Race: Allstate Hot Chocolate 15k Seattle
Runner: Abi H
Date: 3/04/2018
Location: Seattle, WA
Results: 1:21:07
Strava Activity Link: https://www.strava.com/activities/1436735689/overview
3 Bests – What aspects of the race did you like the most?
My hometown is Kirkland, so race in Seattle is very convenient as I don’t have to travel. Street parking is usually available for early birds, and they are free on a Sunday. They have great swags. I like this year’s stretchy zippered long shirt, and love their medal design too!
For after race party, they have a bowl of goodies filled with hot chocolate (duh!), ginormous sized melted chocolate for dipping, pretzels, cookies and banana. I usually only consume the banana, hot chocolate and pretzels.
Not so much – Aspects of the race that didn’t do it for you
Since the race is in early March, Seattle weather is a crapshoot (well, that probably holds true for the rest of the 11 months in Seattle). Rain can very well be part of the festivity. We lucked out on the weather this time, it was cold (but not that cold) and dry.
Hills! The constant endless rolling hills could be bothersome if not prepared.
You have to bring your own fueling packets, unless you’re into sweet treats. They have marshmallows, chocolate and tootsie rolls for fueling. Really?
Weird factor – What’s the weirdest thing about this race?
The chocolate galore! There are variety of different pace time pacers on all corrals from D on, so after turning around you’ll see all kind of pace numbers behind you.
Highlights of your race – What did you do well and enjoy about your race in particular?
I did really well running the downhills to make up some time lost going uphills. I had absolutely no cramps during the race and after the race, which is a first for a medium range race with rolling hills. I had 3 official true PRs in this race: 5k, 10k and 15k, which is good and bad.
Lessons Learned – Share your pro-tips on the race to help the next runner or yourself on the next time around
There are a lot of buildings in downtown Seattle, plus a fairly long tunnel. So GPS isn’t that accurate. I brought foot pod as well with me for pace display, and used GPS for distance. Both sensors were not accurate at all, so I was going blind in the beginning of the race. I ran way too fast in the beginning – which is where the 5k & 10k PRs came from. I think if I had paced myself correctly in the beginning, I could’ve really used the energy to plow through long downhills in the second half.
Most important course specific knowledge to know about the race
Gotta train for the hills and know where to slow down and push through.
Organized and well run – Did it feel like a well-oiled machine or were they flying by the seat of their pants?
The race was very well organized with lots of goodies and nice swag. Event was on time.
Logistics – Anything special regarding getting to/from the race, hotels around the course, registration…?
This was a local race for me, so everything was within reach. But there are plenty of hotels around.
Weather and typical race conditions
It’s usually cold with about 50% chance of rain.
Spectators – Is this a friendly course for your friends?
It is spectators friendly.
How’s the swag?
I’ve got really nice stretchy long sleeves shirt with zipper this year. Very nice color and material. Much better than last year’s cotton sweater jacket.
The Overall Score – How many stars do you give this race and do you recommend that others run it?
I highly recommend this race (*****). My wife and my daughter also ran this race and we’re registering for next year’s again.
