Chicago Hot Chocolate 15K Official Race Report:

Chicago Hot Chocolate 15K Official Race Report:

Date November 4th 2012

Race Day Wake Up Time:  5 a.m.

Race Start Time:  7 a.m.

Starting Corral:  C

Race Field: 40,000+

Race Day Weather:  36°F and Mostly Cloudy.

Race Day Breakfast:  Strawberry Oatmeal, and a banana at 5:10 a.m.

Getting Down There

We left the house around 6:10 am,usually takes 20 minutes from home to Downtown Chicago.  So I was super surprised that as soon as we hit the city it was gridlock.  Traffic was an absolute disaster.  We hit the city at 6:33, actually just outside the city on I-290.  We did not even get close to the parking garage until 6:55am.  I let the wife out, and asked her to hit bag check, and to see me after the race, she was doing the 5k.  She was set for corral M.  I knew I would miss my designated start since they had those city hacks that cannot direct traffic if their life depended on it out there.  I swear that is the city’s biggest waste of taxpayer funds are those traffic idiots.  That is a whole other story.  I parked the car in the Millennium Park Garage.  Parking in Chicago should be considered rape, $30 to park. 

Pre-race Atmosphere

There was a pretty good buzz in the air.  People were everywhere, it was total chaos.  I suppose it would not have been an annoyance, if I had been there earlier, (but I gave myself plenty of time to get there and park.  I was not really able to enjoy the pre-race buzz.  It appeared that they had a lot of restroom facilities available, so that looked like a plus,  I could be wrong since I did not have to go, plus just about everyone was in a corral.

Getting To My Corral

This was the worst I have ever seen it at a race.  The Chicago Marathon with a larger field is so much more organized.  There were no volunteers to point you to where you needed to go.  Corrals A, B, C, and D can only be entered from the east side (Bogus).  I needed to get from the west side of the corrals to the east side.  No on e could tell me where I could cross.  There is one solid fence the whole length of the starting corrals.  I started walking to towards the front corrals, since I was back by c corral.  I got as far as corral B and there was nowhere to get through.  Corral D was just starting, by this time it was like 7:15am.  I had to go all the way back to corral K in order to get through and across.  This whole thing was starting to seem like ordeal.  I finally ended up getting to corral G.  So I started around 10 minutes behind my group.  I was right at the front of this field with a few other faster runners who were probably made late by the unmitigated disaster that was taking place.

Miles 1-3.1 (5k)

This race was a wave start.  So when they dropped the line I headed out ahead of the pack.  Within the first ½ mile,I was running into stragglers from the previous wave.  Then around ¾ to 1 mile in, I was bogged down.  I was running mid 9’s for mile 2 according to my Garmin. We snaked our way through the city streets, as I tried to settle in.  I have never run a 15k race before.

Miles 3.1 - 6

I tried to pick up the pace here but it was hard since you were constantly getting bogged down.  My pace started to get down into the high 7’s.  Not sure how accurate that is since we ran under a lot of covered areas and I lost satellite quite a few times. 

 Miles 6 – 9.3 (15k)

I felt that I was hitting a good tempo pace, so I just played it safe through miles 6, and 7.  These miles were still packed since it was such a large field.  It was hard to get through.  Once I hit mile 8 I kicked it up a notch and sped up a bit and really started passing people.  I knew I was faster than tempo pace since my legs started to feel the miles.  We ran under Lake Shore Drive and headed into the final stretch of the race.  We hit our last right turn back out on to Columbus Dr. through the finish.

The Course Summary

The course had more negatives than positives.  The route had some great scenery, since you got to run on Michigan Ave, and then on Lake Shore Drive.  I mean that is pretty sweet.  However, the size of the field overwhelmed the route.  You were constantly getting stuck behind slower runners or walkers who were 3-4 across, or started in a faster corral.  When you hit Lake Shore Drive down to McCormick Place, they had you in the far right lane.  One lane with a huge race field means don’t run this if you are looking for a P.R.  Run it for fun would be better advice.  When we ran under McCormick Place it was pretty dark and footing was not the best.  So you had to be real careful not to end upon your face, or with a rolled ankle.   At the turnaround point they moved us on the lake path headed back.  Yes very nice scenery, the lake, and the skyline, and yes, the giant herd on a 12 ft wide path.  Overall it was flat except for the overpasses, which did eat up some speed since they are pretty are a little steeper than most.

My Race Experience

Overall it was a horrible experience.  The pre-race experience was what is making me feel most negative, other than the fact that you don’t get any medal for $68.00 entry.  Instead you get a cheap plastic bowl with cold, hard chocolate fondue.  I guess the really fast 5 k people would be the lucky ones to get hot fondue you can actually dip. My wife and I both got ours and there was hardly any chocolate to dip into.  The cup of hot chocolate was really watered down as well, and tasted like crud.  This was very disappointing.  It also turns out, that my time was not recorded.  I am unsure if there was problem with the chip or system.  I've sent an email to support asking about my official race time.  My wife and cousin both have one, but not me.  The pros and cons of this race:

Cons:

1. Horrible traffic control.
2. Lack of customer service trying to deal with my chip and time. 
3. The disorganization of getting to your starting corral and lack of volunteers being able to help you get there.  There was nothing communicated upon pickup about this either. 
4. The masses to contend with on the course, this is a packed race.  
5. No medal, no official time, no bragging.  
6. Getting boned on the hot chocolate fondue after racing.  
7. Lack of organization for the post race area, really crowded and long lines.  
8. Getting boned for $5.00 to park at the expo and then $30.00 to park at Millenium Park to make up for poor traffic control measures, and trying not to miss the start.

Pros:

1. A nice sweatsshirt.

Basically I paid $103.00 for a sweatshirt and lost my Sunday Morning. Would I do this race again.  No.

Overall Race Ratings

Aid Stations – They had 4 aid stations with restrooms over the course.  The volunteers at the aid-stations were upbeat and awesome handing out Gator-aide, water, and encouragement.  Rating:  5/5rating.

Spectators – Start and finish had decent crowd support there were plenty of people, but nothing like the Chicago Half Marathon, or Marathon. The aid stations gave a little mental boost with their cheering us on.They had some music out there too.  Rating: 3/5.

Traffic and Parking – Traffic was bad getting in, it is Chicago after all.  The Chicago Traffic Management Authority wasted so much of my time.  The city must not have a plan for this race. I sat at one stop light for 5 changes. this was to get to the parking garage that was right after the light.  I was only 10 cars back.  The traffic people are unprofessional and a bunch of hacks.  Then there is the$30.00 parking to contend with.  I will say this if you could have gotten over to Solder’s Field to park it would have been $13.00.  They Race Company needs to negotiate a reduced rate. Rating:  1/5.

Race Swag– The race apparel that came with registration was nice.  You received a hooded sweatshirt that is a tech style so it wicks moisture away. The hood is nice and a little over sized so it is comfy.  Rating: 4/5.

Restrooms – I hit the john after the race.  The wait was short. There was a lady going around looking to use one, but they were all out of toilet paper.  That is really inexcusable. Rating:   2.5/5.

Course – The course had great views on the way out and back. However it is not able to handle the load as the field is large.  Also when running under the buildings there road is slightly treacherous because it is dark.  Rating: 3/5.

Awards – The finisher medal is frikken……yeah, no finishers medal.  They should give you something, even if it was an inexpensive rubber one like Disney does with their 5k’s. Note:  In Disney’s defense they do have a nice ribbon on them.  Instead they give you a cheap bowl with a tablespoon of melted chocolate, banana, some pretzels, 3 apple slices and a tiny rice crispy treat…..stellar, this was the icing on the cake. Rating:  1/5.