Hi all! I apologize for yesterday’s post coming today. This post is a little bit different from what I have been doing. I thought it would be a good idea to share with you my experience. I have done a couple of 5Ks in the past but they were more of fun rather than for time. However, I did always try my best and push myself to get the fastest time that I could.

Early yesterday morning, two of my coworkers and I headed to downtown Chicago. We took part in the Hot Chocolate 5K. First we went to sleep extremely late because all three of us worked the night before. Also, because we were driving into the city, we left extremely early to ensure we had a parking spot and have plenty of time to warm up.

One thing we didn’t plan for was how cold it was! It was much colder throughout the morning before we took off at the starting line. We spent the time dancing around to music, talking with fellow runners, and of course taking a few selfies.

The race is a course, not a running laps race. I enjoyed the course. We really got to see the city in a different way, from jogging through part of Lower Wacker Drive to Michigan Ave. It was such a cool and awesome experience. I highly suggest if the Hot Chocolate race comes to a city near you, you should do it! The water station, was about two blocks long, with water, lemonade, and gatorade. Volunteers were also handing out chocolate pieces. What a treat in the middle of the run!

Now my friends and I ran on our own and met up near where the post-race party was going on. What was nice was that we finished within 5 minutes of each other. We weren’t waiting on each other that long. Just past the finish line, volunteers were handing out bottles of water for all the runners. I thought that was a nice “treat” as we were walking and cooling down. There was also plenty of space after the finish line for everyone to slow down and walk before entering the post party area. The post party had of course the chocolate mug/bowl of goodness, a few vendors, jumpy houses and a few other activities.

I have to say overall, the race was fantastic. The energy from everyone was amazing. The race was put together well and organized. Another important piece of information, plenty of port-o-potties! =)

I hope you enjoyed this post. My Mani Monday post will also be up later today! Happy Monday!