2020 Disney Marathon Weekend 5K Recap

My first runDisney experience was the Princess 10K back in 2017. I enjoyed the race a lot but suffered from extreme dehydration and wanted a redo of a runDisney race. Since the runDisney Marathon weekend is in January I knew the chance of cooler weather was higher.

RunDisney 5ks are considered fun runs. That means there really is not a time limit. Disney runs are really magical because of the characters on the course and just the overall atmosphere.

2020 runDisney 5K Recap

If you are a regular reader of my blog you know I am plus-sized but that does not stop me from enjoying Disney World or the runDisney events.

I trained religiously for my Princess 10K but due to illness, I could not train like I would have liked for my 5k. I have had a serious health ailment which pretty much landed me in bed 90% of the 3 months leading up to the race. Oddly, this did not make me nervous. I knew I could handle the distance even without training. This is not something I would recommend though. I have a printable 5K Training schedule on the blog that I had started before my illness thwarted my plans.

My 5K Breakfast & Warm Up

During races, I don’t like a full stomach. My breakfast consisted of a banana and a small cup of water. I ate this after entering the race area at a table and waited there until they said we could go to the corrals.

Once they opened up the corrals, I rushed over to my corral and got close to the front as possible. Then the fun begins. There is an announcer that warms us up. For this race he choreographed all of us in doing popular dances through the decades. It was so neat to see so many people dancing at the same time.

After the warm-up, there is about a half an hour of messages from the sponsors.

Marathon Weekend 2020 5K

I was in corral C which is the last corral in the 5k. It is a huge corral but I was at the front of it. Corral placement is not too important in a 5k since the race is not timed but for some reason, it was important to me, lol.

It takes a long time for corral C to get to the start line. Did you know that by the time I got to the start line I had already walked about 2 miles? Even though I was close to the front I think I was in like group (wave) 5 to actually begin the race. The fireworks went off and the race begins!

The first mile of the race is a little boring. I had headphones but they were messing up a bit so I just enjoyed the atmosphere. It is so neat to see all the costumes!

Once we got into the backstage area of Epcot, you could hear the Chip n’ Dale Rescue Rangers theme song. Yes, they were characters you could get a picture with. I still thought that I had to finish “quick” so I didn’t stop. I really regret that decision now.

Stepping into Epcot was amazing. It was still dark and you almost feel like you are sneaking in since everything is closed. I tried to get a few pictures and selfies while I raced around the showcase.

Since I felt more relaxed now with time I decided to take a picture with Gepetto in Italy. He is a character I have been wanting to meet for a while.

The Beast was out in France but the line was super, super long and I did not want to wait in it.

Another part of the course had a big screen with Pluto cartoons playing. I mean how cool is it to watch Disney cartoons while doing a race!?! I was so happy at this point that tired was not in my vocabulary, lol.

Crossing the finish line was amazing! I had such an enjoyable race this time and would totally do another 5k at Disney. My Fitbit said that by the time I made it back to my car I had walked a total of nine miles!

After the race, I celebrated with breakfast at 1900 Park Faire! It was the perfect way to celebrate.

I am approaching 40 this year, ack! My goal for my 40’s is to complete a half marathon and it will be a Disney one.

If you are plus-size and nervous about doing a race, don’t be. If I can do it, you can do it!

Thank You for Spreading the Pixie Dust!