The Fairest Run Of All - Disney & running blog

Why I Didn’t(!) Renew My WDW Annual Pass

October 7, 2022October 7, 2022Leave a comment

I KNOW! I too am SO SAD. My below WDW Annual Pass, gone. Now I must buy a normal ticket and enter Walt Disney World in the Not an Annual Passholder line with the rest of the plebes. Don’t get me wrong – I am by NO means abandoning my Disney obsession. But after my whirlwind Every Single runDisney Race In A Year of 2021/2, I just… gotta back off for a minute. Not because I want to, mind you. Circumstances somewhat require. What circumstances, you ask? Well… MONEY. This is the biggest one, and I’m sure you can...

A Tribute To Our Ursula, Pat Carroll

October 4, 2022October 4, 2022Leave a comment

By now, the death of Pat Carroll is old news; she kicked the bucket at the end of July and I have missed the zeitgeist. Another Disney legend bites the dust. Still, my far away and impersonal real life encounter with her popped into my head again the other day, and I thought, why not tell it? Much like Glynis Johns, hers is a performance worth celebrating. PAT CARROLL, STAGE MANAGER… In 2002, Pat Carroll headlined as the Stage Manager in Round House Theatre’s production of Thornton Wilder’s Our Town. If this Washington Post article is to be believed,...

Anyone Can Be A Marathoner (Like Ratatouille, Only Running)

September 30, 2022September 30, 20222 Comments

People generally seem impressed when I mention (not that often, I swear) that I’ve run/am running a marathon. For some reason, my kneejerk reaction is to try to downplay it and hype it up all at once. “Oh, it’s really not that hard,” I say. “Anyone can do it,” I say. “It’s a mental game,” I say. “You could run one if you wanted!” As a rule the person insists that they could not – understandably. But I really believe it: anyone can run a marathon. And I don’t even mean it in the pure Ratatouille sense, either; I...

I Rode Superstar Limo—AMA

September 23, 2022September 27, 20222 Comments

In the annals of Disney park dark rides, perhaps the most reviled, the most confusing, the most short lived was Superstar Limo. An opening day attraction at Disney’s California Adventure in Disneyland Resort, the ride didn’t even last a full year. And I am one of the few who rode it. Let’s talk! First, to set the scene: it’s the summer of 2001. My mom is speaking at a conference in San Diego. My dad and brother and I all tag along ’cause hey, California, right? We go to the zoo, and Sea World, and then one day we...

Wait, There’s An Extended Harmonious Soundtrack?!

August 31, 2022August 31, 20222 Comments

Last week, you may have noticed me waxing lyrical about the Harmonious soundtrack in my Tessitura 5K recap. You know Harmonious, yes? Epcot fireworks. Yeah. Doubtless you thought nothing of my using fireworks music to run; that’s practically de rigueur in the runDisney community. But what if I told you… there’s an extended version of the soundtrack? It was YouTube that drove me to find this treasure. Normally I listen to a lot of my Disney attraction soundtracks, background music, etc. off YouTube. But my God, guys, the advertisements on that platform have gotten SO AGGRESSIVE. I don’t mind...

Race Recap! A 5K In The Mile High City

August 26, 2022August 26, 2022Leave a comment

Nobody was more surprised than me that I attended the 2022 Tessitura Network Convention – I went from contracted employee to full time and on a plane to the Mile High City in the blink of an eye. Was I excited to go to Denver for the first time? Yes! But was I more excited for the conference 5K? Duh. THE TESSITURA CONVENTION 5K EXPERIENCE I’ve run the Tessitura 5K before, and can tell you from experience it’s very informal. There are no bib chips, the winner is determined by gun time only, and sometimes the course doesn’t even...

Thoughts While Watching: Unwrapped’s Disney Delights

August 19, 2022August 19, 2022Leave a comment

Hello and welcome back to my Thoughts While Watching series, where I react in real time to Disney media old and new but mostly old! This next one is oldish – and I hope you’re hungry. It’s time to dive into another “Unwrapped” episode and Disney snacks! I gave the first Disney “Unwrapped” episode, simply titled “Walt Disney World,” the TWW treatment just under a year ago. I think it’s from like 2005, which is just outdated enough to be a good time. The subsequent “Disney Delights” episode came out 5 years later, which makes it… also pretty outdated....

Ocean City’s Haunted House Is Scary Now

August 11, 2022August 11, 2022Leave a comment

I LOVE DARK RIDES. I love them! Roller coasters and other thrill rides are great too, obviously, but as far as I’m concerned dark rides are where it’s at. I don’t know; I just love traveling through a story, I guess. Even a scary story. Enter Ocean City, MD’s Haunted House. The Trimper’s rides at the end of the OC boardwalk are about what you’d expect: a carousel, some small roller coasters, various flat rides. Better than a carnival, since they’re permanent installations, but hardly theme park level. With one important exception: the Haunted House. THE HAUNTED HOUSE IN...

Runner's World is surprised by classical music

Try My Classical Music Running Playlist

August 5, 2022August 5, 2022Leave a comment

The last Runner’s World issue was dedicated to music. Among the many articles on its (tremendous!) importance was a small feature detailing what music the magazine’s subscribers tend to jam to most often on their runs. The editors expressed their surprise by how often Beethoven was cited as a driving force. Me? Not even! People talk about growing up in a Beatles or a Stones family. I grew up in a Classical Music Only family. If my mom was in the car, we listened to classical music. With my dad we occasionally listened to some classic rock, but he...