Hubby and I participated in the Hot Chocolate 5k/15K yesterday AM. It was madness. We stayed at the National Harbor for the weekend and we were so happy that we did. We got their on Friday afternoon and no one knew where the expo was. We finally found a post online that another participant had posted showing were the expo was. We went and got our stuff and roamed around. As far as an expo goes, I could give a C. Yes there was a lot of stuff to buy, but since it was all one vendor there were not great prices. Also I had to change my jacket to a Men's Large. The jackets ran crazy small. I got a hat in my bag, but my hubby did not. No idea why. Also upon checking, my hubby has a jacket from the Chigaco race.
Race day morning: we get up around 6:30 and eat and hydrate. We leave our hotel at 7:45 to head to the start for the 15k which is supposed to start at 8am. Ummm it was a LONG walk to the start. We get there a few mins after 8 and the 5k hasn't even started yet. Also on the walk over, we could see tons of traffic trying to get into the National Harbor, some people were jumping out of cars to get to the race on time. We are sitting around waiting for the races to start and finally the 5k waves start. As the last one is getting ready to start we decide to ditch the 15k and jump into the 5k.
The 5K:
We start the race at a nice jog...for about 100 yards. Then we are forced to walk as the course narrows and bottlenecks. We felt like we were in rush hour traffic on the way to work. We finally get past that area and start to jog only to once again be forced to walk due to the course narrowing. We end up just walking the rest of the course. After the finish line, you then have to hike it up a big ass hill to get your fondue and hot chocolate. I gave my fondue ticket to a little kid but I did get my hot chocolate. Then I had to walk a mile back to the hotel.
NEVER AGAIN!
Here are some others people's opinions on the race:
http://carlybananas.com/2011/12/04/hot-chocolate-5k-recap/
http://dinedashdeadlift.com/2011/12/04/a-bad-day-running-beats-a-good-day-in-the-office/
http://dcist.com/2011/12/hot_chocolate_15k_5k_race_called_ep.php
Also a petition someone started:
http://www.change.org/petitions/ram-racing-refund-runner-entry-fees-for-the-1232011-hot-chocolate-5k15k-in-dc
I can't believe Justin's jacket was from a different race - that is crazy. I keep going to their facebook page to read everyone's post - so entertaining. Major PR problem they have here! :)
ReplyDeleteI took a picture of the race - it looked like everyone was doing an imitation of Monday morning beltway traffic!!!
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry you guys had such a bad race too! I've never seen such a disorganized event. And that's crazy about the jacket from Chicago. It just shows how they weren't invested in this race at all.
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