It ain’t always the happiest place on Earth. Upon arriving at the parking garage, I once again paid $18 for a couple of hours in Anaheim. Last year, runDisney comp’d the parking for the half marathon but I guess finances must be tight.
Things went further downhill as security lectured me about my Captain Chaos mask, telling me I could wear it for photos but not while running as it was a “security risk.” In addition to concerns over I guess looking like a bandit the guard also said it limited my peripheral vision and was also a “safety issue.” It was the closest I’d come to playing the “do you know who I am card?” I’m glad I didn’t because I have played that card over the years and ALWAYS regret it and am embarrassed that I did. But I wanted to say to the guy I’d run a marathon in this getup last month AND I’ve run quite a few marathons, have run this Avengers race every year they’ve had it and I’m pretty sure I can run it almost blindfolded so a mask should be fine. But I didn’t. I just pulled the mask off and kept walking. He told me I was fine running with the mustache.
The banter this morning downplayed narrative and instead highlighted, um, banter? Intros of the Avengers we’d see in the course included video package clips… made up exclusively of animated cartoon shots with music only as the techs were scrambling, clearly having trouble playing the dialogue tracks. I guess Disney couldn’t afford to pay residuals to the movie actors.
Again, I knew I was in a foul mood, but as the race announcers read out the sponsors “without whom we couldn’t do this event…” I thought of the money I’d paid to run this thing. If the sponsors really were great, and if runDisney weren’t pocketing huge profits, maybe I wouldn’t have to have paid hundreds of dollars plus $18 a day in parking to run these little races.
As for the race itself, it was a few miles on Disney property wherein I snagged a quick pic with all I could and then a fair bit of mileage on the streets of Anaheim. They cut the dirt bike path along the gulleys which given previous windy conditions I understood.
Here then are a few shots from along the way.
Avengers Assemble!
Spider-Man liked my costume…
Thor laughed when I showed up; if you can make a Norse god laugh, you must be doing something right. I assume Cannonball Run is HUGE in Asgard.
This is blurry with Captain America… that’s ok. I always wanted to be (Spoiler Alert for Cannonball Run) Captain USA anyway!
Natasha Romanov was MUCH friendlier today.
And Hawkeye was a bit more standoffish.
As for Doctor Strange… yeah, still missing the Benediction in my humble opinion.
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Parks and Recreation: Some pics from Disneyland and California Adventure:
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On the Streets of Anaheim – Angels Stadium and Cosplayers Assemble
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At the end of the course, a few pics from the finish line…
…And a brief catch-up with Shellie Camero there to cheer on several of her friends! Thanks for the support, Shellie! YOU’RE the superhero!
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Walking back to the parking structure to hop in my car and drive to Vegas, I was yelled at by a cadre of security for crossing when there was a Don’t Walk signal flashing… except it was a closed road and they then proceeded to cross while NO CARS were anywhere near the cross walk… or the road for that matter.
Thanks for visiting the happiest place on Earth… now get the hell out of here.
Who would have thought Las Vegas has the chance of being the friendliest place I got today?
Why do I say this? I treated myself to an In-N-Out combo to “carbo load” for my marathon down the strip at 4:30 pm.
