In August of 1975, I arrived in Salem, Oregon. A devoted long distance runner and a first-year law student.
First day of class, I met Tim McGarry. We have been friends ever since. He went on to be a distinguished member of the Bar.
In December of 1975, I was just a devoted long distance runner. And went on to become me.
At my best, racing a 440, I could probably lap Tim. Today I am walking and Tim is still in the game.
Guest post from Old Potato Legs. – JDW
Join the movement that’s taken over the racing world. Hot Chocolate 15k/5k is headed to Seattle on March 4, 2018! Start and finish at Seattle Center amongst Seattle’s biggest chocolate aficionados. This year, train, race, and celebrate with us all the way to the finish line. We’re with you through the season. The Hot Chocolate Experience starts from the minute you register. Keep an eye out for messages that will help enrich your race experience, including customizable fundraising pages and training programs tailored to your running goals. While marshmallow sweet stations are dotted along course routes and a Finisher Mug encourages the consumption of decadent fondue, don’t write the Hot Chocolate Series off as a race that’s all about the glitz. All Hot Chocolate 15k/5k events include features that cater to the seasoned runner.
Hot Chocolate! I decided to go undercover.
Having run hundreds of road races at distances from one mile to the marathon, I was curious about the Seattle edition of the Hot Chocolate 5k/15k.
(I opted for the 5k in large part because of reduced training mileage and old age.)
Now, this is a running race quite like no other. As its name implies, the unifying, animating theme is a hot, sweet beverage.
Chocolate is thrust upon you at every encounter with the event. You are provided a chocolate candy as you enter the Expo to pick up your number. Samples of hot chocolate are dispensed therein using a urine-sample-sized cup. As if to whet your appetite for the event the following day.
(There is no day of race pick up of your race number) .
Race day for the event begins at 6:45 AM, the time for the starting gun of the 5K.
It’s the event for the whole family! A brisk 15k or 5k run, with inflatables and games to occupy the kids and an ALL-CHOCOLATE post-race party that will blow your mind. Join thousands of your fellow Seattle natives and run through the streets of our beautiful city. Too cold? It will all be worth it when you cross the finish line greeted by delicious hot chocolate, chocolate goodies, and chocolate fondue (equipped with marshmallows, bananas, rice krispies and pretzels).
Who wouldn’t want to run for chocolate?
It is bitter cold and I am under-dressed for getting to the start line but overdressed for the race. Bad wardrobe decision considering the amount of running clothing I own and the fact I should have known better. The start is a controlled event with the runners enclosed in five starting corrals to be sent off running in timed sequences. I am in the C corral. It felt more like a stockyard than an athletic competition.
The striking part of this extravaganza are the participants. There are the fit and toned runners, to be sure. But they seem to be a distinctly small minority of the running profile. The Hot Chocolate 5k/15k is characterized by the most varied and unlikely body types you would expect to see at a participatory athletic event. Tall, fat, wide, squat, tiny, broad, basketball tall and football huge body types of every race, mostly white.
Gender is 60/40 female. Lycra tights adorn most of the female runners in a rolling landscape of garish patterns and splashy colors. The overall wardrobe motif seems to be “Check me out, I can outdo your showy, dazzling, tawdry, gaudy outfit.”
Body fat does not appear to be a disqualifying condition.
The starting gun fires for Corral C and I am off. My legs feel fresh, due to a recent visit to a sports rehab clinic.
I am confident thirty minutes is in my cross-hairs.
I try not to be consumed by competitive drive borne of my younger days.
Miles are marked but untimed. I feel faster than my training tempo. The course is a series of rolling city streets with many angry drivers upset by traffic control. A heavy police presence.
I hit the finish line, confident of beating the clock, greeted by an army of volunteers offering water, electrolytes and chocolate. You receive a plastic coffee cup filled with hot chocolate, pretzels, cookies, a marshmallow, a banana and rice crispy treat.
The hot chocolate is the consistency of a medium viscosity motor oil. It has been infused with an extremely high concentration of sugar. The sugar overwhelms the cocoa to render the beverage undrinkable.
I did not see anyone floating the marshmallow in their cup. The army of volunteers are engaged in a variety of post-race tasks with a bee hive-like level of commitment.
I find my way to the results booth, hopeful of achieving my sub-30 minute goal. 30 minutes 13 seconds. 30:13. Damn! Close! Now I know how John Landy felt.
But wait. I was the first of twenty entrants in the 65 to 69 age group. Redemption of a sort.
Bring on the chocolate!