Last night I was invited to a dinner in San Diego organized by RAM Racing, the Hot Chocolate 15K people. It’s not exactly around the corner (more like 80 miles south) but I was lucky enough to hitch a ride with some blogger friends.
I almost signed up for a new race on my phone after talking about running and races the entire car trip! 
The event was held at Avenue 5 in San Diego. It was pretty quiet being a random Tuesday night and all 
Skinny Runner , Haute Running Mama and the Faster Bunny
Once Upon a Lime was the driver. Thanks Sarah! 
It’s funny that I just said I wanted to drink more and the opportunity struck right away! I got a glass of white wine (that I didn’t like) then moved on to the Sangria. 
Me, OUAL and that bunny again
The restaurant was very dimly lit and I didn’t bring the SLR because these are running bloggers not food bloggers and would have given me the business. So you get these pictures of a green salad and salmon dish. 
Unfortunately I ended up skipping dessert because I thought there would be hot chocolate we were going to be leaving soon. Now I want a fancy restaurant dessert!
After a Sangria or two it suddenly seems like a good idea to wear a baseball cap and make faces… 
The Hot Chocolate 15K / 5K is a new race in San Diego and the race organizers are trying to establish relationships in the community and with local media, hence the dinner.
They are also trying to prevent making the same mistakes they made at the DC race in December. I wasn’t really aware at the time since I was in Las Vegas running RNR, but the inaugural DC Hot Chocolate 15K was delayed 90 minutes in the freezing cold. There was a ton of bad press, negative reviews and angry runners! Now the organization is really trying to come back from that with a smooth, fun race. This weekend the race will be in Dallas – so they have a chance for redemption!
The Hot Chocolate 15/5K in San Diego is on March 25th. The girls and I are getting comped entries so I’ll let you know if the hot chocolate is good. I mean, I’ll let you know if the race starts super late (which might work out for the best since I’m always late anyways!). 
Steve Ginsburg president of RAM spoke at the beginning of dinner then came to sit near us and talked extensively about all the thought that goes into the race. The organization has been putting on huge races in Chicago for years. They insist the DC issue was “everything going wrong at once” – but they never went into detail. 
Ultimately, I’m digging the fun run concept and want to check it out. A 15k is a new to me distance and I’m always down for some hot chocolate.
The HC15K is sold as a “fun run” where people dress up, have a good time and get some chocolate. The race does not give out medals, but will be giving a hot chocolate mug to keep instead. I thought this was a good idea, SR was not down with it and says ladies want medals (over 70% of the runners are female)!
I think most people don’t know what to do with their medal after race day and having a keepsake you can use again makes sense. I don’t think all races should stop giving medals, but they really pile up after a while!
What do you think? Take this poll and be heard!
Updated to add: If you ran Hot Chocolate DC and want to post to your review feel free to link in the comments. Also, if you run in Dallas this weekend please let us know how it went on Monday! Good Luck!!
Last night I was invited to a dinner in San Diego organized by RAM Racing, the Hot Chocolate 15K people. It’s not exactly around the corner (more like 80 miles south) but I was lucky enough to hitch a ride with some blogger friends.
I almost signed up for a new race on my phone after talking about running and races the entire car trip!
The event was held at Avenue 5 in San Diego. It was pretty quiet being a random Tuesday night and all
Skinny Runner , Haute Running Mama and the Faster Bunny
Once Upon a Lime was the driver. Thanks Sarah!
It’s funny that I just said I wanted to drink more and the opportunity struck right away! I got a glass of white wine (that I didn’t like) then moved on to the Sangria.
Me, OUAL and that bunny again
The restaurant was very dimly lit and I didn’t bring the SLR because these are running bloggers not food bloggers and would have given me the business. So you get these pictures of a green salad and salmon dish.
Unfortunately I ended up skipping dessert because I thought there would be hot chocolate we were going to be leaving soon. Now I want a fancy restaurant dessert!
After a Sangria or two it suddenly seems like a good idea to wear a baseball cap and make faces…
The Hot Chocolate 15K / 5K is a new race in San Diego and the race organizers are trying to establish relationships in the community and with local media, hence the dinner.
They are also trying to prevent making the same mistakes they made at the DC race in December. I wasn’t really aware at the time since I was in Las Vegas running RNR, but the inaugural DC Hot Chocolate 15K was delayed 90 minutes in the freezing cold. There was a ton of bad press, negative reviews and angry runners! Now the organization is really trying to come back from that with a smooth, fun race. This weekend the race will be in Dallas – so they have a chance for redemption!
The Hot Chocolate 15/5K in San Diego is on March 25th. The girls and I are getting comped entries so I’ll let you know if the hot chocolate is good. I mean, I’ll let you know if the race starts super late (which might work out for the best since I’m always late anyways!).
Steve Ginsburg president of RAM spoke at the beginning of dinner then came to sit near us and talked extensively about all the thought that goes into the race. The organization has been putting on huge races in Chicago for years. They insist the DC issue was “everything going wrong at once” – but they never went into detail.
Ultimately, I’m digging the fun run concept and want to check it out. A 15k is a new to me distance and I’m always down for some hot chocolate.
The HC15K is sold as a “fun run” where people dress up, have a good time and get some chocolate. The race does not give out medals, but will be giving a hot chocolate mug to keep instead. I thought this was a good idea, SR was not down with it and says ladies want medals (over 70% of the runners are female)!
I think most people don’t know what to do with their medal after race day and having a keepsake you can use again makes sense. I don’t think all races should stop giving medals, but they really pile up after a while!
What do you think? Take this poll and be heard!
Updated to add: If you ran Hot Chocolate DC and want to post to your review feel free to link in the comments. Also, if you run in Dallas this weekend please let us know how it went on Monday! Good Luck!!