Annual Passholders – Day One Photos of MyMagic+ Upgrade Process

Published March 21, 2013 by Disneyways.com

March 20th 2013, Disney Annual Passholders Began Pickups for the New Touch to Enter Cards.

Since so many Passholders love to visit during Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival, going on now through May 19, Walt Disney World is offering a convenient way to exchange your current paper annual Pass for a new card.

Why should you switch?

The new entrances will eliminate the need for turnstiles. Running that paper card through the machine will be a thing of the past. Just touch your new plastic card to the Mickey head, scan your finger, wait for the green light – and you’re in!

Got a stroller or a wheelchair? You will no longer have to wait for someone to open the gate! The folks that choose to have these cards will have a much faster wait time to enter the parks.

During your next visit, you can bring your paper Pass and valid ID to the Odyssey Center, located between Test Track and the Mexico pavilion, to get your new card. Obviously, cards must be used by the same person who originally used the paper pass. You will see a sign outside the Odyssey Center that looks like this:

At this time, the Odyssey Center is the only location where Passholders can receive the new cards. The Odyssey Center is open during regular park hours, and the best time to visit is Monday through Friday after 12:00 noon. Main Entrance ticket windows are unable to exchange Passes for the new cards.

In the coming months, we’ll provide more information here on other ways you’ll be able to exchange your Pass for a new card, (no worries if you can’t get here before May 12th!) as well as more information on MyMagic+ and when MagicBands will be available to Passholders. Disney has not released info on the timing of these yet.

Our Disneyways Man-on-the-Scene reporter Ramon Rodriguez, was the very first one in line- on the very first day – to get his new RFID card!!

Perhaps the first EVER guest at Walt Disney World to pick up his new (tap to enter) annual pass. Ramon Rodriguez of ThemeParkConcierges.com

Ramon was able to get these terrific photos from Day One – to give us an idea of how the process works. We will have answers to your questions and more photos for you tomorrow! Send your questions to Disneyways@Disneyways.com or leave them in the comments below and we will answer them in the next blog on this subject.

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“SAWT-EM-KAY” and Contest Winner Announcement

Published March 21, 2013 by Disneyways.com

I was sitting at a little table near Gaston’s Tavern in New Fantasyland with my friend. She began talking about something called “SAWT-EM-KAY.”

I listened in amazement as she told me more and more about “SAWT-EM-KAY” and how it is a super cool interactive game that has grown very popular in the last year or so.

I quickly realized that she was using the special insider lingo for (what I know by it’s long drawn out name) – “Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom.” (SOTMK)

Honestly I hadn’t paid much attention before now. I don’t know about you, but wow…I had a LOT of misconceptions about this game. I was really missing out!

We aren’t going to miss out any more.

Beginning very soon, we will be starting a new series on this amazing interactive game that has taken the Magic Kingdom by storm. Come along with Disneyways as we take this magical journey into the world of the Master Sorcerers. Even if you can’t be here to play along in person, you will be able to amaze your friends with what you know!

Get equipped with the knowledge to be a  part of this seemingly “underground” movement – if you choose!

“What is SOTMK ?”

“How do I get started with the game?”

“Is SOTMK really for me ?” and

“What are some cool insider tips for advanced players?”

All of these questions and more will be covered in the series.

You won’t want to miss a single post!

Yesterday we had a facebook sweepstakes of sorts. I want to thank everyone who participated! The winner of the random drawing is Katrina Marie!

Katrina – please send me your address and I will mail you your unopened pack of 5 Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom cards that came direct from Walt Disney World.

Congratulations!

We will be giving away more SOTMK prizes on facebook, twitter, and here on the blog! Who will be our next winner? Why not you?

Leave your burning SOTMK questions in the comments below and if your question is chosen – YOU will win a pack of 5 unopened SOTMK cards!

cards

Are you as excited as we are about the upcoming series?

World Secret – How to get a free sandwich in Downtown Disney

Published March 19, 2013 by Disneyways.com

UPDATE DECEMBER 21ST 2015…THIS YEAR FOR MY BIRTHDAY I WAS SENT A COUPON FOR A FREE BROWNIE – WITH PURCHASE! BOO EARL OF SANDWICH!!! BRING BACK THE FREE SANDWICH PROMOS!!!

 

Who says there is no such thing as a free lunch? ME. I am one of those people who looks for the fine print and thinks there always has to be a catch.

There are some great posts and articles all over the internet about cheap eats at Walt Disney World – but how often do you hear about anything being completely free?

Today I found a World Secret that I thought was pretty special – an offer for a FREE sandwich. The catch – it’s only good during the month of your birthday.

earl-of-sandwich

Earl of Sandwich is located in Downtown Disney Marketplace. The very first store was opened here in Orlando by a direct descendant of the actual guy who invented what we now know as sandwiches – back in 1762. Carrying on the family tradition, The Earl of Sandwich in Downtown Disney is dedicated to bringing you “the world’s greatest hot sandwich.”

You may have heard the sound of rejoicing when Disney food lovers every where got the news that the Earl in Downtown Disney began offering the Holiday Turkey Sandwich year round. Some have said it really is the “world’s greatest” or more specifically as holiday heaven on a bun. To us rookies who haven’t yet tried it, it is basically turkey, stuffing, cranberry, and a little mayo served toasted on a freshly baked roll.

Sounds AWESOME to me, but maybe it doesn’t sound like your favorite?

No problem, Earl of Sandwich in Downtown Disney’s Marketplace offers a variety of hot and cold sandwiches, salads, ice cream, smoothies, lemonade, boxed lunches, and prepared “Grab & Go” items. Breakfast offerings include several cold items as well as hot breakfast sandwiches.

Already a pretty great value, most sandwiches here are right around $6.99. But enough of that – let’s get on with the FREE part!

All you need to do to get your FREE sandwich from Earl is sign up for The eClub. Once you do that, you get a printable voucher a few weeks before your birthday. You have your entire birthday month to print and use it. Just like all of their sandwiches, your birthday sandwich will come wrapped in gold foil – like some sort of wonderful smelling currency.

Here is the fine print, in case you are little skeptical like me, and don’t want to have to squint later:

“We (Earl of Sandwich) respect your privacy and will not rent or sell your information. By providing your email address you are opting-in to receive emails from Earl of Sandwich and all other restaurant concepts under the Earl of Sandwich (USA), LLC brand of companies. You may opt out of this list at any time.”

Click HERE to sign up for your free birthday sandwich!

Oh, and if you can’t come to Downtown Disney during your birthday month – Earl has places all over the country where you can get your free birthday sandwich. Hopefully there is one near you.

My friend Heidi is celebrating her birthday today and she just so happened to post about Earl too! You can read her blog here!
Hers has lots of yummy food descriptions and photos. Mmmmm….I am hungry.

So what are your thoughts? Have you gotten a free sandwich from Earl or was this the first time you heard about this particular World Secret?

 

Limited Time Magic Vinylmation “Easter Egg” Hunt in Epcot – Part 1 of 2

Published March 18, 2013 by Disneyways.com

I was SUPER excited to be a part of Day One of Limited Time Magic for the week of March 18th-23rd!

Disney promised this would be “the most Egg-cellent Limited Time Magic surprise yet.” Today’s post will be the first of two posts we will do about this event,  in order to avoid any spoilers for those of you who may be traveling here this week and would like to be surprised about some things.

To begin, you are invited to visit Port of Entry in Epcot. This is the shop located across from Duffy’s meet and greet area.

This is where you can purchase your special Eggs-perience park map and stickers, available for $4.95, plus tax. If you look closely at the map you will notice all countries in World Showcase have an egg for you to find EXCEPT Mexico. Don’t waste time looking in the Mexico pavilion!

Your $4.95 price also includes this sticker sheet. You do not have to find the eggs to collect your vinylmation prize. You may collect it now if you wish! I opted to pick up my gifts before the hunt since we were in a bit of a hurry and I didn’t know if we would have time to return and collect.

Now you are on your way! You can explore the park for hidden eggs, using your map as a guide. As you locate eggs, you can then mark your map with the stickers.
I have photos of every egg in it’s location but we will save that for part two. Just for a visual, however, this is what you will be searching for:

There is one egg in each pavilion and they are probably about 2 feet tall and 2 feet around, each with a different character.

Once you are done with your hunt you bring your map back to the Port of Entry. If you choose to add your stickers it will look something like this.

Next you will head back to Port of Entry to view your choices in vinylmations!

Under each of these “eggs” is an example of all 4 vinylmations you may choose from, and you can then tell them which of the 4 you would like:

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That’s about it for now. I will post more pictures and another blog about the Egg Hunt – and provide you with more photos and detals!

World Secrets – Best Burgers and More Near Raglan Road

Published March 17, 2013 by Disneyways.com

First – the food part of today’s World Secret. Raglan Road is THE place to go for Irish food and entertainment in the Downtown Disney area. The menu comes complete with Bangers and Mash (that’s a fancy Irish name for sausage and mashed potatoes) – but did you know you will also find some of the absolute BEST burgers on property here? It’s true.

burger

Photo credit: nutfreefam.blogspot.com

You can enjoy all that Raglan Road offers from a comfy table – or if you prefer – belly up to their 130 year old bar. It’s imported all the way from Ireland!

Cooke’s of Dublin is a quick service restaurant located right next to Raglan Road, and it offers a selection of the exact same food that Raglan Road serves – at a much lower price! The secret (inside the secret) of Cooke’s – is the “Doh-Bars” which are donut battered Snickers and Mars bars.

Yeah.

It’s enough to make me want to move to Ireland. But, don’t worry, one can cancel out the calories from your Doh-Bar with a healthy salad, because Cooke’s has those too.

Before you enter Raglan Road, look for a replica bronze statue of the famous Irish poet, Patrick Kavanagh, sitting on his bronze park bench.

Regarded as one of the foremost poets of the 20th century, Patrick Kavanagh’s best known works include the novel Tarry Flynn and of course the poem Raglan Road.

Folks in Dublin often saw Patrick relaxing alone on a park bench by the Grand canal. When he passed away in 1967 after a long struggle with lung cancer, he was commemorated with the original statue in Ireland. To this day, after every St. Patrick’s Day parade you’ll find his friends gathering at that bench.

irelandstatue

Here is the actual statue in Ireland. Photo credit Flickr.com

Raglan Road pub’s replica of this statue is the only one you will find outside of Ireland. This version has a shorter bench, so there is no room to sit next to poor old Patrick, and perhaps he would prefer it that way.  I think it is rather fitting, and symbolic of his original poem. I have added a copy here so you can decide for yourself.

Read carefully and you will see that he explains how, despite his best judgement, he fell for a girl that he knew would break his heart.

On Raglan Road

“On Raglan Road on an autumn day I met her first and knew

That her dark hair would weave a snare that I might one day rue;

I saw the danger, yet I walked along the enchanted way,

And I said, let grief be a fallen leaf at the dawning of the day.

On Grafton Street in November we tripped lightly along the ledge

Of the deep ravine where can be seen the worth of passion’s pledge,

The Queen of Hearts still making tarts and I not making hay –

O I loved too much and by such and such is happiness thrown away.

I gave her gifts of the mind I gave her the secret sign that’s known

To the artists who have known the true gods of sound and stone

And word and tint. I did not stint for I gave her poems to say.

With her own name there and her own dark hair like clouds over fields of May

On a quiet street where old ghosts meet I see her walking now

Away from me so hurriedly my reason must allow

That I had wooed not as I should a creature made of clay –

When the angel woos the clay he’d lose his wings at the dawn of day.”

~Patrick Kavanagh

World Secrets – The Blue Fairy Wish Book

Published March 16, 2013 by Disneyways.com

March 12th 2013 I was walking through Fantasyland in Walt Disney World. You might be familiar with Pinocchio’s Village Haus, it can be found near the “It’s a Small World” attraction. It is a lovely, newly refurbished counter service restaurant. Ever since the updates have been completed – I tend to walk by this place and stare. It is really, really cool. I like everything about it, including the rainy day activities they have there…but that’s a blog post for another day.

This particular evening though, it was already dark out, and as my friend and I walked by we noticed a strange glow coming from the inside. If you are familiar with the portals that you interact with while playing Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom – this is the sort of glow we saw. In fact we thought maybe it WAS a new portal – but we just couldn’t tell from where we were standing.

good

We decided we HAD to make our way inside to investigate. Once inside…this is what we saw:

good3

If you have read the Disneyways post about The Blue Fairy – you are up to speed on my feelings about her. I am definitely a fan, so I was pretty thrilled to find this little hidden gem.

I know it’s a bit hard to tell from the photos, but this is a wish book. It appears to be available to all guests who would like to write down a wish for The Blue Fairy.

I hope to have more photos for you soon if you are interested in seeing them.

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I guess because most families are probably in a hurry to eat their flat bread pizza and move on to the next ride, there wasn’t much written down, as you can see. When my friend and I flipped through the pages however, we doubled over laughing at this particular wish.

not alive

Look carefully and you will see that a child has written “I wish parents were not alive.”

Which in itself is awful, and not really funny.

Once the child wrote it however, you can see he or she changed his or her mind quickly – and did a pretty good job of scribbling it out!! That is what was funny to us, just picturing this probably over-tired, grumpy kid scratching that out so nobody would see it. I don’t think he or she really meant it. Perhaps the child took a look around and realized how such a terrible thought really didn’t belong in the middle of the happiest place on earth? Maybe.

I am just glad the child changed his or her mind about the whole thing! I’m a parent who is obviously alive and well – so I now have a renewed belief that scribbling out your Blue Fairy wish makes it null and void. No litigation is required.

Have you seen this book before? As this post goes to publish – there doesn’t seem to be information on The Blue Fairy wish book anywhere.

I don’t know if it’s new or if I just never noticed it before. Anyway – kind of a cool little secret – don’t you think?

World Secrets – The Lucky Combo!

Published March 15, 2013 by Disneyways.com

What comes to mind when you think of the gorgeous China Pavilion in Epcot’s World Showcase?

Sure, China has lots to offer. The pavilion is decorated with serene ponds, crossed by fantastic bridges, and is dominated by a replica of the Temple of Heaven. Here you will also find Reflections of China, a Circle-Vision 360° movie – and  there is a museum containing several ancient Chinese artifacts. You don’t see that every day.

China’s Nine Dragons is one of the most beautiful restaurants in all of World Showcase, and the Lotus Blossom Cafe has some of the best orange chicken in town. Shopping at Good Fortune Gifts and House of Good Fortune is a wonderful air-conditioned past time in the hot Florida summers.

Agent P World Showcase Adventure? Check. Dragon Legend Acrobats? Yep – China has those too – and what visit to China would be complete without actually meeting Mulan and Mushu? Speaking of Mulan, did you know Epcot’s China Pavilion served as a backdrop for the music video “Reflection,” performed by Christina Aguilera? You may recall that “Reflection” was from Mulan’s 1998 film – and nobody knew who Christina Aguilera was back then.

But what is China’s BEST kept secret?

To me, it is a wonderful little thing called the Lucky Combo – located right here at the Joy of Tea kiosk – only found at Epcot’s China pavilion.

joyoftea

It’s not new – it’s just that the The Lucky Combo has been hiding from me

(in plain sight).

For just $9.98, The Lucky Combo includes a Chinese BBQ Pork Bun, a Curry Chicken Pocket and an Egg Roll with your choice of a canned soft drink and a pretty generous serving of ice cream.

No…for real…this is an actual thing.

I had to take a picture because I couldn’t believe my own eyes. 

DSC04577

The extra ice cream you see pictured here belonged to my dining companion. We got one of each option – Strawberry Red Bean and Caramel Ginger.

Trust me – you need to try them BOTH.

But wait – there’s more!

Tea here comes in all forms – hot, iced, spiked or slushie –  and it is the only location in Epcot that carries real brewed tea instead of pre-made tea beverages. 

Not a fan of hot tea? Here’s another little secret:

The extremely friendly cast members that staff this location will gladly provide you a cup of ice to make your own iced version. They will also offer you a tasting of any (non-spiked) beverage, if you want to try before you buy.

Even though it’s hard for me to look past the Lucky Combo, here are more details on the menu, in case you want to plan ahead:

Sweetened Iced Teas: Peach Oolong and Mango Green (both $4.25 or one snack credit)
Hot Teas: Ginseng Oolong, Jasmine, Dragon Well, Green (all $3.19 or one snack credit)
Soft Drinks: Soda ($1.59 or one snack credit); Bottled Water ($2.50 or one snack credit)
Alcoholic Beverages: Mango Gingerita w/vodka and rum ($7.50); Canto Loopy w/vodka and cantaloupe juice ($7.50); Peach Snap w/Schnapps ($7.50); Green Tea Plum Slush w/plum wine ($7.50); Tsing Tao Beer and Tsing Tao Pure Draft Beer (both $5.75); Plum Wine ($4.99); Tipsy Ducks in Love ($8.50 or non-alcoholic $5.50)
Ice Cream: Strawberry Red Bean or Caramel Ginger (both $3.25 or one snack credit)
Snacks: Chinese BBQ Pork Buns ($4.50); Curry Chicken Pockets ($3.99 or one snack credit); Pork and Vegetable Egg Rolls ($3.99 or one snack credit)

So what are your thoughts? Do you agree that the Lucky Combo might be one of Epcot’s best kept secrets?

Limited Time Magic for March 18th-23rd!!

Published March 14, 2013 by Disneyways.com

Vinylmation Easter Egg Hunt

Starting Monday you are invited on an Easter egg hunt through select Disney Parks. Search for hidden eggs, mark them with stickers provided on the special Eggs-perience Park map and return to one of the redemption locations for a special prize. You can purchase the special map and stickers for a nominal fee at Port of Entry near the Meet and Greet for Duffy by Showcase Plaza, or at International Gateway.

mickey

Sexy, Sparkling and into Crickets ~ A Bio of the Blue Fairy

Published March 14, 2013 by Disneyways.com

Step aside for just a minute Justin Timberlake. The Blue Fairy brought sexy back a long time ago. Sure, maybe she is missing the feistiness of Tinker Bell – and the pleasantly plump physique of Merryweather…

Blue Fairy, Merryweather, and Tink in the Disneyland Parade

Photo credit armadillo444 Flickr.com

but…it’s ok because she makes up for it in motherly demeanor, beauty, and her way of recognizing the good in people. She was the only one who could instill “character” into a wooden-headed boy. Even her spells were beautiful and elegant.

“Little puppet made of pine – wake! The gift of life is thine.” ~ The Blue Fairy

Seriously – who talks like that any more? Now here’s why she’s sexy…

In what was called a “story meeting”  on January 12th 1939, Walt Disney specified that The Blue Fairy was to “give the appearance of loveliness… (but not look like) a glamour girl.” Early model sheets and inspirational sketches reflected Walt’s concept, depicting her as an ethereal beauty with swirling, billowing clothes and loose, (trend-setting) untamed hair. After all – a fairy can’t literally fly in –  and be expected to have to perfectly coiffed hair.

However, at some point in the Blue Fairy’s creation, her design changed, and she became a  less ethereal figure, with more human proportions.

The way we know her today, with her glittery dress, and fabulously 40’s look – suggest the inspiration of Jean Harlow, so ultimately she did resemble the “glamour girl” Walt had initially wanted to avoid. Still, he seemed pleased with this version of The Blue Fairy, whose newly-found sexual allure worked on both Jiminy Cricket and the men working on the film. They reportedly whistled on first seeing a color test of the Blue Fairy.

And just like that – she was quite literally the first to bring sexy back. 

Jean Harlow had a way with the fellas too…Photo credit Chud.com

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She made Jiminy Cricket weak in the knees. Photo credit FanPop.com

A Blue Fairy Biography Refresher:

The Blue Fairy can be found in Disney’s 1940 film Pinocchio. She is a magical being who fulfills Gepetto’s wish, and transforms Pinocchio into a living creature  of sorts, and later into a real boy.  Don’t let her soothing voice and calm demeanor fool you, this fairy is no wallflower. During the movie she helps Pinocchio and Jiminy Cricket with her magical heroics, both directly and from afar. One of only two female characters in the movie (the other being Cleo the beautiful goldfish), her heroics stand out even more – and the blue fairy is obviously one of the most powerful characters in the cast. She is the one who initially grants Pinocchio life, and who ultimately decides whether or not he should become a real boy.

In my search for some cool video of the Blue Fairy in action- I found this little gem. Check this out this sweet serenade from Ray the Cajun firefly (of Princess and the Frog fame), and the exploration of The Blue Fairy as possibly being his sweet Evangeline.

So, where is she now? 

  • The first place might surprise you when it’s revealed! Tomorrow Disneyways will be posting a Blue Fairy themed edition of World Secrets that you won’t want to miss!
  • The Blue Fairy has her own spell card known as “The Blue Fairy’s Wand Wish” in the interactive Disney theme park game – Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom.
  • In the ABC original series, Once Upon a Time, The Blue Fairy plays a supporting role only seen in Story Book Land and is portrayed by Keegan Connor Tracy.
  • In the animated series Disney’s House of Mouse, the Blue Fairy makes occasional appearances.

Where she is not…

This video was shot as a farewell to The Blue Fairy from the cast and crew of the 2008 winter run of Disney’s Electrical Parade. Kind of sad. But stay tuned to Disneyways tomorrow. We will have more on the sexy, sparkling Blue Fairy in our next edition of World Secrets.

 

Running for a Reason

Published March 13, 2013 by Disneyways.com

A note from Krista: I want to introduce you to Rachel, my fantastic new Disney friend. Between having a precious son to care for…training…AND her Disney marathons, I can’t even imagine the miles Rachel has covered! I am super excited that she took time to share this wonderful post with you and I – via Disneyways today. Make sure you read it to the very end, and if you have a tender heart like I do, you may want to get the tissues ready. This is the stuff that bittersweet Disney tears are made of.

Thank you so much Rachel for your wonderful contribution!!

the fam

Running for a Reason ~ Written by Rachel

Running, for me, can be a very emotional thing. I am not sure why. Maybe it is
because I love it so much. Your average PT run or run around the neighborhood,
maybe not. But racing…I love racing. And I get emotional when I race. And I get
VERY emotional when I race at Disney. There is something about how emotionally
charged and amped up the entire race process is…from the family reunion area
and the anticipation of hearing them call your corral, to the walk through the back
lot of Epcot to the start, to the fireworks that kick off the race and passing under
that banner that says START with Mickey and Minnie, or more recently the Fairy
Godmother, waving as you pass. It can all be very overwhelming. I am used to that.
I am used to crying like a baby when they play the pre-race montage, this year’s
used the song Go The Distance from Hercules—very fitting. And I am used to crying
at the finish line. Coming around that last corner out of Epcot and seeing the FINISH
about 100 meters away… it hits you that you really have just run over 26 miles, and
you are about to cross that finish line. I think the most stoic of people would get a
little choked up.

This year at the marathon, however, something was a little different. This year,
everywhere I looked, it seemed like I was getting choked up. Some background is
required: The week before I went down to WDW for the race, my boss had asked
me a question that I couldn’t really answer. He asked me why I do this. Why I put
my body, one already wracked with pretty bad degenerative arthritis, through such
torture. I told him that I really didn’t know why…I just loved it. And I didn’t know
why I loved it, I just did.

His question stuck with me though, and as the miles started to pass I slowly started
to realize that we all had a reason to run. The back of one Team in Training jersey
told me that she was running in memory of her father. The back of another told me
that he was running in honor of his daughter, who was fighting breast cancer. More
shirts showed pictures of my fallen comrades – one even a Soldier I served with
at Fort Leavenworth. His sister was running the WDW Marathon in his memory.
Several shirts said “26 miles for 26 beautiful lives lost”. They were running for
children and teachers from Newtown, CT. It was about 30 minutes after the sun
came up and I had tears streaming down my face from reading all of these reasons
that everyone was running. I turned to Jim and said, “This. This is why I run.
Because we ALL have a reason. We may not even know what it is, but we all have a
reason.”

In September, I have decided to join the many who have a reason way beyond
themselves and a shiny medal to run. In September, I will run for every child who
has ever been diagnosed with cancer. In September, I will run for every family that
has had to hear those words, knowing what it could mean for their precious child.
In September, I will run for hope, for faith, for a cure, and for St. Jude’s. And I will
keep running for a reason for as long as I possibly can – no matter what the reason.

Because there will come a day that I can no longer do this. But that day is not today.

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To find out more information, and to help support Rachel and her noble cause,

Running for a Reason,

please click here.