In September I took part in the 31k running Challenge in Disneyland Paris, this is made up of a 10k run round both parks on a Saturday and a half marathon on the Sunday morning. There is a 5k run on the Friday evening aswell, but c'mon now, let's not hurt ourselves.

10k Run.

I loved the 10k run, so much more than I thought I would, I'd never taken part in anything as fun as this and had no idea what to expect. Wow. My wave set off at 7:10am, but there's so much round the backstagey bit that you'll keep yourself entertained, I was by myself but managed to make myself a few friends before we set off. When your section gets to the starting line they have little flares which go off which makes you feel just as important as the proper runners. You start off by running through the Disney Village where there are loads of spectators cheering you on. You run all the way up to the Disney Hotel, I'll be honest, I can't actually remember how we managed to get into the park, but we did. For me, this was the best bit, all the characters are out taking photographs with runners. All the cast members have given up their own time to cheer everyone on. It really is what Disney is all about. The water display was all going off round Sleeping Beauty's Castle, the music was playing. We went through all the different lands before eventually running backstage, making our way to the Walt Disney Studios. The bit I loved the most about the Studios was running through the Tram Tour - it's one of my favourite attractions and I'm absolutely raging that they're referbing it - but we'll save that for another blog post. We eventually ran through and round the back of the Tower of Terror onto the finish line. 1:20 - not bad for lazy training. After you cross the line they put your medal over your head - like the bloody professionals!

Disney Half Marathon.
The process for the Half Marathon was similar to the set up of the 10k, I had to leave at the same time, admittedly a bit sore from the run the day before and walking round the parks all day. There was definitely more of a serious feel when waiting at the starting line this time around, though I'm not sure if that was due to pure exhaustion of the previous races and being tired from the early mornings and late nights! The first 6 miles of the run was the route of the 10k and everyone was buzzing about it! The worst bit of this is probably the bit where you exit the parks and go round a random village - it's probably not a village but that's all I can describe it as... it was just so so so long, but we powered through, they did have entertainment along the way which really helps! We came up back into the park (after what felt like 3 years in the wilderness) via the Santa Fe hotel - which we were staying at, the temptation to climb back into bed was real. It was so close to the end and the last power through around the lake is just incredible, the energy from spectators is absolutely electric. I'll be honest I was much more interested in drinking ALL the free Powerade the give out on the way round than working on my pace! Yummy! Back into the studios for the last leg, honestly the most challenging but I finished, I picked up my medals and was ready to eat the biggest breakfast there ever was!!

This weekend was one of my favourite Disney trips of all time, I loved the way that the cast members give up their own time to come into the parks and cheer you on, I loved the way every single runner was supportive of each other. Just the energy through out the run, the entertainment. Disney really thought this one through didn't they!! The only flaw was that there were millions and millions of people, the busiest I have ever seen it, getting on the rides were nearly impossible, unless you had 3 hours to queue. But I'd definitely do it again. Maybe all three next time?

Beth x