What are the chances that you and a co-worker, without prior knowledge, would participate on the same day in the same out-of-state, non-work related event?

To most, the likelihood of that happening seems rather unusual especially for the faculty and staff at IUPUC. However, the day before an out-of-state event, Brandi Rund from the Office of Information Technology and Carla Laymon from the Office of the Vice Chancellor and Dean learned of their duo participation.

“Carla and I were unaware that the other was running in the Disney Princess Half Marathon (13.1 miles) through the Magic Kingdom and Epcot until the day before when Barbara Brown figured out we would both be participating in the same half marathon,” explains Brandi. “At five in the morning on race day, I sent Carla a text to let her know which corral I would be. We found one another for a quick photo, a hug, and to tell each other good luck.”  

Brandi ran with her friend, Crystal, to complete two races: Disney Princess Half Marathon (13.1 miles) and the Disney Princess Enchanted 10K (6.2 miles), which qualified them to receive the Disney Glass Slipper Challenge medal for the combined events.

Carla ran with her daughter, Darcey, in the 2017 Princess half marathon. “My daughter is a Disney employee and has a goal to run in several races Disney has each year. In 2004, I ran the Walt Disney World half marathon, so this was my second run at Disney, and my tenth half marathon, and Darcey’s first half marathon,” shared Carla.

The Disney Princess Half Marathon and the Disney Enchanted 10k were held on February 25-26 at Walt Disney World in Orlando and raised money for the Children’s Miracle Network. More than 29,000 participants completed the races.

“Characters from Disney waved on the marathon participants throughout the 13.1-mile course. Around mile four mark, we could see the Magic Kingdom sign. It was exciting to run down Main Street, USA at the Magic Kingdom and run through Cinderella's Castle. It was very interesting to run behind the scenes and see the backstage area of the parks. The views throughout the course were amazing and surreal that we were actually at Disney World. Mile 11 was the hardest because it was on an incline going up a ramp as we approached the Epcot parking lot. At the top of the ramp, the view of runners behind us stretched as far as the eye could see. The course led us into Epcot and circled us to the start of the World Showcase where we were routed back toward the iconic Spaceship Earth,” shared Brandi.