We’ve already talked about how amazing the Princess 5K was last weekend. Next up: the first portion of the Fairy Tale Challenge – the Enchanted 10K.
General
The 10K took place on Saturday, February 26th. Participants were divided into 5 sections and released in waves starting at 5 a.m. If you were doing the challenge, you were given one bib with one section assignment for both races. For us, this meant a Section 2 start – we again moved to the front of the section and started running at around 5:15 a.m. but this was definitely a much more crowded course with this later start than we enjoyed during the 5K.
Weather over Princess race weekend – like pretty much every other weekend in Central Florida – can be unpredictable. That said, we hit the jackpot again last Saturday. The weather was perfect. Warm enough to be perfectly comfortable waiting for the start and cool enough in those early morning hours for it not to feel oppressive once we started running.
Course
The course traveled through Hollywood Studios (with an interesting entrance at the back of Tower of Terror and passing Rock ’n Rollercoaster) and on to Epcot.
Race Shirt & Bib
This race was themed to Tiana. The shirt colors were absolutely beautiful – definitely a favorite from recent years.
This shot doesn’t do it justice. It’s a lovely lavender fabric with Tiana’s green in the design.
As I wrote in my thoughts about the 5K, the shirt material this time around feels decent. A far cry from the Champion shirts that we used to get back when we didn’t know how spoiled we were, but I think a bit better from the rough fabric of Wine & Dine 2021.
The bibs are still that aggravating paper-like material that tears easily. If this continues to be the case, then be sure on race day (or before) to reinforce the safety pin holes with clear tape. Just fold the tape over the edge to cover both sides including the hole and then slide the safety pin right through the tape.
Characters
I didn’t catch every character, but here’s who we noted on the course:
- Anna & Elsa
- Tiana
- Joy and Sadness
- Aurora and Flora
- Prince Mickey
- 50th Chip & Dale
- Hawaiian Shirt Goofy
Like at the 5K, there was also lots of PhotoPass in the park sections of the course.
And lots of other great photo ops to take yourself…
And you might also want to stop for a pic with your awesome race team – which benefits Make A Wish and which you can join RIGHT HERE:
(You can start to see why this race ran long….)
(This is my picture from the 5K but the boards were generally unchanged other than swapping out the princess theme to Tiana on the one window-style board.)
Like at Marathon Weekend and the 5K, the pre- (and post-) race photo opportunities were just boards, not characters. Throughout the weekend, if nothing else this made getting to the races first thing feel less urgent. Lines for these were very long by 3:15 every morning before the races but were pretty quick after the races each day…and the after-race photos are better anyway since you have your medal then!!
Medal
Speaking of which… here’s the medal!
So far this, along with the others from this weekend’s races, seem to be holding up better than the Marathon Weekend medals, which tended to have chipping issues. Hopefully these issues with the 2022 Marathon Weekend medals were a one time thing.
Final Thoughts
This was another great race. The weather was again beautiful. There were lots of fun characters. That said, I definitely felt our later start – and that we lost a ton of time to characters and character lines along the way. Don’t get me wrong – I didn’t care about our finish time for this one at all. We were having fun on the course for almost 2 hours. But lines were longer, and narrow portions of the course like the path from Disney’s Hollywood Studios to the Boardwalk were extremely congested. It was still a great race on a beautiful morning but was also a real reminder of how much the crowds change as you move further back into the crowd.
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Did you run the runDisney Enchanted 10K? What were your thoughts??
If you want live information on the runDisney races as they are happening, be sure to follow me over on Instagram at @thecastlerunner and watch my stories. I do my best to keep you posted as they are unfolding. 
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You can find my complete guide to making the most of your runDisney race weekend RIGHT HERE. And while those are on hold, you can find my guide to running trails on Disney World property RIGHT HERE.
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Please join me on Instagram for my day-to-day adventures living a mile from the magic. And join the conversation over in our community on Facebook!
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If you’re missing home (or love someone who is) and are looking for a way to bring the magic home, I’d love for you to check out my Core Memory Candle collection right HERE. And as always, stay safe and be kind, my friends.
