The swag was great - not only a well-designed technical shirt, and an earwarmer headband thingy, but hockey ticket vouchers are included in this race. The course is mostly through downtown Columbus, so the scenery is okay but not great. Parking is nearby, but there is a $5 charge so be sure to bring cash or a card to pay. The lines getting into the arena for gear check or race-day packet pickup are atrociously long because everyone has to go through metal detectors before they can enter the building. Plan to arrive early if you need to check a bag or pick up your packet. Because you finish on center ice, you have to go through the same metal detectors to leave. This makes for a very long wait to exit the arena and get to the medals/water/snacks after you finish. If you think you'll need some immediate water or food, plan to bring your own. It took me about 20 minutes to get out of the finish area. But overall, it was a really fun race and I enjoyed going to a hockey game a few weeks after running. I would definitely recommend this race!

This race is absolutely perfect for folks who have strong ties to The Ohio State University. You get to run past a lot of major campus spots, and you finish on the 50-yard line in the 'Shoe. This is both the race's biggest strength and its greatest weakness. The race draws a lot of folks who do not regularly walk/run, let alone participate in races. The usual race courtesies, such as not walking in a group 10 people wide and blocking the entire course, are not observed and make for a very frustrating race if you are actually trying to run. In addition, many participants do not understand the corral system, so even if you start off in the elite A corral, you will likely be surrounded by walkers.

The swag is awesome and things are pretty well organized for a larger race like this. The race is great, so long as you don't treat it like a race.

The Hot Chocolate is all about the swag - the jacket at the expo, the mug and chocolate goodies at the end. The price tag for the race reflects the supposedly high quality of the giveaways, but at every turn I was disappointed. The jacket I received was poor quality, with flimsy material and stitching that started unraveling in just a few weeks. I could have been fine with that. I was particularly excited about the mug at the end. But the "mug" turned out to be a plastic snack holder. True, it was vaguely mug-shaped on its exterior, but was not reusable for anything other than holding kitchy snacks. As a final note, the snacks were not great.

The course itself was fine, with a couple of pretty spots, but for the most part was just city streets. If done with friends, at a discount, this could be a fun race. But on my own, paying full price, this race just isn't worth it.