We got up at 4:50, got ready and headed to have a quick breakfast and then over to the race start. We used the Porto after the misadventures the day before and then huddled in a Mylar blanket to stay warm as it was surprisingly chilly. We started in B and they announced there would be 34 waves for 4 corrals so I was curious how this would work. The race announcers were the same as the day before and kept us entertained while we waited. The race ended up starting about 10 minutes late because of race course clearance. With the smoke start again, I'm not sure when the race actually started but we crossed the start line at 7:20.
We started the same as yesterday but headed to Walt Disney studios immediately and went backstage. We got to run through the Motors Action and Studio Tour which was cool as I had not seen those yet. As we headed into the park we saw Captain America but his line was closed already as he was about to leave. Spider-Man was right next to him and had no line but only a selfie allowed. It was really annoying to have character handlers there but not take it pictures. So everyone was taking pics for each other so it actually slowed the whole photo process down. And not every character had a photopass person either (luckily Spiderman did!).
I had talked to a few people that were worried that the race would be boring outside the park but it was far from it. The countryside as you can imagine was beautiful! We went out and back from Val d'europe which is the neighboring town and made a lovely loop around a lake. We passed castles with signs (I remember one involved Louis Braille doing something there). We went by open fields, forests, corn fields and more and it was amazing. They even had bands and acts out for entertainment including cheerleaders by the lake. There were a good number of spectators in the town and lots of French people screaming ALLEZ (which means let's go!)
Elapsed time: 3:20:34 (another almost one hour of stopping-crazy!)
We got our medals and I got my Castle to Chateau and cried (of course I did! It's the medal I've been dreaming of since Feb 2015!). They had more photo backdrops so it went quickly. They had the same drinks as the day before and same snacks but also a banana and I think chips. We then headed back to the hotel and got ready for the day.
This race was beyond my expectations. The photo stops were great but I do think they need to do a better job with the lines from when characters are leaving. Also they need people there to take phone pics as it does speed up the line. The countryside portion was beautiful and just what I would expect from a French race. The real food was awesome but took more time to eat than a gel would.
I will be doing this race again as it was incredible. I loved every second of it and can't see what they could do to improve it (I would vote for a 6 or 630 start time and a character map to figure out who is worth stopping for).
Did anyone else run this race? Does anyone else have any interest in running this race?