Running the runDisney Virtual Princess 5K at Disney World

One of the things I am missing the most during this crazy time are runDisney races. I normally take part in multiple runDisney events each year. My absolute favorite runDisney weekend is Princess Half Marathon weekend and I’m so grateful that I was able to run the half marathon in February 2020, just before the world went crazy. The races were virtual in 2021 and one look at the 5K medal, I just knew I had to sign up for it!

Since I was planning on visiting Disney World for my birthday in March, I decided to run the virtual 5K while I was there. I may not be able to run with 1000s of other princesses but at least I could run on Disney property.

Running wise, I lucked out with the weather, for three days I was there, it was in the 60s and cloudy with morning temperatures in the 50s, perfect running weather!

I was staying at Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort so since the theme of the Princess 5K was Ariel from The Little Mermaid, I hopped on the skyliner and headed over to Disney’s Art of Animation and Pop Century Resort so I could finish my run in the Little Mermaid rooms section of the Art of Animation Resort.

Disney’s Art of Animation and Pop Century Resorts are separated by Hourglass Lake. There is a jogging path around Hourglass Lake that is a little under a 1.5 miles. So all I had to do was run it twice and add on a little by going off the path into the resorts. It was actually the perfect place to run a 5K.

Since the weather was cooler than your typical Florida weather, I waited until 10am to run, that way I avoided the crowds of people on the path heading to the skyliner to get to the parks for opening time.

Running on Disney property made the virtual race slightly more exciting than just running a 5K at home on my normal running route.

Along the route, there were character stops:

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There were motivational signs along the way:

And even spectators cheering me on:

But most importantly there were post race race themed photo opportunities in the Little Mermaid section of Disney’s Art of Animation Resort:

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Perfect spot to end the race and take a photo of my race medal.

A year into this, all of us runners are getting sick of the virtual races, but this was definitely a great way to bring a little bit of excitement into my virtual 5K. A virtual race truly is what you make it, but fingers crossed for more live and less virtual races as the year goes on.

Hopefully the Princess Half Marathon Weekend will be in person in 2022!