The Oakland Running Festival has become one of my most-loved running events. This year, I ran the ‘We Run The Town’ Challenge - a 5K followed by a half marathon.

There's no race day bib pick up so you either have it sent to you for a fee or pick it up prior to the event. We made the race a family event so we arrived the day before the race to pick up our bibs and explore the city of Oakland.

The Expo at Snow Park wasn’t busy during midday. We picked up our shirts and bibs in just a few minutes. We made our way to the race merchandise table and got some great deals on previous race merchandise. Under Armour is the new sponor of the race so they had a booth with with a ton of merchandise, including some awesome sweatshirts.

The Expo was quiet, perhaps due to rain. My son and I enjoyed visiting the various vendors, including the wonderful Stretch Lab Oakland. We each signed up for a 10 minute stretching session that was pretty awesome.

We stayed at the race hotel, the Oakland Marriott City Center, which was about a mile from the start. We left the hotel plenty early to allow for walking time to the start. My first race, the 5K, started at 7:30 AM and my second race, the half maraton, started at 9:00 AM.

The 5K course is around the beautiful Lake Merritt. It was a lovely and fast course. It was a wet morning, so there weren’t as many spectators out due to weather. The volunteers were awesome - they brought the energy and smiles, even on this soggy day. I collected my beautiful medal at the finish (and what an awesome medal it was!), along with plenty of goodies, including granola form a local bakery, jambars, hand sanitizer wipes, candy from a local candy company, fruit, water, and gatorade. It was an awesome after race goodie bag!

After the 5K race, I brought a change of clothes to slip into to stay warm before the 9 AM half start. A bunch of us runners stood underneath the massive trees to shield ourselves from the rain. The half started on time and we were off, running in the constant drizzle and cold. I warmed up after a mile and it didn’t seem like a big deal. The weather was just a minor detail.

The half marathon course went around most of Lake Merritt before turning towards downtown. The entire course wasn’t very scenic, but I enjoyed the stretches that included beautiful murals. Most of the time, I was thanking volunteers and admiring signs from spectators anyway. The people and the art both have my heart. Despite the rain, volunteers and spectators showed up with signs and enthusiasm to shower us with love, support, and encouragement. How could you not love the volunteers screaming for you?!?? 👊🏼

The elevation was very mild – nothing intense so it was all very doable. I think the hill leading up to the finish was the steepest section – and it was not bad at all.

After the half marathon finish, I collected my medal along with the challenge medal. I am all about the bling so to finish this challenge with three medals was pretty awesome. I didn’t stay to hang out at the finish because I was wet and cold, but many did to take photos and hang out. I was amazed at the number of people who hung around.

Overall, the Oakland Running Festival is a fantastic event and I would do it again in a heartbeat!

We drove from Sacramento, CA to Emeryville, CA the morning of the race to catch the shuttle to the start line. We left at 4:25 am and made it to the Emeryville Amtrak Station just before 6 am to catch the 6 am shuttle. We parked in the Amtrak parking lot, which cost us $30! We found out after that there's a free parking lot that is just on the other side of the Amtrak station so we will try that next year.

The shuttle ride to the race was smooth. Hot Chocolate race management organized this well because there were plenty of shuttles to hop on to stay warm. The ride to the start line was approximately 1/2 an hour, the perfect time for a pre-race power nap.

Once we were dropped off, we followed clearly marked signs to the race staging area. Because we had been on the road for a few hours at this point, the port-a-potty was our first stop. There were plenty so there wasn't much of a wait.

The Gear Check was easy, but I worried that the volunteers didn't have a system to identify bags at the end.

We made our way around the staging area for photos, including a huge blowup of a chocolate bar with the race logo. This is the best time for photos because there was hardly anyone in line.

Then we followed the crowd to the start line. Made our way to the front of the line for a photo op -- again, perfect timing since people were just making their way to the start. The pre-race music was awesome so we found ourselves dancing while stretching. Lots of good energy here. People were excited and that always makes for a fun race start.

The race started in waves, but it didn't take long for us back of the packers to get going. The race starts on the streets in Golden Gate Park and makes its way down Highway 1 where you run parallel to the Pacific Ocean. The views are incredible! Golden Gate Park greets you with its lush plants and enthusiastic spectators. Once you make it on Highway, the scene changes to beach homes, sand dunes, and the Pacific Ocean. The sun made an appearance (after a few gloomy days of rain and wind) which made for a perfect race day!

You're going downhill at the front end of the race, which means the last couple of miles were uphill! It wasn't steep but it went on for what seemed like forever. I actually enjoyed the challenge and ran most of the way up.

Most of the race photographers were at the end of the course so be ready with those big smiles as you make your way up to the finish!

The medals are gorgeous! This was my first Hot Chocolate race and I'll be sure to come back for more chocolate bar medals!

The post-race treats were sweet and delicious, especially the hot chocolate. I also enjoyed the side of chocolate to dip my favorite snacks into. My friend and I found a bench and just enjoyed all of our post-race goodies.

We made our way to the Giant Marshmallow man blowup for photos before heading to the Shuttle for a ride back to Emeryville. Overall, the Hot Chocolate race was a fun race with spectacular views! I will be back in 2024 and will need to make this a new year tradition!

My friend and I arrived early Saturday morning for the 10K and stayed for the Half Marathon (on Sunday). We attended the Expo at Sports Basement to pick up our race goodies. The Expo was super organized with stations for bib, long sleeve half-zip, and wine (for half marathoners and marathoners) pickup. There were few vendors throughout the store and plenty of race swag for sale. Sports Basement had sale and extra discount for racers so there was plenty to look at and purchase.

We stayed at a hotel close to the race start so we walked over to the race Sunday morning. We arrived about 45 minutes before the race, checked our gear, and connected with friends. Gear check was amazingly organized with a crew of volunteers so it went smoothly.

The half marathon started promptly at 7:30 AM. The race announcer was energetic and enthusiastic, bringing energy to the morning crowd. We were assigned to Corral D and were set to start 5 minutes after Corrals A-C. The Half Marathon course took us around downtown Santa Rosa, the Santa Rosa Creek Trail, and the Prince Memorial Greenway. The course was flat with the exception of a few underpasses along the Santa Rosa Creek Trail. Cones along the roads clearly marked the race path in the downtown area and mile markers were visible at each mile. Most of the race course was on road and paved path with the exception of 2 miles of gravel (miles 5-7). The half marathoners shared the last 5 miles with the marathoners. I enjoyed seeing the 3-4 hour marathoners finishing the course, looking as fresh as ever.

There was one race photographer along the course and a couple photographers at the finish. The photos were uploaded quickly and we received a link to view and purchase photos a few hours after our finish. We loved that the photo package was $10.99 (for all of your photos along the course). What a deal!

We received a medal at the finish along with water, fruit, and sweet treats! We checked in gear at the start of the race and liked that there was no line at the end to pick up our gear.

The after party was fun with a few food trucks (including shaved ice!) and awesome music! We hung around to enjoy our treats and watch the awards ceremony. Everyone got a beer ticket with the bib, so beer fans were enjoying beers after the race.