Race Recap: Star Wars Rival Run 10K 2019

Yay, it's 10K day during Star Wars race weekend! You can read my previous Dark Side 10K reports here: 2017 Dark Side 10K; 2018 Dark Side 10K. I missed running the inaugural 10K (and challenge) and that's a big regret. I wonder what my bib will look like next year when I run the challenge as a half marathon legacy runner?

For this race I ran as C-3PO. I had a C-3PO Mickey ears hat, InkNBurn tech shirt, gold SparkleLight skirt over a pair of shorts, and one red arm sleeve to represent the droid as seen in The Force Awakens.

The 10K course was quite different this year, with no running in Hollywood Studios or around the Boardwalk area and a lot more running in and around Epcot.

Training & Goals
Still struggling with an achy Achilles, I took almost three full weeks off from running prior to the 5K on the previous day. I fully expected to walk much of the weekend and had fears and doubts about completing the half marathon. The usual Disney race goal for me is to have as much fun as possible, and that was still the main focus.

Race Day: April 6, 2019
I woke up before my alarm again, at 2:55AM. I left home at 3:30AM and had the car parked by 4:25AM.

First World Problem Update: Yesterday I had found my iPhone 6S doing its best brick impression. A visit to the Apple Store confirmed the device was dead. Arthur and I weren't sure what I should do, but we ended up ordering an iPhone 7 for me. It would arrive Saturday afternoon. For the 10K I left the iPod Touch at home and brought along my old iPhone 4 so I could have a front- and rear-facing camera. Spoiler: the front-facing camera on this old device is terrible. Also, we had returned my parent's car and picked up our rental (Jeep Compass) after dropping off our damaged Prius.

Anyway, after parking the car I got on a bus and arrived at the starting area with time to leave my sweatshirt at bag check and get into corral B just in time -- corral A was already closed.

It was about 66°F with 94% humidity by the time I started at 5:43AM.

Mile 1, 2, 3: 22:15, 14:20, 18:46
About a half mile into the race was a new photo op with Rey. She was great, talking to all the costumed runners in character. Towards the end of mile 1 on World Drive there were a bunch of 501st characters out. This was a new spot and it was really dark with a few harsh lights shining on some of the characters. At the end of mile 3 Disney had Stormtroopers out for photos.

Mile 4, 5, 6+: 16:23, 16:37, 15:51, 9:22
There weren't a lot of official Disney characters out on the course. I may have missed some, but I only noticed Ezra and Sabine just outside Epcot and then Darth Maul in World Showcase. Just after mile 6 the 501st was out again in full force between exiting Epcot and heading to the finish line.

Afterwards
I picked up my medal and retrieved my checked sweatshirt and then headed straight home to await the arrival of my new phone and rest up for the half marathon on Sunday.

Chip time: 1:53:28
Placement details: 648/772 in Age Group; 10856/12113 overall
Race Amenities: Nice tech shirt, finisher medal for all, magical 10K course.
Cost: $357.11 (the cost for the Rival Run Challenge which includes the 10K and the Half Marathon; about $42 more than last year)

Report written April 10, 2019