disneyland half meetup
aka #dlhalfmeetup

visiting (& more importantly running through) a quiet & practically empty disneyland & california adventure  during the disneyland half meetup (aka #dlhalfmeetup) last week, really & truly was a dream come true.

as you can tell, it had me (& a few of the other invitees) jumping for joy outside of cars land.

it was like my own vip tour of the disneyland resort, led by none other than former olympians jeff galloway & suzy favor hamilton and my favorite mother runners dimity mcdowell & sarah bowen shea.

it was as if the entire event had been created just with me in mind.

i was definitely in my own, personal, little, happy place – i don’t think i stopped smiling the entire morning! i was on such a runDisney (aka #runDisney) high.

with the sun rising in the distance, we ran (although i may have occasionally sprinted & raced – my marathon training plan had called for a few quick bursts of speed that day) through downtown disney & right onto main street usa, on into adventure land, new orleans square, frontier land, fantasy land, sleeping beauty’s castle, & back down main street. from there we headed into california adventure where we ended our early morning run at hollywood studios, but not before running through car’s land of course & across paradise pier.

the run was followed by q&a session/ dance party with faron kelley (director of marketing for disney sports attractions), jeff galloway, suzy favor hamilton, dimity mcdowell & sarah bowen shea, where i learned a few little gems of wisdom…

after a surprise visit from mickey mouse, which definitely brought out the child in all of us runners, we headed to flo’s v8 cafe for a delicious breakfast, with an amazing view of ornament valley.

& then, in true disney fashion – the #dlhalfmeetup ended with a surprise…  riding soarin’ california & a behind the scenes tour of the ride.

& while the “behind the scenes” tour was pretty awesome, riding soarin’ with “first-timers” suzy favor hamilton & joe of the marathon show was unforgettable – their excitement was contagious.

this was definitely an experience i will always treasure.

once again, runDisney has proven that there really & truly is magic in every mile. although, i do have a few particular memories that will always be extra special from the morning…

want to attend the next runDisney race meetup? pay extra special attention to the runDisney facebook page & disney parks blog a week or two before the next runDisney race. in the past, that’s where they’ve announced the meetups.

& make sure your trigger finger is ready, because it’s usually a “first come, first served” kind of deal. so you need to be able to RSVP ASAP, because the meetup spots go quick!