Random Ramblings of a Running Princess: Race Recap: Tower of Terror 10-Miler

Finally! Let’s get down to business to defeat the huns… Instead, let’s talk the 2014 Run Disney Twilight Zone Tower of Terror 10-Miler. Without delaying this any further, here is my long overdue race recap! This was such a FUN race and experience for me, so I am very excited to share it with all of you!

We arrived in the sunshine state and immediately hopped aboard the Magic Express to head to our hotel, Disney’s Pop Century Resort. Despite arriving earlier than check-in time, our room was ready. Josh and Cailyn, our Tower of Terror 10-Miler Team Villains counterparts and vacation companions, were already there. Cailyn, who by the way ran the race on a BROKEN TOE, convinced the hotel staff to not only move her and Josh’s room closer to the main lobby but ours as well. Seriously she is both awesome for her persuasive skills and oh yeah, completing a 10-mile race with a BROKEN TOE. Beast mode.

Off to the expo we then went to pick up our race packets. Run Disney usually does a great job designing cute race bibs (although the 2014 Glass Slipper Challenge ones did nothing to impress me), and I must say that I LOVED the 10-miler race bib! Our race tech t-shirts were really cute as well. While grey isn’t always my favorite race t-shirt color, it’s much better than the typical white. Race expos are a runner’s paradise, especially the Run Disney ones, which are always on point with merchandise and display booths. We spent some time shopping around a bit and I purchased some of the official Run Disney gear as well as some new Sweaty Bands headbands. A lot of the Run Disney official merchandise was Maleficent themed, which made me really happy since my race costume was Maleficent! It's as if they knew I'd be dressed like her (and probably hundreds of others lol).

"The Four Seasons" at MNSSHP!!!

After the expo and a quick nap, we dressed as The Four Seasons, as in the actual seasons not the musical group, and headed to the Magic Kingdom for Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party! Gotta love great puns and DIY costumes! We tried to not stay on our feet the entire time since we were racing the next day, but sometimes you just can't stop the Disney magic!

Race day arrived and thanks to the beauty of a night race, for once I wasn’t getting dressed in the dark at 2 a.m. like I've done for every single other Run Disney race I've done. In fact, thanks to the race not starting until 10 p.m., I was even able to SLEEP IN! So weird, yet so nice. However, the negative aspect of a late race was it felt like we were basically waiting around all day to run. For someone like me that likes to "get things out of the way," this was a bit of challenge to deal with! We occupied our time by taking the world’s longest bus ride to Downtown Disney to get some Earl of Sandwich for lunch as well as do a little shopping. We then paid a cab to take us back to the hotel to avoid another longest bus ride ever. At this point we still had quite a long time until we had to even think about getting ready to race so we attempted naps. My race jitters and excitement didn’t amount to much of a nap at all, but I’m sure my legs appreciated the rest. Another oddity of a night race was the question: what to eat for dinner? I decided to take myself back to my track and cross country days and grabbed my pre-race staple of a bagel, peanut butter and some fruit from the Pop Century market area. The meal was enough to give me fuel, but also light enough to not make me sick for the race. Plus I knew I’d have my handy dandy sport beans to fuel me right before and during the race!

Team Villains! Gaston, Queen of Hearts, Maleficent & Darth Vader!

After what felt like an eternity, we finally were in our Team Villains costumes ready to catch our bus to Hollywood Studios, where the Tower of Terror 10-Miler both started and finished! Even so, we still had quite awhile until the actual race started, but the music was playing and like all Run Disney events, the energy was electric. We had ourselves a mini photo shoot, checked our bags and eventually bid farewell to Cailyn and Josh as we finally headed to our various corrals.

Fireworks to start the race!

Again, like with all Run Disney races each corral got their own firework start! Before we knew it our corral was off and running (literally) and we were headed into the Twilight Zone for 10 magical miles! The first mile or so wasn’t exactly pleasant as both the husband and I had to pee! I am talking like major gotta go right now folks. The uncomfortable point of having to pee. I would say TMI, but runners can freely talk about pee and a good race recap always talks on course bathrooms! Fortunately, a large block of porta-potties were located somewhere within the first mile of the race, so all was well after that!

From there things really started to pick up. At some point I realized I had missed a mile marker so I was surprised to see we had less miles left than I previously thought! See, those Disney magical miles just fly right by! The early portion of the course was the typical Disney highway tour, but there were water stops at about every mile as well as on course entertainment and characters. We eventually made our way toward Animal Kingdom, but the course veered off before actually entering the park. We then made our way onto a trail-like path, which I LOVED! As a former cross country runner, this was awesome for me! I had read past recaps that the trail wasn’t lit well, but it seemed like Run Disney listened to the concerns as we had no trouble seeing on this portion of the course whatsoever. It was one of my favorite parts of the race experience! At this point we had yet to stop for any characters and were on quite a roll pace-wise. However, once I saw that the Old Hag from Snow White’s line wasn’t long, we jumped in for a quick photo. You never see her in the parks! This is another perk of what you can expect from Run Disney events! Unique photo opportunities!

Uh oh! I probably shouldn't eat this apple!

We continued on the trail and headed into the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, which was another highlight of the race experience. We ran around the complex and then through the baseball stadium, where the Braves have their spring training. On that note for my fellow Pirates fans out there, Let’s Go Bucs! We also ran around the track, which was another highlight since both the husband and I are former collegiate track runners! It was hard to not really push the pace on the track because anytime my feet hit a track I get really excited! Before heading out of the ESPN Wide World of Sports, we stopped for our SECOND and LAST photo op with the Haunted Mansion Gravediggers. This was my major “must do” photo for this race! This is another unique photo you don't usually have a chance to get in the parks.

A little blurry (phone pics at night aren't the best), but here we are with the Haunted Mansion Gravediggers!

After our quick picture stop with the Haunted Mansion Gravediggers, we were still feeling strong pace-wise. We decided to take in the sites but to keep going! Normally for Run Disney races I do take advantage of many character stops, but I was truly just enjoying the race itself and continuing to push the pace since both the husband and I were feeling good. It wasn’t too long before we entered Hollywood Studios! I couldn't believe we only had a mile or so left at this point! This showed me how fun the race had been so far and showed me how much shorter a 10 mile race can feel compared to the usual 13.1! LOL! Running through Hollywood Studios was a blast! I hadn't done a Run Disney race through this park yet, so it was really exciting, especially since it's one of my Disney favorites! We ran down the Streets of America area and continued through the park before veering off to a "backstage" employee only area.

Big spider along the race course! This photo courtesy of Cailyn!

We continued on pushing the pace and it wasn't until the point where we had less than a half mile left that either of us really started to feel tired. We pressed on though because we knew it was just a little bit further and then we would be finished! We could hear music blasting and we could see the Tower of Terror in the distance as we rounded a corner and sprinted our way through the finish line! At this point I couldn't believe the race was already over since it went by SO FAST! We made it through the Twilight Zone! We got our super cool medals, which are shaped like the Tower of Terror complete with a moving elevator and also glow in the dark! From there it was a bit of a blur as we tried to snap some quick photos, grabbed our post-race snack boxes, and made our way through the longest post-race finish shoot ever (LOL at least for races I've done.) Finally we found our way to the bag check area, which was located on the stage where they do the Indiana Jones show! It was really cool getting to hang out there and made the lengthy post-race walk worth it!

Post-race medal selfie!!!

Although the race was finished, the night was far from over! By finishing the race we got to attend the post-race party and stay in Hollywood Studios until 3 a.m.! Since we finished the race before midnight, the night was still young for us! We changed out of our sweaty race clothes and immediately hit up Star Tours! Another perk of this party? Minimal to no lines! We got word that Cailyn and Josh were finished as well! So what do you do after running 10 miles and it's after midnight and you have yet to eat a "real meal"? You share a burger, fries and post-race cupcake of course! After re-fueling we enjoyed the park and had fun photo ops with the various villainous characters that came out for the post-race party! Sadly, Maleficent wasn't there, but we did manage to get pics with Darth Vader, the Evil Queen and Cruella! We stayed as long as we could and closed down the park at 3 a.m.!

Darth Vader convincing us to join the Dark Side!

Overall, I have to say that the Tower of Terror 10-Miler has been my favorite Run Disney experience to date! While waiting for the night time start wasn't my cup of tea, I did feel more alert and awake during the race, which I attribute to that. I love the Disney villains, so of course I loved the villain theme of this race. Even though I didn't make too many character stops myself, I enjoyed taking it all in and if you love character stops, this race had plenty to choose from! The course didn't feel boring at all, even with the Disney highway stretch at the beginning. I was entertained the entire time. The weather was PERFECT as well. I know Run Disney can't control that, but it really enhanced the experience for all of us! The post-race party was great! With the morning Run Disney races you don't get parties in the park like this since the parks continue their regular hours (which is understandable).

Hello Evil Queen!

I would say I'd be back for the Tower of Terror 10-Miler in 2015, but much to my sadness and the sadness of many others, this particular race is not on the official Run Disney race calendar currently. Many rumors indicate it's due to construction of a new possibly Star Wars themed area of Hollywood Studios. Since the WDW Marathon still runs through Hollywood Studios as far as I know, this doesn't make too much sense to me. It really bums me out this race is off the schedule since I enjoyed it SO MUCH! I know a lot of other Run Disney runners want it back, so hopefully it comes back someday! Make it happen Run Disney!