Hot Chocolate Indy: The sweetest Race I’ve Run!
To be perfectly honest, if you say the words hot chocolate I am going to be game. While I refer to it as hot cocoa, any time hot chocolate is involved I want in, so of course a hot chocolate-themed run is right up my alley. When I was given the opportunity to run the Hot Chocolate 5k in Indianapolis I was super excited to do so. I was also able to convince my Teenager to be my plus one for the event…Road Trip!
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The Hot Chocolate race series is a sweet-themed race that has 2 distance options, 5k or 15k, for you to choose from, which benefits St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital. Will run for chocolate is the theme that is spread across the country for the many race locations this decadent-themed race boasts. Besides getting to run a great race, you are also awarded some fantastic swag, a finisher’s mug of yummy treats, and one of the best medals I have received. This year I chose to run the 5k distance in Indianapolis.
While our trip to Indy for the race was short due to our weekend schedule, my son and I headed to the city Friday for packet pick up. When we arrived we were able to go straight to Military park and grab our packets as well as do a little shopping for my daughter who had to miss due to her volleyball game. Packet pick-up was quick, efficient, and well organized.
This jacket is the sweetest! 
packet pick-up 
After we grabbed our goods we checked into our hotel, and my wrestler in training wanted to head to the hotel’s gym. So that was our first stop followed by heading to circle center for some dinner and ironically enough, chocolate.
Downtown Indy was a lot of fun, we were right next to Circle Center which was perfect for us to walk down and grab food as well as see some of the beautiful sights of Indy. The next morning we got up and walked through the city to head to Military park to run our race! The early morning light was gorgeous over the city, making us even more excited to run.
This was my first in-person race since July 2020, so I was super excited to do it. While I am still healing from what has to be the worst case of plantar fascitis on record, and the teen was dealing with early-season soreness we decided we would run what we could and walk the rest. It kept the race fun and the pressure light. When we arrived at the park the music was flowing and the crowd was ready.
The racecourse took us out of Military park, through IUPUI campus, and looped around past the canal and back through the park where the scenery was gorgeous.
Once we finished the race we were greeted with our medals and directed to take our post-race fuel ticket and grab our finishers mug, where we glutted ourselves on sugar! While hot chocolate was amazing and there was a banana with the chocolate fondue all other treats had wheat in them so I had to live vicariously through my son. One day I hope to have an RSVP options that allows you to select “gluten free” but it was better than my usual plain banana and chocolate milk options for sure!
While the crowd wasn’t huge, I think people are still getting used to the idea of in-person races, the after-party was plenty fun. There was lots of music, plenty of photos ops, and more chances to shop. I also stopped by and grabbed my legacy rewards. Did you know that after 3 years you start to get legacy awards? The more years you participate in these races the more additional prizes you get. I love this because if you are going to run a race each year it is nice to get to show off your loyalty with something fun.
It doesn’t get much better than this 
Legacy Goodies
One of my favorite parts of this entire race experience was probably the fact you get free race photos. While I am cool with purchasing race photos (even at the expensive rates) free race photos are always such a wonderful perk. It was made even better by the fact I was with my son and so now we have these photos of us together.
In closing, this race was amazing, from the course to the swag, and the treats. It was as sweet as they come and I can’t wait to run it again locally! Until next time Indy, peace out!
