Why They Run 2024: Disney Princess Half Marathon is full of stories of prayer, power, and passion

Tess Roberts (left) and Kay Hughston, friends from Fernandina Beach, Florida. Photo by Donnell Suggs/The Atlanta Voice ORLANDO, FL.- There were only two of them here now, but the other two were on their way. A quartet of first-time Disney Princess Half Marathon runners from four separate cities across the country were meeting for the first time at the starting line Sunday morning.& Their friendship started online with a Peloton group and now they were going to motivate each other in person and on the ground.& “We decided to use this race to meet for the first time,” said Kyra Norris, who made the trip to Orlando from Las Vegas. “Peleton brought us together, but Disney made us a family.”& Standing next to Norris was Tieshia Jones, who made her way to the meeting spot from her home in Arizona. “This is a two-fold celebration,” Jones, a breast cancer survivor, added. “We’re excited to get together.”& The third member of the group, Gary Cox, who also runs with a men’s group, Black Men Run, in his native Baltimore, showed up minutes later. “We travel as a pack,” he said.& One of the pre-race announcers shouted into his megaphone, “The hard...