“Disclaimer: I received an entry into the Hot Chocolate 5k Virtual St. Louis Race to review as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!”
Due to COVID, this years Hot Chocolate 5k St. Louis race was virtual. I wanted to link my previous posts for you to get a feel of what a typical in person experience is like…because it is AMAZING. I love this race series which is why I wanted to still support them as a virtual option and I kept my legacy status (more about that later.)
What to Expect From the Hot Chocolate Race St Louis
What To Expect from the Hot Chocolate Race St. Louis Part 2
T’was the Night Before Race Day Hot Chocolate St Louis
Post Allstate Hot Chocolate 5k Race Review by a BibravePro
Even though this was a virtual race, they did not skimp on the experience and brought it all to your home.
I mentioned legacy status and I wanted to share this cool aspect of the series. There is a 3 year, 5 year and 10 year legacy status. These have to be consecutive. I hit my third consecutive year this year, even though I have ran this race more than 3 years but I had a gap year. You can see they gave me a water bottle and a 3 year legacy medal for my status.
They also sent two bags of their delicious hot chocolate and three pieces of chocolate (the third is inside my medal, how cool right?) I also had a nuun sample and a honeystinger waffle in my swag bag. The jackets are always amazing and it’s a big push to participate and worth the race fee because of the quality experience you receive. I highly recommend.
Here’s another great thing they do for in person races: if your swag gear didn’t fit, you can go exchange sizes at the expo. This was not available this year as it was a virtual race.
I didn’t really “race” this Hot Chocolate Virtual 5k but I did get up and drive to a different location to make it feel a little more exciting. I parked outside of the Target and ran through a fancy neighborhood. I walked a few times and then I treated myself to a Target experience after I finished.
I then made my way home and took a hot shower. The best part was putting on my cozy jacket and drinking my hot chocolate.
I have to say, there is nothing like the in person experience of races, especially this series. What I missed about the in person race:
- The free race photos!
- The fun quotes along the way that the race puts out and the delicious chocolate stops.
- The cheer squads!
- The expo pre-race.
- The post race party. This takes up a huge field in Forest Park and there are so many exciting different areas for photo ops!
- Seeing my family. I normally drive in the day before and stay with my parents outside of STL. Then I am closer to the race.
What I didn’t miss about the in person race:
- The parking. Every year I think I leave early enough and I never do and end up having to park way far. One year I missed my starting corral even. I was so flustered! Then I completely got turned around trying to find my car after.
That is literally it. I only ever have trouble with parking and that is on me because of timing and being geographically challenged. They started setting up shuttles to help with the parking as well.
I will always try to run a Hot Chocolate race and the best thing is that there are so many around the US. Here is a map of the current locations:
I hope you enjoyed this recap and I encourage you to check out my previous ones above because you will get to see more about the experience in person. I am hopeful that next Winter 2021 we can have an in person race and I hope to attend. If I’m being honest, that is probably the soonest I would see myself doing an in person race of that size.
