Race Review. Disney's Happy Haunted 5k Trail Run

Finally sitting down to write this post. Randy and I took a vacation in late September/early October.  I did very little reading, due to a poor book choice on my part. Our vacation was a cruise on the beautiful Disney Dream.  But we managed to sneak in a 5k!

I know what you are thinking. Why would two adults choose a Disney Cruise? Disney cruises are not just for families, there are a lot of activities for adults and a lot of adult only spaces. We had a great cruise, met some wonderful people and spent some quality kid-free time. Since our cruise coincided with the Tower of Terror 10 Miler Weekend, we decided to run the 5K that Disney holds along with the longer, major race.

On Saturday September 29, Randy and I ran The Happy Haunted 5K Trail Run at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. We had picked up our bibs and goodies the day before at the expo, so we were all ready.

The race started at 7:00 a.m. so we were in the car at 6:00 from our hotel outside Disney to make it to The Wide World of Sports and the beginning of the race.

Randy got corral B and I got corral A.  We were planning to run together, so I just hopped into corral B with him. It was a little dark and since it was a trail run, they had to wait until about 7:10 to let the first corral go. That way the sun was up and it would make the run a little less dangerous.  Disney does a great job of  "entertaining" you while you wait for your start. They had some characters, lots of music and a costumed comedian picking people out of the crowd and having some fun.  Everyone is happy. You are at Disney! At about 7:15 we were off. It was very humid and about 75 degrees, so I knew I was going to sweat.

It was a true trail run that wound somewhere behind the Wide World of Sports facility. 

There were some characters, some music but no surprises (like things jumping out at you!)  The trail was well marked and lined with a lot of volunteers to direct you.  We ended up on the track where we ran into these folks. This was the only photo I took during the race because Braden loves the Haunted Mansion and I knew he would have been mad if we didn't stop.

This was not a timed race, so I think we finished in about 31 minutes. The heat, the trail and my leg probably slowed us down. We both received "medals" which were plastic but still so cute!

And we got to see Mickey at the end! What could be better!

Disney provided a great post-race goodie box which was filled with cheese, crackers, gummy energy chews, a powerbar and a hand wipe!

We paid $55 each to run this race, which is quite pricey for a 5k, but when you are doing anything Disney, you pay more. I would do another 5k in a heartbeat but I'm not sure I would plan my trip around a race.With this one, I knew I could handle a 5k and we were going to be there anyway.   I would love to do a half marathon at Disney, but $155 is steep for the registration only, and then add flight, hotel, etc.  Plus, for many of their races, they either begin at 10 p.m. (ugh!) or at 5:30 a.m. which means you are getting up at 2:30 am to get to the start (double ugh!). We shall see...