When we heard new that runDisney would eventually be leaving Disneyland we were a bit sad because because we wouldn’t get to run around our favorite Disney parks with close friends any longer. Luckily we were able to sign up our oldest son for his very first half marathon at the last Disneyland race.

You see, it’s become sort of tradition that all of our first half marathons be runDisney races. Paula and I told each other that if Jacob were still into running and would want to run a half himself, that it would have to be a Walt Disney World race since that’s where most of the other runDisney races are held now.

Fast forward to Jacobs birthday this past summer. I surprised him by registering him for the Wine and Dine Half Marathon. He was confused at first but once he realized that he would be taking a cross country trip to WDW with his Dad to run a race and galavant around the parks, he quickly got his jaw up off the floor and became super stoked. 😂

He trained all summer long, mostly with Paula and complained a lot less than we had expected. She did so well prepping him for this race that all I had to do was get him to the starting line. But not before talking him into running in costume with me. When Gabriel and I ran the Disneyland half we Disney bounded as retro Mr. Incredible and retro Incrediboy.

This was Wine and Dine and Paula had a great idea for us to go as Goofy and Max wearing chef hats. We didn’t go all out with pants, gloves and vests but wore the characters identifying colors. You get it.

Expo

It had been so long since we’ve been to a runDisney expo, especially at WDW, and I almost forgot what an excursion it was to get bibs, shirts etc. all the way out at ESPN Wide World of Sports.

After walking around for a bit we shuttled over to take a Skyliner ride to Epcot and back. The attraction was fairly new and we wanted to check it out. Fun!

Disney Springs

We got recommendations from a friend about Chef Art Smith’s HomeComin’ restaurant at Disney Springs. Let’s just say that they were spot on. Jacob and I absolutely loved what we had which were the thigh high chicken biscuits. Google it. With images. You’re welcome.

We shopped around Disney Springs for a bit - so much has changed since we were last here a few years ago for Marathon Weekend.

We went back to the hotel for a light dinner and to get ready for the race. What I didn’t forget about were the early wake up calls for runDisney races. Now try telling a teenager who’s playing hooky from school, running his first half marathon and is at WDW to go to bed early!

We woke up, got ready and set out to catch the shuttle to the start. Signage all over stated that runners should be on the bus at 330am which made it seem like that was the last bus to leave. Not wanting to be “that guy” who missed the race because we missed the bus, we were on the bus at 330am. Of course there plenty of shuttles AFTER that time but I’m glad that we were on the early bus.

This allowed us time to stand in line for a pre-race character pic with none other than Chef Goofy! Because there is so much space at WDW, they have plenty of character photo opportunities PRE-Race. Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, etc. Nice.

Race

We knew going in that we would be taking ALL the photos with this being his first half. We didn’t want to run for any sort of time but wanted to savor every moment.

He did extremely well running. And because there were so many picture spots, there weren’t too many long running stretches in between so we were good.

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The course was amazing and running through the parks was a blast. The sun was up and we finished with huge smiles on our faces with fuel left in the tank to boot.

Post Race Party

We cleaned up, got some food and rested before going back to Epcot for the post race party. Included with your registration is a ticket to a runners-only party in Epcot where they close the park for regular guests and keep it open for runners and anyone else who purchased a post race party ticket. We also received a $15 gift card to use for anything we wanted, including merchandise at the parks outside of the party. Score!

While walking around Epcot, we utilized those gift cards to partake in the International Food & Wine Festival. So many good eats. And drinks. Cheers! Once the official post race party got underway, we spent a good amount of time waiting in line for a picture with the 3 Caballeros. It was extra long this year because they were on the challenge medal for the race. We hung with friends @blingwhore and @ironbeastjacky and made the best of it.

We rode a couple of attractions that were open and took more pics with characters. Jacob was living it up, reveling in the evening, staying up waaaay too late.

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I can’t be more proud of him. He enjoyed his first half marathon experience, feeling good throughout. We discussed our favorite parts of the race and he even said he wants to run another half marathon (non rundisney) soon.

We spent the rest of the trip wearing our race medals proudly and the cherry on top of everything was a WDW VIP Tour the day after the race. That could be an entire post on its own but for now just enjoy some pics from that crazy whirlwind adventure.

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Jacobs first half marathon. Mission accomplished.

When @Lululemon and @Strava get together, it’s usually pretty epic. Remember the last challenge where you ran XX number of miles and got a little something for your achievements?!? Yeah, I remember it vividly because I missed out on it. Luckily Paula was able to participate and loves her “prize” and wears it often.

Well, they did it again and it’s called The Ghost Race. Throughout cities in the U.S. and Canada, routes have been mapped out as courses for the ghost race. The Ghost Race is taking place from October 13-22. It’s about an 8k for each course, which for my metric adverse folks, is 4.97 miles. You begin by registering on theghostrace.com and joining the Strava club and you’re all set! You run the course, make sure that run is recorded in Strava and that’s pretty much it.

In the lovely Bay Area of my home state of California, we are lucky enough to have 4 cities to choose from. The folks at Lululemon, especially @LululemonSF, decided to throw out a challenge of completing all four courses. This is where the wacky, crazy, hijinks come in. I text my boy Brian, @pavementrunner - on a Friday night because what else would dads of multiple kids be doing on a Friday night? - to ask him if he would be down to tackle a couple of the routes in the Bay Area. Remember, there are 4, in diff. cities which are pretty spread out.

Now if you’ve followed us for any amount of time, you know we’re not ones to shy away from running challenges, especially ones that involve multiple races in the same day, different states, etc. So, guess what happened? Yup! All 4 cities in one day. Why. The. Hell. Not. 😜🤣 The folks at Lululemon have deemed this “BRIDGE THE BAY.” Only we’re doing it all in one day.

So after quick planning, mapping and texting, we virtually shake hands on completing this crazy, hopefully, more fun than painful, challenge. We decided to use Instagram Stories to document the day so if you followed along this past Sunday, we hope you enjoyed some of the sights (and sounds) of the adventure.

We started out in Walnut Creek, a lovely city in the East Bay (our previous home), at the butt crack of dawn. It was cold and dark but we were prepared with trusty headlamps. The routes are mainly out and backs and this one led us along the Iron Horse Trail. It was eerily quiet and Brian casually made a joke about a mountain lion that I freakin' couldn't get out of my head the entire time we were out there. Yeah, thanks, Bro!

Oh and did I tell you that we brought different outfits to change into for each of the 4 cities? Nuts. Completely bananas but that was the best part about scheming this whole thing out.

The run wasn't that bad and it was over before we knew it. We obviously didn't rush since we knew we had a long day ahead of us and about 15 more miles to go. We changed into outfit number 2 before jumping in the car and driving to the next city, San Jose. But first, Dunkin!

We arrived in San Jose and the sun was up and shining bright. We took a bit of time eating parts of our energy bars, pb&j sandwiches, etc. Then we set off. If I had to pick a favorite course of the 4, it would have to be this one. We ran along a shared paved path with tons of runners and bikers. It reminded me of the parkway we have out here in Sacramento.

We kept posting to social at the completion of each course. Again, we changed, set the map on the GPS, hopped in the car and drove. This was probably the longest drive of the day. We made good time into the City and surprisingly found an awesome parking spot near the start of the 3rd course.

We found the start and I kept remarking how beautiful the day was in San Francisco. If you're not aware, September and October are San Francisco's summer months. It even got pretty warm out there along the marina. If you've run The San Francisco Marathon before, you'll be familiar with this route as it follows pretty much the same path and turns you around back to the start.

No fun. No fun AT ALL. Pumpkins at Ghirardelli Square, No @Karlthefog in sight and we even saw friends along the marina! We talked the entire time about doing this again next year and we totally fell off the rails. We see you, #THEGHOSTRACE 2018, we see you!

15 miles down and to be honest, we were really feeling it. Getting in and out of the car, driving for long stretches, and maybe knowing that we had 5 more miles to go made that 3rd course hard to swallow.

We changed again, and set off for the last course to finish off and "BRIDGE THE BAY."

The car ride wasn't that bad from SF to Marin. Oh to be a fly on the window of the car on this day....

I didn't know what to expect for the last course and that was a good thing. You see, i've never really run on trails before and little did I know, I was about to get a crash course in trail running 101.

It was very pretty up on that hill and when Brian showed me where we'd be running and ending up at, I was a bit nervous. I was motivated only by food, the imaginary "finish line" and the sheer joy of completing another crazy running challenge.

We found the starting point of the loop course which took us along the Miwok Trail. Right off the bat we started climbing and walking. It was breezy and warm. As we ascended we decided that we would try to run along the somewhat flatter portions of the course and the downhills. This was just so we wouldn't take more than the time we allotted ourselves to complete the loop.

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The views on this last course were AMAZING! I was hurting, yes, but i kept going up because I wanted to see more. The Sutro tower, the top of the Golden Gate Bridge, the freakin' Pacific Ocean?!? Man, it was so worth the climb. I got schooled on running trails and had a blast.

We were so happy to be finished, still standing and with smiles on our faces. Hey, guess what? I didn't die! If you click on the pic of Brian above, one wrong move, and you're taking the hard(er) way down the mountain. Yikes!

I must say the 20 miles was daunting back when we were scheming about this whole crazy adventure but chunking it up in 5 mile bites, wasn't so bad. Was it tough, hell yes. Yet it turned out to be very rewarding as well. I spent a good part of a day, with a really good friend, doing what we both love. Thanks LululemonSF and Strava for putting on yet another fun challenge.

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JV’s First Half: 2019 WDW Wine and Dine Half Marathon

#theghostrace BRIDGE THE BAY Recap

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