My First Hot Chocolate Race

I've heard many great things about the Hot Chocolate Race Series. When I found out it was coming to Philadelphia and  that I had off work, I was exciting to sign up. The series consists of two distances the 15k and the 5k. I decided to do the 5k. Other than the Disney 5k that I do every year  ( where I stop to take pictures along the way), I couldn't tell you the last time I actually raced a 5k. Because of the shorter distance it was also $25 less and you got the same swag.

 

Picking up my packet was pretty easy. Driving there and parking, not so much,  but in downtown Philly that's what's to be expected. The Expo itself was fairly small which I figured it would be. However I was not expecting to see many popular and bigger vendors that
are at most Expos. I was good and did not buy anything. We already got a nice sweatshirt for signing up so I figured I didn't need to buy any additional clothing.  They did have a nice section of Hot Chocolate Race Gear for purchase though.

 

Race morning I got up at 5 am and wanted to leave by 6 am.  The first thing I did was step outside to feel the weather. It was actually a lot warmer than what I thought it was going to be, but rainy. So I knew I definitely wanted to wear my hat. After getting ready I stepped outside again (about 40 minutes later) to see how the weather was. And I swear it dropped like 10 degree. It stopped raining but the wind was howling. I'm glad I decided to wear my lined windbreaker. Because I didn't want to put holes in my jacket, I wanted to use my race dots (I know I'm not suppose to try anything new on race day, but I was going to). I was hesitant to use them thinking they may not even stay put because of how windy it was. But they didn't budge at all.

 

I arrived at the race in plenty of time. I got into my corral and waited for the start. There were three minutes in between each corral start, which I thought was too long for a 5k. The course was nothing exciting, which was expected of a 5k. Just an easy out  and back with nothing to see except the people that are running the race. Even though it was a flat course, the first half was actually hard because we were running against the wind. It was so windy that my hat flew off and I had to back track about a 100 yards to pick it back up. Each time I reached for it, it blew a little further. At this point I thought I should be wearing a head warmer instead of a ball cap! I held it all they way until the turning point where the wind was finally behind us and we were halfway to the finish. The second half felt much better. It was less windy and the sun was finally coming out and it was warming up. I finished the race strong and feeling good. I am not used to running short distances so it did feel like a very quick race for me.

 

 After crossing the finish line the only things they were handing out were Gatorade and water. What no medal? I had a feeling that we may not have received a medal because the only one I saw was the medal for the 15k on the website, but still I was hopeful.  Guess that was what the additional $25 dollars was for to run the 15k. Both distances still received a nice fleece zipper down for signing up and hot chocolate and fondue at the end of the race, which was a nice change from other races.

Ever run a Hot Chocolate Race? What city? What did you think of the Race Series? -L