Race information

• What? Hot Chocolate 15K/5K
• When? April 1, 2017
• How far? 5K
• Where? Philadelphia, PA
• Website: https://www.hotchocolate15k.com/philadelphia

Goals

Pictures

• One of the 15K Corrals on the First Leg

Training

I've been running since June of 2016, and this is my third 5K. I started with Robert Ullrey's C25K podcasts and just kept increasing my mileage after that. I'm up to 6 miles 2x/week and a 10-mile run on Saturdays. I'm slow in training (avg. 12-min mile), but I'm OK with the long game. I'm also 44, so I don't want to push it and void the warranty.

Pre-race

I'll admit it: I initially signed up for this one because it was close to me and for the swag. (I'm still a new runner: I'm impressionable and easily dazzled.) Participants receive a fleece zip-up hoodie! and a "finisher's cup," a plastic multi-compartment thing with snacks in it and...hot chocolate. (See what they did there?)The finishers of the 15K get a city-themed medal. So, if you like getting stuff, it's not a bad haul, IMHO.

One of the few things I didn't like: the recommended report time for 5K runners was 6:15 in the Blessed Morning. This meant I had to walk the mile in downtown Philly from the parking garage in the cold, dark, and quiet. (And, Philly is not NYC: there was no one around. Freaking eerie...) This also meant there were a lot of runners stumbling around in the dark with no purpose for a while and getting in the staff's way at times. However, once things got underway, circumstances drastically improved.

The main reason I wanted to write this report was to say how impressed I was with how smoothly everything ran once they got up to speed (puns intended). Maybe this is just normal with larger-scale series like this one, but every detail was well-orchestrated, from the Master of Ceremonies (new respect for those announcers--they have to talk excitedly for hours) to managing the corrals to making sure there were enough port-a-johns. Considering it seemed that it was the first time for the majority of the volunteers, it appeared flawless.

Race

I was right at the starting line in Corral A. The course went along the Schuylkill River in Fairmount Park--it was beautiful scenery, paved, and quite flat. There was a water station around the 1 mile/2.5 mile point (looped course). It was around 37 degrees and windy, so there was definitely some teeth-chattering going on at the starting line until the race got going. They spaced the corrals nicely apart; I never felt crowded. I finished in 29:48, 615 out of 4,074 overall.

Post-race

I picked up my coat from the Check Gear Tent, got my cup of goodies from the Finisher's Cup Tent, and then milled around a bit and watched the other approximately 11,000 people that attended the race. This was the other surprise: I wasn't expecting so many people. I hope the Philadelphia Ronald McDonald House (which reportedly gets the proceeds) got a lot of revenue today.

Overall, it was a good experience! I'm definitely doing it next year (part of my quarterly race schedule to keep me motivated). Watching the 15K runners inspired me to register for a half-marathon in September at Dorney Park in Allentown, PA. (The swag isn't as nice, but you get a park pass!) If this report is received favorably, I'll write one for that one, too. Thanks for reading!

Edit for: Exclamation point after fleece zip-up hoodie because, c'mon, fleece zip-up hoodie!

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