Hot Chocolate 2013

Last March, I ran the Hot Chocolate 5k with my husband and my friend.  This is a race recap that is obviously a long time coming.  But, sometimes.... well.  Things take a while.

That explains why I'm still putting photos into albums from when my 10-year-old was three.  Ahem.

So, back to a race that was only seven months ago... not seven years.  Yay!

Once I heard about the Hot Chocolate, I knew I had to run it.  For the chocolate at the end, of course!
We live four hours from Seattle, so we drove over the day before and hung out at the Space Needle. We watched Jack the Giant Slayer on IMAX and then turned in for the night.

Race day begins early... really, really early.

That morning we just walked to the race start with a few other runners we met in the lobby.  Lots of people we met were running their very first 5k.  What a precedent!  My first 5k was our town's local Fourth of July Fun Run.  Twenty-five people, no water stations, and some Mardi Gras beads at the end.  Since then, I've run quite a few 5ks, and I have to say... Hot Chocolate is the best of them.

This was my friend's first official 5k (we'd done the Cupcake Classic the October before), and I know she was really nervous.  To add even more stress... these races are BIG.  This was the first time I had ever been "corralled".  Since I didn't want her to know that it kind of made me a little claustrophobic, I played it cool.  We cheated and stood in a corral together.  I knew that if I had made her go in her own corral, she would have had some sort of major panic attack.  It didn't seem to hurt the race any, although I felt super guilty.  We shuffled to the starting line and thinned out pretty quickly.  By the time we were a half mile down the road, we had plenty of room to move and breathe.

Downtown Seattle is cool.  Super hilly and just a neat place.  I was worried about the hills, but the course didn't really use them (which I appreciated).  We saw a few people we knew from Forks on the out and back.  That's one of my best memories of the run.  For being such a huge race, it was amazing that we ran into so many people we knew.  I saw at least six people from our town that morning.  I also saw a pair of running gloves that someone had dropped.  We were in a tunnel, and I didn't want to cause a pile-up, so I let them stay on the road.  Hopefully they found a new pair of hands.

My friend and I took it pretty slow.  We weren't out to break records, just to have fun.  We coasted in at an 11:30 pace.

And then it was off to the chocolate!!  Seriously.  Best post-race snacks.  EVER!!

And the sweatshirt rocks.  One of my fave race shirts.  I probably wear it at least three or four times a month, and it is still in great condition.  Can't wait for this year's shirt.

Overall, we had a great time.  First 5k or fiftieth 5k, it was awesome.  There are a handful of races of which I am a faithful participant.  Hot Chocolate Seattle is now one of mine.  My 10-year-old is begging to run this year.  If we can rope my friend's 10-year-old in, then we are dragging them along. The more, the merrier!  And there's plenty of chocolate to go around.

Has anyone else run this race in Seattle or another city?

How was it?

**If you want to run the Hot Chocolate run in Seattle this year and would like a free travel mug added to the goodie bag... feel free to use my code:

WOMANINMUG   

Here's an early disclosure:  I get prizes if a certain number of people use my code.  So, I'm not begging, but...  Seriously.  I'd love to get another present.**



Disclosure of Material Connection: As a Hot Chocolate Blogger, I receive promotional items or incentives in exchange for helping to promote the Hot Chocolate RAM Racing Series. Even though I am connected to the race in this way, the opinions I have expressed are my own.