The fifth anniversary of “The Happiest Race on Earth” at the Disneyland Resort had a record number of participants, more than 14,000 runners from every U.S. state and 16 countries made the 13.1 mile journey. A magical competition through the two Disneyland Resort theme parks, along Anaheim streets, running on the field of Angel Stadium, and being cheered on by beloved Disney characters created an exciting race event for both runners and bystanders. Participants who completed the half marathon received a special edition medal featuring Sleeping Beauty Castle with a unique design for the 5th anniversary.
Paul Ngeny, 31, of Auburn, Calif., was the winner of the race! He crossed the finish line with a time of 1:07:24, beating the fastest Disneyland Half Marathon time by 41 seconds. Runners up were Eric Marenburg, 27, of San Diego, Calif., with a time of 1:12:10 & Kevin Broady, 48, of Brea, Calif., finished third with a time of 1:12:43.
“The course was very nice and comfortable,” Ngeny said. “I liked running through the parks and all the music. I could keep on going for a hundred miles.” (Disneyland Resort News)
Coming in first amongst women participants was Rachel Booth, 29, of Mountain View, California with a time of 1:15:19, beating the fastest women’s finisher time in the history of the Disneyland Half Marathon by 00:04:04. Runners up were Theresa Lowry, 36, of San Diego, Calif., with a time of 1:19:05 & Susan Loken, 47, of Phoenix, AZ, with a time of 1:19:13.
Booth was 18 seconds short off of an Olympic trial qualifier time!
“It was great. Magical,” Booth said. “It’s in Disneyland and it’s just a happy day. Always enjoyable. Everyone was so loud and cheering.” (Disneyland Resort News)
