Sleet, Rain, Snow OH MY!

Disclaimer:  I received a race entry to the Allstate Hot Chocolate 15K as part of being a BibRave Pro.  Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave 

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photo credit @beardontherun

Well,  if there ever was a race that Mother Nature had her way with, it was for sure the Allstate Hot Chocolate 15K in Minneapolis this past Saturday.   Weather reports were confident that the metro area was going to face serious weather concerns in the form of freezing rain, sleet and inches of snow.  Even as I write this post on Sunday evening,  it's still snowing in the Minneapolis Metro area.  Storm totals will reach 18 inches or more before it's all complete! 

I knew early on that my one-hour drive in to the starting line was in jeopardy; safety was my first concern.  It was also on the race directors minds as well because the day before the race, they alerted all runners that the 15K would be shortened to a 5K.  Runner safety was at the forefront of their minds,  and I cannot imagine the difficult decision they had.  But, indeed, it absolutely WAS the right decision!  I appreciate the timely notification of the race change and the communication from the team of people organizing this race!

Thankfully, a friend of mine who works near the expo, was able to pick up my race packet and I received this amazing 3/4 zip fleece-lined shirt.  With thumbholes and comfy material, this will be a favorite in my running wardrobe!  I had to snap a pic before the winter wonderland took hold.  Although you cannot see it in this photo, rain was coming down pretty hard at the time.  

Because I had trained for the 15K, on race morning, I was going to get those miles in no matter what.  Luckily, I own a treadmill and with lots of Netflix to catch up on, I completed my 15K right at home.  Safe and sound!  I was determined to make it happen! 

This was early after 2 inches of freezing rain and sleet!

Even though I absolutely wanted to race that day, I'm happy that I could race in spirit!  But, if you want to see a truly amazing finish line photo, here's my friend Casey!  He decided to make the journey to the race to complete the 5K and he did it in style!  Way to GO Casey! If you want to check out his blog, follow along here.  I'm sure he is going to be posting his race experience soon! 

On another note, isn't it cool that the race provides FREE race photos!  What a great perk!  Hopefully in 2019, Mother Nature will cooperate and I'll be able to toe the starting line!  Until then, Happy Running!!

Even though I won't have an official Athlinks finishing time, when YOU race, make sure to head over to Athlinks.com to claim your race results for your upcoming races. Don't forget you can also review any and all of your races on BibRave.com too! If you're wondering, my Athlinks profile stores results from all my past races, and I can even find friends who might be running future races that I want to do. Check out results on Athlinks and follow me so we can be friends (or maybe even rivals!)