I have ran the Go! Half Marathon 3 years in a row. I absolutely love this race. Yes, many people will complain about the hills. I guess it's a pretty big deal when they have to name a 2 mile section that is almost all uphill (The Holy Hill). However, being from St. Louis and being accustomed to the elevation, I don't mind the hills in this race. I might be kind of weird, but I like long rolling hills. This race is organized by the city of St. Louis and they do a superb job year after year. Everything is so nicely organized, from the Expo to the corrals, to the incredible post race food. Um, yeah, the food...Oh my goodness, I think that is why I PR every year at this race. It is because I am picturing the Ted Drew's ice cream sandwich, the toasted ravioli, the fresh pretzels and those awesome little PB&J graham crackers they hand out after the race! If you are thinking about running this race, don't hesitate. Just do it! The electric atmosphere will spur you on to one of your best races.

I had some hesitation about running the St. Louis Hot Chocolate 15k. I had heard some very negative reviews about some of their races in other cities. However, I signed up early, it was cheap and well, I love chocolate. So, why not? I will start with the Expo. It was located in the St. Louis Union Station. It was somewhat small, but had some nice booths set up from some of your favorite vendors. The packet pickup was organized so well! The hoodie that you receive is really top quality. I love it, and have worn it often since then. So, fast forward to the race. It was an unseasonably cold December morning for Missouri. That is basically the only downfall I can think of for the whole race, which obviously was out of their control. The corral system was more organized than any race I've ever run, even much larger races. The course itself was nice, not overly scenic, but not bad either. Overall, not very hilly at all. Okay, so, down to the part we all really want to know about. The chocolate. Along with water, they have rich hot chocolate to drink. The delicious melted chocolate fondue comes in a cute little keepsake bowl. It includes fun little dippers like a banana, a cookie, pretzels and marshmallows. The only issue was the before mentioned extreme cold. The chocolate was frozen solid before I could really enjoy it. Wasn't too big of a deal for me, since I was cold and kind of wanted to get home anyway. I just took it home and heated it up later. I was recently reading that this year they are also including a cool finisher's medal. You know this means I am going to have to do this race again?