I spent my Labor Day weekend running the happiest race on earth.
The inaugural runDisney Dumbo Double Dare at the Disneyland resort in California to be exact! This race consisted of the Disneyland 10k on Saturday, followed by the Disneyland half marathon on Sunday for a total of 19.3 miles.
For the half marathon, I knew I wanted to dress up and have a great time on the race course. So, why not dress as Dumbo, the elephant who the event was named after?
The morning of the race, Bobby and I headed down just before 5:00 to get into our coral. There were SO many people out, and the corals seemed to stretch on forever down the road. We hopped into ours and waited for the race to begin.
It was a warm morning again, but SLIGHTLY less humid than the morning of the 10k. The first couple of miles were uneventful until we headed into Disney’s California Adventure Park. I LOVE World of Color, and was excited to see this again:
We continued on in the dark through Cars Land, and waved at the characters. I was pouring sweat by this point and regretting my decision of wearing pigtails. They were sticking to me and making me even more hot.
We decided to stop for a picture with Mike and Sulley from Monster’s Inc. Since I skipped them the day before at the 10k.
We ran through more of DCA park, before heading across into Disneyland.
Peter and Wendy were out to wish us good luck, and I nearly had to pick Bobby up off the ground. He thinks he’s so funny. You can see my “glisten” in this photo ha.
Captain Hook and Mr. Smee were busy riding the carousel, but did wave at us. We then stopped for a quick pic with the Dumbo ride, which I made Bobby ride with me later in the trip. Hehe.
I loved running through the castle again, and even did some leaping for the camera. It always makes for interesting pictures!
I love this next one, you can see just how much fun I was having. Disneyland is a magical place to run for sure.
In Frontierland, I caught up with my buddy Joe from The Marathon Show and we talked about the LSU game the night before (geaux Tigers)!
Into Toontown we went, saying sir yes sir to some army men. 
Obviously having a terrible time if you can’t tell…
Love me some farm animals.
Sadly, before I knew it, we were out onto the roads. Boo. It was getting very warm, and we still had a long way to go. Thankfully, there was a lot of entertainment on the course such as bands, cheerleaders, and dancers.
LLLLOOOVVVEEE!
Who can forget the rows and rows of classic cars. (So glad I had my sunglasses).
Our goal was to make it to Angel Stadium. Once we got out of there we knew it was about a 5k left. Easy peasy. The roar of the crowd did not disappoint, and we made it out the other side. A huge thanks to the boy and girl scouts for cheering!
More road running in the sun, but getting closer!
Ok, so here is a funny story. (TMI alert) Bobby and I both had some chaffing issues this race. Me because the shirt I had made was NOT a tech shirt. It’s southern California for crying out loud, it’s not supposed to be hot and humid, so I thought I would be on in a cotton shirt. Well let’s just say my shirt got SO soaked and soaked through my bra and led to some major chaffing, like burning and excruciating pain from mile 9 on. Also, I was wearing body glide but I guess because I was literally drenched it came off. I got to where I was using one hand to hold my shirt and bra away from my skin it was hurting so badly. I know. That’s not funny, but the rest of the story is. Bobby has this favorite shirt that you see him wearing for the race. He likes it because it’s soft and doesn’t cause any nipple chafing issues for him. Well, a little bit before I started chafing he started chaffing too. Only ting is HE can take his shirt off to stop his problem and I of course couldn’t. He was so confused as to why he was chaffing because he wears that shirt all the time.
Well, we figured out later back at the hotel that it was because he was wearing MY SHIRT! His is a large, mine is a small, but the shirt is HUGE. I even blogged about how big it was two years ago when I got it. So while it somehow fit him, it was tighter than his other once, hence the chafing. We realized it because he pulled the shirt out of his suitcase and he was confused because he thought he had just worn it!
Pretty soon we caught up with this dude and chatted for a bit. He was looking strong and still smiling!
I was so happy to see the mile 12 sign, we were almost home! By this time every ounce of my clothing was drenched. The running skirt I had on under my tutu was so wet and heavy that it started sagging and I kept having to pull it up. I am happy to report that my KT Tape stayed put though!
I love rounding that last corner by the Disneyland Hotel and seeing the finish line. It’s a beautiful thing.
Bobby is laughing in the next shot because Carissa announced us as we got close and mentioned that Bobby was sporting his “man shirt”. I would later tell her the story of WHY he wasn’t wearing his shirt which made it even funnier.
We did it! We crossed in 2:34, respectable for the amount of times we stood in line for photos, stopped to take photos and video, and even a bathroom stop.
YAY DUMBO! We did it!
We also got our coast to coast medals, three new pieces of bling in one day. I’ll take it! We headed over to grab some food by the finish line and ran into some friends.
Faron Kelley from runDisney showing off his medal.
Sweetheart Jeff Galloway. I always love chatting with him and his super nice wife Barbara.
Also caught up with this guy who ran a great race. Way to go Sean!
We hung out right at the finish line where people were crossing and got some great photos and video.
I was pretty tired and still soaking wet and ready for a shower, so we headed back to the hotel, so sad that the race weekend was officially over. I am so proud of my bling and had a great time running Disney!
I made a little video of some of the footage I took during the race. Enjoy!
QOTD: Do you ever having chaffing problems running? What is your favorite race medal?
Disclosure: I attended this race weekend as media. My registrations, hotel, park tickets and some meals were provided to me by runDisney. However, all opinions are my own.
Oh no chafing sucks! What a fun race – definitely a favorite half marathon of mine!
You look too cute in that outfit! I love your honesty about the issues you guys had during the race. I’ve had problems like that before and I learned the hard way to not wear cotton, regardless of the weather lol I was looking so forward to reading about your races, I’m so glad your recaps are up!
thanks for reading! I always try to be honest lol. Even when it makes me look ridiculous!
Love it girl! Sounds like such a fun race! But I wouldn’t expect anything less from runDisney! They are my favorite races!!! Chaffing is weird with me…sometimes it happens and sometimes it doesn’t. I can run 20 miles and not chafe and then run a 5K and chafe like crazy! I just try to use Body Glide for every run for preventative measures.
I hear ya! I sadly was wearing body glide but it must have melted off!
GREAT photos Heather! This race looks like so much fun!
Thank you!
Great recap! Loved running through Angels stadium…one of my favorite parts! So sorry again about the chaffing…and I still giggle at Bobby’s story, poor thing!
He kills me.
I hate chaffing. I sweat like crazy…..the bra area is my danger zone…well that and my thighs…which Sparkle Skirts Sparkle Tech are now must for me on halfs because NEVER had an issue with the thigh in them! Looks like a fun weekend….I want to go for this next year now!
It was a super fun weekend for sure! Bra line is def my danger zone too. Haha.
I’ve noticed inland SoCal doesn’t follow the SoCal weather pattern. Glad you made it through the race, despite the chafing.
Thanks! Still had fun!
What a great race. As always, I love hearing your funny stories! I had to go back and take notice of Bobby’s shirt after I read it, and yea, it is kind of tight! So funny though. So glad you had a good time even with the chaffing issues! Congrats!
LOL He just thought he had gotten bigger.
That’s funny because when I saw your shirt on Instagram I was wondering if it was cotton!! I can’t say I’ve ever had a chafing issue, but I run my first Half Marathon (YAY!!) on September 28th and I’m really concerned about that. I ordered a bamboo racerback from Customized Girl and I’m hoping that it doesn’t cause any issues. Anyone have experience with wearing bamboo on long runs?
Sorry I don’t have any experience with that. But yes, cotton ug. My bad!
The magic of Body Glide: no chafing! 🙂
I totally had on body glide! That’s what was so frustrating!
BAM… look at those medals!! Awesome!!!!
I have had trouble with chafing… its no joke…
You are just the cutest in your Dumbo ears 🙂
Thanks I found them on ebay for $2.50!
I had a bit of a chafing issue with my thighs as well as the underside of my biceps, even after I used the Gold Bond Friction bar…was running in a Raw Threads tank…great recap!
I think it was just SO humid everything was melting off!
Sorry about the chaffing. I have only experienced that once and it was during a very long run. That day was was hot and humid compared to 2011 when I ran the DL half for the first time.
Last year the weather was so nice. Sad times!
Such a fun recap! Looks like you guys had a blast minus chafing – that happened to me at princess too ugh.
I remember that!
Aww yay for the race and all of your metals! You take such great running picks!!! haha. I love ’em.
Chaffing. Ugh. I hate it. I have to be really careful with what I wear and still put anti-chaffing stuff everywhere on race days. My body is weird! haha.
I think i just need to bathe in the stuff.
Great recap! It was so much fun to read it, see the pictures, and re-live the race. You’re clearly having a great time!
To answer your questions, my favorite medal is my Dumbo medal, but the other two from the 10K & the Half are awesome too! The Half–after it actually–is the first time I’ve experienced chafing (inner thighs). Definitely made walking around Disneyland afterwards a…delicate experience,
YES! I agree.
Congrats! Awesome job! What an accomplishment! Too funny about Bobby wearing your shirt. We had a similar situation last WDW trip after I looked all over for my flip flops and we got to the park and realized Banks accidentally had them on. :/
For the future, I find braided pigtails much less difficult to deal with! They can be more easily controlled and, if your hair is long enough, will flip behind your shoulders and out of the way.
I actually tried braiding them that morning but my layers aren’t quite long enough and little pieces were sticking out everywhere and it did not look good. Hopefully my hair will be long enough soon!
You silly girl! COTTON for a half marathon? What were you thinking??? lol! It may not normally be that humid, but we still get sweaty! Too funny about Bobby, though!
It was super gross humid for DDD. I’ve never been so soaking wet in a race! Yuck!
I went on a humid run and came home and my sports bra had literally left me bleeding. The pain! the agony! And that was before I even got in the shower…
I ran in this as well (actually, I’m the out of breath Tinkerbell next to you at the finish line