Chocoholic 5K Superhero Run/Walk Race Report 2018
Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate! We’ll run for chocolate! Even in hot HOT weather!
This was my second year doing this race in Burlington, Wisconsin, aka “Chocolate City USA,” and home of a Nestlé factory.
Our challenge last year was rain and a flooded trail. This year it was steamy temps (82°, “feels like 92°”) and full sun.
Rachel asked if I wanted to do this race then go to a baseball game after (YES, PLEASE!!!), so I planned to run with her. I also invited people at Essential Fitness to come as well, and we had a small group this year.
I was glad on race morning when Rachel said she wanted to take the race easy. Again, YES, PLEASE!! I’d rather take it easy and feel good for the ball game then go all out and feel like crap. No point in that!
So take it easy we did! We ran 9:28, 9:15, 9:28, and 7:54 pace for the last .1. My watch time was 28:59 but my official time is 29:21, so I guess the race was not chipped timed*!
The course was reversed from last year to avoid congestion on bridges (good idea!). We ran through ChocolateFest, along the main strip of town, on the trail (not flooded, yay!) and over the bridges in the park. Most of the race was in the sun, and I was sweating like crazy from the sunscreen I put on before the race. I actually stopped to get water at the halfway point, something I rarely do in a 5K!
I enjoyed chatting with Rachel during the race – it was just like one of our meet-up runs in Burlington! But I was glad when we were done, and I could get in to the shade, and down a bottle of water.
They had rows of Kringle to eat after the race, and six-packs of Crunch bars to take home! I was impressed the chocolate wasn’t melting!
This race is well run, inexpensive, and has awesome swag (cute t-shirt, fun medal, ALL THE CHOCOLATE, free entry to the festival, etc.). I’d do it again! I think I will wait and register on-site next year though. The race started at 9:30 and that’s way too late to be running in those temps (but awesome for not having to stress about getting there early!).
*The race sent an email with our finish times asking if everything was correct and I asked about chip timing and they said “It was chip timed but we use ustaf rules and show gun time.” Ha ha. Okay.
Themocracy
What a fun race! I didn’t know that’s where Nestle is located, so thanks for the education. Always good to know where to find the chocolate, LOL. What is Kringle? I’ve never heard of it.
I wonder if that is one of many plants! Too lazy to look up right now. Maybe later. Ha!
It’s a big oval shaped danish that is local to the area of Wisconsin I live near! It’s a big deal around here. We learned that when we moved to this area of IL! https://www.kringle.com/about/what-is-a-kringle
I think I said this last last year too, but OH MAN does this race sound right up my alley. So much chocolate!!! But you’re definitely right that a 9:30 start time seems way too late for this time of year. I’d be nervous about a 930 start any time after March or so! I’m glad you had a good time, despite the heat 🙂
You should do it! Last minute. If it’s not miserable for a 9:30 race start. Ha!
Wowie wowie… I am not a runner, but I might become one if a six-pack of Crunch bars was waiting for me at the finish line. 😉
Hee hee! I wonder if there is a race like this around you!!!!
Ugh, just reading about the race temperatures made me feel uncomfortable! I’m glad you had a nice time though and decided to run it for fun. Now you have a good memory of it instead of remembering how the heat affected your race performance (and you could enjoy the game, like you said!).
I haven’t had Kringle, but I vaguely plan to make it for my Ameri-cakes project. I’m still not even sure what it is, but the picture of it looks good.There’s chocolate on it, right?
Yes, I am glad it’s a good memory and I didn’t get sick or try to run fast and hate life. BLAH!!!!
Some of them have chocolate! It’s like a big oval danish. We usually get almond (not vegan, but we get them when we have guests).