The Atlanta Hot Chocolate 15K & 5K

Sunday was race day! I woke up at 4:50 in the morning and we left the house around 5:20am to drive from my house to Atlanta. The traffic was pretty good until we got to Turner Field, then it was a little backed up, but we had plenty of time.

After parking the car and gearing up, we walked from our parking lot to the race site and did a quick sweep of the area. There was a place to check bags and a few vendors and merchandise tents. I actually did look at merchandise, but there weren't any shirts left that I like. (I have since learned on Facebook that there will be an online store soon!)

I have to admit, this was a very well organized event! They had corral letters on our bibs based on the pace that we entered at sign up which matched ordered gates to stand in. The only thing that took a while was actually starting the race. We were in corral F, which was five from the front. Once they corralled us, we had to wait for the race to actually begin (about 15 minutes). First, was corral A. The horn sounded for them and they took off. Then, we all moved forward in 3 minute intervals, so it was about 30 minutes of standing around waiting to actually race.

The course was hilly, and by hilly, I mean steep hills! The very first one had my calves on fire!! There was a point when my toes actually went numb and I couldn't feel them at all! Once we got to the finish line, we were given Gatorade and then a bottle of water. Then, off to the after party...

There was a tear-off strip on the bottom of the race bib for our "finisher's mug," which consisted of a brown coffee mug with dividers in it. There was a spot for a cup of Ghiardelli hot cocoa, a packet of sugar wafers, two marshmallows, some pretzels, a Rice Krispy Treat and a banana. There was a DJ and SO many people. In fact, there were just over 19,000 (yes, thousand) people signed up for this race.

Here I am with my finisher's mug!

And, Jessica with hers.

It was a great experience and I will definitely repeat it next year. It was well worth the 5am wake up. I had to work right after the race and I didn't get to bed until later last night, so I am super tired. I have logged nearly 8 miles so far this month. I still have a lot to go!