Things were a little hectic here. While my quarter zip fit nicely, others were not so lucky. There were so many people needing to size up, that there were no more women's size large, X-large, or XX-large left for exchange. Basically there was a line of upset runners waiting for someone to bring back a large, X-large, or XX-large, and exchange it for a smaller size (or just trade with them in line).
We headed out of the car a bit before 7:00 to head to the start line area (we had to be in the corral by 7:30). It was 35 with a windchill of 28 and rain and there was no sign of it warming up or drying up any time during the race. We could have bailed out, but we committed to doing this and I needed the miles, so here we are. As we sat in the car, I was getting crazy upset with people on social media demanding refunds and wanting their finisher medals mailed to them. I get that running in the cold rain is horrible and can be a recipe for illness, but I made the decision to press on...
Our course the Hot Chocolate 15K would have goodies on course for you. At certain water stations, sweet treats like marshmallows or chocolate morsels were ready for you. Just a word of advice, if you aren't used to something, don't try it on race day. I feel like more people passed up the sweet treats this year due to the weather. I mean, what part of wet marshmallows sounds tasty?
The course was full of hills as expected - hello Atlanta. However, I feel like the course was hillier and less forgiving than what the course elevation map made it look to be. With all of the various race courses that I have ran downtown, I have probably covered 90% of the race course before and a lot of it was similar to the 2017 course (just in different overs).
The rain kept coming down on us and the streets were flooded in some parts. As you charged your way up the hills of Atlanta you found yourself battling gallons of water flowing down the hill against you. Overflowing storm drains and even a completely flooded intersection that caused use to have to reroute on the sidewalk around were signs of how hard this rain was.
The rain finally started to let up and was a light drizzle when I hit the mile 8.5 mark. By then the damage was done. All you could really do is just laugh at how stupid this weather was.
Over 9.5 miles later my very much earned bling was around my neck and a PR! Yes, the course was about 1/4 mile long which was pretty much spot on until mile 8 when we did a random little .1 mile out and back.
Now it was time for what we came here for - CHOCOLATE! We headed over to the Finisher Mug area to redeem our bib tag for our chocolate reward. The process went super smoothly and once again the volunteers were beyond amazing. Despite being out in the cold rain for hours serving up chocolate for several hours, they were still smiling and happily putting bowls into bags for runners with numb hands so we could take them to our warm cars to eat.
The 15K finisher medal was also awesome as always. This year it reminded me of the Golden Ticket Wonka Bars. The Hot Chocolate 15K medals definitely stand out in my medal collection.
I also earned some extra swag for being a Legacy Runner. For being a 5+ consecutive year runner I received a Legacy beanie, pin, frame, commemorative bib and medal. Pretty sweet! Honestly, keeping my Legacy status is another reason that got me to that start line.