- Friday, February 21, 2020
- Race Start/Finish: Epcot Parking Lot
- Official Race Start: 5:30 a.m.
We are knee deep in runDisney’s Princess Race Weekend 2020 with one race down and two to go.
First up was, of course, the 5K, which was this morning – February 21, 2020 starting at 5:30 a.m.
Weather and Clothing/Gear
RunDisney’s Princess weekend always surprises us somehow with the weather, so if you’re prepping far in advance I’d say cover all contingencies as far as gear is concerned. Sometimes it’s extremely hot. Other times, like this year, it’s cold and wet and windy. When I left the house at 2:45 a.m. this morning, the rain had already started and the wind chill was in full effect. God bless the huge pockets of my Bolder Athletic Wear skirt because I had them stuffed like a clown car with Hot Hands hand warmers, a poncho, and a mylar blanket.
I also had a “throwaway’ sweatshirt that I brought to wear while I was waiting and drop once the race started. You can always do this without worry, as Disney gathers the discarded clothing from the courses, launders it, and donates it.
Course
The course was odd because of all of the construction being done in Epcot right now. We didn’t enter Future World at all, instead spending most of the course in World Showcase.
Characters and PhotoPass
The rain had most of the character meet and greets prior to the race on hold, so we only grabbed a picture with (spoiler alert) Queen Anna before the race and came back for the others after we’d finished. This was the full list that was meeting before and after the race at the stage area. To the extent that weather permitted, they met from 3:30-8:15 a.m.
- Anna and Elsa (alternating)
Definitely an ongoing theme throughout that the princesses out for the race were absolutely beautiful!! And I loved having the chance to see them in their “winter” clothes.
- Cinderella and Snow White (alternating)
- Princess Tiana and Jasmine (alternating)
- Daisy Duck
Huge gratitude to Bolder Athletic Wear for gifting me this Coco-inspired skirt and my other race skirts and leggings for the weekend!! If you want to try their race gear you can use code LISA10 at THIS LINK to order at a 10% discount!!
The race itself started right on time at 5:30 and was PACKED with PhotoPass photographers during the parts within Epcot, as well as the following character stops:
- Moana in her cool weather gear (outside Epcot)
- Lilo and Stitch (outside Epcot)
- Rapunzel and Flynn Rider
- Beast and Belle (France)
- Donald (Mexico)
- Frozone (United Kingdom)
There was also a high school marching band braving the weather for us just outside of the course entrance to Epcot.
Bling
And then at the end we received the most beautiful medal – Moana’s heart of te fiti. It was so much more lovely in person that I expected it to be. Probably my favorite of recent 5K medals, which have come a long way in the last several years.
Wrap Up
All in all, I’m going to admit that when we were first walking out to this race I was ready to throw in the towel. As much as I love runDisney’s 5Ks, it hard to get out of your car into the beating wind and rain and know you’re going to be waiting in it for 2+ hours before you can start to run.
But that quickly fell away. I was there with one of my dearest friends and we just started laughing at the ridiculousness of the morning. And then once the race actually started, the wind and race actually felt amazing. Especially compared to the heat of Marathon Weekend.
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Did you run this morning? Will you be out there tomorrow and Sunday?? I can’t wait to see what the 10K and half marathon have in store for us!!
