I have a lot to talk about from the days leading up to the race itself. At the same time, the half was the main event, and the whole reason I was there in the first place. So, I thought I’d just jump right in and cover the race first.
My alarm was set for 2 am on February 24, 2013, which was 1 am to my body. I went to bed around 9 the night before. Five hours are good, right? I’m not really sure I actually slept any and finally got up at 1:55. I had everything laid out the night before so I hit the shower (yeah, I know! Why shower when I’m about to become a sweaty mess?), got ready and out the door I went. Carriages, I mean busses, were supposed to start running at 3 am and I wanted to be on the first bus. As I was walking around the front of the resort to the bus stop, I saw a bus drive off. I looked at my watch and saw that it was 5 minutes early and I started to panic a little. Then I was relieved to see 3 more lined up ready to take all of us eager Princesses to our ball, I mean race.
Upon arriving, if I wasn’t already awake, I sure was then because the energy was electric! Princesses, and the few princes, were cheering and yelling. There was a stage with a DJ, bright festive lights, and just an all around fun party atmosphere. I even caught a glimpse of the finish line from afar. That really gave me butterflies. I wanted to run around and see everything all at once but I had to reign myself in to keep from spending all my energy before the race even began. I did stop for a few pre-race photos before heading to my highly anticipated Race Retreat.
Me in front of the Princess Jasmine backdrop to match my costume! They had one for each princess lining the path as we entered the staging area.
The entrance to the Race Retreat
I’ll have more on this amenity at a later date but for anyone who is wondering if it’s worth the pricey tag, yes! For me it definitely was. I grabbed a banana, bagel, peanut butter and coffee and found a place to sit. It was wonderful to just be able to relax and soak everything in while staying off my feet. I ran into a few fellow Princess Posse members in the retreat, which was bonus!
I found Liz as soon as I walked into the Race Retreat!
I found Aimee in the Race Retreat porta potty line!
Before I knew it, an announcement was made for corrals A, B, and C to make their way to the start. I realized I should go ahead and use the private potties at the retreat so I would be ready when D was called, which happened right as I was finishing up. I left my cozy retreat and began the long journey to the starting line, which was about a mile. I did make 2 additional potty stops on the way. The last thing I wanted was to get into my corral and need one.
There were so many people that the walk to the start definitely was slow. I finally got to the starting line area, and whoa! 23,000 princesses equate to a whole lot of tutus and tiaras! There were 8 corrals, A-H, and best I could tell, they had A-D lined up directly in front of the start and E-H in another row off to the side. Because I was in D I have no idea how they got E-H moved over. I wasn’t even in place yet and the National Anthem began. Once the race started, things really got moving. I was surprised by how quickly they moved everyone through. The Fairy Godmother was there to see us off. Each corral got their own fireworks to start, and since I was in corral D, I had already seen the wheelchair start as well as A, B, and C. I was so excited I just could not wait to be on my way. I got a little teary because this was by far the most exciting and dynamic start to a race I had ever experienced. Again, I had to reign myself in because I knew I needed to save as much energy as possible. Almost before I even realized it, the announcer was counting us down and the sky was ablaze with our fireworks.
runDisney’s pic of the fireworks, courtesy of runDisney
My pic of the fireworks at the start. I never claimed to be a good photographer.
My Princess experience had finally begun!
Up next, the race itself! Did I have/take time for character photos? Did I hold up well in the heat and humidity? Did I finish? Also, who was the person I was most excited and surprised to run into on the course?
Square Life Round World 
I did not realize you had makeup on when you ran! It looks like a makeup artist did it! Tell the truth-did a makeup artist come to your room at 2am!
Ha! Nope! I did it myself. Thank you, though! You are kind!
[…] you may remember in Part 1, the Fairy Godmother had just sent us off with a Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo and […]