Tinker Bell Race Weekend at Disneyland - Part 1

     
The Tinker Bell Race Weekend is a part of the runDisney Race series that happens during Mother's Day weekend at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim , California.  The weekend consists of a Race EXPO at the Disneyland Hotel, Neverland 5K on Friday, Tinker Bell 10K on Saturday, and the Tinker Bell Half Marathon on Sunday (Mother's Day).  

I had been looking forward to this trip for over a year... pretty much since the last day of my trip to the Tinker Bell Race Weekend in 2015.  This was my 4th Tinker Bell Race Weekend... BUT my first taking one of my children along.  My 10 year old daughter has shown lots of interest in running and has done several local races with me over the past few years.  So... we put our sights and our pennies in a jar for over a year to save up for this trip. 

A girl's trip to Disneyland for Mother's Day weekend and lets throw a few races in for fun!

We flew out of Seattle VERY early Thursday morning May 5th... we were traveling with my friend Merritt... who has done Tinker Bell twice before and had been my travel partner in 2015.  She was game to do the trip with us... not minding having Makenna join us!  

On the plane and ready to go!

We traveled down early because the Race EXPO at Disneyland opened on Thursday... we needed to be there to get a full day in at the EXPO and rest up for our early start of races the next day!  The Neverland 5K at Disneyland had a 5am start time on Friday morning.  We had planned to not go into the Parks on Thursday so it was EXPO, lunch, and rest up for the next morning!  Makenna was excited about the pool at our hotel too so we made time for that.

The EXPO which was located at the Disneyland Hotel was fun (crowded) ... Our flight out of Seattle was at 6am... we arrived in Orange County by 9am... at our hotel and headed to the EXPO by 10:30am... we dropped our things at the hotel and headed over to the EXPO. We acquired our bibs, had a chance to shop the EXPO merchandise, and successfully checked into our hotel room.  We stayed at the Best Western Stovalls which is a Good Neighbor hotel just off official Disney property located on the corner of Katella and Disneyland Drive.   I have stayed at the Stovalls for the Tinker Bell Race weekend every year since 2013... a good location for access to the EXPO and the Parks.

We had some fun at the EXPO... meeting Jeff Galloway and some special photo opportunities.

 Official line for the TINK Merchandise... "Pack your patience!"

 Found Chip for a selfie in the lobby of the Disneyland Hotel!

 Jeff Galloway and his wife Barb (not pictured) - always genuine and inspiring!

 Honda is a new sponsor of Autopia so they had a fun Photo Op at the EXPO!

View from our room at the Best Western Stovalls - you can see California Adventure... 

We had lots of fun looking around the EXPO... had lunch at Trader Sam's (restaurant at the Disneyland Hotel), and headed back to our hotel to check into our room and enjoy some down time.  Later on that evening we headed over to Downtown Disney and had dinner at Earl of Sandwich.   After a yummy dinner we went back to our hotel to lay out our things for the Neverland 5K in the morning!  

Up next... Neverland 5K Race Recap!

  Were you there?  What goodies did you pick up at the EXPO?

If you could dream of a destination race... where would you go??? 

Tinker Bell Half Marathon Weekend at DISNEYLAND!!!

Just a few weeks ago I traveled to the Disneyland Resort to participate in the 2015 Tinker Bell Half Marathon Weekend...  I traveled with my friend Merritt - you will see her in lots of the pictures... This was my 3rd Tinker Bell Half Marathon Weekend!  (and my 17th Half Marathon!!!)

At the Race EXPO with our Pixie Dust Challenge Bibs!

We flew down VERY early Thursday morning from Seattle... arrived at the Best Western Stovalls and thy greeted us AND had our room ready and waiting!  I had stayed at the Stovalls twice before so I knew what a great place it was and it did not disappoint!  We had a pretty good view of California Adventure from our room and the pool area (which has been recently redone and is gorgeous!)  We dumped our stuff in our room and rushed off to the EXPO!  We spent most of the day browsing the EXPO, shopping for merchandise and picking up our New Balance shoes!

I picked up the new Tinker Bell shoes (the wings were purchased separately from WDW) and Merritt picked the new white Minnie shoes... Merritt's are pictured in the photo below.

Merritt and I were participating in the 5K, and the Pixie Dust Challenge (the 10K and the Half Marathon)... so after some shopping and browsing we headed back to the hotel for a few zzzs.  We had plans to get back up around dinner time and eat a good meal and then head to bed for our early morning on Friday for the Neverland 5K!

Got my photo with Jeff Galloway - he is always so encouraging and motivating!

Stay tuned for Race Recaps coming soon!

Were you there??? 

Tell me what were your top 3 favs from the weekend!

Biggest Loser Seattle Half Marathon - Part 1

Last Saturday I headed down to Seattle with my friend Carrie to pick up our bibs at the Biggest Loser Race Series Expo being held in the Wallingford neighborhood of North Seattle.  The Expo was being held at the local Boys and Girls Club.  Years ago I lived in this neighborhood so I was a bit curious when I read that the Expo was being held in that area.  This is a very urban and trendy area, with little parking except for street neighborhood parking and I couldn't imagine any venue being big enough to handle such an event.  We had reservations to stay in Seattle that night to so the next morning would be smooth and easy.

The EXPO was open from 12pm to 5pm and we arrived about 1:30pm.  It was busy... took us a bit of time to find parking in the surrounding neighborhoods.
  

 

 We walked a short block and got right into the Expo.  As I guessed the building was just a small community Boys and Girls Club... small lobby, a few side reception rooms and a small gym.  We were greeted in the lobby area and directed to "sign the waivers"  and then told to make our way into the next room for bibs and drawstring backpacks.  The lines were only about 4 or 5 deep so it took no time at all for us to get our bibs and also pick up our stuff for our children who were all registered for the Kid's Mile Fun Run that would be taking place at 12pm the next day.

My friend Carrie gets credit for this photo... Nice orange shirts.

When we made it into the gym to pick up the shirts and I was expecting more... there were about 5 or 6 booths of sponsors pedaling their wares, a small stage for a speaker, and the T shirt pick up area where they also had some Biggest Loser specific merchandise for sale.  That was it... I guess because this was the Biggest Loser I expected bigger and more... a bit of a disappointment.  There were speakers scheduled throughout the afternoon - First time running advice and a few past contestants.  While we were there - Jesse - from Season 11 of the Biggest Loser was on the stage.  He talked about his experience getting on the show and how Hollywood can make the experience look a bit different then the experience actually is.  

Off to the side of the stage they had a Meet and Greet area set up and folks were meeting with Jennifer Rumple who was from Season 12.  

The line was long to meet her so we didn't wait... this paid off the next day because I got to hug her at the end of the Half and got a photo with her too!

To tell you the truth we didn't really stay long to listen... There wasn't much to offer at the Expo so we left after picking up our shirts and checking out the merchandise they had for sale.  I will include some photos below of what we saw.

At the Merchandise area they had 2 large bins of overflow shirts from other Biggest Loser races... I have to say that EVERY single color of the shirts in those bins were better then the shirt offered at the Seattle race.  My sister, who teaches middle school, assures me that NEON is in right now.  Okay... but caution cone orange?  Seriously?  I hate the shirt... but probably will wear it for training runs from time to time... at least I will be seen.  No question about that!   All in all I think the EXPO was a "Meh"... I guess with the Biggest Loser name I expected something bigger.  In the end we got our bibs and shirts without much hassle so that is a good thing.  Stay tuned for the events of the next day!

Part 2 - Coming soon... The Biggest Loser Half Marathon - SEATTLE!

What is the coolest thing you have ever experienced at a Race EXPO?

Do you have a Race shirt that you don't like?  Bad color?