OK, so we're a little crazy . . . no arguing that fact. But . . . isn't it worth a few hours of sleep to earn a FREE ticket to Disneyland? And to join 400 other crazy Red Hatters to cheer for the awesome and incredible runners - mostly women I might add - who are actually able to survive running 13.1 miles in the Tinkerbell Half Marathon? We thought it was worth it. And so we drug ourselves out of bed in the wee small hours of the morning, way before the sun, and drove to Disneyland to find our spot on the curb at 4:00 AM so we could cheer for and applaud these amazing women.
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| It's really dark at 4:00 AM |
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| We found an empty spot on the curb by the trash cans . . . Hey, it gave us something to lean on! |
I was very excited to get to see my daughter Gena as she was making her way to the start line. This was her second time to run Tinkerbell - I'm very proud of her - she is amazing! No way would I (or could I) even attempt to run like she can!!!
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| Me and my girl, Gena! |
Once we found our spot, we had a long, long, long time to wait . . . Finally around 5:00 AM the gun went off, the fireworks shot into the air, and the race started . . . . . somewhere far from us. We were positioned somewhere between miles 5 and 6, so even after the race started, it still took quite awhile before the first runners passed us.
But finally . . . .
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| The bikes that led the race went by |
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| Followed by the lead runners |
The first few runners - the really fast ones - ran by one by one . . . then there were a few running together, until finally the herds of runners grouped together. I was watching and watching for Gena's white ball cap, but she actually ran past me before I heard "Mom" and saw her waving . . .
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| My favorite marathoner!!!! (OK, half-marathoner!) |
A quick hug and she was off again. She did awesome . . .
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| Gena's final time |
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| Gena with her Tinkerbell Medal - Good job!!!!! |
Back to the race . . . The runners continued running by us for a good two hours. Now that the serious runners were well on their way, the ones that were there to have a good time were passing us. We were there to cheer them on . . . but they were clapping for us, stopping to take photos of and with us, and thanking us for being there. It was so fun to hear them say "Oh, the red hat ladies are here!" "Thank you so much for coming" "We love you ladies" and similar comments.
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| Runner stopping to take photos of the Red Hatters |
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| Slapping Hands |
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| And clapping for us! Too much fun! |
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| Loved seeing a blind man making his way down the course! Very inspiring! |
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| The last runners of the day |
Did I mention that it was very cold standing on the sidelines? Even cheering, yelling and clapping didn't completely compensate for the cold, and soon after the last runners passed us, we headed for the parking lot and a nice warm car.
But then more fun . . . . trying to leave the area. The streets surrounding Disneyland were blocked off with police cars and even mounted police (who knew there were mounted police in Anaheim?) because after running through Disneyland and California Adventure, the race continued through some of the city streets.
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| Mounted police protect the runners |
We were feeling like a little mouse caught in a maze trying to find its way out . . . Our plan was to have breakfast at Milly's on Harbor Blvd. like we did last year. But either the course was different this year, or there were more runners, or something, because we couldn't get to Milly's. We were making so many "U" turns and were laughing so hard, it was pretty funny. Finally we were able to jump on the 5 Fwy and head back to familiar territory, and we decided to have breakfast in Chino at Bruxie's.
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| Bruxie's |
This place is rather different. Instead of bread, they use waffles to make their sandwiches. It's actually really good - we had bacon, egg and cheese sandwiches, and it was a nice way to end the morning. We even made it back in time for second service at church! And we picked Wednesday, November 13, as our Disneyland day to use the free tickets we earned for cheering.
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| Joy, Debbie, Annie, Sharon, Tina, Linda, Iris, Carol N |
Good job ladies! Can't wait to spend the day together at the Happiest Place on Earth!
