Mickey’s Main Street U.S.A. 5K
Saturday, September 5th, 2009

The first thing to remember about 5K Fun Run’s are that they are Fun Run’s!!! Don’t ever think you’re going to PR a Fun Run. Most of the runners there are not runner’s and especially at an event like this, it’s all about location, location, location. With that said…on with the review.

I signed my wife and boyz up for this when I first registered for the 1/2 Marathon. We had ample time to do a little training and of course, buy appropriate running gear!!! When race time came, those training days seemed to fly by…just like our vacation.

The Fun Run started at 7 a.m. and the temperature was in the low 70′s but the humidity was around 80% so it was more than a little uncomfortable. There were approximately 4,000 participants at the event and the atmosphere was much more jovial than I’ve experienced at the longer distances. We took advantage of some of the free snacks and got in the corral well before it was time to go. There was a little concern before the gun went off as a runner not far from us fainted and had to be assisted by a medical team. To Disney’s credit, the medical team was there within minutes and before we started, it looked like she was doing fine.

A barbershop quartet, Mickey and Minnie Mouse saw us off promptly at 7 a.m. With the number of people there, it took a while to get going and when it did, the going was slow. That fit perfectly into my pace plan for us. I figured my wife and the boyz could run and have fun around 15-16/min. miles.

The course started at the Mickey & Friends Parking Structure and we headed toward Disney’s California Adventure. It’s important to remember when you run within the theme parks that some of the paths get narrow and keeping an eye on who’s in front and behind you is very important. There were many characters along the route and we (along with many others) stopped to take photos with many of them.

After looping thru California Adventure we were off to run in Disneyland. The interesting part of the route is that you get to see some of the back stage areas of the buildings and attractions – sort of behind the scenes access if you will. After several walking breaks and shoe ties, we headed towards the finish line – Main Street.

Now in other years, they’ve finished the race in a parking lot which provided ample space for handing out medals, refreshments and photos. Having the finish line at the end of Main Street was probably not a great idea. Now the atmosphere was great with characters, fans lining Main Street, the music and engaging announcer – it was just there was no room for anything when you were done!!! The crowd stacked up at the medal lines and getting to the bagels, water and Powerade was extremely difficult. While half the fun is just taking in the mass of sweaty humanity, we just tried to exit with all limbs intact as quickly as possible.

Overall, the experience was more than enjoyable and running with my family was a thrill. The medals are plastic, artistic and colorful and the same can be said for the shirts. The only thing that Disney officials need to work on for next year is thinking thru the finish line area.