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Star Wars Weekend 2015 – Intro and Expo

Hello all!

Wow what a runDisney filled week and a half it’s been! I’ve had so much fun completing all 71 runDisney miles (Dopey Challenge + Star Wars 5k + Rebel Challenge) and this week my body has been soaking up the full nights of sleep. So now it’s time to share it all with you, I’ve queued up some Disneyland background loops on YouTube so let’s go!

Intro

This trip felt much different than my WDW trip:

  1. It was shorter (4 versus 7 days)
  2. Went with friends and Wookie (the boyfriend) instead of family
  3. I was already tired from all the fun in WDW
  4. Running (logistically) feels 100x’s easier than at WDW

Going into the trip legs were pretty sore still from my solid effort at the WDW Marathon so I knew I was going to have to take it on a day by day basis. I also knew that the 5k and 10k would be at a very comfortable pace since I was helping my friend (5k and 10k) and Wookie (10k) run their first official races. I was confident they both were fit enough to finish, but knew we wouldn’t be running at a fast clip.

I had returned from WDW Tuesday and we had a early Thursday flight to LAX, so I had a day and a half of relaxing, unpacking, and repacking. I had even done my laundry Monday night before leaving WDW to make the turn around a little easier. In hindsight… BEST DECISION EVER!

With bags packed, we drove to the Denver airport to catch our flight! We flew into LAX, grabbed our bag, and then hopped onto the SuperShuttle I arranged. SuperShuttle worked out great for us!

We were staying at the Holiday Inn and Suites on Walnut (this hotel is fast becoming my favorite race weekend hotel). It’s nothing fancy but the room is nice and the room rates are just right. It is also pretty close to the Disneyland Hotel where most of the race weekend events are happening.

Our friends arrived and then we decided to head to Downtown Disney for a late lunch before heading to the expo. A hungry Katherine doesn’t deal with crowds very well. Once we devoured our delicious Earl of Sandwich sandwiches (holiday sandwich of course!) it was time to feel the force!

Expo

We arrived around 3pm on Thursday and it was very easy to get around. I printed my waivers, got my bibs and got my Rebel picture taken in about 15 minutes. We then headed upstairs to the expo and got our shirts and goodie bage (aka a GIANT bag check bag with a tiny little Clif bar in it).

The expo had all the usual favorites and was easy to navigate. We went over to the Official Merchandise area and we had our pick of pretty much everything. I was being pretty money conscious this trip so didn’t end up getting much but honestly, not that much caught my eye. I grabbed a hat and 2 pins and called it a day. I really liked the race shirt designs so didn’t feel the need for the other shirts.

We browsed some of the other shops and I finally bought a “Stick” which had been on my list for awhile. The soreness I was feeling from the Dopey Challenge wasn’t shaking off easily so I thought this might help. In the back of my mind I was hoping to put in a solid effort for the half marathon but my thighs were really, really sore so I wasn’t sure if it would be safe.

We looked at a few more things and I picked up my tank from RawThreads and we were on our way in about an hour and a half. They also had some fun picture areas set up so took a minute and got some pics.

We then went to Downtown Disney to browse around before calling it a night. Our 4 am wake up call for the 5k was going to come very, very early!

Let’s get racing!

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