The Avengers Super Heroes Half Marathon route leaves Disneyland at a different point than the Disneyland Half Marathon.

From the map runDisney had provided, the Avengers Super Heroes Half Marathon course will leave the theme parks here.

You head up to Harbor Blvd. and make a quick Right turn.

From there, you head up Harbor Blvd. going the opposite way that the Disneyland Half Marathon travels.

Those that have run the Disneyland 10K race will recognize the grounds for a bit past Katella as you will be running the opposite direction as the 10K course takes from the Anaheim Convention Center.

The route continues down Harbor Blvd. all the way to Chapman Avenue.

 

As you can see, the grounds on this part of the route are much nicer than the industrial area the Disneyland Half Marathon uses.

This is the tourist part of Anaheim. So, you’ll notice how nice things look. There are even some fun tourist attractions. This is an interactive dinner and dance show.

When you see Big 5 Sporting Goods, you’re getting real close to Chapman Avenue. Harbor Blvd., is flat. So, if you’re looking to make up some time from what you lost in the theme parks, this would be a good place to do so.

The traffic light you see in the distance is Chapman Avenue. The route turns to the Left here. So, be prepared and start moving to the left side of the route to minimize distance.

Chapman Avenue is pretty residential. You can tell from the surroundings that you’re leaving the touristy area of the route. It’s still nicer than what you experience at the Disneyland Half Marathon route.

You’ll pass by this park to your right. We don’t have outdoor hockey rinks. However, we do have roller blade hockey in Southern California. That’s what you’d see played here. Even thought the grass doesn’t look very green, it did look like a rather nice park.

You only go a few stop lights up Chapman Avenue. So, look to your right and you’ll see the Crystal Cathedral. You actually see the tower much sooner than this picture was taken. Unfortunately for me, all of those views were on run intervals. So, there are no pictures. This picture was taken right before this….

Here is where the course goes into the Crystal Cathedral parking lot. There is one other possible entry point before this. However, from the map, this looked like the most likely spot. By the time you turn into the parking lot, you’ve crossed the mile 5 marker!

The grounds of the Crystal Cathedral are beautiful. It looks like we follow the parking lot to the front of the main cathedral.

There are a few statues along the way. It’s kind of like Six Flags Over Jesus. No matter what your religious beliefs are, anything on the side of the road to provide distractions are kind of fun to look at.

I did have to stop for a quick picture in front of the main building.

The route continues up the parking lot.

The grounds are seriously beautiful.

We exit the Crystal Cathedral parking lot and make our way onto Lewis Street.

Before I left the parking lot…one last picture.

Once we exit the Crystal Cathedral, you’re going to see the outside parking for The Block at Orange…a really large shopping center.

The streets have lots of greenery on the sides so it’s much more fun to look at while running.

Off to the left is The Block at Orange. This isn’t the best picture, but you will see some of the shops to your left as you run by.

Not too far later, you’ll see that overpass in the distance.

You should know that the ground begins to elevate before you get to the actual overpass. You will feel this as you run along…or at least I did. It’s an interesting thing to remember. Why? Because you see an incline ahead of you and are thinking about that. The incline that happens first might catch you off guard. I write this to prepare you in advance. When you see the Block at Orange shops, you should start preparing for the incline.

The top of the overpass goes over the 22 freeway. The overpass is not as long as the one that the Disneyland Half Marathon takes on Ball Road. So, don’t let this overpass freak you out. It doesn’t go very far or that high. With my run/walk interval being 30 seconds/1 minute, it took me around 2 minutes to hit the top. So, 2 run intervals and 1 walk break.

Once you get to going down, you’ll be getting close to the 6 mile marker…almost half way done! By the way…see that church building on the right? That’s where the course will turn again.

Here’s a better picture of that church. I believe that somewhere before you get to the church will be the 10K point.

From that church, you’ll turn Left onto Garden Grove Blvd. Again, while I’m sure there are much more scenic half marathon routes, this one is far and away superior to the Disneyland Half Marathon.

The first light you come to is the City Drive. Just past this intersection, we hit the Santa Ana River Trail.

I took this picture to set up the trail. Why? Because I think we got gipped with the portion of this trail we ran at the Disneyland Half Marathon. The part of the trail we run for the Avengers is so much nicer. This is the view across the street from where we turn onto the trail.

Here we go…

First off, notice the paved part…

Off to the side of the paved part is a dirt trail. I think that in ordinary circumstances, the paved part is for the cyclists and the dirt part is for the runners or walkers.

Notice the greenery to the side? We didn’t see this in the part of the trail we run at the Disneyland Half Marathon. I think this is a golf course.

The netting is up to protect us from oncoming golf balls.

Can you see the blue flag on the pole? Yep, a hole on the golf course.

Here we pass under the 22 freeway (the same freeway we climbed over not too long ago). One thing I like about this part is that you don’t go down or up to get under the freeway. It’s pretty straight.

Okay, the greenery goes away for a part. By this part of the course, you’ve crossed the 7 mile marker. Only a 10K left!

One thing to think about as you run this part of the race is whether you want to run on the paved road or the dirt to the side. My guess is that, during the race, the slower runners and walkers will likely be on the paved part. So, you might need to get out to the dirt to pass. I’d be very surprised to find any entertainment and or spectators along this part. So, the dirt may be fully accessible during the race.

The Big A in the distance!

This is what I was expecting on the river trail…go down to get under the road and up again on the other side. Neither the downhill nor the uphill last very long.

On the other side, we get some more greenery! Yay! One thing that isn’t ideal is how narrow the path is. I’m not sure if you can run on the dirt path you see.

I thought this building was pretty cool. It’s off to the left side and really close to Angel Stadium. Shortly before this building is a place to the side of the trail with a water fountain. You can see this building for quite a distance. So, once you see it, if you need water, know there is a water fountain close by.

Time to down and up again. This time, we’re coming up on the side of the Angel Stadium parking lot!

If you’ve run the Disneyland Half Marathon, you’ve come to this spot before. Only, you came from the other direction. We’ll end this post here as we finish the 8th mile and get ready for what should be awesome….running through Angel Stadium!