New Additions for Disney’s Princess Half Marathon Weekend by Tania Lamb

photo courtesy of runDisney.com

Just when you thought you had your race schedule figured out, runDisney throws a glass slipper at you! RunDisney announced The Disney Princess Enchanted 10K and the Disney Glass Slipper Challenge for the Princess Half Marathon Weekend. You know what that means, more races equals more medals!  If that wasn’t enough they added a special Coast-to-Coast Race Challenge medal with a pink overlay and  lanyard if you complete the Tinkerbell Half Marathon at Disneyland and the Princess Half Marathon at Walt Disney World® in the same year.

The Glass Slipper Challenge follows in the footsteps of the Dumbo Double Dare challenge in Disneyland. Complete the 10K on Saturday and the Half Marathon on Sunday and you’ll earn the inaugural Disney Glass Slipper Challenge Medal, as well as each of the medals from the individual races.  With past challenge registrations (Dumbo Double Dare and the Dopey Challenge), you must specifically register for the Challenge to receive all the medals, not each race individually. The runDisney blog also adds that the Princess Half Marathon Weekend will expand to February 20-23, 2014 and include an additional day for the Expo.

Registration for the 2014 Princess Half Marathon opens June 11 at  runDisney.com.  Runners will able to register for both the Tinkerbell Half Marathon and the Princess Half Marathon, but be ready, because there are only a limited number of spots.

If you only want to register for the Tinkerbell Half Marathon, then on-line registration for that race officially opens on July 9.

This announcement sent Twitter, Facebook groups, and social media on fire! Most were dancing with excitement, but some were disappointed in the new pattern of adding a 10K and a Challenge to every race weekend. I can see both sides.

courtesy of April Ryley

I wasn’t planning on doing the Princess Half Marathon next year, even though I loved it this year, because I wanted to try new races. However, now runDisney has me planning for the Glass Slipper Challenge and the Tinkerbell Half Marathon. Holy costumes, Batman! That special edition Coast-to-Coast medal will be mine! It’s a perfect fit for me. However it’s not a perfect fit for everyone and perhaps all these new races will give people the opportunity to choose a challenge that suits them. As much as the addicts want to run all the races; realistically we won’t be able to run them all…(butI WANT to!).

And honestly, as long as all this excitement is encouraging people to be active and healthy, especially women, who might not otherwise do it, then I say bring on the races! I love the 10Ks, because it is such a great goal for those who want more than a 5K, but can’t quite commit to a half marathon.

One common concern I saw was that runDisney needs more staff to keep the quality of the races consistent with Disney standards. I hope they hear the concerns and rise to the occasion. I think they will! And hey, I know a whole group of Princess Posse members who would love to work for runDisney if you’re looking (hint, hint).

So who is Team Glass Slipper Challenge? I am! We all know what a glass slipper did for Cinderella. Imagine what it could do for you.