A Sweet Time – Hot Chocolate 15k Race Recap #bibchat

Disclaimer: I received a race registration for the Hot Chocolate 15k Denver to review as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!

First, check out the fun I had at the expo!

It’s race morning! I love racing. Like love love love it. And today I was running for a very special reason… chocolate.

In my pre-race report I was focused on having fun but then… I looked at the age group times from last year’s race. If I ran and tested my speed, I had a chance at placing in my division. So I was tentatively planning to really race this 15k. I needed to watch my fatigue level and my hamstring but… this was going to be a race!

I ended up leaving my apartment a little late but still made it to the start area in time to drop my bag, use the porto-potty (which were plentiful and these racers were efficient!) and snap a few pics in my corral!

So with the final countdown, we were off tearing through the streets of Denver on a cloudy cool morning. 

Every water stop had both water and sports drink which was awesome and there were at least 3 “sweet spots”. The first one had strawberry marshmallows, the second had tootsie rolls, and the third had more marshmallows (all the sugary fuel!). I decided to take advantage of the tootsie roll stop!

Sooo the tootsie roll was delicious but it definitely got stuck in my teeth. It gave me something to think about though for about a half mile, when I finally decided to just let it dissolve slowly. Winning!

So back to the race. We ran through some of the old warehouse areas and then through some residential areas before coming back to downtown for the finish. The course we very flat and I was able to maintain a sub-8 min/mile the whole time (which was my goal pace). I crossed the finish line in a time of…

1:11:23

Woo hoo! I also ran my fastest 10k at the beginning of the race. Double woo hoo! However, being Denver, means there were so many fast runners and as of right now I’m… 10th in my age division. People really stepped it up this year!

I really enjoyed this race, the course was flat, the volunteers were strong and the finish area was great to hang out in. There was a merchandise tent and an area for kids to blow off some steam!

Let’s take a look around the finisher area!

I had a great time at this race and highly recommend it if it’s coming to a city near you!

Pros:

• Chocolate
• Flat course
• Great volunteers
• GREAT swag
• Chocolate!
• Not crowded on course
• Great post-race area
• Did I mention… CHOCOLATE?!

Cons:

• Not much crowd support during the race. Volunteers were present but pretty quiet too.