My first love, Goofy, and my forever love, Rob.
Running. We do it to lose weight, get fit and slash stress. Some of us even admit to doing it because we think it’s FUN! I love running and thankfully, my handsome husband does too. After taking on Disney’s Princess Half Marathon in February together, we couldn’t wait to take part in the less daunting – more fun-filled Expedition Everest 5K Team Race with obstacles and a scavenger hunt. This race is 100% designed for entertainment and camaraderie. Sure, there are trophies at the end for the folks who want to strive for those. But everyone who participates has a blast running the 5K through Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park while taking on a few obstacles like running through tires and over hay bales, and crawling under rope nets. Once teams hit the 5k finish line they’re handed clue cards which send them walking or running to various locations within the park to answer clues and find out where they’re headed next.
If you read my feature “I Ran the Disney Princess Half Marathon without Training … and Survived!“, you’ll know that my hubby and I stuck together and really considered the whole thing one big blog of quality time. Of course, it involved some pain and major effort, but we did it together and loved every step along the way. Expedition Everest involved zero pain, zero struggle and tons of laughing and teamwork. We began our race at 10pm with the fear that I wouldn’t be able to make it a quarter mile. An old injury in my right hamstring was recently re-aggravated and I’ve been worrying it would freeze up the second I began to run. Thankfully it did not, but Rob kept checking on me the entire way and was super sweet about my slower than normal pace. We finished the 5K in about 32 minutes and then it was my turn to take the lead.
We were handed our first clue card and a clever little flashlight key-chain attached to a short red Sharpie marker. It was dark and he quickly told me I had to read the cards because he didn’t bring his glasses. Cute! My hammy was sore but my eyes were still perfect, so I was able to be the big star with the clue cards. Yes, I can even read while running, so any nerdiness I felt from the 5k was put to rest with my elite spider vision. We ran together, solved (fairly confusing) riddles together and even scored a few kisses along the way. At race completion, we were handed uber-fancy medals and a bunch of goodies too. At the first aid station, a jug of BioFreeze was available for anyone who needed some. I immediately doused my right leg with at least five handfuls of it. That, combined with a fabulous bottle of Bud Light left me feeling fairly good for the rest of the night. (Shhh! Pretend I didn’t tell you that.) Race participants were also offered water bottles, Powerade, Cliff Bars and bananas. Much appreciated!
The race was over, but the post-race party was just beginning. Race participants and anyone else who bought tickets to the post-race party enjoyed riding the Expedition Everest roller coaster, the Kali River Rapids and several rides in Dinoland. A DJ blasted music and folks seemed to keep dancing until closing time at 2:00 am. With a big high-five to my in-laws for keeping my kids, this runDisney date night far surpassed any amount of fun we’ve ever had at dinner and a movie. I wish they took place every weekend for sure. Having said that, Expedition Everest isn’t only for romance. You can run this race alone or with any partner you can come up with. The team race divisions include: coed, female, male, and military. As always, I’d like to encourage you to sign up as soon as humanly possible for one of the next runDisney events. The registration page is here and these races fill up quickly. Choose a 5k, a 10-miler, a half marathon or a full. Short kids races are also available for each race weekend. They’re all awesome athletic adventures which will leaving you wanting more.
Oh! And for those of you who need to know, we ranked 50th out of about 1,200 teams in the coed division. 5k plus scavenger hunt time combined? 51:50
Enjoy these photos of Rob and I, and our friends Jen, Scott, Melissa and Nikki.
[flagallery gid=21 name=Gallery]
