This was my 5th time running Hot Chocolate 15K as a BibRave Pro (4 times in person, 1 time virtual). The last time I ran the race in person was in 2019, so it was fun to be back for real! This race historically has some crazy weather, so I was thrilled for a cloudy day in the 40s (rather than the predicted rain we had earlier in the week). The overall vibes of this race are excellent, with all of my friends who ran today commenting on how it's one of the most diverse, inclusive run races in Atlanta.

Expo: downtown Atlanta in the old Rich's department store, which is now home to various events throughout the year. I quickly took MARTA from my house and walked 5 minutes from 5 points station. I imagine the parking situation would have been difficult for those who choose to do that, but I live in a city, so I don't have to drive. It was very easy to pick up race packets and the race hoodie. They also have a station to try on sizes and switch your hoodie size if you'd like, so don't stress about selecting a size when you register (they do run true to size, though, FYI). The expo had a nice mix of local race and running store vendors, as well as some larger national brands. There's also a candy and chocolate table where you can pre-game on all the yummy chocolate, M&M's, hot chocolate, chocolate-covered cookies, and marshmallows, etc. YUM!

Race morning: again, I took MARTA in front of my house, which was very easy. There are paid parking garages in centennial park garages that the race management recommends, but that's all I know about that situation. #SorryNotSorry #MARTAIsSmarta
Everything race morning was pretty easy. I wish there were better signs directing folks to gear drop. Some of us old folks can't see well walking around in the dark. Also, there was no pre-race water station that we could find. A lovely volunteer had an extra bottle of water she gave to us, and my friend and I shared that. Of all the things I'd deduct points for, this is the only one.

Race course: I think it's the same course they've had for several years. Folks may call it "hilly," but to me as someone who lives and trains in ATL, I found it to be rolling hills. Nice ups and downs. My friend also commented at one point towards the end that it had been a great way to see the city. Downtown, Summerhill, Grant Park, Sweet Auburn, Midtown, GA Tech. Aid stations every 2-ish miles with water, Gatorade, and usually some snack (I saw Swedish fish and m&m's).

Finish area: After finishing and getting the great medal (chocolate bar-shaped, of course), there's a throng of folks waiting in one of 7 lines for the hot chocolate and candy mugs. Even though a lot of people were waiting, the lines moved fast (I think we waited 10 minutes). What I noticed was different this year was the mug was disposable and no longer the plastic commemorative mug. It appeared that the mug was recyclable or compostable. I suspect some folks would be disappointed by this, but I liked this change as it makes for much less landfill waste.

Bonus: the DJ at the start/finish area was LIT. There was definitely a Soul Train at some point. :-D

Tl;dr - Despite a VERY hilly course with some other minor gripes, this was a well-managed race with one of the nicer urban marathon courses I've done.

Travel/lodging - Easy 2-hour direct flight on Delta from Atlanta made this an accessible marathon state to check off (FYI, the entire course is in KC, Missouri, so this is a Missouri state race for those wondering). I chose to stay at the Marriott Residence Inn Country Club Plaza. This is an easy 10-minute walk/5 min warm-up jog to the start/finish area. I highly recommend staying in this area as it offers easy race access, is close to some attractions, including the art museum, and has lots of food and shopping options. I did not have a car and was within walking distance of everything needed, so I cannot speak to race-day parking, but it seemed like there were plenty of options, according to the race guide.

Expo - Union Station is a beautiful old rail station that now serves Amtrak. It also houses a science museum. The expo was pretty basic (which I like) but had everything needed if you wanted to grab a few extra race essentials. I enjoy an easy-in, easy-out expo. The packet included a nice soft long-sleeve race shirt and a metal tumbler. The tumbler is a nice touch, as it's something I've never received at another race.

Race morning - As I said above, I stayed very close to the start. This allowed me to have breakfast, stretch, and warm up in my warm hotel room. I left the hotel at 6:20 and made it to the start area by 6:30. This was plenty of time to hit the bathroom one more time (tons of porta-johns and the lines moved fast) and then make it to the corral by 6:45. The first complaint for race day is that there was only one entrance to the start corrals. You had to walk to the back of the corrals, the only opening in the metal fencing, and then push your way through all the people to get towards the front if you planned to run in a faster pace group. I couldn't see, but it seemed like there was an elite and/or wheelchair start right at 7am and then the rest of the field was sent off about 5 minutes later.

The course - I knew it would not be flat, but I assumed, coming from the hills of ATL, that it would be a nice rolling course. Wrong! The first half of this course was one of the most difficult, hilly road courses I've experienced. Many of the hills, especially in the first 10k, are long, sustained climbs, punchy walls, and sometimes a combination. The downtown areas and neighborhoods were nice, and the views at the top of some of the climbs were lovely (especially as the sun was rising), but WOW, hard! The other thing I noticed was that the road conditions in KC are TERRIBLE. There is a TON of construction (obviously, this may change year-to-year), which led to a fair amount of obstacles, including narrow sections, unmarked potholes, ungraded road sections, construction equipment, etc. I was surprised that none of the hazards were marked. This did not seem to bother anyone, I didn't see anyone fall, and this is something that's probably a temporary inconvenience. There's a lot of construction in KC right now, preparing for the NFL draft next year and the World Cup in a few years.

Water stops are every 1.5-2 miles and featured water and Powerade. Some stops also included GUs and bananas. They all included bathrooms. The abundance of water stops was appreciated but I do wish the Powerade was mixed more consistently between stops. Many of the stops had very watery Powerade.

Even though the course was quite difficult, it was a beautiful urban course. In other urban races, there always seems to be a back half section where you're stuck in a bland industrial area. This was not the case at all in KC Marathon. The back half of the marathon was a long out-and-back on a divided parkway (?) through nice, shaded neighborhoods. The ONB was nice because you see runners and cheering neighbors in both directions. I expected to be lonely in the second half of this race but was happy to be surrounded by runners the entire time.

Finish - I struggled a lot in the second half of this race (remember all those hills in the first half? They only got slightly better in the second half), so I was very excited to finish. The finish area was easy to navigate. After receiving a medal, I was quickly handed a water bottle; unfortunately, I needed electrolytes instead. Besides water and beer, I could not find any sports drink at the finish. Five minutes after finishing, I collapsed on the lawn when my calves cramped worse than I'd ever experienced. It would have been much nicer had there been more Powerade, Coke, and/or chocolate milk at the finish. However, I saved myself by downing a bag of Lays potato chips (mmmm salty goodness). Also, the post-race BBQ sandwich from Jack Stack BBQ was super tasty. After reviving myself, I walked the 5 minutes back to my hotel (again - staying near the start/finish is a VERY GOOD idea).

I think some small improvements can be easily implemented in this race. Still, overall I enjoyed the experience, the tour of a surprisingly pretty city, and the friendly atmosphere.

I got sick of marathon training in the heat and humidity of an ATL summer. Hence, I started looking for races that fit into my training schedule that would be relatively easy to travel to, pretty, and had better weather than Atlanta. Revel Big Cottonwood fell into a perfect time in my training and during a week in between jobs, so I decided to take myself on a mini adventure to Salt Lake City!

This was my second Revel event, and I'm impressed with the organization each time. Everything is always well planned and organized, making the races easy to travel. Every race is beautiful, well organized, fast, and super fun! Tl;dr - go do a Revel event!

Expo - Revel has really nice swag plus extras you can purchase. Also, they had a good number of vendors. I spent an hour at the expo chatting with vendors and using the massage boots (very nice after my flight).

Travel/logistics - SLC airport is really nice with car rental right from the terminal. You don't need a car rental for this race but I decided to get one since it was relatively cheap and I wanted to be able to explore SLC area in the short time I was visiting. I stayed in the Marriott Residence Inn Cottonwood, which was one of the official race hotels. This was very convenient because the hotel had early (4am) breakfast out for the runners and there were official race buses that left from the hotel to go to the start. There is also a general bus loading area near the finish area if you do not stay in one of the official hotels. Everyone must take the official race buses to the start since they close the road up the canyon to general traffic. After the race, the official hotels had shuttles running every hour to go back to the hotel. There's a bag drop at the start which I highly recommend because it was quite cold waiting for 1.5 hours at the start (40 degrees at the start, 65 at the finish). Revel gives you a pair of throwaway gloves and a heat sheet in your drop bag which is super nice. I ended up wearing the gloves for the first 10 miles of the race.

Course - race starts at 6:45 just before sunrise. Starting elevation is around 9,600 feet. Even though you immediately start going downhill, the elevation is still no joke and I could feel like lungs and muscles getting tired quicker than I expected. There's a small uphill at mile 3-4 which you most definitely can feel the elevation. However, after that it's screaming downhill until mile 19. The views in the canyon through mile 19 are beautiful and I found myself having so much fun. Aid stations are every 2 miles which provide a great little walk break. I did not carry my own hydration and felt this was the perfect amount of hydration for me. Every station includes water, Nuun, bathrooms, first aid, plus several stations with gels and other snacks including oranges. The course does not have any spectators for the 19 miles in the canyon, so the aid stations provide a nice breakup of the course with cheering from the volunteers. My only complaint was that I had to wait to get Nuun at a couple of the stations.

You exit the canyon at mile 19 and this is where the course definitely becomes less interesting and more difficult. There's a 5 mile ONB section on a section of highway that's rolling and very exposed. I heard a lot about this section before the race so I was prepared for it to be terrible. It certainly wasn't great but it wasn't nearly as bad as I expected. The benefit of the last 10k was the fact that there were more spectators so it helped keep pushing me to the finish.

Finish - I loved there were quite a few vendors at the finish. I had pizza, ice cream, and beer. Then I spent some time in the massage boots again. They also had assisted stretching, IV fluids, and finisher merchandise. A hotel shuttle took picked us up from the finish area and I was back to the hotel by noon.

After being a virtual only event in 2020, Grandma's Marathon returned to Duluth, Minnesota this year and I was so excited to finally check this extremely well-rated race off my bucket list.

Pre-race:
I found out I would run Grandma's in October, 2020 (as long as we got through COVID). From the moment I registered, the information from race management was steady, clear, and painted a great picture for what was to come. Early on we knew that, if the race was able to proceed, it would be set at half-capacity and strong COVID protocols would be in place. In spite of what was sure to be a less than normal race experience, it was clear that the race would still live up to its BibRave 100 best in the nation status. In fact, the race did not officially have permits to proceed until about a month before race date, but the regular communication from management made it clear that they were working with local officials extensively and they expected race to move forward as best as possible. When the green light finally arrived, more and more key aspects of the race seemed to fall into place. Events that were initially expected not to take place due to COVID, like the pasta dinner, post race party, etc., were reinstated and it seemed as if we would get to experience a relatively "normal", if not a bit smaller version of Grandma's.

Starting around Christmas, a monthly "Grandma's podcast" was released each month with great history of the race, interviews with important race personalities and locals. Listening to the podcast gives a great sense for the love and energy around this race, and it made me feel almost as if I had already been to Duluth. I highly recommend listening to the episodes to get excited about the race and the community.

Travel:
I opted to fly all the way into Duluth regional airport (connecting in Minneapolis). While it's slightly more expensive, saving on the high cost of rental car more than made up for the difference and helped me avoid driving several hours alone late at night. I was able to work a full day in Atlanta, get on an evening flight, and get to Duluth by midnight.

Since Duluth is a pretty small town there's not a ton of hotel options but the race does a good job of listing various options on the site. If you want to save some $ you can actually stay in the dorms at the various local universities, although I suspect it's better to have access to a car if you do that. The race offers multiple race day shuttle options from common housing locations around town, including the universities. Much like the convenience of flying into Duluth, I decided to spend a bit more $ and stay at the Fairfield Inn Waterfront (a Marriott property) which is within .5 mile from the finish area, expo, and race day transportation pickups. It was definitely worth the money to be that close to all the action. The hotel included breakfast in the stay and they also gave goodie bags to all the runners staying there. On race morning, they left out coffee and snacks extra early (before the normal breakfast time) for those of us leaving for the race start. Staying there was very comfortable and made everything much less stressful.

Expo:
I worked from the hotel on Friday and went to the expo Friday afternoon. The expo was larger with more vendors than I expected. The whole weekend I kept having the sense that this was "the biggest small race I had been to." Even though Grandma's is a "small town" race (this year there were less than 3000 marathoners - which is half the norm), everything about the race had a large race feeling. Just very top notch. The expo was nice and spread out, plenty of space between booths, and plenty of walking space; even pre-COVID, expos gave me a bit of anxiety so I really appreciated this. Packet pickup was every easy, taking less than 5 minutes. We received our finisher shirt at the expo but normally you'd get the shirt at the finish line. This was done in an effort to reduce touch points in the race.

I met another BibRave Pro at the expo and we opted to go to the pre-race past dinner (something I normally never do at races). The $14 dinner was a great value, the food was yummy (basic spaghetti, meatballs if you want, tomato sauce, bread, salad), and I was really excited it included Americone Dream for dessert, my favorite Ben & Jerry's flavor.

Race morning:
There are several shuttle bus location options around town. However, I was most excited for the option to take the train to the start. There is a scenic railway that serves as one of the transportation options if you're running the marathon (half marathoners start at the halfway point of the course and cannot take the train). I love trains so this was a no-brainer choice for me. The train starts boarding around 5:30 and leaves at 6. It has limited capacity (~1000 people) so getting there early may be important; since this year the race was half capacity, it did not seem to be an issue. I'm not sure if during a "normal" year it fills up but I'd still recommend getting there by 5:30 to ensure a space in case you really want to ride the train. The train follows the course along the Lake Superior coastline up to the startline at Two Harbours. It's a really comfy, beautiful ride and took about an hour. I think the buses are faster and may allow you the time to sleep in a bit, but who sleeps before a race anyway??

Once off the train, the start area consists of hundreds of port-o-johns. While there were lines, everything moved quickly. Just before 7:45 race start time was the national anthem and a flyover (very cool and unexpected). Rather than a wave start, everyone was funneled into individual lines leading to the start line, and it was a rolling start, i.e. you basically kept walking towards the start line and once you crossed, you started. I like this method because it was pretty low stress and kept the first mile more spread out than a normal start experience.

The course:
The course is advertised as flat and fast. In my opinion, it's more like gently rolling hills. The course is actually net downhill, but the rolling hills break everything up nicely. This is my favorite kind of course. The train followed us for a while and blew the whistle periodically to cheer us on. This was really cool in the first few miles especially since this was the quietest part of the course with little spectators.

The first aid station came at mile 3. After that, the aid stations came at least every 2 miles. The stations themselves were very well organized with gatorade, followed by water, followed by self-fill stations (to refill your own bottles if needed), and everything very well-marked. The stations were located on both sides of the road. I also noticed bathrooms and medical at most, if not all, of the stops.

The miles are marked with giant yellow balloons which, since this was a straight line point to point course, you could often see from at least half a mile away. They became really nice motivation markers. The early parts of the course are pretty quiet, except for at the aid stations. As you get closer to Duluth though things start to pick up, with more and more people lining the course, often right in front of their homes. The first of only a few turns in the course comes around mile 22. Shortly after that you cross a digital mat that which triggers personalized videos for you (if you had friends/submit any) to play on a big screen along the course. It was so fun to see friendly faces pop up for me, especially since I had been struggling before that.

From that point, it's pretty much all downhill as you make a few more turns through downtown Duluth, around the expo building, along the waterfront, and into the finish area. The finish line was really fun, and the volunteers were a great help. The finish line food felt a bit sparse, but I heard that was due to COVID, especially since the post-race party was held in a completely different location this year. I stretched for a bit, got my head back on straight, and made it back to my hotel with just a short 0.5 mile walk. It was nice to be able to clean up before heading back out to the post-race festivities.

Swag:
The medal is really nice, and quite heavy. I really like the shirt; it's a technical v-neck that actually fits well. There was extra race gear you could buy but nothing that really excited me. I ended up buying a shirt from the local Duluth Running Company instead, as well as a cool staff shirt from the bar/restaurant located right at the finish line.

After missing in-person events for a year and half, Grandma's was a great return to the marathon distance for me. I really loved the town, the people, and the whole race experience felt top notch. I'm already working on getting a group of folks from Atlanta to go next year. Please consider putting this race on your must-do list. It sells out every year, so get in early!

I first heard about this event and the organizer, Native Women Running, when I heard founder Verna Volker on the BibRave Podcast. I have always been moved, and outraged, by the dark history of treatment (and current treatment) of our Native population and wanted to find ways to be better informed, and help amplify the voices of the population. I learned a lot listening to the podcast and also learned about the MMIW National Day of Awareness. The event was created to show support/solidarity for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, 2-Spirits, and their families. For example, the CDC reports that murder is the third leading cause of death among Native American women. The virtual run is actually a virtual event to raise awareness using ANY form of fitness/activity. Myself and several other BibRave Pros chose to run at least 10 miles (I incorporated it into my 16 mile training run) to raise awareness that Native Women are murdered at 10x the rate of the national average. The event this year raised over $30,000 for organizations that focus on supporting awareness, support, and campaigns to end this epidemic of violence.
Some other great aspects of the National Day of Awareness MMIW Virtual Run:
- Great social media interaction from the race organizer and supporting organizations meant that I heard from so many new voices and stories, and learned more every day about this issue. I feel like I now have more language and tools to continue to make sure this issue is not silenced.
- Swag just included an amazing, soft, red t-shirt, with very little other waste, meaning funds raised are allocated to more areas of need, rather than wasted on too much random product.

I will plan to take part in this event in future years and highly recommend it for others, even just for the aspect of learning more, and having more people informed about this issue.