The likes - Best. Swag. Ever. For 15k participants you get a tech hoodie jackets, and these jackets seem to get better and better every year. This year's has a no-bounce chest pocket (fits iPhone 12), zippered hand pockets, and a detachable hood. The gear bag also came with hot coco packets, a few pieces of milk chocolates, and the medal and bib. One odd thing was there were no pins for the bib. The gear bag arrived 3 days prior to the race, that was some good logistics management. P.S. You don't have to wait until after the race to drink the hot coco :)

The dislikes - As much as the race organizers spent the effort to host live Facebook sessions throughout race day, it wasn't something I had energy for after racing hard for 9.3 miles. The race result page also did not have any sort of time/distance validation, so it's an honor system and it makes it hard to compare time results with others. Also, this virtual race experience would probably be more enjoyable to run with a friend or two (socially distanced of course).

Overall, I recommend running with Hot Chocolate events for virtual or in-person, they spend good effort to make sure us virtual racers have a genuine, fun, and rewarding experience.

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