Year Eleven of PrincessMen – and another triple challenge

Another PHM race weekend has already flown by again. These weekends are ones that we all look forward to as it’s become our annual reunion trip for quite some time now.
And while some years are busier for some more than others, it’s still a blast to have some time to sit around and catch up with old friends – oh, and run three early morning races.

That, too..

Wednesday

This trip started off with another Wednesday of travel for me. It’s been my go-to method the last couple years to fly in “early” and get a hotel room at the Marriott Bonvoy for one night before kicking off the weekend with everyone on Thursday at the Hilton Vacation Club we usually stay at.
This trip I flew out of Orange County again on a first flight out to try and avoid any delays. Work had been pretty hectic, so I was quite ready to start my vacation (as much as possible with the occasional work email I expected to get).
I arrived that evening, picked up my rental minivan, and got checked into the hotel. What was great is that Biggs was already in town, too, so we had time that evening to just sit around and chat about a whole range of topics while I waited for Kellie’s late night flight to arrive from Boston.

Thursday

Thursday morning started off chilly! We got dressed in shorts for the day, and quickly changed to jeans before going to pick up Biggs, and then heading heading down to Check-In at Wide World of Sports.

Naidymar met us there right after we got in the long, but fast moving, line to check in and get our bibs. After the bibs, and retrieving our shirts, we sat down for lunch to wait until our turn for the Expo. We had logged into the app and got our placeholders that morning, but the digital queue was moving pretty slow. There were Jasmine and Mulan themes this year but I have to admit that neither myself nor Biggs really cared for the designs of the merch. Compare that to the 2023 Jasmine 5k artwork that I really loved and this year was a bit of a disappointment to me. I don’t think I bought much more than a pin and magnet “because they had jasmine and I always buy one”. At least I saved money.

That afternoon included a pit stop to Target to stock up on food and drinks for the weekend ahead. Beau arrived late that night on a flight this time rather than driving in. And then it was just a matter of trying to get a bit of sleep before the first of the early mornings ahead.

Friday – 5k Race Day

3:00 AM, a cold race morning again

The first of the early mornings is always the hardest for me coming from California time. That’s only midnight at home.
The race course was changed since last year as well – the route through Epcot changes nearly every year based around park maintenance and construction.

One thing I did ahead of this trip was order a bulk package of space blankets on Amazon to bring to the race. That morning was 43 degrees outside, which is damn cold – especially in our costumes. But we had our space blankets to use which helped a ton.
We met up with Amanda, Lorren, and Jillian while Beau did morning-of bib pickup again and then made our way to corrals, and start of the race.

The race itself was a very crisp run – especially near the start that passes all the grassy areas and you have extra-cold air coming off the grass and marsh. But we kept a steady pace in the chilly weather to not take much longer out there than we needed to.

It was still dark at the finish, we got the quick group selfie with everyone and our fresh new runDisney blankets. And then we headed out to go change, warm up, and start the day.

That afternoon was followed by going back to the Expo once more – this time with Beau, Aaron, and Tracie so they could all check in and collect their stuff as well

I had bought everyone shirts on Ebay/Amazon with our princesses on them because OF COURSE.
So clearly we all looked great.

Saturday – 10k Race Day

3:00 AM, Earlier Morning. still a bit crisp

Challenge Day 1, for me, Beau, Biggs, Naidymar, Kellie, and Tracie

Not quite as bad out weather-wise this 10k. But still a chilly arrival.

The group of us got split up on this race day, as expected, with Beau and I jogging along ahead of everyone else doing their own pace. Kellie ran with her sister Tracie.

Once the sun came out it turned into a great morning – and later a great day. I enjoyed the amount of Aladdin themed costumes of course since this was the Jasmine 10k, after all.

That afternoon I met up with Joe and Erin for some annual family photos. And then caught up with the rest of the group at Downtown Disney for Ghirardelli and people watching

Sunday – Half Marathon Day

2:30 AM, a packed house and our earliest morning of the weekend

We’re all very squarely adults at this point. Quite a few people have families and kids. But there’s a still a level of fun with a tinge of nostalgia mixed in on a morning like this. Everyone had all crashed together at our resort so we could all get up and get ready together in the morning. And it’s just so much fun to talk and laugh as we’re all getting ready. It’s reminiscent of the huge trips we would do together after college – everyone packed into one place as a group on vacation.

Although back during those trips we were still awake at 230am from the night before… not getting up to start a new day and go running…

It was another cool morning, but between all the space blankets we had from the 5k and 10k days, and remaining ones I brought, we were all set

And after making our way through all the corrals we ended up right at the rope for where they cut the group between waves. As soon as the rope dropped, though, Aaron TOOK OFF RUNNING AND SCREAMING. It was honestly hilarious. And one of the guys in the stands not only caught it on video from that perspective, but found us after the race and got us a copy of it.

The course had a whole new design this year. It was the reverse of what it’s always been in regards to passing through Magic Kingdom. Which I will say was very strange after 10 years of running the opposite direction. We saw several friends throughout the run, too. Like Sydney the Service dog!

It was another toasty end the race with the sun and the heat. And we spent a long time hanging out and chatting with so many familiar faces that we get to see year after year.

After the race we got back, got showered up and changed, and then met up with Joe and Kelly for breakfast at IHOP, as is tradition for us. And then went to Downtown Disney one more time for Dole Whip and wandering. It had gotten pretty hot at that point and everyone was pretty beat – so it was a low key afternoon to wind down the weekend.

That evening was easy dinner at BJ’s since it was local, and then a semi early bedtime once again. Beau and I would be up at 415 in the morning to get him to the airport to fly home for work. And then about 2 hours after that I was heading back to the airport with Tracie for our flights home.

It was another amazing weekend of memories with everyone that went by far too quickly.

I always try and think of ideas for how to make more use of our time together since it’s so limited on these trips. But in reality that’s simply impossible. We went from just doing the Half Marathon to now doing all three events. And it’s there’s no way for everyone to “just take more time of work/away from family” to extend our weekends and stay longer. The downside of adulthood and responsibilities, haha.

But every year is worth the effort and time (however limited that time is) to see everyone. And next year will be just as much fun as well

Alright, so, let’s get to a ton more photos from the weekend!

Wednesday

Up at the crack of dark to leave for the airport

Me and some other guests were actually lined up before the staff even arrived…

Genie? what, no, I’m Jasmine bro

lack of leg room… yup

Connecting through Denver

Little more space this time around

The rain here is not reassuring me for the weekend ahead

Mileage check… let’s see how much driving I do this weekend. (spoiler: it was 300 miles)

First night is always at the Marriott Bonvoy. The upgraded me again this year to the Suite with a kitchenette

Dinner of Champions. I honestly had no idea what I felt like eating, and it was so late that most stuff was closed.

Thursday

Making our way to Wide World

Already packed

Mulan and Jasmine – we’re ready

it’s a bummer that Ryan wasn’t here for the Snow White themed Challenge

The artwork wasn’t terrible – but the design of the medal seemed lazy. It’s not pictured here, but the medal was clearly an unused design that they recycled since it didn’t match all the other medals. Even this logo design would have been a better medal.

Bibbed up and ready to race!

t-shirt collection

Here’s what I mean with the medal – the others are all spinning designs. This was some weird layout with the lamp being the focus. My least favorite Aladdin medal in the last 10 years, by far.

Can’t turn down some stickers and temporary tattoos!

Oh, we will

Time to, uh, pass the time.
Pickin up lunch since it was 75 minutes until we could go to the expo.

We’ve made it!

This year they had done a better job with controlling the resellers it seemed. At least there were no people piling huge amounts of clothing and items on the ground

If you don’t take every ridiculous photo at runDisney possible, did you even go?

Challenge weekend ahead for everyone

Getting the essentials.. water, snacks, energy drinks, protein shakes. lol

A little wig prep time before tomorrow morning!

Friday

First early morning of the weekend! Already been awake 45 min, nearly time to head out

Beau’s bib from last year is still on his dress. hahaha

Every year we joke about doing another bearded princess year again..

Alright, time to do this..

There’s so few people at the 5k compared to the Half. Getting in to park is a breeze.

Burrito Beau, waiting to get his bib

Honestly, we were all pretty damn cold

Ran into Ashleigh in the corrals!

Still waiting, still chilly

And we’re off! And it’s dark as hell

Found a Belle!

First race of the weekend wrapped!

Waiting for the girls to finish, and then it was time to get out of there and get warm

runDisney boxes, unopened. Find my eBay listings… No LowBallers, I know what I have! lol

Tracie has arrived, and now it was time to get back over to the Expo for her and the rest of everyone to get checked in

Kellie gettin her sis checked in

And Beau finishing check-in for his Challenge bib

Waiting with Tracie as she checks in

Shirt pickup

Beau, getting some moisturizer

Ran into Cristi at her booth!

Sister run ahead

Missing a few of the crew, but most of us are back

We’re all very serious…

everyone wanted to pose like Beau, tho

well, no one told me and Biggs

pretty sure we were talking shit about how Aaron was standing

One last shot of us in our princess shirts, lookin sharp… obvs

I can’t remember what Beau was annoying Naidymar about, but he had snacks and time to kill and bug her. As usual. hahaha

Biggs, working on his wigs for the next morning

Saturday

Ugh..

Ready to go!

Parked and ready for a chilly walk

I’m laughing at Beau dropping his blanket and striking a pose

Waiting to go

We lost Biggs and Lorren right out the gate

Sunrise was gorgeous, as always

Another Pocahontas!

Fabulous

nearly done

Last quarter mile

Second Race, wrapped

Yeah, honestly this medal is pretty bad compared to others for the weekend.
It’s weirdly designed.
The focus is on the lamp, with Jasmine’s headband/gem wrapped into the center design along with her “curls” in her hair. It’s a strange graphical design with Jasmine just put on the bottom corner along with Jafar. and it’s single sided, versus the other three medals that weekend which are two sided spinning

Sydnee, the human, came to say hello and share that she was pregnant again! (but don’t tell Kellie yet!)

And then Sydney, the service dog!, came by to say hello also!

Rap single drops next week

Gotta get our annual photo!

Running in that much facepaint is definitely dedication

Beau checkin out his clips and new ‘do with his wig pulled back

hahaha, this look is ridiculous

This carpet costume was great!
Thanks for the photo Susan!

Maria found us to say hi!

Another Jasman! awesome

Jennifer found us as usual too

Kellie got back from the beer line with Tracie

Got a second use out of her Ashoka costume from when we ran the Disneyland Half three weeks before

Cindy came by to say hello and get our annual photo together also

Back at the hotel, and after breakfast, everyone passed out for an hour or so

And that afternoon I got out with Joe and Erin for annual family photos.
It’s so much fun to do these with them each year

Afterward I went to Downtown to catch up with everyone for ice cream

Kellie and Tracie’s mom drove up from South Florida to join us, too

Doctor Beau helping everyone that weekend with massage, acupuncture, etc.

Sunday

Half Marathon morning is always the worst wakeup

Both the girls are pretty much ready in their Charming/Aladdin costumes, meanwhile the guys have barely started…

Beau was shy cuz he was barely dressed. lol

Gotta get that hair ready for the color of the wind

It’s the laughs throughout the entire weekend that make everything worth the trip

And nearly time to head out!

Last race of the weekend. Blanketed up for our walk

These are the lines to get into the metal detectors and pass through security

Fighting cancer and still out here running!

The corrals are packed! But we’re getting there

Front of the line!

Almost ready for our wave’s start

And then Aaron took off running!

Aaron absolutely BOLTED at the start, I couldn’t even get close to a photo of it

right at the start there was a Mulan stop, so of course we had to get a photo

Different route this year took us over to the Grand Floridian first

They had the water show floats lit up for everyone

Admittedly this route was a bit narrow, but people got through it well enough

The potion of the path through the ferry center and docks was probably the slowest since people had to maneuver their way around a lot of things

Ok but check out Aaron’s gnarly scar from his work accident last year. Crazy

Made it to the castle!

Hard left this year into Adventureland

Stopped to get a selfie with Aladdin and Jasmine, AND THEY TOTALLY SAW US AND POSED! So cool of them

Heading around the back toward Fantasyland

Spotted Sydney as we approached the castle!

Please choose a line!

We were waiting on Biggs to catch up to us for the photo, so we helped direct everyone to pass the time

Found him!

now we wait

Twinsies

When did she say that?? …must be the new movie

Found Sydney back on the course

She is pretty great to see out there with her shoes and shades

Aaron ran over by the Ariel stop and yelled “Line starts here for me! Who wants a photo?”

I’m positive if he stood there another 30 seconds people would have came to take a picture with him

Hitting that Mile 9 stretch at sunrise gets warmmm

Still packed, even out here in the wide open streets

Jafar!

Found Sydnee on the course

And a Snow White!

Last quarter mile through Epcot, it issss toastyyyy and bright

Done!

Always a blast seeing people over and over as the years go by

Another Jasmine!

Caught Ashleigh again at the end before she left

Gotta get a photo with just me and Kellie

Sydnee brought her daughter for us to meet

With Jennifer

Maria found us, too

Tracie finished! Great work since she was coming off a bad foot injury/surgery a couple months before

Susan, Elizabeth, Laura, and Kelly… more old homies we’ve seen at past events!

Gotta get some deep squats in to stretch those legs

Photo with mom who came to support her girls

Amanda didn’t run the Half, but still came to support her fam (but mostly us, she just can’t admit that)

The 2025 gang

We did it!

Oh man! We saw Sydney at on the way out to car just in time for one last picture!

Brunch/Lunch later that morning at IHOP. Kelly B and Joe came to join. We all used to lifeguard together (so this is the lifeguard crew photo)

With the leg pop

Then we headed over to Downtown to enjoy the afternoon

And mostly to get Dole Whip

It was honestly pretty hot out after a long and tiring morning. We walked a bit afterward, and then headed back to the resort to relax the rest of the afternoon