Monday, October 28, 2013

Getting Ready for Hot Chocolate

The much maligned Hot Chocolate 15k will take place on Sunday. The main gripes with last year's race were the disastrous packet pickup, and the uninteresting/potentially dangerous course. The lines at the packet pickup were, according to reports, up to three hours long, outdoors in the cold. As far as the race course, it was on some of the most boring stretches of the city including the dark, concrete portions of lower Wacker Drive, and one lane of Lake Shore Drive against on-coming traffic (runners were separated by moving cars by those tiny orange pylons). For a 15k that costs nearly $80, these things are unacceptable. I know of at least two seasoned runners that make a point of avoiding this race because of its blatant failings. However the race attracts about the same number of "runners" as the Chicago Marathon (36,000). I say "runners" because the race is mainly in place for the casual/non-runners who seem to be attracted to the the race because:

  • They are in it for the "chocolate" part of the race, 
  • They are in it for the goody bag sweatshirt (you see them all over the city during the months after the race)
  • It takes place in early November at a time when not much else is going on
Luckily, my experience with the 2012 Hot Chocolate 15k was better than most. In a stroke of luck, I sold my Hot Chocolate goody bag sweatshirt on eBay, so I recouped most of my $77 entry fee. In another stroke of luck my neighbor was able to go to packet pickup so I was spared the three-hour-line pain. I also got a ride from the same neighbor. We drove from my house to Grant Park Garage and we parked directly under the start line. After the race I met Kelly for the first time then went out for Bloody Marys at a bar across the street from the race. So, in short a quite enjoyable experience!

Since my experience with the 2012 edition of the race was a 7/10 instead of the 3/10 that a lot of people experienced, I was willing to give the Hot Chocolate a second go. Besides being a sucker for massive downtown races, I was convinced once I saw the 2013 race map which shows that the course will be much more interesting, including running three miles of the Chicago Marathon stretch of Michigan Ave. (in reverse).  They have also eliminated the dangerous stretch on LSD. On top of that, the packet pickup will be inside McCormick place with an additional pickup day on Thursday. So, the race was obviously listening to the complaints and made appropriate fixes.
To see how big the race is check out this video I shot (about 15 minutes after I had finished the 15k in 1 hour 2 minutes!) of the masses of people still running the first portion of the race:



So after signing up for the race, I ran a test run eight miler by the lakefront yesterday:
Belmont Harbor

I took the pace a little too quickly to start (what else is new?), but reeled myself in by mile four. In any case, it was a gorgeous day for a run.

My splits

Ideally at the Hot Chocolate on Sunday, I'd like to break my 15k PR I set last year, but am not sure I can hold the 6:45 pace for that long. My only shot at a PR will be if I run negative splits, so I will focus on that and let the chips fall where they may. At the very least I'll be in it for the chocolate... :)

14 comments:

  1. I'd be one of the people that would do it for the hoodie or whatever they give out. I see a lot of them!
    I have to say, i really hate going down that part of Michigan Ave.

    Good luck out there! i'll be doing some miles up north!

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    1. Yes, that hoodie is the most popular winter running attire in the entire city! Yeah, that part of Michigan Ave can bring back some memories of the marathon. At least go down it in reverse! Have fun running up North on Sunday!

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  2. I did the Hot Chocolate in 2011 and 2012, and although the run itself was really good (2011 actually helped kick off my fitness/weight loss journey, and 2012 was a PR by more than a minute!), my experiences with pick-up and other race logistics were just really bad both years. In 2011 I got the wrong, horribly-sized jacket TWICE, which was frustrating, and last year I had to wait in line in the cold for over an hour. It was at Soldier Field, which was not convenient, and they charged for parking at pick-up, which was a little ridiculous. I'll be interested to hear if they really do get it together this year though, I've gotten a few emails from the race organizers saying that it should be a better experience. Maybe I'd give it another shot some year, but for the price, I expect a good overall experience, not just a nice hoodie (which seems to be what they're selling).

    Anyway, sorry to rant :) I'm willing to bet that you could hold that pace for the whole race, and if you're not doing the TT half at the end of the month after all, no reason not to just go for it!

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    1. That stinks that they gave you the wrong jacket twice, and the wait in the cold for over an hour is unacceptable for a stupid packet pickup (for anything really, except sausage). From your comment, I just realized I got those e-mails from the race organizers and forgot to use the discount code they contained when I registered! D'oh! Anyway, even if it is as good/bad as last year, I will probably break even selling the swag and then I will be yet another runner to drop out of the Hot Chocolate permanently.

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  3. I am with you in that I have heard the same AWFUL comments on Hot Chocolate in years past, but was still tempted to run it because there really aren't a lot of races in November. The changes they've made this year sound very promising! So I am looking forward to hearing how things go. That is awesome that you were able to sell a prior-year's goody bag on eBay, btw. What a great way to make some use out of the swag that starts piling up on us runners that do a lot of races!

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    1. Yes, it will be interesting to see how things go this year. I think they are close to a sellout according to an e-mail I got last week, so lots of people must have not cared about the issues last year or they are all new runners. Yes, selling shirts and stuff I'll never wear helps recoup lots of my entry fees!

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  4. Wow - you finished the race before I even started... Outside of my issues with packet pickup, I was so angry that they closed the second wave corrals only 10 minutes after the first wave corrals but then made us wait around for so long. I know you can wait over an hour to start the marathon but I waited that long to start a 5K and there were still probably 10 or so corrals behind me. THAT was the last straw for me. That wait caused my toes to feel like blocks of ice which made it physically painful to actually run.

    Hopefully they improve this year...

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    1. Waiting in the corrals for over an hour in the cold is not good. I wonder why they did that? That's another strike negative regarding last year's race. Hope your toes are okay now! :)

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  5. Good luck. I didn't run it in 2012 so I was spared all that hassle. I did the 15k in 2010 and the 5k in 2011 and neither were that bad. But the race was sold last year and that's why the chaos right?? In any event...I hope they learned!

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    1. Thanks! Looks like they might be sold out again this year, so we'll see what happens! :)

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  6. I have never run this race because of all the awful things I hear. I sounds though like they are taking the concerns in stride and making improvements. Good luck snagging that PR!

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  7. I will think of you, when I am enjoying my extra hour of sleep on Sunday morning :)

    Good luck!

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  8. Blaze this weekend! I'll be thinking about you. I did this back in 2010, around ~15 weeks pregnant, and I remember being unimpressed. The packet pick-up was only in the days leading up to the event at the Great Hall (in Union Station), so it was a total PITA for suburban folks who don't live here. The course that year was worthless, too--basically just running south on LSD, on the path, and then coming back. (I am totally spoiled living here though; I usually don't want to pay to run on what I run most every day!) Anyway, interesting to hear that things should be better. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you :)

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