1:36:58 + 3:03:33 = 4:40:31

Several weeks ago, i completed the 2025 Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend Dumbo Double Dare Challenge (try to say that three times fast) in 4:40:31.  To the unaware (like i previously was), the "challenge" consists of a 10K on Saturday followed by a half-marathon on Sunday.  Unfortunately there's no finisher certificate for the challenge itself, just a line on a PDF file.

Fortunately, the individual races DO have finisher certificates.

I am emphatically NOT a Disney adult.  I honestly have no way of justifying the exorbitant $450 that i paid to run these races except that it seemed like fun when i signed up.  Running through the Disney parks does sound like a cool concept.  In reality, the 10K is probably the only real value-for-money proposition here.  It is run almost completely in both Disney parks.  In contrast, the half marathon only goes the the parks in its first third, and then runs through Anaheim neighborhoods.  While those neighborhoods are pleasant enough, the state of the roads leave a lot to be desired.  

I did not run this race seriously AT ALL.  I've been dealing with bad plantar fasciitis since September, which ultimately led to me missing the 2024 running of the CIM.  It was so bad that even though i didn't run in the entire month of October, i was basically hobbled when walking through the hospitals in November.  Frankly, i don't think i was even ready to run this race, but because the sunk-cost fallacy is hard-wired into my brain, i dragged myself back into training mode in December and slowly built up the mileage.  

I purposely ran the 10K very slowly, mindful of the 13.1 i still had to run the next day.  I finished with a cumulative run-walk pace of 15:36.  While that sounds uber-slow, the final results show that i finished 4,648th out of 7,317 participants (1,947th out of 2,629 men).  Definitely with the slowpokes, but still relatively close to median.  

I ran the half a little faster, with a cumulative run-walk pace of 14:00.  I finished 6,287th out of 10,513 participants (2,706th out of 3,789 males).  Slow, but still relatively average.  

Now 4:40 and change to run 19.3 is not necessarily anything to crow about, but i was not running for time.  This was basically rehab, and i'm happy to report that although my plantar fasciitis flared up after the half, it was manageable enough for me to walk back to the hotel (approximately 1 mile away) and go about my business thereafter. 

I feel like the only way i was even able to finish this race was because of the run-walk-run method.  With the rundisney races being billed as inclusive of all shapes/sizes and fitness levels, this is actually a featured method of training/running them.  Jeff Galloway himself was at the expo and the races, but i was too shy to get a selfie with him.  

NO, THE RACE ENTRY DOES NOT COME WITH PARK TICKETS.  The park tickets still cost at least $200 each.  At least it was a slow weekend and we barely had to wait in line for the rides.  The only "perks" that come with the race entry are the on-course photos.  Provided that you are okay with waiting in line (they look long, but they go fast), you can get your photos taken by some landmarks and subsequently download them for free.  Apologies to the photographers, but the pictures aren't really the best and require a bit of editing to be memento-worthy.  I only got two because i abhor waiting in line.  

In front of the "Pixar-Pal-Around" at California's Adventure.

In front of the Millenium Falcon at Disneyland Park. 

No race notes for this one, since it was really just a fun run.  If anything, the only "tip" would be to try and submit a relatively fast "proof of time" during registration, so as to get into a good corral.