Star Wars Dark Side 5K

In August (2016), I signed up for the Star Wars 5K and 10K. And I signed Rea up to do the 5K with me. 

I had no idea then that I'd be closing on a house just a few days prior to the race. Or that I would be moving into said house on the same weekend of these races. 

But, that is the risk you take when you sign up for a RunDisney race. They sell out fast (like within 10 minutes) and you cannot defer for any reason.

Oh well, c'est la vie. 

My sister convinced me to come up and do the 5K. Meghan (my sister-in-law) was going to run it also. And it would be good for Rea and I to do it too. Plus, we could pick up our shirts. I agreed.

Rea and I drove up after her classes ended on Thursday. We drove to the ESPN Wide World of Sports when we arrived on Disney property. Jackie and Meghan were already there waiting.

She's pretending to be asleep... check out the last pic (she's not faking that one).

For Disney races, you check in and get your swag bag in one of the enormous exhibition centers. I think the sheer size of the complex was overwhelming Rea. She was oddly quiet and serious. When she gets nervous, she gets very serious - her sense of humor disappears. 

But, serious or not, I was not letting her escape this trip without photos! 

Disney's All Star Sports 

We stayed at the All Star Sports Resort for the night. The All Stars are Disney’s economy hotels. They are huge. The rooms are not as nice as the other resorts on Property. Think La Quinta v. Marriott. The beds were comfortable in this room. Although it smelled like our room was at one point a smoking room. *bleck* ​

The food at the All Stars is spot on. Both times I have been a guest, I have enjoyed the food. The cafeteria-style eatery offers a wide variety of grub. I chose a buffalo chicken sandwich and Rea ordered a bacon cheeseburger. Both were scrumptious.

When you are running a Disney race, bedtime is immediately following dinner. 3:30am comes very early. 


And just like that, it was race time! 

This is what 4am looked like.

The main reason to stay at an All Star Resort on a race weekend is the transportation. Tour buses shuttle you to and from the race course. We climbed onto the bus around 4am… the info packet said we needed to be on a bus no later than 4:30am for our 6am race. 

That's more like it... 5am is not photogenic.

Once we arrived, we milled around like the 30,000 other peeps there. Around 5:15ish they open the corrals up. 

Meg was in corral C with her family. Rea and I were in F (the last one). Jackie was not running this one - she made her way over to the finish line and waited to cheer us on. ​

Disney races begin in waves. Each corral is broken into 3 sub groups. Each sub group begins 2 minutes after the previous. This spaces out the runners on the course. It makes for a much nicer run. The downside is that it can take a while to begin.

Ok, enough blabbing. Here are the pictures you probably really wanted to see:

In our corral. It was a long wait, but we made the best of it.

Disney does a pretty good job of keeping you entertained while you are stuck waiting for something. The pre-race was no different. We watched a few things on big screens, including a preview of the newest Disney Star Wars movie (duh) coming out in December 2017.

We were in the second group of the last corral to begin... Our start time was closer to 6:45am.

Having fun... finally movin'

2 miles done and still smiling. I'll count that as a win.

We had to stop and see some of Stu's people. I thought this was hysterical.

These guys were all over this weekend.

Rounding the corner and seeing the Epcot ball was an awesome sight - mostly because the finish line was just outside the Park.

By this point, Rea was dead tired. And she did not find me fun at all. I snapped this by force (and on the move since she wouldn't stop for it).

The finish line is in sight!

We made it through the finish line! Jackie and Meghan were there to cheer us on! (They are the best.)

I am SO proud of my girl! She rocked this - her first race! It was the greatest MOMent I've had in a while.

We showered and packed up, then it was time to head home for the big move. 

No kidding - and no surprise - this was 5 minutes after getting in the car. She slept nearly the entire way back.