Typically I don't sleep well before a big race (especially at Disney), but for some reason I had a decent sleep. Don't get me wrong, 2:15am is still a stupid and ridiculous time to wake up. Seriously, runners are pretty dumb - we wake up at horrific hours to go run silly distances....and we pay to do it! Honestly though, I love it and wouldn't trade it for the world (even a few extra hours of sleep).
Jen and I were on one of the first buses from Pop Century over to EPCOT and arrived just shortly after 3am.
This year they no longer had Race Retreat and instead had Runner's Square. Runner's Square offered a pre-race breakfast, private portos and gear check and a few other amenities. However, there was no post-race food and it was an open area that was just fenced off. This was a HUGE negative for me as I purchased Race Retreat mostly for the post-race food since I am always starving when I am done as well as the perk of being climate controlled. Since the price was only about $30 less for a whole lot less (and of what I find valuable), I opted to pass on Runner's Square. With that said, I hung out in the pre-race area and met up with friends, ate breakfast, etc until it was time to head to the corrals.
Magic Kingdom here we come! Up until 2018, the course ran through a backstage gate near Space Mountain that dumps into Main Street, but a slight course change due to construction meant that we got to run through the front gate and onto Main Street!
Once you exit the castle, take a quick swing to the left and get your official castle photo done. It takes a few minutes (if that), but it is so worth it! I have to give runDisney credit here, they really streamlined the castle photo line better than in the past to make it go by faster and photographers are set up in a way to have each runner be the only one in the shot.
You exit Magic Kingdom through a backstage exit where the Festival of Fantasy floats and Disney royalty thanks you for visiting. You then hit a water station and 10K mark as you exit the backstage area.
Now it is time for my yearly public service announcement...every year I see at least one runner that insists that they are going to run on the other side of the road. People, the cones dividing the lanes is diving the running lane from the open traffic lane! I cringe every single time I see this! Please be safe and don't run in lanes that are open to traffic!
A favorite tradition of mine over the past 6 years of runDisney memories has been stopping at the Grand Floridian at mile 7 for one of my favorite "character" stops - Richard, the greeter and most amazing cast member from Grand Floridan. Richard always had a sweaty hug for me which I looked forward to at every runDisney race. Sadly, Richard passed away in 2018 and this was my first runDinsey half marathon since 2014 that I did not get to see that amazing smile at mile 7. I would be lying if I said I didn't get a little emotional but remembering Richard made my heart fuller.
While this stretch in the back half of the course can get a little dull because it is a long stretch of road, runDisney spaces out different character stops and photo ops along the way to add a little Disney flare even though you aren't in the parks.
We looped through a backstage area and came in by Journey Into the Imagination with Figment and by The Land before heading towards Spaceship Earth and the finish (no heading towards the lagoon). I actually preferred this final stretch over the one I have ran in the past as it wasn't as tight and no weird u-turn at the lagoon.