I think I will start this off with a statement and then get into the overall review. I believe I got lucky in choosing what must be the best city to run this race in. No disrespect to Charlotte or San Fran, etc but Nashville was the place to be and I look forward to the chance to return to the city.

This was an interesting race in the fact that every aspect of it was awesome..except for the race itself. BUT, that was the fault of an uncontrollable force: the weather. race day was 40 degrees (which is certainly tolerable) but the intermittent pouring rain was not. By the end of the race, I was freezing and shivering; not good combinations. Now that that is out of the way, let's get to the excellent part of all this.

The course was nice but it being an overcast day I think that cast a shadow that wasn't necessarily the true view of the city or the route of the course. Also, there was a lot of construction going on in the city and that was visible, even running directly past an active zone at one point. The streets were quite clean and the elevations weren't extreme but there were enough to keep you honest with your pace and when to accelerate or not. My legs had moments of tiredness but I'm not sure if that was because of the elevation or just my lack of training for this race (I had been battling an injury since the start of the year.) The aid stations were incredible. I can't say enough about the volunteers who were out there, police included. There was one officer who was cheering runners on with such a booming voice you would have thought he had a megaphone. And then there was so much vocal support from the individuals handing out water and NUUN drinks. Simply amazing support and effort for standing out there in those conditions. I applaud and tip my hat to them.

The expo was held in the Musicians Hall of Fame. They had NUUN samples and hot chocolate plus some other sweet treats for you to have. Packet pickup was easy and fast. Walked right up and got my bib, then headed to a separate area to grab my pullover. There were a few vendors there as well and an area with Hot Chocolate race gear from the current series and the past. Some items were on clearance which was tempting. There was also an area to make a contribution to Make-a-Wish if you wanted that allowed you to make a special sign and take a photo in front of the Make-a-Wish backdrop. There was also an area to take pictures in front of a Hot Chocolate series map of the country.

The swag was awesome! A cool pullover with the race logo on it, magnet, a discount coupon for future races and, of course, the delicious bowl of treats at the end of the race. Hot chocolate, chocolate dipping sauce with a banana, pretzel twists, marshmallows, biscotti cookies and some other candy frosted pretzels to dip into. So so good! One of the best end of race treat collections ever. There was also NUUN and water at the finish line. Great way to replenish your electrolytes.

Race management was excellent. Constant updates and reminders as the race date got closer. And, each week, they sent me a training schedule to prep for the race. Four weeks of suggestions on how to train for the race. Loved seeing their updates when they arrived.

All in all, weather aside, I had a great time and I was 100% DEFINITELY recommend running one of the Hot Chocolate series races at some point and I would suggest selecting Nashville as the city to go to. Simply awesome!