Half-marathon caps weekend of events that draws event record 22,000 participants to Walt Disney World
By Bob Hitchcock, Disney Sports
Jennifer Hanley-Pinto
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – (Feb. 27, 2011) – Holding off challengers virtually the entire 13.1 miles Sunday morning, Jennifer Hanley-Pinto, 33, of Jacksonville, Fla. survived long enough to hit the finish line first in 1 hour, 22 minutes, 1 second to win Disney’s Princess Half Marathon at Walt Disney World Resort.At the second edition, Caitlin Latimer of Lexington, Ky. was runner-up in 1:22:26, while Heather Schulz of Orlando was third (1:24:09) despite running a faster time than last year when she finished second.
Yet as fast as the field was, no one could quite match Hanley-Pinto. Latimer and Schulz stayed on her heels down the stretch but couldn’t overtake her as she finished ahead of a field of more than 17,000 runners. In all, more than 22,000 runners participated in endurance events throughout the weekend at Disney, including a health and fitness expo, a 5K and several kid races.
The weekend of events were all designed to celebrate and promote women’s empowerment, health and an active lifestyle. The event is one of the nation’s largest endurance race weekends geared towards women.
Disney’s Princess Half Marathon Weekend was the second of runDisney’s four signature events. The remaining two are the Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend (September 2-4) and the Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon Weekend (September 30-October 1) events.
