Seattle is only a 4 hour car ride away, so traveling there for races is convenience and I never get bored no matter how many times we visit, there is always something new to do.
Since we arrived fairly early on Friday we decided to hit the Expo after checking in to our hotel. This would give us the whole day free on Saturday to act like tourist.
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| Me acting like a silly tourist |
Packet pick up was held at the Seattle Center Exhibition Hall. Small compared to other race expos, but great vendors and the chocolate covered marshmallows and hot chocolate were super yummy. The goodie bag is essentially the hoodie. This year it was a full zip hooded polyester/spandex blend jacket. The sizes each year are hit and miss. I order the same size and it ranges from huge to way too tight. They do have jacket exchange available at the expo. I was a little disappointed in the quality of the jackets as the pocket zippers do not zip up very easily or come undone as you’re zipping. But it’s attractive and warm so overall I like it.
Seattle, of course, is known for coffee and one of our favorite stops is Anchorhead Coffee Co. This is where I first tasted Oatly oat milk. Been hooked on it ever since.
Since this was only a 15K race (9.3 miles) we were not in a hurry to get to bed early the night prior to the race. We googled restaurants that served the Impossible Burger and landed at The Whiskey Bar. The food was absolutely fabulous. There were too many beers available to choose just one, so we decided to try a beer flight, 3oz samples of any 4 beers for only $10 – can’t beat that!!!
Pre race was super cold this year but they open the Amory for the runners to stay warm, use restrooms and sell coffee and snacks.
I’ve been running the Allstate Hot Chocolate Seattle 5/15K for six years now and it has never disappointed me. Well, until this year. They changed the course this year and sadly was not as scenic, mostly up one hill and then down the same hill. Course support was great and so were the volunteers who handed out nuun, water, marshmallows and gummy bears.
Here I am trying to keep up with the pacer
Typical shot of me running with my GoPro
So fast, the photographer almost didn’t get my photo. HAHA!
Post race party was festive as well as scrumptious including a mug filled with warm chocolate, marshmallow, honey stinger, rice crispy treat, banana and don’t forget the cup of hot chocolate to wash it all down.
The medals, they are some of the best. A huge candy bar shaped medal you wish you could take a bite out of.
Award ceremony was a little disappointing. My son was in the top three finishers of the 5K, not only did they take away the medal he was given after crossing the finish line, no other announcements or celebration was done for the 5K participants. 15K race participants are truly the focus.
The morning after the race we visited our next favorite coffee hangout, the Starbucks Reserve on Pike street for coffee flights.
All in all this race is a blast and Seattle continues to be one of my favorite cities to visit.
Be sure to check out my race recap video on YouTube. Just click here.
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