Hot Chocolate 5K/15K

 

 It's that time of year again! This was my 4th running of the Hot Chocolate 5K and 15K. It has become a tradition with my daughter. (See 2015 here and 2014 here.) She absolutely loves the bowl of chocolate at the end of the race, and so do I!

 

In the starting chute at the crack of dawn.

The 5K race starts very early (6:45am) so we had to get out of bed a few hours earlier than our usual daily routine. When the starting horn went off, my girl started out easy and held her pace throughout the whole 3.1 miles.

 

Exiting the Battery Street tunnel. It is a long and humid tunnel. It felt good to be back out in the fresh air.

My husband and son were waiting at the finish line for us. I handed my girl off to the boys and got back in the starting chute with my friend, Tami, to run the 15K that started at 7:55am. We started out easy and enjoyed the morning with about 4,300 other runners.

 

There was no staying dry, even with a rain jacket.

The weather was a little indecisive which is not unusual for this time of year. It rained and that felt down-right cold. I put my rain jacket on, and then the sun came out. I heated up and wrestled my coat back off. This dressing/undressing game went on for 3 rounds. When we reached the finish line and picked up our medals and bowls of chocolate, the rain had returned. So, we headed back to the car to drive home.

 

Showing off our finisher's medals.

I am impressed with how well the Hot Chocolate races are run. They place runners in corrals and start a corral about every 3 minutes. The course includes an out-and-back section that I love because you can cheer on the first runners as they head to the finish line. There are plenty of aid stations along the route that are heavily manned by volunteer groups. This is a really good race for all types of runners from first time races to seasoned runners. I suspect my daughter will be asking to do the race again next year!