Let the excitement over the 2016 Disneyland Half Marathon begin! You know that we’re close to race weekend when the event guide and corrals go live! On Thursday, runDisney put up the corrals and event guide. So, let’s take a look.

For the first time, there will be no hard copy of the event guide for a runDisney event. So, everything is digital. To view the entire guide, click here. I really like the format of this event guide. I think that, because they aren’t having to print it out for race participants, they got much better graphics. I love it! Let’s look at some of the interesting point of the guide.

Since this is a digital guide, the table of contents is interactive. This is not the previous digital publications that were merely a PDF file of the printed guide. This guide allows you to bounce back and forth pretty easily.

First up, let’s look at the Health & Fitness Expo Hours. If you “scroll down,” you see this info…

There is a map of the downstairs portion of the expo. The expo’s for the runDisney events at the Disneyland Resort are held at the Disneyland Hotel.

There will be plenty of signs pointing you in the right direction. If you’re driving to the Expo, I suggest parking in the Mickey and Friends parking structure and walking over to the hotel.

The folks at runDisney want you to start off by heading down the blue carpet to the lower level first. As you can see in the map, this is where you will pick up your race bib and any other pre-purchased items (Dooney bags, Jackets, Pins, Travel Agent Packages, etc.). Also, if you are running the Dumbo Double Dare, you will be instructed to go to a booth where they will take your picture with your bib. This is used to verify you completed both races. When you finish the Disneyland Half Marathon, you’ll go to an area in the finishers chute to get the medal. There will be a runDisney volunteer checking your bib against that picture.

If you want to have the best pick of official runDisney merchandise, you should try to arrive in the morning of the first day of the expo. If you arrive before the expo opens, you’ll be directed to this upstairs room. This pic was taken probably about a half hour before the expo opened. Yes. There are that many people who arrive early. If you can’t be there early, don’t worry. It’s been my experience that, as long as you arrive by noon on the first day, you should have a very good selection of merch.

Next up, let’s look at the race information. After all, that’s why you’re coming out to Disneyland. Right? Here is the info about when the races start. With the exception of the Kid Races, they all start at 5:30am.

As I now have a child who will be in the kid races for the 2017 Star Wars Half Marathon Weekend in January, I was very interested in this section of the guide. Here is the map you will need if you have one of your kiddos racing at the Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend races.

Above is the course route for the 2016 Disneyland 5K. I’ll be running in this race for the first time this year. So, I’m pretty excited to see the route we’ll follow. To see a larger version of this map, click here for the PDF file.

Here’s how the corrals will line up for the Disneyland 5K. As you see, there will be 4 corrals. If you’re racing in this event, you won’t find out which corral you’ll be in until you pick up your bib at the Expo. Please note…if you are running in the Disneyland 5K, you will NEED to be at the Expo on Day 1. There is no race day packet pick up.

Here’s the 2016 Disneyland 10K route. If you’ve run in any of the previous 3 Disneyland 10K’s, you’ll probably notice a few changes. The construction of Star Wars Land has taken away some of the backstage areas for runDisney to use. The first 2 miles will be exactly the same as in years past. Things change in the theme parks. For a larger version of the map, click here.

Here’s how we’ll line up for the Disneyland 10K. Please note…if you’re running the Dumbo Double Dare, you might have two different letters on your bib. The first letter corresponds to your corral for the 10K. The second one will be your corral for the half marathon. I’m sure that for most, they will be in the same corral for both.

The last map to point out is for the 2016 Disneyland Half Marathon. Just like the Disneyland 10K, this route has been slightly altered due to the construction of Star Wars Land. It looks like this race will have a lot more time in DCA than at Disneyland. Once you get out of Disneyland (the second time), you’ll head up the overpass on Ball road and the rest of the route will be the same as in years past. For a larger version of this map, click here.

This is how the corrals will line up for the Disneyland Half Marathon. You will notice that there are more corrals for the Disneyland Half Marathon than the Disneyland 10K. So, pay attention to your bib if you’re running the Dumbo Double Dare to know where to line up in each race.

Here are how the Dumbo Double Dare Corrals are broken down.

And here are the corral assignments for those only running the Disneyland Half Marathon (non Dumbo Double Dare). How do you know where you are placed? Click here to download your waiver. When you download your waiver, you’ll see your bib number right by your name at the bottom of the second page. Take that bib number and find where you are on the corral assignment charts. Viola! If you’re running the Disneyland Half Marathon or Dumbo Double Dare, you’ll be able to see your corral placement right away. Unfortunately, they do not give this info out to the 10K and 5K races.

Here’s another bit of useful information for race participants. In years past, runDisney used Marathonfoto for their official race photographers. Starting with the Star Wars Dark Side Half Marathon Weekend at Walt Disney World, there has been a switch to using Disney PhotoPass Photographers. This information will be really helpful for you to retrieve your race photos. They will be available approximately 24 hours after your race! I’ve heard good things from folks who have run the Star Wars Dark Side Half Marathon Weekend and the Tinker Bell Half Marathon Weekend about this change in race photography. I can’t wait to see how the PhotoPass peeeps do with race photos.

I love that runDisney highlights Race Etiquette. So, I make sure to highlight it as well.

So, keep all 12 of these things in mind as you race your races. Even if you’re not coming out to run at Disneyland in a few weeks, these are good things to keep in mind as you race wherever you are racing.

Of course, Jeff Galloway gives some of his tips per usual. I always love reading his tips!

Here’s something I loved…Runners World has some tips for us. There are 4 of them on this page….

and hydration tips here. Additionally, I didn’t include an image of this, but Runners World also addresses some common mistakes runners make in preparing for a half marathon. It’s well worth reading.

I echo these sentiments. To all of us who are coming out to Disneyland in less than THREE weeks, good luck with all your final preparations!