Disneyland 10K. This is one of my favorite runDisney races, if not my favorite. The alarm went off at 4:00 a.m. and I got up and began to get “sparkled” for my Disney anniversary costume. We walked from our hotel to the Disneyland hotel and arrive around 5:00. The crowds for the 10K are not as large as they are for the Disneyland Half Marathon so we had no trouble walking over to our corral and getting right in with very little wait time.

We met a cool girl Stephanie Adams, in the corral and got a few pictures before it was time to run the race. If anyone knows her, I’m trying to connect via Facebook. I know she said she was part of the Double Dare Challenge Team but I can’t locate the group. As we took off running it was the normal rush of people in the beginning so we didn’t begin our intervals right away. We also saw a lot of people tripping over the curbs and falling while trying to pass others or just running out of room.

The first mile of the race takes place on the streets of Anaheim and then we entered the backlot of Disney California Adventure. I couldn’t wait for Diana to see Cars Land while it was still early in the morning and the sun wasn’t fully up yet. We rounded the corner into Cars Land and it was perfect! The lighting was just right and I told Diana to get in line for pictures. This is what the races are all about. I had to remind her that we were going to take as many pictures as we could in the park, then we would run on the streets or between picture stops depending on the time.

The characters at the character stops were villains and they had great characters out on the course! There was DJ from Cars, Lotso from Toy Story 3, Shadow Man or Dr. Facilier from Princess and the Frog and Governor Ratcliffe from Pocahontas and many, many more! My favorite was The Hun from Mulan! My family and I just watched that movie the week before and I was playing the main song continuously during my runs so it was appropriate to have such a rare character out on the course and actually get a picture with him! While standing in line for them the cast members were warning us that the pacers were about 10 minutes behind us and that if we remained in line we were risking getting swept off the course. Diana started to freak out but I told her we were fine. We could outrun them even if they were right upon us.

After our picture stop with the Hun, we ran towards the Haunted Mansion and got some pictures in front of the mansion and also as ghosts. Then we continued on through Disneyland towards Downtown Disney and the finish line.

As usual, the race wasn’t about time. Our finish time was just under 2 hours. The Disneyland 10K is one of my favorite races because most of the course takes place within the two parks.

After the race, we went back to our room to shower and then worked on the hats for our Sleeping Beauty Fairies for the half marathon the next day. I carried the materials out to California with me in my suitcase to assemble them in our room. I didn’t want the hats to get squished in the suitcase. I also knew that we would be spending most of the day and night at the parks, so I wanted everything in order before we left the room because I assumed we would be collapsing like we did the night before!

We met Mandy at the Expo and I spent a little more time shopping at the Expo, listened to Tara Guidus talk about nutrition and running, and visited Jeff Galloway for pictures and his autograph of my race medal. I usually have him sign my bib; but I forgot to bring that with me. I also took the opportunity to register for the Tinkerbell race next May. I haven’t run that race yet and it was falling at a time that we weren’t going to be on vacation in Walt Disney World so I went for it. It’s the 5 year anniversary of the Tinkerbell races so I’m also happy about getting an anniversary medal as well!

After the Expo we went over to Downtown Disney so I could find some of the anniversary items that I wanted to purchase and to also find some gifts for the kids. Then we went to California Adventure and Disneyland for lunch, rides and dinner with the World of Color to end the night.

Dumbo Double Dare Travel Day 1 and Expo

September 8, 2015

I can’t believe this trip was already a week ago. Life was so hectic right up to the trip and then right afterwards. I will be providing you my details of the trip in segments. Today we will begin with the travel day out to California and the Expo.

The trip began with a little bit of frenzy. When my alarm went off at 6:00 I snoozed it. Then when my backup alarm went off at 6:15 I snoozed that. I finally got up at 6:30. I wasn’t motivated to get moving too quickly. I wanted to be around to see Kevin get on the bus and then at least I’d have a few minutes with Adrienne also. I watched the traffic on the news so I was keeping up with any issues on the highway. With the last traffic check I did at 8:05 there was an accident just outside of Hartford! That’s when a little panic set in. I grabbed the
last of my things, kissed Adrienne and my husband and got on the road. Thank God for the Waze app. The traffic was looking OK according to the app. My estimated arrival time was 9:07 and I was leaving my house at 8:20 for a flight at 10:30. I arrived at 9:00 – Perfect.

I parked the car and got on the shuttle. Diana texted me that the line at the counter to check bags was very long. When I arrived, there was no one left! A flight to Chicago had a large amount of people there so they moved them all through. Security had a longer than usual line. It was doing the Disney zig zag rather than the usual straight lanes. But even with that we got through in less than 10 minutes. But of course, BOTH of my carry on bags needed
to be inspected. We were fine though. We had plenty of time to get a tea, use the restroom and chill for a few minutes before getting on the puddle jumper to New Jersey.

It was a quick 1 hour trip to New Jersey and when we arrived, we picked up sandwiches and snacks for lunch since it was close to lunch time and our flight to California was 6 hour flight. We wanted to make sure we had sufficient food with us to keep us fueled up for the flight. The flight ended up taking 5 hours and 30 minutes flight and was a good flight. I got some work done and rested and Diana read her book and rested. When I think back on it, it did go by quite fast.

When we landed we gathered our luggage and used the restroom. I had a moment in the restroom where I heard a woman calling out for help. I was alone in there with another woman and the woman in the stall. So we both walked over to see what was wrong. The woman who needed help had MS. She needed help moving from her motorized scooter toward the toilet so she could go to the bathroom. She did need the help of both of us women in the bathroom to help her move her legs. She had no feeling and mobility in her legs. We helped her and left her to her privacy and then helped her get dressed and move back into her chair again. She was a wonderful woman, whose daughter was going to run the Dumbo Double Dare Races. After she was all set and back into her chair we said our goodbyes and I felt grateful for my health and to appreciate the little things like how easy it is for me to quickly go in and out of a stall to get my business done and rush onto my way.

Diana and I got our rental car and went on with our journey to Disneyland. I took the advice from the man at the rental car check-out counter and we took the back roads to the Disneyland hotel. He said the highway at that time of night was a mess. That didn’t surprise me because that is how it was for me for the past two prior years. So we typed in the address to our phones and started on our way. As usual, it took 45-50 minutes to get to the hotel, when it is usually a 15-20 minute drive. Like in the past, I had to make a few U-turns and then we parked at the Downtown Disney parking lot and walked over to the Disneyland Hotel to go to the expo.

It was around 6 pm and many of the items at the Expo were picked over and there wasn’t as much of a selection left. I purchase an “I Did It” shirt; but it was only for the Disneyland Half Marathon, it wasn’t even for the Dumbo Double Dare. I also picked up a new Coast to Coast shirt. Those are the two items that I always want to grab when I run the Dumbo Double Dare races.

I did have the chance to go to the New Balance booth with no wait time and had the chance to pick up a pair of children sized Donald Sneakers. They didn’t have the exact size I wanted; but I was able to squeeze my foot into a half size smaller and was OK with that. We went downstairs to pick up our bibs, park passes, and coast to coast wrist band. Then we went upstairs to pick up our shirts. As we walked to the car it dawned on me that I had a coast to coast wrist band and Diana didn’t. Good thing I noticed it! We went back to the expo and talked to Runner Relations to get that resolved and she got her wristband.

It was getting late and we were getting hungry. So we dropped our items into the car and grabbed a sweatshirt to bring with us to Disneyland to watch the Electrical Parade and fireworks. Mandy had landed around this time and we were making arrangements to meet up near the gate so we could give them their passes. Diana and I went to Earl of Sandwich to pick up dinner and brought it with us into Disneyland to eat. But being close to the parade time; there was a large crowd on Main Street. I didn’t want to be too far from the gate because I still had to walk out to meet Mandy to give her the park passes.

We finally met up and the parade had started. Unfortunately, it was just too crowded to enjoy the parade. There wasn’t a good place where I could see the floats. But I did my best to take some pictures. We hung out for a little bit at the park and then decided it was time to head back to our hotels because it was getting close to 9:30 (12:30 back home) and I wanted to be asleep by 11:00 PST the latest.

We checked into the hotel, laid out our race materials for the next day and hit the sack around 11:00 p.m. The alarms were set for 4:00 a.m.

Stay tuned for my recap of the Disneyland 10K race recap.

Dumbo Double Dare Donald Duck New Balance Sneakers!

August 30, 2015

source New Balance

I’m excited that Donald Duck is the character for the newest release of the NB runDisney special sneakers being released during Dumbo Double Dare Disneyland Half marathon weekend. Donald is my son’s favorite character and I know that they carry children sizes for these sneakers.

This model is the New Balance Boracay Fresh Foam, similar to the Tinkerbell model that was just released in may. The sneakers will be sold for $140 at the runDisney Health and Fitness Expo.

Source New Balance Love the hat tail like Donald’s hat coming off the back of the sneaker!

Source New Balance

How do you get your hands on a pair of these?

You can wait in line at the New Balance booth at the expo, or to help minimize the wait you can sign up for the virtual queue at NBvirtualqueue.com using your bib number starting Thursday, September 3rd, at 6:00 AM PST. The queue is also available on Friday and Saturday beginning at 6:00 AM PST.

The NBvirtualqueue.com will also provide you up to date information on inventory availability and updates throughout the weekend.

Check out all the latest releases of the special runDisney New Balance sneakers while you are at the expo as well!

Source New Balance

Dumbo Double Dare – Day 2 The 10K

September 14, 2014

By far, this was my HARDEST day in my racing history. I hadn’t slept that great the first night in California (typical after a day of travel and anticipation of waking up for the race). I woke up prior to the alarm going off in a sweat and I felt that feeling in my stomach that I might throw up and I had a migraine. I quietly got out of bed and went into the bathroom where I begged and pleaded with my stomach to settle down. I had all those throw-up-about-to-happen signs. It wasn’t good. I laid on the cold bathroom floor for a few minutes and tried to calm myself down. Then the alarms on all of our phones began to go off. It was time to get up for the 10K race.

I tried very hard to get ready. I had to lay on the floor a few times to just try to quiet things down. But I did everything in my power to get my butt out the door to that start line. When I brushed my teeth things didn’t go well. I just about hurled. But I didn’t! I got out the door with the girls and made it to the corrals. That was still a shakey time for me and at that point I just wanted to start the race so I could get my body moving, the blood flowing and hopefully it would ease the pain.

We finally got to start the race and I began to feel better when we started running. The 10K course if my favorite. We got to run through California Adventure and then into Disneyland. We had the chance to take a few pictures along the course.

Photo by www.makermothermarathonrunner.com

After the race I went back to the room and showered, had a Coke and some cinnamon bread and took a nap. The nap was critical to helping my headache feel better. After my nap I went to the expo and met up with Laurel and Dan.

Then I walked around the expo to pick up a few more things. I bought some Sweaty Bands and Beecause charms for my Cinderella sneakers. After that I went to downtown Disney to buy gifts for my family at the World of Disney and had a snack at La Brea Bakery. I also picked up my Disneyland Alex and Ani bracelet there!

Beecause charm

I met up with Laurel, Dan, Dee Dee and Meg along with the Magic Milers at the bakery and hung out for a little bit. It was getting close to 5:00 and I needed to meet up with everyone at Disneyland for the pasta in the park party.

My pasta in the park party ticket had a ticket to the park after 4 PM and the dinner was from 6:00 to 8:30. I met up with Becca, Gail and Kim and we went into the party at Big Thunder Ranch Jamboree. I enjoyed the party. They had pasta, salad, bread, vegetables, dessert, water and lemonade. They also had a cash bar but I only had the water.

There were Hawaiian dancers and character photo opportunities. I enjoyed the event but if I had to purchase it on my own I would not have participated in it. The price is too expensive for such an event.

Photo by www.makermothermarathonrunner.com

After the dinner we went on some of the classic rides such as Pinocchio and Snow White. But it was getting late and I was beginning to get my headache again. I left early to go back to the room and rode the monorail so that I could get ready for the race the next day and get into bed early. That was a critical move for me. I really wanted to ride the rides with the girls but I knew I had to get back when I did.

Stay tuned for the half marathon recap next!

Dumbo Double Dare Day 1 – Travel Day and Expo

September 9, 2014

This year’s Dumbo Double Dare was probably my favorite runDisney race to date. The trip began as I got my kids onto the bus for their 2nd day of school. My daughter did great, no tears for school or because I was leaving for a few days. I finished up my packing and headed up to the airport. My flight left at 11:50 and all went well with my travels through Chicago.

I flew over the Grand Canyon. It was amazing to see from that angle! The nice lady sitting next to me took pictures for me and they were amazing!

I arrived in Santa Ana around 4:30. I picked up my rental car and I arrived to the Disneyland Hotel by 6:00 p.m. Traffic on Friday night of Labor Day weekend always takes about 45 minutes to an hour but the return drive back to the airport is always 15 minutes easy. When I arrived to the Disneyland Hotel, Rebecca, Kim and Gail were still out to dinner so I checked my bags with the bell stand and headed over to the runDisney Health and Fitness Expo.

The Expo this year was fantastic! I walked right in and got my bib and coast to coast wristband. Then I had to head upstairs to get my race shirts. After that I went to the official merchandise area and checked out what I wanted to purchase this year. I didn’t go nuts purchasing many Dumbo shirts, but I did make sure I got a 2014 Coast to Coast shirt. After checking out with no wait, I went over to the vendor area and took my picture with Jeff Galloway and talked with his wife Barbara. They are such sweet people. I could stand there for hours and talk to them!

After that I went to the New Balance booth where I was able to walk right up and try on shoes with no wait! I even found a pair of the kid size Minnie shoes that fit perfectly and saved me $50!

I went over to the Tangaroa Terrace and grabbed a bite to eat for dinner and sat down outside to talk with the kids on the phone. It was late back home and they needed to get to bed.

After dinner I went up to the room and met up with the girls. I was starting to feel a little tired from the trip and was beginning to get a little bit of a headache. It was good to see all the girls and we ironed our costumes and laid out our clothes for race day the following morning.

It was time to go to sleep and start off the races!

Stay tuned for Part 2 – the 10K race!

Dopey Training – August 17

August 22, 2014

I am committed to my running. So much so that even if my long training run falls on my vacation I do my best to make sure I am out there getting in the miles. This week Jeff Galloway has me running a 6 mile run on Saturday and a 17 mile run on Sunday. I did both runs back to back and am very glad that I have them done.

As I was enjoying the first part of my vacation it was on my mind that I had this long run on the schedule and I also had to be sure I was eating and drinking appropriately. I was enjoying some red wine by the fire the nights prior to the runs but made sure to be careful of how much I drank. We have been cooking our meals at the house and those were also good food choices to fuel up for the long run.

My husband said he would get up early with me and head out on his bike while I did the run. The main reason for this was because I was going out to run in an area that I wasn’t familiar with. I wasn’t too worried about being out there alone, but the thought of some bears or a “wild animal” did cross my mind when I went out on my shorter runs earlier in the week.

I set my alarm for 6:00 a.m. but when it went off I completely blew it off and reset it for 6:30. It was looking dark and grey out the window and I didn’t have to worry about trying to beat the sun and heat as much so I snoozed for an extra 30 minutes. Then we got up, I had my toast and tea and hit the road around 7:20. The weather was good, overcast, no sun and no rain. The showers blew over as we were getting ready to head out so thankfully it stopped when we left.

The route was nice. We followed the lake in an out and back route and then I went in an opposite direction but the route wasn’t the mileage that I had mapped out prior to our trip. I became frustrated when we got to the end of the road I planned to go to and I saw that I still needed to get in 5 more miles which wasn’t the distance back to our house. The distance back was just about 2 miles. At that point I needed some sugar to my brain to help ward off the negative thoughts that were creeping in. I told my husband that I needed some reinforcement. He helped determine an alternate route to get in some mileage and then we headed back into the direction of the house. I was concerned because the return trip back had a lot of hills. Once on the return trip I just dug in my hills and sucked it up and pushed on.

I was done with trying to make up the mileage on the road and just wanted to get back so we headed back to our beach and I ran along the road and driveway of our vacation area and got in the last 1.5 miles there.

I’m glad the miles are now behind me. I tried not to think about the fact that I did a little more than a half marathon and would have to do a full marathon after a half when we are doing the Dopey challenge in January. I did think about Dumbo while I was out there. That race is a 10K with a half the following day. Today’s run was over a half but the weekend structure will be the same. I am in good shape for the Dumbo Double Dare but I do still have many miles and training runs to put in for the Dopey Challenge. I know I can do it. It’s going to take a lot of work.

Disney Dumbo Double Dare Airport Recommendations

August 13, 2014

Last year was my first time flying to Anaheim to participate in the Inaugural Dumbo Double Dare race weekend. I watched the flights for that race for several months. I chose to fly into John Wayne Airport (SNA) because it was closer to Anaheim and LAX. Considering I was flying there alone and renting a car (for the first time at the age of 41), I didn’t want to have to drive from LA to Anaheim. I was lucky that all of my flights were on time.

I arrived on schedule to California and got off the plane (with carry ons only) and headed down to the car rental area. I learned a few lessons about car rentals. It is best to sign up for the Express check-out where you just have to find a car in your price level and then you can take it from the lot and sign out without having to go to the main car rental desk and the whole process of checking out a car. I also learned that you DON’T need all the extra insurance they offer to you.

Next, when you get into the car, set up your GPS ahead of time so you are all set to hit the road with the navigation system telling you where to go right away. As I drove out of the airport I was sitting on the entrance to a highway and I had NO idea where I was going. I pulled over and fumbled through my papers to get the address of the hotel and get my phone working with the GPS and the car charger and Bluetooth so that I could call home to my family while travelling to my destination. That’s another bad idea. Get settled and comfortable with where you are going before you start making your phone calls! I was sitting there sweating, in a little Fiat with huge airplanes flying over head while I was getting myself oriented.

Once I started driving it was ok, The route to Disneyland is pretty easy and quick. The trip back to the airport was even quicker. It felt more direct and was much less traffic on Sunday of Labor Day weekend as opposed to Friday at 5:00 on a holiday weekend. I planned on returning home the same day as the race so that I could spend the Labor Day holiday with my family. I took a 1:00 flight home so I had to rush back to my off-site hotel to shower, eat and finish packing up the last of my things. I did have enough time and plan on taking a flight home the same day of the race this year as well. I don’t have to rush as much because I will be staying on property at the Disneyland Hotel and my flight is also at 3:00 p.m. I wanted to have time after the race this year to shower and enjoy a meal with my friends before heading out.

I really enjoyed this race. Out of all the Disney races I think this was my favorite so far. I have done the marathon in 2013 as my first marathon, Dumbo Double Dare (2013), Tower of Terror (2013), The 10K and full marathon (2014), Glass Slipper Challenge (2014). Out of all of those races, I liked The Dumbo Race Weekend because of the race course. Out of all the races I did in Disneyland and Disney World these races had the most time in the park. I had awesome photo opportunities at these races and got to see the parks. I hadn’t purchased a park pass for this trip but was totally ok with that. I loved seeing what I had seen while in the parks for the races and enjoyed the races thoroughly (except for the last 4 miles of the half marathon because of the terrible heat and humidity).

Besides the heat, this event was a great time for me. I loved travelling alone to a far off city, having some quiet time to myself, venturing out to Downtown Disney and participating in several meetups. Hooking up with my friends Mandy and Kenn Remo and their two sons for dinners and the races. And I also enjoyed shopping for my family at Downtown Disney. Each runDisney event has its own unique characteristics. I would like to one day participate in the Tink, Avengers, or Star Wars races out West, but for now I’ll stick to Dumbo.

Virtual Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend Blog Hop Directory

Dumbo Double Dare and Jamberry Wraps

August 9, 2014

Summer is quickly closing in on us. The night time air is cooling down and the days are getting shorter. Dumbo Double Dare is less than 20 days away! I haven’t been posting as much on my blog lately because I have been living as much as I could outside of the computer world and trying to keep the #Epicsummer2014 going strong.

However, as Dumbo is now less than 20 days away I needed to get my act together to get my race costume together. I came to hook up with Jamberry nails and am now hosting a party with a specific approach to the runDisney Dumbo Double Dare weeekend and the wraps that are available for that weekend.

What are Jamberry nails? They are one of the newest trends in nail accessories. They are vinyl nail wraps in hundreds of colors and designs to help make a manicure last as long as 2 weeks.

How does this relate to Dumbo Double Dare you ask? Well let me tell you. I don’t remember exactly how it came to be, but my consultant that I am working with to host my party showed me some Minnie Mouse ideas and I said wow, cute! How about Dumbo? Do you have anything with a Dumbo theme that I can use as an accessory to my race costume. Well after some hunting around Jennifer Frank found me some Dumbo wraps.

Well I couldn’t keep this secret to myself. I had to share it and enable all of my other runDisney freaks, I mean, friends to spend their money on things for their race costumes!

Jennifer also found Lilo and Stitch themed wraps to go along with the 10K theme of the weekend.

I haven’t tried them yet. I am waiting for my first order to come in, but I can’t wait. I heard many good things about the Jamberry wraps. What a brilliant idea. You can purchase pre-made designs or design your own with the online art studio.

I’d love to host future parties prior to the runDisney races to gather up more interest if the Jamberry wraps. Who knows, maybe I’ll become a consultant in my “free time”.

If you want to attend my Facebook party please follow this link https://www.facebook.com/events/913917818623841/. If for some reason it doesn’t work, email me at pamela.frost@comcast.net and I’ll hook you up to join the event.

Tag: Dumbo Double Dare