Will run for chocolate!!

Another day, another race under my belt. Abbi and I got up at the ass crack of dawn dark and early this morning (5 am!) and headed to Chicago for the the Hot Chocolate 5k race. We were meeting my friend Jill and her daughters Aleigha and Chloe and also Jill's mom-aka Nana. It was cold, and dark, and way too early!!!

Aleigha and I ran the 5k and Jill ran the 15k. The race was HUGE! 40,000 runners were there this morning. Insane! I have never been a part of such a large running crowd before. It was crazy. It was unreal. It was so cool.

a gazillion runners headed to the start line

The race was set to go off at 7:40. 7:40 came and went before we even budged in our "O" corral. It was 8:25 before we were even herded down the street to the start line. Apparently, a semi got stuck under a viaduct on one of the streets on the course (why am I not surprised? when will these truck drivers learn their rig is just too big?) Once the race did go off, it was great-aside from all the walkers walking in the way already!!! I actually got choked up a little bit (dorkus) running past the Chicago Theater. Why? I have no idea. Maybe because I was running. Maybe because it was on an open Chicago street. Maybe I'm just really a dork.
Since the semi got stuck, the race route had to be re-routed. It's been said (on FB) that the route was 3.32 miles instead of 3.1 so my finish time (while still disappointing to me) is off a bit. I'm awaiting official confirmation for my "official" time. As it stands, I've been put in the record book with a time of 37:19. ugh. that's 9 seconds slower than last weeks race. ugh I only walked at the end when the course was going uphill. ugh ugh ugh.
On a positive note, I ran 3.32 miles in 37:19 minutes.
 I need to work on my speed and my uphill running too :)

At the end of the race, Ghiradelli supplied hot chocolate and fondue. It was soooooooo yummy. The hot cocoa was perfect. So rich, so creamy so whip creamy. The fondue was fabulous. They served chocolate with a pretzel, marshmallow, half a banana, apple pieces and a rice crispie treat.
 

Chloe and Abbi enjoying their fondue.
A super sweet woman gave us her
tickets for fondue.YAY!
I didn't have to share

All in all, I finished. I started and finished another run. That's all that should matter. I should not be beating myself up for my time. I finished and my oldest daughter was there to see me finish.