Hot Chocolate Minneapolis

Hot Chocolate Minneapolis

Hot Chocolate Minneapolis

( 18 reviews )
100% of reviewers recommend this race
  • Minneapolis,
    Minnesota,
    United States
  • April
  • 3 miles/5K, 6 miles/10K, 9 miles/15K, Virtual Race
  • Road Race
  • Event Website

Casey Nelson

Plymouth, Minnesota, United States
55 12
2017
"Hot Chocolate 15k - Minneapolis 2017"
Overall
T-Shirts/SWAG
Aid Stations
Course Scenery
Expo Quality
Elevation Difficulty
Parking/Access
Race Management
Casey Nelson's thoughts:

The Minneapolis Hot Chocolate 15k was held on Saturday April 15th. Race start time was 8:55 AM and starts and ends at Boom Island Park (just outside of downtown Minneapolis). In addition to the 15k race, there is also a 5k race option. Registration for this race was tiered, as most races are these days (you get the best deal the earlier you sign up). After registering I continued to get email communication on what to expect out of the race, along with a general 15k race training schedule. I thought this was a nice touch, although I was already following my own plan so didn't use the one they provided.

Expo:
The expo was held the Thursday and Friday leading up to the race on Saturday. The expo was located just outside of downtown Minneapolis. I went on Thursday and found the expo to be on the smaller side of things. There weren't many vendors, nor were there many people walking around when I arrived (probably due to the fact that I went in the early afternoon when most people were at work). Even though there wasn't a lot of vendors, I still managed to spend a decent amount of money on running gear. It was very quick and easy to walk in and get my bib and race swag (a full zip sweatshirt). I could have been in and out in about 10 minutes, but managed to stay there about an hour.

Pre-Race:
Let me start by saying that race day was rainy. Keep that in mind as I continue to walk through my race day.

There was a bag drop by the starting line, but I drove myself to the race start and was able to leave all my belongings in my truck. I have heard from other reviews that there was no parking, but I, along with many others attending this race from what I could see, were able to find on street parking about 2-3 blocks north of the race starting spot. This was far enough out of downtown that there weren't meters on the street, so it was free. I did a 2 mile warm up run in the area around my truck which worked perfect and then headed down to the starting area about 30 minutes prior to the race start time.

There were plenty of port-a-potties lined up near the start. If it hadn't been raining this would have been perfect. Since it was raining, and you had to walk through the grass to get to the port-a-potties, my shoes and socks became soaked right before the race started.

There were plenty of people directing runners where to go and where there corals were. No issue whatsoever to get to the starting line. It may have been due to the rain, but I had plenty of room to stretch while waiting at the starting line, and was not body to body as you find yourself at a lot of races.

Race:
There was a national anthem sung and then the race began. This is an out and back course that runs along the Mississippi River (4.5 miles out and 4.8 miles back). I think I would have enjoyed the course a lot more if I hadn't been looking to dodge puddles and worry about the rain the whole time. From the times my head wasn't looking down, it seemed scenic and nice! There were enough aid stations along the course to suffice for this distance. However, the last two aid stations I crossed both told me that they were out of nuun (the performance drink for the race). I hope it was just a refill time for these stations and that they weren't completely out for the remainder of the race as I was towards the front of the race participants and there were still many more to cross those aid stations. Due to the rain and the 60 degree temp, it was also humid while running. For me, the course also felt like it had a lot of hills to deal with, so a bit challenging in my opinion.

Once I crossed the finish line I was presented with my medal, nuun, and water. From the finish line you had to walk back towards the starting line across Boom Island Park to get #allthechocolate. This included hot chocolate, fondue chocolate to use with a rice kirspy treat, marshmallows, pretzels, apples, and graham crackers. On a rain filled morning the hot chocolate tasted great. Boom Island Park seemed to be a great location for the post race fun had it not been raining. There were some pavilions that people huddled under to eat their chocolate (myself included), but no one really took advantage of all the green space which had turned into a wet and muddy obstacle to cross. Again, had it not been raining I could have seen this area been a lot of fun to hang around in.

Overall:
This was a local race for me that I was using as a building race leading into my full marathon in June. The distance was perfect (I PR'ed, although I had never raced this distance before so any time was a PR for me). The race was well organized and had enough spectators on the course to add that extra push from the crowd that I like to see (I even got a few "nice beard" shout outs which was nice!! This is a race that I would look to run again in the future and see how I would fare on a sunny day!

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