A look at the Disney Princess 10k this year, and my experience running it:
While I try to hit a number of RunDisney race weekends, the one that has been my constant every year in Princess weekend. It was my first 10k in 2014, and my first half marathon in 2015. With the exception of 2021, I’ve been there every year since then!
I usually run the Fairy Tale Challenge, which includes the 10k on Saturday and the half marathon on Sunday. It’s two early mornings, but it’s better with friends!
We had a great group for this race weekend: Jenn from Fairest Run of All, Kate, Kate’s cousin Bethany, and our friend Erika (Erika would arrive for the half marathon). Jenn, Kate, and myself all decided to do coordinating costumes (more on that later!).
The night before
Typically I start my recaps with the early morning wake-up around 2:30am, but this time we’re beginning the night before. We had our Italian dinner at Maria & Enzo’s early, and were headed back to our resort to get ready and get to bed early. We’d been keeping an eye on the weather because rain and storms had been in the forecast.
Around 4pm RunDisney sent everyone the email below:
I didn’t know what to expect! We knew it was possible that they could cancel the race if there were storms predicted to be in the area. Disney has also shortened races in the past because of the weather. I didn’t think they would change the time, but you never know.
So we waited anxiously, not knowing if we actually needed to set that alarm for 2am! I was planning to be in bed around 8, but of course I knew I couldn’t fall asleep until I was sure the race was still happening. At 8pm exactly we all started refreshing our emails and the RunDisney page, but saw nothing.
Finally, closer to 8:15, I found an update on the RunDisney website: “At this time, the Disney Princess 10K will proceed as scheduled with potential entertainment modifications.”
Phew! I was okay with modified entertainment, as long as I still got to run. So it was off to bed with the early alarm.
Jenn and I got ready and headed out for the bus a bit before Kate and Bethany, since they were in a later corral. Oh, and the costume idea I mentioned earlier? This was all Jenn’s inspiration! She proposed we do Disney characters as different version of Britney Spears, and I was totally on board. So I was dressed as Anna from Frozen, but as Britney from the Hit Me Baby One More Time video.
Jenn was Sally from the Nightmare Before Christmas, as Britney’s Slave 4 U performance at the VMAs. And Kate did Cinderella as Britney’s flight attendant outfit from the Toxic video. (If you’re not as familiar with the looks of Britney, don’t even worry about any of this!).
At the corrals
Jenn and I arrived to take the traditional Spaceship Earth selfie.
And there I ran into another friend that I hadn’t yet met in person, Tamela! We had actually known each other online for over 15 years (first back on the DisBoards, and then on facebook). It was cool to meet in person. I’m so glad she spotted me!
I headed to my corral, C, because I like to get there early. I do prefer being towards the front (since I start out pretty fast), but it also helps my anxiety to know that I’m there. Before long we were heading towards the starting line.
The MCs were doring their usual banter, and they often interview people at the start line for a minute. For some reason, I just had a feeling I was going to get chosen. Now, I did partially volunteer – Tracy, with the microphone, turned to the group of us standing right there and was like, “does anyone want to say anything on camera?” and I immediately said, “sure!”
She asked me about my costume, and I explained the whole “Britney as a princess” thing and mentioned the other Britneys out there. I actually did record the audio of the interview on my phone, and Kate managed to film the end of it!
Beginning the race
I think I was really hyped up on adrenaline from being on camera (I know, it was like 30 seconds!). But I felt super pumped to start the race and my body felt great once I started running. There was a very, very light rain, but it actually felt pretty good.
And it occurred to me that if I was feeling good, and there weren’t many characters out due to the rain, maybe I could actually try to race this one and get a decent time. That first mile I did in 9:15, which I knew was too fast, but I loved actually feeling good running again for once (I’ve been having some struggles the past few years). In fact, I passed Jenn pretty early on (who was smartly taking it easier – we had a half marathon the next day!). I slowed it down slightly for the second mile, but still was on a good pace when we entered Epcot around mile 2.
In the Mexico pavilion Princess Daisy Duck was out, and her line was pretty short so I figured it couldn’t hurt to grab a picture! I knew there wouldn’t be as many characters as usual, and I had no idea what the course would look like that in sense, so I wanted to get at least one.
After that I continued on, only to realize I had to stop again almost immediately, in Norway! Frozen characters were out, and since I was Anna I needed to make that stop. Not only was Kristoff there, but a meet and greet character I’d never seen before – some of the trolls!
This line was definitely longer and cost me a few minutes, but it was certainly worth it. In case I wasn’t totally sure, the universe gave me a sign… because the music was playing in Epcot and the next song to come on was “Hit Me Baby One More Time.”
Elsa was also hanging out in the doorway, so I tried to grab a quick selfie (slightly blurry).
Then it was back to running! I knew any time goal was gone, but that was okay because I could just enjoy the race. Plus, I did have a half marathon the next day so it was the smarter thing to do anyway.
Second half of the race
I headed around the rest of the World Showcase, and then out and around the Boardwalk. Fancy Nancy was hanging out by Atlantic Dance Hall, and she had no line so I grabbed a quick picture. I’ve never seen the show, but Fancy Nancy was a book first, and as a children’s librarian this is a fun one for me!
After making my way around the Boardwalk, it was back into Epcot. The 10k course was different than last year’s, and it felt like we had more park time, which was nice. I think I ran through a majority of Epcot during this race!
Somewhere around mile 5, Jenn caught up with me. We decided to do the rest of the race together. Towards the end, we saw Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather. I had grabbed a photo with them during the last Princess half marathon, but Jenn hadn’t. Plus, we needed a photo together and line was not terrible. We are there to have fun!
Up next: the finish line! I am usually running solo, so it was fun to cross the finish with a friend (and especially the one who got me through the end of my marathon!).
My official finish time was 1:16:36, which included 4 character stops – two of which were longer lines than I would usually do. It was a decent start to the Princess race weekend!
Finish area
We got our medals, which I think were quite pretty this year. This one was a Moana-themed 10k medal. All of the medals for the race weekend had a sort of “stained glass” background.
Since Kate and Bethany were still running, Jenn and I decided to hang out for awhile in the post-race area. The weather was actually quite nice at this point. First order of business was the post-race beer! They had the same specialty beer as last time, but it’s pretty tasty and refreshing after running. And a pretty color for Princess weekend!
Also, I turned us into a gif.
We also did some dancing to the tunes of the DJ. I requested some Britney (Baby One More Time, of course), so we had our moment.
There are usually some characters at the finish line, and Mickey’s line was pretty reasonable so we decided to grab a photo there too.
Once Kate and Bethany were finished, they joined us to get a group photo with Lady Tremaine and the Stepsisters!
All in all, a great start to Princess weekend! I was very thankful the 10k wasn’t cancelled, as it was a fun time all around.
Characters at the Princess 10k
I’ve done my best to put together a list of all of the characters on the course. This includes who I remember seeing (to the best of my ability!), and what I’ve heard from others. Some characters switch out with others too, so when I know that occurred I noted that below.
- Princess Minnie
- Princess Daisy
- Kristoff & Trolls / Elsa & Anna
- Knight Donald
- Ariel & Eric
- Belle / Cinderella & Prince Charming
- Fancy Nancy
- Bruno & Mirabel (selfies)
- Merida
- Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather
- Moana
- Tiana
- Mickey
- Lady Tremaine & Stepsisters
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Have you run a Disney 10k? Which characters would you want to meet?
Loving the gif 😂
Me too I couldn’t resist 😂