Red Hatters are known to be a little bit crazy . . . And we are no exception. On the spur of the moment almost, we decided to accept the Red Hat Society's invitation to cheer for the runners in the Tinkerbell Half Marathon at Disneyland. To do this, we had to get up in the wee small hours of the morning. We met in the church parking lot at 3:30 AM and drove to Disneyland in order to be there, park, and walk to our designated meeting place by 4:45 AM. Do you know how dark it is at 4:45 AM?
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| This Dark! |
We joined some 300 other Red Hatters in front of the Disneyland Hotel, right by Mickey's Big Blue Sorcerer's Apprentice Hat, which was Mile 4 in the race.
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| Hard to see us in the dark, but we were there! |
There's never a dull moment with Red Hatters - soon music was playing from "somewhere" and . . .
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| Let the line dancing begin |
The runners were walking past us on their way to the start line. They were "cheering" for us and thanking us for being there. Way cool!
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| Check out these "running" outfits |
Suddenly we heard the "gun" go off, fireworks were shot into the air, and the race was on.
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| The first runners went by us |
Joy's daughter, Gena, and some of her friends were in the first wave of runners - we were so excited to actually get to see them run past us . . .
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| Gena's the one in the middle with both arms waving - Go Gena Go |
Thousands of runners ran past us - it took over two hours for all of them to go by. They were dressed in all sorts of crazy costumes - lots of Tinkerbell's, Peter Pan's, even Captain Hook and the crocodile, plus lots of other Disney characters. This race is primarily women, probably 85-90% women. Awesome! The runners were having so much fun, and at Mile 4 where we were they were still smiling, cheering for US, and stopping to take photos of us and with us. They were as happy to see us as we were to see them - don't know who was having more fun or who was cheering louder!
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| We had our signs ready to encourage the runners |
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| Runners, runners. . . |
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| And more runners |
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| They just kept coming |
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| And cheering . . . |
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| The very last runner went past us just as the sun broke over the top of the building |
We didn't get the see the actual start or finish, but here's a picture of Gena crossing the finish line . . .
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| Good job Gena! Her time - 2:06:48! |
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| With her beautiful medal |
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| And with her awesome friends - Alicia, Gena, Brenda, Dawn & Michelle |
After the last runners were out of sight, we just had to pose for a few photos . . .
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| Carol, Daniela, Joy, Shelly, Annie |
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| Here are just some of the other awesome Red Hatters who were on hand to cheer |
Walking back to the parking structure, we were joined by a very nice Red Hatter, and while we were chatting away, we suddenly realized that it was Debra Granish, "Ladybug", who is our Exalted Queen Mother, Sue Ellen Cooper's partner. She was gracious enough to pose for a photo with us.
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| Annie, Joy, Ladybug Debra, Carol, Shelly, Daniela |
No Red Hat event is ever complete without food, and after all the excitement, we were starving! So we stopped for breakfast . . .
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| Millie's Restaurant |
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| A good ending to a really fun morning |
We left the church at 3:30 AM and were back just as the 9AM service was letting out, a little after 10:00. And in exchange for losing a few hours sleep, we each were given a 1-Day Park Hopper Ticket that we can use any time this year. We are scheduled for Wednesday, October 3 . . . Anyone want to join us for a very fun day at Disneyland and California Adventure? Sure hope we get invited back to cheer for the Tinkerbell runners again next year!
