Hubs and I have our first official 15K race under our belt. The Hot Chocolate 5k and 15k took place on the last weekend in January, 2014, and was lots of fun. And lots of cold, cold, work. Here, I’ll recap the Expo, the start of the race and the general run.
The Hot Chocolate Expo was held at the Georgia World Congress Center, which is ENORMOUS and consists of about a billion equally sized conference centers. I visited the expo on Friday, the first day (during the regular work day) to avoid the crowd of 30,000 people running the race. Traffic was easy, but the hundred road closures weren’t. Add the $10 parking charge and I’m fit to be tied.
The Conference room was extremely large, and packet pickup was streamlined and quick, but all the vendors were a-hawking their good and the music was so loud, there wasn’t much else to be done. Others who visited the Expo on Saturday complained that the Cheerleader conference that was going on in the next room was huge, loud, rude and made parking and getting around even harder. Go early or stay home!
I did pick up a marshmallow fondue bite and found a really nice girl from Fitletic who talked to me about item and hydration belts. I already have a SPI Belt, which I use to house my iPhone, car key and whatever else I have, but it’s very simple, and has no where for hydration or gels. Fitletic had tons of variety to offer, and the super nice sales girl let me try an 8oz hydration pod on my already existing belt. SOLD.
Now that I’ve used the squeeze hydration NO BOUNCE pod on my belt, I’m jonesing for a full one. Neeeeed it. After all, being a costume designer dictates that I can’t perform the activity if I’m not wholly dressed! 🙂
Getting to the race on Sunday was no joke. The 5k started at 7:40, and the 15k started at 8:25. This was due to the staggered release of corrals, and meant that parking was shut down starting at 6:45. We pulled into our lot a little before 6:20, and we stayed nice and warm (with a few potty break dashes in between) in the car. It was literally freezing outside, so we dressed in 2+ layers, hats, gloves, running tights and our tech hoodies from the goody bag. We met up with the ATLrunDisney group, who were SUPER nice and welcoming to us. Several of them will be running the Princess Half next month!
If you read the blog already, you know that I’m a pregnant turtle (not really pregnant, but read the story – hilarious!), and this turtle ran her normal 11:00/mile pace the whole way through. That was an average between running and the 3 walk breaks I chastised Hubs into letting me take. I really love running with him, but he wants to go go go the whole way, so when my hip flexor starts giving me trouble I start walking and alternating.
9.5 (ish) miles later, we crossed the finish line and headed to get our hot chocolate mugs and snackies. (Consider the 954 calories I burned re-eaten. yum). Did you run the hot chocolate? I know lots of people went but with 30,000 participants, we were bound to miss each other!
One of my goals this year is to run my first 5K. This one is the perfect kind of race for my first one. I will have to see if it’s coming to Boston!
Wow, go you! Can’t believe you did that pregnant, that’s awesome.
Wow, good for you accomplishing this goal! I would love to run a race someday! It is on my bucket list for sure!
Now that’s my kind of relay. congrats to you on your achievement. I think I am going to try and run a race one day too. nothing too big just some baby steps for me
My hips, knees, and ankles refuse to let me run anymore, but if I did, this is just the kind of event I would attend. Sounds like a fun time!
Running for hot chocolate sounds worth it to me! I am actually doing my first run in years (since 2006-ish?) next month – Color Me Rad. I was finally released to exercise again after giving birth, so I’m on the treadmill every day!
I would have loved to cheer everyone on! It sounds like such a fun race and of course the rewards for finishing can’t be beat! Congrats on finishing!
That’s such a uniquely done race. I hadn’t heard of it before, but I sure love the hot chocolate reward at the end!
That just looks like so much fun! You did an awesome job!
Congratulations on finishing your first 15k race! The hot chocolate finisher reward is a sweet way to end that fun race.
Congrats on the race! I love themed races, and Hot Chocolate races are some of my favorites!
i wish we had this here in ct. it looks like a really fun race to do!
YOu are awesome! What a wonderful accomplishment.
Yay for you both! That looks like so much fun. I’m finally starting to run some races in a couple of weeks. It’s just a 5K, but I’m working up to a 10K in late spring.
Good job to you both! I just had a dream that I ran a race. Maybe that means it in my future lol
I don’t run that often but with a belt like that Fitletic I might have to start getting into it. Congrats on finishing the race 🙂
I wish I could run! It looks like you had a ton of fun!
I’ve seen Beer 5ks but never a hot chocolate one! How neat!
what an adorable theme for a run. I wish I could be more disciplined for running. i do enjoy it but hate the pain
I’ve never been to a hot chocolate run! It looks like a lot of fun!
Kudos on completing the hot chocolate run. I’ve never heard of it but love hot chocolate enough that I might join in someday.
Eliz
It does look fun. I’m not really much of a runner.
Looks like an awesome place! And congrats on finnishing the race. Sounds like you had good time.
That sounds awesome. I am not a runner though
I’ve head the best thing about this race! I love the feeling after a great run/race. Way to go!!
Looks like you had a great time. I love the theme.
Congratulations on completing your race. You have to love anything with a hot chocolate theme.
First, congratulations! I hadn’t heard of the hot chocolate runs until this year. I love the fun prizes they offered.
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