being invited to a runDisney meetup is a bit like winning a golden ticket.
having been lucky enough to attend the disneyland half meetup, the princess half meetup, & the tinkerbell half meetup, i was giddy with excitement to once again be invited to the recent runDisney wine dine half meetup (aka #winedinehalfmeetup on twitter).
so early friday morning (which was especially early for julie & i – being the california girls that we are), i donned my wig, pulled on my team sparkle skirt & we headed over to epcot.
after a quick meet & greet with the nearly 50 participants (it’s always so much fun to meet virtual friends in real life), we prepared for a private running tour of epcot, led by none other than jeff galloway (runDisney training consultant), tara gidus (official nutritionist for runDisney), anton van zyl (two-time wine dine half winner) & everyone’s favorite mouse…
after gathering under the shadow of spaceship earth (aka the oversized golf ball), we headed towards world showcase & literally ran around the entire world. all while, disney employees hooted & hollered, cheering us on.
really & truly, nothing makes you feel better than a personal cheer squad – runDisney really does know how to create magic in every mile.
we concluded our early morning jaunt in germany where we headed inside the biergarten restaurant for a warm runDisney welcome from bob hitchcock (mr. runDisney) & faron kelly (director of sports marketing & communications for WDW), which was followed by a little chat with jeff galloway, anton van zyl, tara gidus & chef steff.
jeff galloway was inspiring as always. having attended several other runDisney meetups, i’m always impressed that i always walk away learning something new from jeff galloway.
up next was my new race crush anton van zyl. at that time of the meetup, he was the 2-time wine & dine half marathon winner.
although, following the meetup, he once again won the wine & dine half marathon, for the third year in a row – even though he stopped to take 17 pictures along the way! amazing!
& finally we had a chance to hear from tara gidus & chef steff (the sports chef) who talked with us about what & how we should be eating as athletes (their words, not mine – i definitely don’t consider myself an athlete).
& believe me – chef steff’s famous spaghetti pie is definitely going to be my new go-to-carbo-load-meal. it’s the perfect pre-race dish!
chef steff famous spaghetti pie
ingredients:
1 large onion chopped & caramelized
1 bag fresh spinach (5 oz) chopped finely
1 tbsp + 1 tsp season all seasoned slat
8 large eggs beaten
2 cups asiago cheese
2 tsp celery salt
1 tbsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 lb. spaghetti cooked al dente
2 tbsp crushed red pepper flakes
instructions:
combine all ingredients in a bowl & mix well. bake in a glass baking dish for 45 minutes in a pre-heated 400 degree oven.
of course, following the meetup, we had to take a few moments to document the entire experience. & luckily, i got to spend a little one-on-one time with chef mickey.
although, the highlight of my morning (& hopefully mickey’s) was when julie & i took the opportunity to give mickey a little good bye kiss… hopefully he won’t be forgetting us anytime soon!
as always the wine dine half meetup was another fabulous event, filled with surprises, amazing people, & in true runDisney fashion – magic in every mile.
a huge thanks to bob hitchcock, faron kelly, darrell fry, tony morreale, jeff galloway, tara gidus, anton van zyl, chef steff, & anyone else who was apart of making this incredible morning happen!
want to read wine dine meetup recaps from other #winedinehalfmeetup attendees? check out these posts:
* disney digest
* disney every day
* live, run, grow
* outrunning the monorail
* running at disney
* running toward the prize
* running with sass
* running with wishes
* we run disney
did YOU attend the #windedinehalfmeetup? let me know! i’ll add your meetup recap to the ever-growing list!
ready to attend the next runDisney race meetup? pay extra special attention to the runDisney facebook page, runDisney twitter account, & disney parks blog a week or two before the next runDisney race. in the past, that’s where they’ve announced the meetups.
disclosure: i was invited by runDisney to attend the entire event weekend as media – meaning they were kind enough to cover my hotel expenses at the fabulous boardwalk inn (betcha started singing “under the boardwalk,” because i know i did), meals, and all of my race fees.
of course – all thoughts & opinions are 100% my own, because as you already know… i absolutely, totally & completely LOVE runDisney events.
[...] to read more about my runDisney wine & dine half marathon adventures? be sure to check out my #winedinehalfmeetup [...]
[...] the starting line i ran into my race crush anton van zyl (then 2-time wine & dine half marathon winner), where we made a friendly little [...]
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