This is my favorite local race. I will continue to do it every year.

I did the 5K and Half Marathon Challenge (5K Saturday and Half Marathon Sunday). For this you do get an additional "bonus" challenge medal. (Who doesn't love extra swag?!)

First, prices are reasonable, it was $100 for the "Challenge" - both the 5K Saturday and Half Marathon on Sunday. This fee comes with 2 tickets to the festival per day, plus your bib for each day is a ticket in. So essentially 6 tickets (@ $5 each, value of $30 right there!) plus the swag is amazing! Great tech tank top for the Half Marathon (love that it was different from the 5K, so you get two different styles) and the medals are so colorful and really high quality. Like, people will think you just won first place at something extremely important.

Plus you get a really nice post-run breakfast (eggs, hash browns, bacon, muffin or corn bread, apple sauce, yogurt, banana - yes, really, all of that!) AND you get to see the giant hot air balloons and participate in the festival afterwards! The value for what you pay is great and, more importantly, the day itself is just really enjoyable and memorable.

The race management is very organized, packet pickup is a breeze, plenty of volunteers to hand out water and Gatorade at aid stations, plenty of really nice volunteers to help you find your way if needed (though parking and navigation is a BREEZE at this location) and PLENTY of CLEAN porta-potties with the little hand-sanitizer stations (runners, you know how much this means!!). And Go-Go Squeez (apple sauce) was handed out at mile 8, which is what I use for run-fuel anyway after the 1st Plano Balloon half. Much easier on the tummy than gels! All the little details just really make this race enjoyable.

As for the race itself, the Half Marathon elevation is a bit challenging, nothing to extreme, but not flat. The course scenery is AMAZING. Especially this year - the balloons were flying around just right over our heads! It was truly an unforgettable sight. I love the size of this race - not too big (you have space) but not tiny. Just right.

Overall I would 100% recommend this race to anyone and will continue to do it year after year. For what it's worth, this is (so far) my only "tradition" race that I do yearly. Love it so much!

This is still absolutely my favorite local race. I will continue to do it every year.

Prices are reasonable, it was $100 for the "Challenge" - both the 5K Saturday and Half Marathon on Sunday. Your fee comes with 2 tickets to the festival per day, plus your bib for each day is a ticket in. So essentially 6 tickets (@ $5 each, value of $30 right there!) plus the swag is amazing! Great tech tee for the 5K and the medals are so colorful and really high quality. Plus you get a really nice post-run breakfast (eggs, has browns, bacon, muffin, apple sauce, yogurt, banana - yes, really!) AND get to see the hot air balloons and participate in the festival afterwards! The value for what you pay is great and, more importantly, the day itself is just really enjoyable.

The race management is very organized, packet pickup is a breeze, plenty of volunteers to hand out water and Gatorade at aid stations, plenty of really nice volunteers to help you find your way if needed (though parking and navigation is a BREEZE at this location) and PLENTY of CLEAN porta-potties with the little hand-sanitizer stations. All the little details just really make this race enjoyable.

As for the race itself, the 5K elevation isn't anything too notable, it is an out-and-back route which I did not mind at all (3 miles goes by quick either way) and the course is nice. I love the size of this race - not too big (you have space) but not tiny. Just right.

Overall I would recommend this race to anyone and will continue to do it year after year. For what it's worth, this is (so far) my only "tradition" race that I do yearly. Love it!

Overall, I would do this race again and enjoyed it. It was not easy, though! The elevation difficulty is very apparent and the time of the year is right when it starts getting warm (hot and humid) in Texas. Don't let this deter you, but do be prepared. After training in the cool/cold weather, this may be your first hot run of the year... throw in lots of hills, and it makes for a great challenge. Especially if you do the 5K the day before (Remix Challenge), which I totally recommend!

The swag is awesome, especially if you do the 5K AND Half Marathon (Remix Challenge). You will receive 3 amazing medals. The T-shirts are nice, technical shirts.

The expo was great - not TOO big but a good size. Lots of vendors, samples, freebies, and lots of runners. It was located at the Convention Center, which is huge. Parking was a little packed but that's to be expected. Be sure to have your signed form and ID to pick up your bib in order for everything to run smoothly and you should be golden.

Race day went smoothly, parked in a parking garage near the start line Downtown. The start line was really easy to find - you could hear the announcer and see runners gathered. There were plenty of porta-potties, very organized gear check (with UPS trucks that followed you to the finish line), and well-labeled corrals. I had plenty of time to park, use a porta-potty and check my bag before heading my corral.

Course scenery is GREAT. Especially going over the bridge. Yes, the elevation was tough, but worth it in my opinion. Again, it's a FUN race but not be the ideal race for a PR for all, though, because of the hills and Texas weather. There was also entertainment, stages set up with bands playing, men on stilts, a guy juggling, etc...

The aid stations were mostly fine, one table only had Gatorade though and on the end a girl frantically scooping water out of a bucket and handing them out one by one (nobody wants Gatorade!!!). I heard that people towards the back of the pack had issues with aid stations/access to water, which is unacceptable for such a huge event... but in my OWN personal experience, I had plenty of water available to me. There was also a station with Glukos gels and gummies, which was nice.

The finish line experience was really great. Awesome medals, not any special food really (bananas, chocolate milk, granola bars), photographers there to take your pic with a back-drop, an area to get a beer, lots of grass to plop down and hang out with run buddies, a little pop-up shop with gear for sale... and food trucks! There were at least two food trucks parked nearby for rungry runners. It was really nice.

Overall, I thought this was a REALLY FUN race, very well-organized and I would recommend it and do it again!

Very well-organized event overall. Parking was extremely easy (there's parking surrounding Fair Park and instructions of which gates to park at were emailed to us beforehand) which is a huge thing for me. Scenery was fine - the route goes through Fair Park in Downtown Dallas, so its what you'd expect in a city (scenery is relative... it just depends on what you're looking for). The elevation wasn't difficult but wasn't 100% flat. There were one or two water stations that not many people seemed to stop at so I believe they were adequately stocked up on water (they were when I passed by). The entertainment was nice, at least one stage was set up on course with a band playing. Gear check was easy and porta-potties were plentiful and very close to the start line. The finish line was OK - received a GREAT medal, then some pretzels and a granola bar... nothing special snack-wise and no vendors there, which was fine for a quick 5K in my opinion. There was no "results" tent and no awards or recognition at all for winners/top 3/age group, which I thought was odd for such a big race, but think of this 5K more of an "add on" to the Half Marathon. After doing the Half the next day, I realized THAT was the real event. Much bigger event, more runners, awards, the whole sha-bang. If you're up for a challenge I recommend doing both the 5K and the Half! You get 3 medals and will have a really fun weekend.

This is overall a great race! Well organized and I will definitely do it again and recommend to others.

As for pre-race - their communication is EXCELLENT. They send you a few emails before the race with really, really easy access to all the information you may need for race day. I could just refer to that email and click what I needed - address, expo info, start time, anything. That was a really helpful small detail.

The expo was in Fair Park, where the race was (Downtown Dallas). It was nice - it was $5 to park to get in (though it is also really accessible via the DART - our public transportation), then you walk to the Auto building and there's a big space, photo ops (blow up mugs and marshmallows), and a nice variety of booths. My dad went with me and noted that it was very female-oriented, which was true. Nothing to deter men from this race, just something we noticed. There were maybe 15 booths (?) set up - not a HUGE expo, but a good size. There was a lot of Hot Chocolate 5K/15K gear for sale including 2XU socks (my personal fav), sweaters, zip-ups, T-shirts, headbands, gloves... everything! Everything I want in an expo in my opinion.

The swag was AWESOME! A hoodie?! And great quality at that... I will definitely wear it a lot. It runs true to size... I am usually a small on top but got a medium because I like a baggy fit for hoodies and it was just that.

The aid stations were great... plentiful, many very friendly volunteers, had water and Nuun hydration and marshmallows! The water was in white cups and the Nuun was in blue, so you easily knew which cup to grab.

The scenery was fine - it is in the middle of Dallas so it was to be expected... lots of concrete (not a green/nature scenery if you're looking for that). The course was good, well marked... with excited and friendly volunteers with flags at any big turn.

The course was fairly hilly. Pretty much a constant up or downhill the whole time with one extremely steep up/down section around mile 8, up and down the bridge. It was fine (tough! but fine) in my opinion because there was always a downhill for each uphill!

The finish line experience was great - really awesome volunteers congratulated runners with excitement hand them their medal and they make their way to get the "Finisher's Mug" which is an awesome post-run treat with a big marshmallow, pretzels, a banana, and other dippers along with a big side of chocolate and, of course, a cup of hot chocolate! They had this very well organized - I didn't even have to wait at all for my mug. They even had plastic bags available to take your mug home without making a chocolate disaster all over your car! That little detail was also really nice.

There was a huge space where gear check was that was indoors that was a really nice place to hang before and after the race to stay warm. I went there post-run and hung out and ate my chocolate goodies as did most runners (it was a cold morning - VERY cold for us Texans).

Miscellaneous: there were plenty of porta-potties, an indoor restroom on the walk from the parking lot to race start, a Kid's Zone (I don't know specific details as I don't have kids), porta potties available along the way on the run route, medical tents available, and the HC merchandise was also available again for purchase on race day before and after the run. Because of the organization, there were NO long lines in my experience - for gear check or anything! - with the exception on the indoor restrooms (to be expected).

Overall, wonderful race management and organization! Everything ran extremely smoothly and I love the small details that were put into this race. Highly recommend!