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!

The Madison Half Marathon was held on November 13th this year in Madison Wisconsin. The race starts and ends at the Capitol on a loop that takes you close to Lake Mendota, past Tenney Park, past Burrows Park, past Warner Park and then back again to Capitol Square. In addition to the half marathon there is also a full marathon option. Registration for this race is on a tiered system (the closer you get to race day, the more you will pay to race).  The cost to run started at $65 and ended at $110 if you wanted to sign up  to run while at the expo.
 
Expo:
The expo was held at Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center, which is only a few blocks from the Capitol, which would be convenient for race participants staying in a hotel close to the start/finish line. I drove to the expo and found on street parking less than a block away that cost me $2 for 2 hours at the meter. This expo wasn't as big as others I have been to, but still had a variety of vendors there that could cover most all your running needs. Although I didn't end up buying anything here, I did still manage to look around for probably an hour or so.
 
Packet Pickup:
Packet Pickup was in the back of the expo. There were no lines when I was there, so getting my bib involved me walking to the table and showing the volunteer my bib number and an ID. I was provided with a plastic bag, my bib, a few fliers in the bag, and a gender specific long sleeve technical shirt! The bib was personalized by having my first names displayed across it!! To check that my race chip worked I had to go to the opposite corner of the expo. This was fine as it was next to one of the ways out of the expo, but I would have preferred the chip check to be next to the packet pickup table.
 
Pre-Race:
Parking: I got dropped off at the starting line by my sister-in-law , so I did not have to deal with parking, but from what I could see, there was plenty of open on street parking spots available (which was free on Sundays). 
 
Drop Bag: I found out the night before the race that I could use either the plastic bag I was provided with when I got my bib, or my own bag, as the clothing drop bag at the starting line. I wish I would have known this earlier, as I did not have a good bag of my own to use, and the bags we got at the expo did not have a cinch top to secure my clothing and wallet in. To make due I just tied the entire top of the plastic bag in a knot when it was ready to get dropped off. I looked on their website and didn't see anything that indicated you could use your own bag for a drop bag, and on the starting area map we were provided with there was no indication of where the drop spot was located at. I think this is one area they could improve upon for next year. Luckily enough, when I was actually at the starting area, the drop spot was clearly marked and easy enough to get to.
 
Porta-Potties There were plenty of porta-potties available at the start, and the lines moved surprising quick for having the half and full marathon start within 10 minutes of each other.
 
Starting line: The starting line was about half way down Mifflin St. with the half and full marathon racers starting on that block. While standing at the starting line, this race gave me more of a smaller town feel (I believe there was just under 3000 runners in the half). With this being Madison I had figured the race size to be larger. There were pacers with pace flags clearly identified in the corals, with the corals being self seeded for the runners. This meant you were able to go to where ever you felt your pace group was. The weather the morning of the race was 39 degrees out (but I think my phone said it felt like 33). I was able to run in a tank top and shorts, with arm sleeves. 
 
Race:
The course is a circular route that starts and ends at the Capitol. There were spectators on the course, but overall it was pretty spotty on where they were located. There were two bigger hills, one after mile 7 and one after mile 12. The plus side to this was that there was an almost equally large downhill that followed each of these uphills. The course in general was through a lot of residential neighborhoods. A lot of the course was on one side of a street where there could be traffic on the other side. There was plenty of volunteers present to help with traffic and direct runners if needed.

Aid Stations: There were a lot of water stations throughout this course. Each station had water, Gatorade, and porta-potties. There was at least one water station that also had GU for the runners.
 
Post-Race:
I was provided with a finisher medal once I crossed the finish line. The medal had a scenic view of the Capitol skyline which was really cool, and memorable for where the race was located. I was also provided with a heat sheet and a bottle of water as I made my way to the post race finisher picture area. Did I mention that all race photos are FREE at this race!! And they were provided to us the very next day (VERY QUICK TURN AROUND)! This race also had a race results tent that gave you a printout of what your finish time was, along with overall place.

The post-race food and drinks consisted of water, chocolate milk, bananas, oranges, and a Panera Bread bag lunch (I got the turkey sandwich, bag of chips, and a cookie). There was also a ham or veggie sandwich option. I also got 1 free Michelob Ultra beer for finishing the race! In addition to all of this, there was also a band, Wheelhouse, playing music for the spectators and runners.

Overall:
For me I went into the race knowing I wasn't going for a PR due to just completing a full marathon a month ago, but I still had a goal of finishing in under a 1:50. This course definitely helped make this possible, and I was able to finish in a 1:48:27 with my family cheering me on as I crossed the finish line!

This race is about 4 1/2 hours from my house in MN, so I made the trip with my family and stayed at my in-laws house in Madison all weekend. It was nice having the start and end of the race in Capitol Square. The size of the race was really nice and didn’t make for much congestion at all. For a November race, the weather couldn’t have been better. I would recommend this race to others looking for a well organized, late season fall race! In addition to the race being well organized, they were also very active on social media providing need to know information leading up to the race weekend!

Expo:

Lots of vendors and being from MN it was great to see MN gear present.
Went on Saturday at 2pm (2nd day of expo). A lot of the clothing merchandise I was interested in buying from the Brooks store was already out of size medium products. (Brooks had the biggest vendor spot with the largest selection of Twin Cities Marathon merchandise, so this was disappointing as there was some really cool items there that I would have liked to have added to my running collection. I still managed to find some great stuff, but probably would have doubled the amount bought if more items were in my size.

Packet Pickup was located at the expo. There were no lines at the time I went there and was able to get my packet, including my bib, with no wait. Each year for the 10-miler and marathon you are given an extra gift in your packet pickup bag. This year it was a TC Marathon winter hat. I was happy with the gift, especially because it is an extra item they give above and beyond the finisher shirt, but I would have been happier had it been made for running (made out of some sort of running material).

Drop Bags. These were not very high quality. My wife, both friends we went to the expo with, and myself all had our bags rip while we were walking around the expo and we had to go back to the packet pickup stand and ask for another bag since we were all using the back drop the next morning.

Pre-Race:

Transportation: I drove myself and parked next to the very last light rail stop in downtown Minneapolis (this was right next to the Twins Stadium). Being a little ways from the Vikings Stadium, where the race started, meant that I didn't have to pay for event parking (since there was a Vikings game at noon the same day as the race). Parking cost my $3 for 6 hours of parking. The light rail was free to runners the entire weekend so I didn't have to pay for that. The Vikings Stadium was about 5 stops away from where I got on the light rail and only took about 10 minutes. This also dropped us off right next to the start of the race. It doesn't get much easier than that. Another added bonus is that the light rail also goes pretty close to the finish line, so I was able to get on the light rail after the race in St Paul and take it all the way back to my car in Minneapolis.

Bag drop was very organized based on which coral you were in. The people taking bags made sure that the correct bags were getting into the correct trucks.

There were plenty of port-a-potties at the starting line. And since the 10-miler had started an hour prior to the marathon start, there were additional port-a-potties about a block further away that really had no line, so obviously I just walked a bit further and found one empty right away.

Race:

I think the temperature at the starting line was around 35 degrees. I was still able to wear shorts, tank top, and arm warmers and was perfectly fine waiting for the race to start.

The course was very beautiful and takes you around many lakes (Lake of the Isles, Lake Calhoun, Lake Harriet, and Lake Nokomis) in Minneapolis and then along the Mississippi River. This scenery really makes you forget that you are right in the heart of Minneapolis and St Paul. Crowd support was fantastic!! There were people cheering throughout the entire course.

This course was very flat until you get to mile 20. From mile 20 through mile 26 I felt like I was constantly going uphill. There is one longer gradual incline around mile 20, and then a bunch of short steeper hills the rest of the way. This is definitely not the easiest on the legs after they have already put in 20 miles.

Post-Race:

Immediately after crossing the finish line I was awarded my medal. This gold designed medal is amazing. The way it catches the light with the curves is just so different from medals from other races.

Post-race food included Powerade, water, fruit cup, chips, nut rolls, chocolate milk, vegetable and chicken broth, and bagel bites.

Drop bag pickup area: I walked right over to my bib line to get my bag. There was no line and they had my bag to me within 10 seconds, THIS WAS AMAZING!! One of the things I hate about checking a bag is the massive lines that ensue at the finish to get your bag back. I must say, this was the fastest I have ever gotten my bag post-race before.

Finisher shirt line: Again this was really quick. I think it took about 30 seconds once I found my line (shirt size medium line) to get my shirt. My first thought on the design of the shirt was that "These shirts are bright" and wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing. The more I thought about it, the more I liked the shirt and was so happy to add a bright shirt to my collection. With it getting closer to winter and there being less and less sunlight during the day, this bright shirt will help with visibility on future training runs. There was also a shirt exchange table set up right next to the finisher shirt table incase the size didn't fit. Mine fit fine so no need to exchange.

Massage Tent: I was told the wait time would be about 10 minutes, and I think it was closer to 5 than 10...how can you beat this short of a wait for a free massage. While I waited a man walked down the line to make sure that everyone waiting was doing ok and to see if anyone needed any help. There was also a lady following close behind him offering more vegetable and chicken broth if people wanted it.

The massage tent was heated and I can honestly say that this felt like one of the best massages I have ever had. I asked the lady who was giving me my massage to concentrated entirely on my legs...amazing!! I don’t know if it was how sore I was, or just how good it felt to lay down for a bit after the race that made this experience so good, but either way, I was really happy I made the time for it!

Beer garden (Summit Beer): I received a free drink ticket on my bib for racing the marathon. Summit Brewery gave all finishers a free beer in the beer garden area. There was plenty of space to stretch out and there were speakers set up in the beer garden so we could still hear the announcers at the finish line.

Overall Thoughts:
This was a local race for me. The scenery was beautiful and that alone made the race worth it. For me personally this was my first marathon in 8 years and I trained really hard for it, so the feeling of accomplishment after the race made it that much more special to me. I would highly recommend this race to others looking for a good fall race with a relatively flat course. Just make sure to incorporate some hill workouts into your training cycle so that you are ready for the last few miles of the race!!

The Lululemon Seawheeze Half Marathon was held on Saturday, August 13, 2016 this year. This race is held in Vancouver BC Canada, so was a destination race for me and my wife (we live in Minnesota).

Registration:
Registration for this half marathon cost CA $128 (with the conversion rate at the time it cost me US $97.93). This online registration took place in mid September 2015 and each year it sells out faster than the last. This year I believe it sold out in 30 minutes, so you need to be at your computer and ready to register right when it opens up.

Swag:
Personally I think for the cost of entry, the swag you receive can’t be beat. Instead of a technical finisher shirt at the end of the race, you are mailed a pair of Lululemon running shorts in advance of the training time needed to run this race so that you can use them while training. The shorts this year were mailed out at the beginning of May 2016 for the race in August 2016.

In addition to these running shorts, you also receive additional swag at the race packet pickup the day prior to the race. This year I received a Seawheeze gym bag (which was also used as the bag drop bag), a pair of sunglasses, a tube of Nuun, and a Seawheeze water bottle. Again, for the price of entry, you can’t beat the amount of swag you receive.

Expo:
The Seawheeze half marathon doesn’t have the typical expo that you would think it would. There are no venders selling anything at this race. Instead there is a showcase store open the day before the race (available only to runners for the first 4 hours and then open to the public after that). This showcase store features Lululemon merchandise that is specific to the Seawheeze event. If you like Lululemon apparel, then this is the place to buy some additional gear that no one else will have outside of people attending this event.

In addition to this showcase store, there is also vendors present from 7am to 8pm the Friday prior to the Saturday race, but everything there is free. Some of the vendors present for this included nuun, KIND, Clearly (the company they partnered with to provide the sunglasses we received), JJ Bean (a cold press coffee), Vega, Qoola, Saje Wellness, and others I am sure I am forgetting. In addition to these, they were providing free haircuts/beard trims for guys (of course I partook in this), hair styling and nails painted for the ladies, airbrushed Seawheeze designed tattoos, and Yoga classes (classes were at 9am, noon, and 7pm).

Course:
This is a very nice scenic course. the first few miles are working your way out of town, then you head past the Lululemon headquarters and make your way down to the Vancouver Seawall for basically the remainder of the run, with a short time spent running through Stanley Park. To me the weather seemed hot and I was completely in the sun the entire time I was on the seawall, but can’t really complain about nice weather. Nuun was at the aid stations throughout the course which was amazing to have. Since this course was marked in kilometers instead of miles I was never really sure where the next aid station would be (I need to work on my conversion from miles to kilometers I guess), but there was definitely plenty of aid stations on the course. There were also many many cheering stations set up throughout the course. I am one who always runs with headphones on to take my mind off of the run, but for this race I didn’t have them turned on beyond the first 0.5 miles. There was so much going on and people cheering us on throughout the entire course that I felt I would be missing out on all the action if I listed to my headphones.

The only down fall to this course was that in order to run past the Lululemon headquarters you have to basically do an out and back route that has you at one point running down the right side of the street and then you completely turn around and start running back along the left side of the road. I know that it is important to run by the headquarters, so I guess this is understandable, just not a typical route you would find on a half marathon course.

Medal:
I really liked this year’s medals. The medal provided is kept a secret until you see it when you cross the finish line, which I like. This keeps you looking forward to seeing it when you cross that line. The medal this year was heavy duty, large, and kept with the theme of this year’s race “Agents of Change”. The outside of the medal also had a secret code going all the way around it for you to figure out.

Post Race:
After crossing the finish line you have to continue walking (uphill) to get to the post race food, but the upside to this walk was additional swag. We were first provided with smart water and a cold wash cloth, then a Lululemon bag to put stuff in, then additional samples from Saje, KIND, nuun, Vega, and then a Seawheeze hat. Again, how can you beat the amount of stuff provided for the cost to register for the race!!

The post race food was a breakfast sandwich, grapes, and a cherry tart. All of this was very good and filling! There was also a message and chiropractor room set up for runners. The wait for this was about 30 minutes.

Sunset Festival:
Instead of having a celebration right after the race, Lululemon puts on a sunset yoga class and concert in Stanley Park that night (again, entry to this was covered by your registration to the race). This year there were 3 performers at this concert. Openers were ‘Youngblood’ and ‘Dear Rogue’ with the headliner being ‘Chromeo’. Stanley Brewing Company even created a beer for the Seawheeze festival which was sold there in additional to other beer options of theirs. There were also vendors selling merchandise here and food vendors selling food. Such a great end to the race day!

Overall:
I really enjoyed this race for all that it had to offer. This included the showcase store, full day of activities the day prior to the race, a very nice scenic course to run, all the fan support cheering you on, nuun at the aid stations, sunset festival, and of course the swag.

To caveat, since I live in Minnesota, I also had to pay for the flight to Vancouver and the cost of the hotel room for the weekend, which made this race a lot more expensive than any other race I will do this year. Since my wife and I used this as a vacation as well as a race it was well worth the cost, but I will have to keep this in mind when considering running this race again next year.

This is a 10k race held in Tower MN on the 4th of July. This race is run on paved running/biking trails. The trail is part of the Mesabi Trail, which is over 100 miles of paved trails in Northern Minnesota. This was the 34th annual running of this race and my first time running it.

Being that this is a more local race there was no expo or swag to go along with the running. I would guess there was about 80 people running this race this year. I was able to sign up for this race the morning of with no hassle.

Race:
This race starts and ends right off of the main street of Tower. Once you start you are immediately surrounded by trees and forest on both sides of the trail. For me this was great. I love running in locations with natural life scenery, but I also like running on roads, so to have the paved trails made this perfect. The first 4.5 miles are on this paved trail. After that you have to run on one of the roads for about 0.5 miles before getting back on the trail to finish up the 10k distance. There is one large incline in elevation on the first half of this race, but there is an equally large decline on the second half of the race. There were two aid stations along the route, which felt like the right amount for this distance. My family cheered me on and I was able to stop and talk to them for a bit at mile 4.5 where I got a flower from my daughter that I carried with me to the finish. This small town feel was highlighted with this encounter with my family because in a larger race it would have been hard to find them and definitely not ideal to stop and talk to them.

Post-Race:
This race was not chip timed, but as soon as I crossed the finish line there was someone there to take my bib number. After waiting about 15 minutes post race I was able to see the leader board and found that I finished 14th male overall!! There was also water and watermelon available for the finishers. You could purchase a race shirt at the finish line if you wanted.

Final Thoughts:
Being from this Northern Minnesota area as a kid, it was great to get back up to this area and be able to get out and run a fun race on the 4th of July. I will for sure run this race again next year if I am in the area and will try to increase my position on that leaderboard!