This year was a little different than years past. We've always been right in front of the Disneyland Hotel near Downtown Disney, somewhere around mile 5 or 6 of the race. This year they moved us out onto the streets, at Mile 8, to be a voice of encouragement to the runners who at that point are close to hitting the wall. The runners always tell us what an inspiration we are to them, how they look forward to seeing the vast sea of Red and Purple, even proclaiming that seeing us is the best part of their day. I guess hundreds of crazy women dressed in Red and Purple is quite a sight. We were just happy to be there.
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| We are at the corner of Clementine and Center St. Promenade The clock is a little off - it's a little after 4AM at this point |
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| And it's very dark!!!! |
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| We were lined up along the Promenade for several blocks in each direction of this picture |
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| Mile 8 Marker |
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| And we are ready! Front - Chris & Debbie Back - Joy N, Sharon & Carol N |
We were in position and ready to start cheering way before 4:30AM, a whole hour before the race would even start, and we were too far away to hear the gun go off around 5:30AM. And then it seemed like FOREVER before the first runners reached our position (in reality it was about an hour after the gun). The first to pass by was one of the handicapped runners - always so awesome to see these amazing people who never give up . . .
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| Go! Go! Go! |
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| The first serious runner passed us around 6:30AM. . . one hour into the race and she had already completed eight miles. Wow! |
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| The second runner passing by our sea of Red & Purple |
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| Soon we started seeing larger groups of runners |
I took some video of the race, so we could remember the sights and sounds and excitement, but apparently the video is longer than what can be posted here. I'm so sad because if you've never been a part of this, you just don't have any idea of how much fun it is to see how many people come out, all the crazy costumes they wear, and how excited they are to see us. They often applaud us as they pass by, or stop to take photos with us, or thank us for being there. It's a really awesome experience!
But, this year it was a little less organized than usual, and after the last runners passed us, which was close to 8:30AM, we then had to form a typical Disneyland line to get our free ticket. Yes, we have an ulterior motive for doing this. As a thank you for coming out to cheer, Disneyland gives us a free ticket. But this year, that was different too. Normally, it's a one-day park-hopper ticket that allows us entrance to both parks on the same day and can be used anytime within a year. But this time, we received a one-park ticket that had to be used by the end of August. This was really disappointing to us, because it meant we had to go right away, when the weather is the warmest and the park is the most crowded, and we had to choose between the two parks. I hope this isn't how it will be from now on. Guess time will tell.
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| Red and Pink hatters waiting in a Disneyland line to receive a free ticket to one of the parks |
Needless to say, it took a really long time to get through that line. When we finally had our tickets in hand, we rushed back to our cars to make the drive back to Chino for breakfast. The good part of our new location, we had an easy exit without having to make our way around the street closures, so that was really fortunate. We were able to make it back to Chino and grab a quick bite at Corner Bakery, and then zoom across the street just in time for the 11:00 AM service at IHC. Really close, but we made it! Whew!
Shall we do this again next year? Guess we have something to talk about . . .
