Lauren Bullis's Staging Area

First time marathoner and this was a tough, hilly course. I trained well and had a Plan A of 5 hours and a Plan B of 5:15. What I didn’t practice for was running in 70 degree temperatures for 2.5 hours. Because training was in the fall and winter I’d become a decently strong “cold runner” but did not know how to properly hydrate in situations like this. Not the races fault and now I know. Just a little disappointed I didn’t get the outcome I was aiming for. The medal sure does put a smile on my face though!

My first race on the sand and it was so much fun! This was a small, local race but still had a lot of great volunteers. This was not a chip timed event but they did a great job with the “mass start” and hitting everyone with correct finish times. Beautiful scenery, fun race!

I moved away from my hometown 9 years ago. When visiting my parents for Christmas I saw this race and decided to sign up. I didn’t realize we were literally chasing Santa, which was a cool concept. Several runners were “Santa” on course and if you caught up to him and pulled a flag (think flag football) you got a prize at the end of the race. I was more focused on a flat course PR! However, the race was measured incorrectly so I feel like my result shouldn’t “stand”. It was .1 miles short which still would have earned me a PR but now I don’t know what my actual time should be. It’s fine, it’s all for fun, and still one of my fondest memories, as my dad was there to cheer me to the finish line!

I was visiting family and saw this race was happening during my visit. I was a last minute sign up. I tend to think of Shreveport as a “small town” but they had quite the turn out for this race. It was well produced and even hillier than expected. I thought all of Louisiana was flat. Lots of fun and great breakfast quesadilla at the end! I think they were also serving smoothies!

This was my first Disneyland Half marathon race – it was well supported and well produced with many water stops. Although its always more fun running through the parks, Anaheim came out to celebrate with the runners which was really nice. I haven’t been through Anaheim before so it was cool to see a bit of the town.

So this was the exact same course as the Donut Dash I did a few months before. It was nice to know what to expect on course, however the cupcakes weren’t quite as good, this time of year is warmer, and I was coming back from an injury. I will say that I expected it to be downright miserable out but we got a nice misty, cooling rain while on course. Not enough to get you “wet” but enough to cool you off a bit. Not opposed to doing another one of these.

This was my first obstacle course run – it wasn’t timed but I had my watch going which is how I came up with the time. Overall, there were only two obstacles I didn’t complete before moving on. It was a cooler morning but surprisingly the mud pits didn’t feel too awful. I did cut my hand and my knee pretty bad early on in one of the mud pits and was pretty bloody. All I could think was at least I was pretty far ahead of everyone else, the thought of standing in other peoples’ blood gave me the willies. Don’t think I’ll be doing this one again for that reason.

This was a fun little 5k through the city I live in. Nothing in particular sticks out, but that means no negatives either! Easy to park at, locate, good directions on course.

Disney never disappoints so what did I expect for their races?! This was amazing, absolutely magical. Loved every second of it, and I was an addict at mile zero! Race photographers, character stops, REAL BATHROOMS, medals, finisher boxes, just amazing!

Well produced – beautiful scenery, some sneaky hills. Felt like a lot of downhill. I enjoyed this one thoroughly, wouldn’t be opposed to doing it again in the future!