This is it guys, the last time Kasey will ever run more than three miles in one go. She swears it, never again - and this time I can’t even point to some race that she is already registered for.
When I heard that the Hot Chocolate race series was coming to New York, I was excited and registered at the first opportunity. The race series is known for some great swag, with the giveaway being a zip up technical sweatshirt, a medal at the finish line that looks like a chocolate bar, and a mug full of hot chocolate and fondue.
I had been under the weather on Friday after eating something that turned out to be bad, and was out of commission for the day, so I was a bit nervous about how the race was going to play out - would my stomach even cooperate with a 9.3 mile run? Welp, we were going to find out one way or another.
My Uncle Tom had headed to the expo for us on Friday, as he works in the area. They expo had super limited hours, only operating from 10-7 on they day before the race, so it made it difficult to get to. But it was lucky for us that his job was in the area and he could pop into the expo to grab our bibs and jackets. Sophie and I had signed up with a promo code, so we got hats as well.
Come Saturday morning my alarm startled me into consciousness, and I had to shift an unconscious cat off of me to get moving. I had packed up my race day bag the night before, so I got dressed and was on the way. Sophie had agreed to drive into Brooklyn, so I only had to make the two mile drive to my parents house. Sophie was about as sleepy as me, and the two of us headed to Kasey’s house to grab her next. She was very bitter about the early hour, and she did not speak until we were a solid 20 minutes into the drive, at which point she could suddenly hear us talking.
The race guide had recommended reserving parking in advance, so we were headed for a parking garage just outside of Prospect park that we had found on spot hero. We got to the garage around 6:15, and while we though it would be quick to drop off the car, there was only one person working so it took longer than expected to drop it off - by the time we were walking to the start line it was 6:45. The race was scheduled to start at 7, and we had a little more than a mile to travel to get to the start line, which we knew was around the middle area of prospect park - it was going to be a bit of an adventure, as none of us really knew where we were going.
We headed in the direction of the start line, taking in some pre-race fuel as we moved, and eventually heard music in the distance. Once we heard the music we were able to follow it until we found the masses of runners heading in the same direction, and got to the start just as the first corral was being released. We pulled over quickly so i could re-tie my shoes, and then hopped into the next corral and were ready to get moving.
I suppose the walk had been a good warm up, because I was able to settle in faster than usual. The course was 2.5 loops of Prospect park, and I was worried that the hills would feel killer like they did when I ran the Jingle All the Way 5k with Mike and Carson, but they somehow felt more manageable this time around. We took on the largest of the hills right before the first mile, and would run up it twice more before the race was through.
Around the second mile marker they had a chocolate chip station, but it wasn’t well marked so i didn’t notice what it was until I was already passed it. There was also a Nuun and water station near there, and I did manage to grab a cup or strawberry-lemonade Nuun as we went by.
As we continued on our loop we soon reached the point where the 5k course split from the 15k course, and we had to take a moment to all jokingly suggest that we could easily turn left and just be done with the whole thing - Okay, for Kasey perhaps it was a little more than a joke, as she had threatened several times that she was going to drop down to the shorter race distance in the weeks leading up to the race, but Sophie and I somehow convinced her to stay signed up for the 15k so we could all run it together.
On the back side of the first loop was another aid station, this time serving marshmallows with the Nuun and water. Soon after my watch buzzed to indicate we were through mile 4, and I looked around for a mile marker, as I couldn’t see one, even in the distance. Eventually I managed to spot the sign - it had flopped over on the side of the road as a result of the wind.
Loop two slipped by quicker than the first, knowing exactly what to expect the second time around. We noticed that more and more of the mile markers were being knocked over by the wind, and the crowds of runners thinned out on the second loop - apparently many of the people running with us had opted for the 5k over the 15k. Towards the end of the second loop Kasey’s shoulder started bothering her, so I took over the responsibility of holding her water bottle… so I am pretty sure that’s worth her signing up for at least one more race, right?
The final loop was shorter than the first two, and after one final pass of the aid stations we followed the signs to the finish line. Kasey fell a little behind Sophie and I towards the end, but I could still spot her right there when I looked over my shoulder. There were some people on the course walking away from the finish line, totally oblivious that they were in the way of runners that were still on the course. We crossed the finish line, collected our medals, and then had a short walk over to the post-race party, where we collected our coveted finisher’s mugs. There was a dog park near the finisher party, so there were a ton of dogs wandering about, and one even had to come over and say hi to Sophie. The mugs were piled high with treats like hot chocolate, fondue, rice krispys and marshmallows. We hung out in the post race area long enough to fill up on goodies, and then retrieved Sophie’s car from the garage, and started our drive home.
