The 2016 Columbus Hot Chocolate Race was my first Hot Chocolate Race. I had heard about them but it never worked into my schedule.

Expo: The expo was at the convention center in downtown Columbus. Construction was going on around the building but it really didn't effect how easy it was to get in and find the room. Parking was also located right beside the center. Before walking into the expo, you were handed Chocolate right away. The first stop when entering the expo was to pick up your bib number then move over to the next table to get your jacket. Loved the jackets as they are very thick and warm. If you wanted to, you can be in and out of the expo in 5 minutes. There were several other vendors as well. Also, dont miss the chocolate dipped marshmallows, cookies, and of course hot chocolate.

Race Day: the race started and finished The McFerson Center. Parking could be found at several parking garages. Gear check was right beside the starting line. There were several signs pointing you in the direction of the starting line. Also at the starting line, the corrals were well labeled and volunteers were checking bins to make sure you were entering in the right area.
The race started promptly at 7:30. Corral A started first. A couple minutes later, corral B started and so on. Every corral got its own start.
The course was very well marked and impossible to miss a turn. The mile markers were accurate and where the 5k and 15k races split, there were plenty of volunteers and signs pointing you in the right direction. The 15k course ran through downtown Columbus and out to Ohio State Campus and back. The first half of the race featured steady uphill s. The second half was more downhill to flat. The aid station featured water, Nuun, and of course, chocolate.

Finish: after crossing the finishline, you are handed a medal shaped like a chocolate bar and a bottle of water. You can also take your bib, which has a tab on it to redeem for your mug of hot chocolate, fondue chocolate, and banana, pretzels, and other items to did into your chocolate. It was really good. In the park, a DJ was present as was Hot Chocolate Merchandise for sale.

Overall, this was a great race experience and recommend it for new runners and experienced runners.

Wow! This is one of the most well thought out, put together races I have ever ran. It all starts months in advance with race email, and social media posts keeping runners up to date on all that is going on and keeping everyone excited. Also, they are very involved in replying to your tweets or facebook posts. Very encouraging and personable.
Packet pickup was held at Louisville Slugger field. If you like large expos (I am guilty) you will be disappointed. That's not what they do. For the record, I was not disappointed in packet pickup. It was quick and easy to go in, grab your bib, get your shirt, and sample some Bourbon. Side note, you have to be 21 years or older to run.

Race starts and finishes in downtown Louisville. Be ready for your GPS to be thrown off by the tall buildings, it happened to me. The course starred off flat but hills were thrown in between mikes 4-8 as you ran through Cherokee Park. The park was my favorite part of the course with the hills and fall colors. It was beautiful.
Aid stations were well staffed with volunteers throughout the course, also police were at every intersection making sure roads were clear and safe for the runners. You can tell the city really stands behind and supports this race.
The finish is in downtown. Once you finish, you are given an awesome looking medals, a bottle of water, a finishers photo is taken (all photo downloads were FREE this year!), a heat sheet, and then more food options including bagels, fruit, poweraid. And that doesn't include the post race party.

Post race party (Urban Bash) included live music, Bourbon samplings, pizza, and great soup. Great environment to hang out in.

From registration all the way till leaving the race, this is a must run. The environment is spectacular. Glad I made the trip down to Louisville!

The Volition America Run, Created by Major Dan Rooney, USAFR F-16 Fighter Pilot and founder of the Folds of Honor Foundation, Volition America raises funds to help military families pursue their passions through education. To read more about the race and the work of Folds of Honor does, please visit http://www.volitionamerica.com/about.

With the date of this race falling on September 11th, I knew this was a race I wanted to run.

Pros
-Easy registration process
-2 packet pick up locations to choose from. One on Friday, the other on Saturday before the race. The race was on Sunday and there was race day packet pickup available which was great for runners like me who traveled to Chicago the day of the race from a couple hours away
- real short lines for packet pickup on race day. Just look up your number on a sepreate table and make your way over to the check in table to get your bib and swag
-swag included a nice drawstring bag with the Volition America logo on it and a zipper pocket on the front. Also was a nice short sleeve tech shirt. This shirt maybe my new favorite race shirt. Love this shirt.
- about 15-20 portable toilets lined up for runners. Lines seemed long before the race but lined moved fairly quickly.
- no corrals for this race but there were pacers lined up to give you a good idea of where you should start from.
-before the race, Major Dan addressed the runners about how the race and foundation began which is a truly great story. We said the pledge of allegiance, Taps was played, and played the national anthem. After the national anthem, with the sound of an air horn, the race started.
- it was a great course. First mile was a loop around part of Grant Park before coming back near the start line and then headed out south along the paths by the lake shore. Runners ran by Shedd Aquarium, before some great views of Lake Michigan. The paths were flat for the most part but were a few hills and underpasses going under the road.
-Mile 2 was awesome. It was the Blue Mile where the race honored soldiers that have been lost. Runners were able to submit names and pictures of family and friends who sacrificed their life for our country. Along with that were volunteers holding American Flags lining the course and supporting the runners. Pretty cool scene.
-turnaround was around mile 6. After that you stared running back north with a view of skyline ahead. Another great view.
-very well marked course.
-aid stations had water and Gatoraid. Aid stations were about every 1.5 miles.
-the finish line was lined with American flag and announcer calling out every runners name as they finished. Even pronounced my last name right.
-after you finished you can get some water, fruit, pretzels and other goodies. A volunteer also put a medal on you.
-the medal is pretty sweet with the race logo on it. After you did all that, you could step over and have a post race photo taken with your well earned medal.
-post race there were free samples to taste from some sponsors. You could also purchase a few other race items. Also there was a DJ playing music.
-awards were announced for the top 3 make and female overall winners. Awards were also given for top 3 in each age group.
-course was a nice location, close to tourist spots such as the Shedd Aquarium, Buckingham Fountain, the Bean in Millenium Park, and the Art Institute.

Cons:
These are really out of the races hands.
-this is the first time I had ran a race in Chicago, but the course is not closed to other runners, walkers, and bikers. With a 7:00 start, it wasn't too bad early but as the race went on, it became more crowded. There was even another race going on. Not much the race can do about it and it really wasn't that bad. I don't see any way that the city could control this even if they wanted to.
-parking. As a guy from a small town, I hate paying for parking for any event, but this is Chicago. No avoiding it. Parking wasn't too far away, it made for a good warmup.
-parts of the course, especially mile 12, the pavement was rough and really had to watch your step. Once again, this is an issue for Chicago to work on.

I loved this race and will be on the lookout for the race date for next year.

The 9th annual Fort4Fitness Fall Festival had a new feature to its 2016 event. The Fall Festival has had a half marathon, 10k and 4 mile run in the past, but this year, they added a marathon. For whatever reason, I always said I would not drive an hour and a half to Fort Wayne to run in Fort4Fitness until they added a marathon. To me, Fort Wayne was too big of a city not to have a marathon. Once it was announced that there would be a marathon, I jumped on board and registered.
So the big question, when the marathon was announced, was what will the course be? Probably about a month or two later, it was announced that the course would be a series of 4 loops. The first loop was just passed 3 miles long. 2nd loop was the 10k course, 3rd loop was the half marathon course, and the 4th loop was the 4 mile course.
A lot of people were not happy about the course, and decided not to even run the race. I see some really good advantages to this though. For one, as a race organization, they didn't have to go out and find more volunteers for aid stations. Some of the aid station forvthe marathon were used 4 times by each runner. Also, really didn't need to close off any more streets than they did in past years, just needed to close them off earlier. Are there other places around Fort Wayne to showcase on the marathon course? Probably, but that does require double the resources as they were already using.
The expo is held the day before the even at Parkview Field in downtown. For the size of the event, this was a lot bigger of an expo than I expected. There was a wide selection of race merchandise available as well as a lot of vendors. Packet pick up was quick and easy. Great looking shirts this year as well.
Parking for both the race and expo was right by the baseball stadium. Real convenient. Also on race morning, gear check was available inside the stadium.

For this being the first year of the marathon, I thought that it was very well done and I really don't have anything to complain about.

The course: very nice course. Not the flattest course I have ever ran on, but the hills do keep you honest. If you are close to a Boston Qualifying time, this is a very good option. Also, if you have friends and family who want to come out and watch you run, the looped course makes this very possible. They will see you at least 4 times, and if they move around just right, they could see you probably at least at 8 different points. Also would be easy to and the police did a great job of controlling the crossing car traffic. The course does offer some scenery along a couple of golf courses and some nice neighborhoods where the communities did come out and support the runners. And of course, the finish is awesome. You enter Parkview Field in the left field corner of the stadium and run all the way around the warning track and then to around to the first base and the police did a great job of controlling the crossing car traffic. With everything going on in the country, I made sure to tank each officer I saw on the course. The course does offer some scenery along a couple of golf courses and some nice neighborhoods where the communities did come out and support the runners. And of course, the finish is awesome. You enter Parkview Field in the left field corner of the stadium and run all the way around the warning track and then to around to the first base dugout where the finishline is.

Aid stations: aid stations offered water and Gatorade. They got it right by having the Gatorade first at all the aid stations. Also at the end of each lap was an aid station with Gu. Plenty of volunteers at each station.

Swag: as I stated, the shirts are pretty sweet and the medals looked good to. I don't care much but there really wasn't much difference between the full and half medals. The size were the same, the ribbons were about identical. I would suggest making the full a little bigger.

Post race food: first off, any race that has chocolate milk at the finish is doing it right. They also had apples, bananas, pretzels, and granola. There might have been more, but that's what I got. My only issue was that it wasn't really clear on where the food was. I guess I thought since the concessions were open that there was no free food for runners. I even went back to the hotel to shower before finding it in the tent behind center field.

Would I recommend this race? Absolutely! Come check it out next fall. Great course, great support, great environment.