How I found my two passions: Running and Disney
I have been to both Disneyland and Disney World as both a runner and a spectator for over 30 years, having started vacationing down at WDW when my children were babies! For the past 4 years my family and I have gone down several times a year to participate in Run Disney race events and to simply vacation and relax. We have also cruised many times on the Disney Cruise Line, and other cruise lines as well, and find that DCL caters to adults as well as to families with children extremely well!
If you are unsure of what a race-cation is, it’s a combination of planning your magical Disney vacation around one of the many race weekends at both Walt Disney World and Disneyland!
I first became enamored of running at Disney parks when my daughter Briana convinced me to come to Disneyland over Disneyland’s Half Marathon Weekend in 2012 so she could get her first Coast to Coast Medal! (meaning she had run at least a half marathon at both parks in one calendar year!). Since she had already run her very first race and marathon at WDW’s marathon weekend, I enthusiastically agreed to go with her! Little did I know I would experience my very first Run Disney event there, but I did. I ran my very first ever 5k! Yes I was slow, but I also enjoyed every wonderful minute of the course!
From that very first race I experienced, I became passionate about running! I also knew, as a breast cancer survivor, that running was essential to maintaining my health. So I registered for my very first half marathon! That led me to experience Walt Disney World Wine and Dine Race Weekend and EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival. This has become my favorite race weekend at Walt Disney World.
Since then I registered for the half marathon during WDW’s marathon weekend and along with my family I experienced that weekend as a runner, rather than a spectator! What an amazing event that was!
RunDisney races are very special events; there is entertainment almost continuously along the course, tons of cheering spectators (even at the early hours of the morning when most of the races are taking place) and lots of character appearances where you can stop for pictures if you desire.
Bonnie Polan combines her two loves: running and Disney on her many trips to take part in RunDisney events! She has planned trips with her children since they were babies and now they are parents too! Bonnie is a Vacation Specialist with Coasters & Castles Travel.