Hot Chocolate 5k Philadelphia Recap

**Disclaimer:  I received a free race entry as a part of my ambassadorship with Ram Racing and the Hot Chocolate race series.  I was not required to give a positive review and all opinions are my own.**

This weekend absolutely flew by!  It was packed with fun events and I was so glad my brother came to town to share in the fun!  We started the whirlwind weekend with Drafts and Laughs, a fun comedy and beer festival.  The next day we woke up early to introduce Macey to potential adopters.  I'm happy to report that it went well and she is now part of a very loving family.  After giving the pups a nice long walk at the park Saturday afternoon, my brother and I headed to the Nationals game.  In all honesty, the only reason my brother really came was to see the Braves play the Nats, but I'll take any excuse to see him!  We had a great time at the game, but had to leave immediately after to head up to Pennsylvania for the Hot Chocolate 5k in Philadelphia!

After less than 3 hours of sleep, we were up to get ready for the race.  My uncle was running the 5k with us and my cousin and her husband were running the 15k.  Our race started at 7:15, so we left bright and early to make sure we would have plenty of time to park and find our way to the start.  I was thankful that my uncle drove into town, but it turns out that parking was really simple.  We parked for $10 in a garage nearby (pretty sure it was less than a mile) and walked to the start.  There were a ton of portapotties, lots of places to take pictures, and even though there were a lot of people, I never felt crowded.  We snapped some pictures and found our corral.  It was a little chilly, but once we got running I felt fine.

I was really excited by the street name :)

The race went right along the river and was an out and back.  I am a huge fan of running near water, so this made me a happy girl.  Because the course was an out and back, you passed the aid station twice.  They had water and gatorade, and plenty of portapotties on the course as well.  We took it nice and easy and just enjoyed running with each other and didn't worry so much about the pace.

After crossing the finish line we got a cup of gatorade and a bottle of water and headed to get our chocolate!  There was no wait for our finisher mug filled with hot chocolate, fondue, graham crackers, pretzels, a rice krispie treat, banana, and marshmallow and we found a spot by the fountain to eat our goodies.  The treats were delicious and I enjoyed every bite (literally).  My uncle, brother, and I hung out and took pictures (the Rocky statue is at the art museum steps where the race started and finished, so we had to take advantage of the photo op).  We got to see my cousin and her husband finish their race and I think everybody had a great time.

Overall, I had a wonderful time!  The race was extremely well organized, they had amazing volunteers, and I would definitely run it again!  It was a great way to spend the morning with my family!  DC folks, I strongly suggest you take advantage of this race the next time it's in Philly!  It was a HUGE difference from the race we had a couple of years ago and ran so smoothly!  You won't regret it!   Thanks again to Ram Racing and the Hot Chocolate race series for my race entry!    

**Disclaimer:  I received a free race entry as a part of my ambassadorship with Ram Racing and the Hot Chocolate race series.  I was not required to give a positive review and all opinions are my own.**