I have done the Disneyland Half Marathon before, so was interested to see how they would change things up for the TinkerBell. The first thing that was different was the pre/post race area, which was in the Paradise Pier Hotel parking lot vs. the Disneyland Hotel parking lot for the Disneyland half. It was a bit of a trek from the Mickey and Friends parking structure, but I had allowed myself enough time.
The corrals seemed to be much better organized than the Disneyland half corrals. There was no bottleneck at the corral entrance, and it was easy to maneuver into my corral. TV screens above the corrals allowed participants to easily see what was going on at the start line.
The TinkerBell course had been advertised as an “all new course”, which some of us met with skepticism. There are not a whole lot of options in Anaheim, so we did not know how it would compare to the Disneyland half. I have to say that the new course was actually more interesting than the Disneyland half! It felt like we spent more time running through the parks (Disneyland in the beginning, California Adventure at the end), and the run through downtown Anaheim by City Hall was quite pleasant. Just like the Disneyland half, there was plenty of entertainment along the course – bands, cheerleaders, etc. I was never bored.
Post race was typical of Disney races. Mylar, medal, pick up your gear, powerade, water, bagels, bananas…although Luna bar was a sponsor so they had full-size Luna protein bars too, which was much appreciated. Photos, then meet up at the family reunion area.
This was a well-run, extremely fun event, especially for an inaugural race. There did not seem to be any “kinks” and it was a very enjoyable experience, I am looking forward to running it again next year.
Also, since this was a female-themed event, there were gender specific tech shirts at packet pickup. This is something that I HIGHLY appreciate. Unisex tech shirts collect dust in my closet. The women’s race shirt I will actually wear. Great job, Disney!