Adventure Trail Run - 24 Hour Event 2021

My first place overall finisher award!

It’s been about 3 days since the finish of the Adventure Trail Run - 24 Hour Event as I begin this report. Other than some sore toes from a few blisters that developed under my nails and minor muscle aches in my quads and calves, I’m feeling mostly recovered. For a 24 hour effort, the physical recovery seemed pretty quick and not too painful. It’s more the mental recovery that’s a little harder to move past with this race. It’s not that I’m not proud of the effort I put forth or what I did achieve. The truly stinging part of replaying all the scenes in my mind of how those 24 hours were spent is how close I came to nailing my top goal while just falling a little short. I had a very specific goal for this race: to break the course record of 108 miles. My final official mileage was 103.1 when I stopped with about a half hour left on the clock. When it’s that close for a nearly 24 hour effort, the “what if”s and “if only”s seem to breed and multiply in your brain.

The night sky the whining before the race.

The Adventure Trail Run is a timed trail running event held at Prince William Forest Park (National Park Service) in Triangle, VA. This year was the 15th anniversary of the event and they offered 8 hour solo, 4 person relay 24 hour, and solo 24 hour options. While I chose the solo 24 hour because I had never run that race format before and I wanted to test myself with that style of race, the 4 person 24 hour relay option definitely seemed like a fun way to spend a weekend running with friends.

Just before the start!

The course was basically a lollipop design with a 1 mile out and back to a 4 mile loop. The 1 mile out and back section was definitely the most challenging in my opinion. It was probably the most consistently technical section of the course with seemingly endless stretches of jagged rocks and ankle breaking exposed roots. It also had many short but steep climbs and descents to deal with. During the first mile of the race, I immediately thought I’d have to reevaluate my goals as I wasn’t expecting that technical of a course. Thankfully, the 4 mile loop was far more runnable. In addition to the technicality of that entirely narrow single track section was the fact that it was also the section of the course where you had to deal with two way traffic of runners. Since this was a relatively small event (around 100 runners) it didn’t present a major problem, but with 50k and 100k runners on the course at the same time as the 24 hour runners, it did feel a bit congested to me on a few occasions.

My gear for the race.

The 4 mile loop section of the course was a totally different story. Even the more technical sections, climbs, and descents were more runnable than the initial 1 mile out and back. This year the loop was run in a counterclockwise direction. Apparently the race reverses direction of the loop every year. From the start of the loop to the halfway point fluid only aid station was nearly all smooth, buttery, flat single track trails with the exception of a short climb with a couple switchbacks and few technical rocky sections where you had to be careful of your footing. Immediately after the aid station was a short stretch of boardwalk to run on and then the longest sustained climb of the course. The climb followed a stretch of what appeared to be a fire road for about a half mile and up about 150 feet. The rest of the loop was all single track trail with a few technical rooty sections and a few short climbs, but nothing too intense.

My cabin for the night before the race.

I alluded to it earlier about how the race went in my first paragraph, and I’ll expand on that now. I set what may have been a lofty goal for myself: to break the course record of 108 miles. Obviously, I came up a little short with my final official mileage of 103.1. It’s an especially disheartening form of failure when you’re on pace for your goal for so long and come so close to your goal, but it just very slowly becomes more and more apparent over the course of 24 hours of hard effort and battling exhaustion that it is increasingly unlikely of being attained. For the first 50k I was maintaining a pace faster than necessary and building in a bit of a cushion as I was pretty sure I would slow down for the last 12 hours and the early hours of the morning. As the day wore on and fatigue and exhaustion began to build, I checked my overall pace on my watch ever more frequently hoping to stay under that 12:48 pace that I had calculated I needed to hit my goal. I wasn’t exactly sure if or when my pace would roll over that threshold, so I continued to push on in hopes that I could fend off the ever slowing pace that my watch was reporting.

The inside of the cabin.

Initially it was mostly the aid station stops between loops that seemed to be the primary cause of my slowing pace. I’d check my watch going into and leaving and consistently find my pace slowed by about 10 seconds per mile with each pass through. I tried to get through more efficiently, but filling bottles, emptying gel packages, grabbing more gel packages, and eventually eating some real food all takes time. I was great through the 50k mark when all my calories came from gels and hydration, but when I started feeling the need to add some real food for calories my aid station stops tended to take a bit longer. The data shows that my slowest mile (with an aid station stop) up to the 50k mark was 15:55 and my overall average pace was 11:25 per mile.

A temporary tattoo I tried it for the race.

I still felt good and had hopes of hitting my goal even at the 50 mile mark. I was still at an overall pace of 12:31 per mile. I knew it was going to be close and a struggle at that point, but I thought it might still happen. But then around the 100k mark my pace began to suffer a bit more and my aid stops became more damaging to my overall pace. It was right around that point that my overall average pace rolled beyond my goal threshold and jumped to 12:50 per mile. Although this was a disheartening point for me, it didn’t crush me or make me want to quit. Even if I wasn’t going to hit my goal, I still wanted to get as close as possible. I held on to hope that things could still turn around. I was only about 13 hours into a 24 hour race at that point.

Most of my gel packaging.

Unfortunately, things never really turned around. I never got that major energy burst that I hoped for to put me back within reach of my goal. Things never got really bad either. I continued to move steadily and well, just not well enough. With about 8 hours left in the race the race director let me know that second place was only about 40 minutes behind me. That gave me a bit of a boost of motivation to pick up my pace for a couple laps, but it still wasn’t enough for me to get back to my target pace. As the 24 hour clock began to wind down, I finished my last full lap to hit the 100 mile mark with about an hour and 20 minutes left. I knew I wouldn’t complete another full loop, but I could get credit for a half loop if I made it to the midway aid station before the clock ran out. There was no reason not to keep going, so off I went for three more miles. I reached the midway aid station with about a half hour left in the race and called it there.

Preparing for the drive home.

With that half hour left to burn at the end of my race, I immediately began thinking about how many more minutes I would have needed to run the last 3 miles to finish that final lap which would have tied the course record. I thought another 15 would have gotten me damn close; 20 would have pretty much guaranteed it. After looking at my data, those thoughts turned out to be pretty accurate. My average pace for the last 20 miles without aid station stops was just over 15 minutes per mile. An extra 15 minutes may have gotten me back home to tie the course record. But where would that time have come from? I know I could have saved some time during my aid station stops. My 7 slowest miles included an aid station stop and clocked in at an average of 21:05 per mile; there is definitely room for improvement there.

At the finish!

And then that’s where the brain games start getting out of hand. If only I had changed shirts faster. If I had packed a 2 liter of Coke in my cooler instead of wasting time to have a cup filled at the aid station I would have saved a few minutes there. If I had eaten those 2 perogies while walking instead of while standing at the aid station I may have shaved off another 2 minutes. It’s all enough to drive you crazy at some point. It’s also enough to make you question why I can’t just be happy with a first place finish at my first 24 hour race. It’s not that I’m not happy about my performance or the win I managed to get. I’m proud of both of those accomplishments. But I don’t think it would be a healthy reaction to set a goal, not reach it, and then not at least be somewhat disappointed about it. It’s kind of the point of a goal. You set it, you aim for it, you work for it, you struggle to reach it. And after all of that, if you come so close but fall slightly short, you should be disappointed in my opinion regardless of other circumstances such as overall race placement which was irrelevant to my goal anyway. Maybe that’s wrong. Maybe I’m ungrateful. Maybe I set my expectations too high. Whatever it is, this one is taking some time to process completely. Regardless of failing to reach my goal, I am happy with my performance and what it indicates about my fitness level and ability to endure and continue to move forward despite a mentally challenging circumstance. It gave me an indication of what I may be capable of at my next race, Pennsylvania’s first backyard ultra, the Keystone Backyard!

Recovery time.

Scott Snell

April 22, 2021

Allstate Detroit Hot Chocolate 15K Race Report

"Disclaimer: I received a free registration to the Allstate Detroit Hot Chocolate 15K to review as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!"


It’s Virtual! I Got to Run Where and When I Wanted!

I’ll be the first to say it, I miss in real life racing. I miss getting to the starting line with other runners. I miss visiting new places and discovering new areas to run as a result of going to races. I miss the excitement of crowds along a race route and the energy boost they provide. I miss the feeling of an actual finish line and meeting and chatting with other runners there over bananas and bagels. I miss all those things that were a part of in real life races that I took for granted. But COVID, but COVID, but COVID… those two terrible words. At least we still have the option to run events virtually to give us a taste of what we’re missing. And as much as virtual events lack compared to IRL events, they do present their own unique benefits.

Virtual events of course negate the need for travel plans and save all the associated costs making them simpler and more affordable. They are also much easier to work into a busy schedule making them more accessible. Don’t like running in the morning? With a virtual race you don’t have to. You’re busy the day of the event? No problem! Run it the day before or the day after. Or run it a week before as I did with the Allstate Detroit Hot Chocolate 15K because I’ll be busy running a 24 hour race on the day of the event. Lastly, virtual events allow you to choose where you run and what kind of terrain you run on. I was indecisive as to whether I wanted to run on roads or trails for the Allstate Detroit Hot Chocolate 15K so I ended up running both on consecutive days because why not?

It Had Been Awhile Since I Had Tried to Run Fast.

One of my goals was to actually try to race this 15K and run it as fast as possible. Well, I did not follow through with this goal. With a racing goal that has been on my “to do” list falling on the same day as the Allstate Detroit Hot Chocolate 15K I decided to make some adjustments. I have wanted to test myself by running a 24 hour race for the last 3 years or so. I finally registered for a 24 hour race in April last year which was cancelled (COVID) and rescheduled to April 17th 2021, the same date as the Allstate Detroit Hot Chocolate 15K. Thankfully with the Hot Chocolate 15K being virtual I could run it a week in advance. Even so, I did not want to push too hard for it as I wanted to be completely recovered and in top shape for my 24 hour race. Maybe it sounds like an excuse, but I have what may be some lofty goals for the 24 hour race and I don’t want to set myself up for failure or with excuses when things get tough there, which I expect them to at some point.

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is the Official Charity Partner.

A major reason why I ran the Allstate Detroit Hot Chocolate 15K was because the race is an official charity partner of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The mission of St. Jude Children’s Hospital is to advance cures, and means of prevention, for pediatric catastrophic diseases through research and treatment. I love what they stand for as a nonprofit organization and the fact that no family ever receives a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing, or food. This was such a motivating factor for me to run this race that after registering I decided to start an additional fundraising campaign through the St. Jude Heroes program to raise funds as I train for and run ultramarathons this year.

The Allstate Detroit Hot Chocolate 15K Delivered on the Chocolate and Swag!

Another reason I decided to run the Allstate Detroit Hot Chocolate 15K was a simple one: the chocolate. My kids are pretty big fans of all things chocolate. I figured I’ll run the race and whatever swag and chocolate goodies I get can be shared with them. We’ll both get some of our favorites; it will be a win win!

And what a win it was! My kids loved the chocolates and the hot chocolate mix! They also got a pretty big kick out of the unique finishers medal that flips open to reveal a storage area for more chocolate. And for me, the zip up hoodie is super comfortable, warm, and fits great!

While I’ll never be able to say that I believe virtual races can adequately replace in real life races, I don’t think they necessarily have to. I believe the two can coexist. For the time being and until we can safely get back to larger in real life races, virtual races will help me to tide my racing appetite and continue to enjoy my obsession with running.


Scott Snell
April 14, 2021

Taper Week and Calling My Shot For My First 24 Hour Race

It is Monday and less than a week out from my first 24 hour race which makes this a taper week. Along with taper week(s) come a few changes, some good and some not so good. The greatest positive in my opinion is just the additional free time that was spent running and training can now be reallocated to other areas. For me this means more family time and being able to help out more with all of the household chores. While I see this as an overall positive, I probably end up wasting a decent amount of that extra time just scrolling on social media. It takes far more discipline for me to put the phone down and do something productive around the house than it does for me to not even pick the phone up when it’s time for a run. 

So, what about the negative aspects of tapering? Well the most obvious is of course less running. I think it’s true of most runners, I know it is for me, but when I don’t get to run I can get grumpy. My wife may even go as far to say that I have a shorter temper when I go for too long without running. Not benefitting from the mental health aspects of running definitely affects my overall mood. During tapering it’s not so bad for me as there is an end date in sight and it is all in preparation to have the best race day possible, so it is a good trade off. Not running due to injury, that’s a completely different situation. 

Which leads to the second negative I’ve noticed more during this taper period than past ones; I’ve found that I’ve become a bit more anxious. Maybe part of this is just build up to race day nerves after not racing in so long and the lack of the relaxation and mental health benefits that come with running, but a decent part of it is due to becoming overly concerned with injury just before race day. In the past week I’ve paid far more attention to every little twinge of pain and ache anywhere on my body. Especially any area where I may have dealt with a previous injury. A little extra tightness in the calf and I’m worried it’s that calf flare up that took me out for almost a whole month of running last year. A sharp pain in the arch of my foot and I’m immediately thinking I’m going to be sidelined with plantar fasciitis. I’ve mostly been able to calm myself and realize I’m overreacting, but talk about unnecessary stress! 

My final long training run before my first 24 race.

And to close this blog post, as the title suggests I have a very specific goal for this race: to run 112.5 miles before the end of the 24 hours. This equates to 18 loops on the 6.25 mile race course and an overall average pace of 12:48 per mile. This distance would also increase my single run distance PR by about 6 miles completing one of my running goals for the year. Since the current course record is 108 miles, maybe my goal is a bit over ambitious or not necessarily within my capabilities. But why not aim for a greater goal rather than a less challenging one that I’m sure I would be capable of reaching? Obtaining painless goals for the sake of completing goals is a meaningless pursuit in my mind. Shooting for the pinnacle of individual success is one of the most motivating aspects of ultrarunning for me and I don’t plan on that mentality changing. 

Scott Snell 

April 12, 2021

Runderwear Festival of Running and Countdown to My First 24 Hour Race

As I begin this blog post we are quickly approaching the weekend of the Runderwear Festival of Running half marathon. Additionally, this Saturday is exactly 2 weeks out from my first 24 hour race! I am so excited and pumped to have an “in real life” race on my schedule and happening so soon.

I hope to use this weekend’s Runderwear Festival of Running virtual half marathon as a portion of my final weekend of training before rolling into taper mode until my 24 hour race. I’m excited to attempt to run a faster half marathon as it feels like it has been so long since I have pushed myself to run hard for any distance longer than up to a mile. Part two of my plan to use this half marathon as part of my final training weekend is to get out for at least a medium distance run the day after on what I expect to be either tired or sore legs. The thinking behind this is of course that at some point during the 24 hour race my legs will be tired so I want to be prepared and mentally ready to continue to move on those tired legs.

My pace goal for the half marathon is to run an average pace of 8:15 per mile. It’s not shooting for the stars or a PR for me, but my training for the last 5 months hasn’t been focused on speed; it’s been focused on building volume and endurance. Additionally, even if I thought a faster pace was within my reach, I don’t want to overextend myself with only 2 weeks to recover before the 24 hour race which has been my top running goal for the last couple years.

Based on my monthly mileage build up, I feel mentally and physically ready to run for 24 hours straight. I have built volume and endurance with this single race in mind. My last long run to prepare for it was 42 miles at what I considered a comfortable pace. Near the end of that run I wanted to test my legs and see what I had left at that point. I ran my forty-first mile in just a little over 7 minutes. This gave me a huge confidence booster for the 24 hour race. Now I just can’t wait to be on that starting line!


Scott Snell
April 2, 2021

Birthday 41 Miler and St. Jude Charity Campaign Kick Off

I’m just a day away from running my final long training run in preparation for my first 24 hour race (Adventure Trail) which will be my first race since August 2019. For that reason, it’s a bit of a monumental run but there are a few other reasons why this run will be of particular significance. For one, I’ll be running 41 miles to celebrate my 41st birthday. Additionally, I’m using this run as the official start of my charity campaign to raise funds for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.


Running my age in miles to celebrate my birthday is something I’ve thought about doing, but never committed to until this year. It will be a bit different than my standard birthday celebrations with exuberant amounts of singing, dancing, and drinking with hundreds of my closest friends (yes, that was sarcasm; I don’t have a hundred friends). In the age of COVID, we just can’t do that anymore. So what’s the next best thing? A long solo run of course! Usually a training run longer than 50k just doesn’t make sense for the shorter distance ultra spring races I’ve registered for in the past. With this year’s first race being significantly longer, a 24 hour in which I hope to cover over 100 miles, an easy paced 40 mile training run seems much more sensible to me.


My training goal for this run is to complete the 41 miles at or slightly faster than my target pace (12:48 per mile) for the 24 hour race. I hope to do this comfortably and feel like my legs still have plenty of life left in them when I finish. If I can pull this off it will be a huge confidence boost in the final stages of race prep and will hopefully require minimal recovery time considering I’m not trying to push the pace.


My charity campaign goal is simple, just to raise some funds for a good cause while I selfishly run. Yes, running does seem selfish to a degree to me. At least long distance running does. I know it improves my mood and keeps me more mentally and emotionally healthy which makes me a better father and husband, but is it really necessary for me to disappear for 3 hour training runs on the weekends? Is it essential to my well being for me to be absent for entire weekends when I go away for a race? Ultimately, would I get the same benefits from running as I do now if I just ran 3, 5, or maybe 10 miles on a long day? At least part of me believes that to be true. But I’m starting to meander off on a tangent now. Maybe this topic deserves its own blog post; I just wanted to explain part of the reason why I have wanted to raise money for a cause as a result of my running, in part to feel less selfish.


I’m hoping to achieve these fundraising goals through a few avenues between now and the end of April:

• Run-A-Thon as a St. Jude Hero
• Charity Miles App
• Head Shaving and Hair Donation

Trail Run-A-Thon - Pledge X Dollars Per Mile for My 24 Hour Race

I am asking donors to pledge whatever amount they want for each mile I run during the 24 hour race (Adventure Trail) on April 17. Decide how much you’d like to give per mile then make the donation after the official final mileage is posted. Pledges can be made using this Google form. You can donate directly at my St. Jude Heroes fundraising site or on my Facebook Fundraiser page. 

You may ask why I chose St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. The answer, I’m a strong supporter of their mission “to advance cures, and means of prevention, for pediatric catastrophic diseases through research and treatment. Consistent with the vision of our founder Danny Thomas, no child is denied treatment based on race, religion or a family's ability to pay.” Additionally, they seem to be an efficiently run nonprofit. They received a 4 star rating and overall score of 91.42 from Charity Navigator (call me a cynic if you want, but I feel better about researching a charity before donating).

Earning Additional Funds Using the Charity Miles App

Since I log all of my running miles anyway, I figured why not raise some additional funds for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital every time I run. It’s pretty simple to set up an account with the Charity Miles App and once it is connected to my Strava account it requires no additional effort on my part to earn funds for my chosen charity. With my Strava account synced to the Charity Miles App, for every mile I log, I help earn money for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital from Charity Miles’ corporate sponsorship pool.


Hair Donation and Head Shaving

So this one isn’t really running related, but it provides the background story that motivated me most to do this whole fundraising endeavor. I started growing my hair out a little over 2 years ago in order to donate it to the nonprofit Children With Hair Loss. The main motivation for me to do this was after learning that a friend of mine from grade school did the same. His motivation was that his young child was being treated for leukemia. Thankfully, his child responded well to treatments and is now cancer free. After hearing his story and wondering why it happened to him and his only child while I have been lucky enough to be blessed with three healthy children, I figured the least I could do to help one of these kids out is to grow some hair to donate.  #CutPassLove


Thank you for reading! Any support you can provide is very much appreciated!


March 12, 2021

Scott Snell

WhitePaws RunMitts Gear Review

Because Runners Don’t Take Winters Off

Disclaimer: I received a pair of Whitepaws Runmitts to review as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review, find, and write race reviews!

The reason why I was so excited to try out WhitePaws RunMitts this winter is in the company’s marketing slogan: “Because Runners Don’t Take Winters Off.” As a runner who prefers running in hotter than comfortable temps rather than colder than comfortable temps, I figured I needed some WhitePaws RunMitts in my life to stay active and motivated to run through the winter months. Since I’ve tried them on and worn them for a few test runs, here’s some of the features about them that have been real standouts for me.

They Do What They’re Supposed to Do Well - Keep Your Hands Warm!

I know this one should go without saying, but I’ve used enough other subpar mittens and gloves that just don’t cut it with the one job they’re supposed to do, keeping my hands and fingers warm. The temperature during the coldest training run I wore my WhitePaws RunMitts for was in the mid-twenties. It wasn’t dangerously cold like the MidWest winters I remember while growing up, but with the gusty winds it was uncomfortably cold. Thankfully, my WhitePaws RunMitts kept my hands and fingers protected and warm!

Built in Pocket for Hand Warmers. Very Nice!

I haven’t had the need to use the built in pockets for hand warming pouches for extra warmth in extremely cold conditions as of yet, but I appreciate the option being available. Having used ski gloves with hand warming pouches during some longer, colder days on the slopes, I know what a game changer those hand warmers can be. Having this option makes longer winter trail runs or all day hikes way more attractive to me.

Access to Fingers for When You Need Dexterity.

The fact that WhitePaws RunMitts allow you quick and easy access to your fingers via their patented (US9220307B2) clingable cap gives you the dexterity you need without a hassle. The top of the glove flips open freeing your fingers when you need them and then easily closes again. Here’s a short (and by no means complete) list of a few instances when this feature has been super handy for me:

• Working zippers - Sometimes you just need your fingers to make a zipper work. I’ve found myself plenty of times on a ski lift taking off and putting on my gloves just to be able to access my zippered pocket contents.

• Opening energy gel packs - Maybe some people can pull it off, but I just can’t seem to get the traction or dexterity I need to open a gel packet while wearing gloves. On top of it, I don’t want sticky gel goop getting all over my gloves. WhitePaws RunMitts solves this conundrum!

• Tying your shoes - Just try to tie your shoelaces with your favorite pair of gloves on. I’ve tried it on bitter cold days when I was being stubborn about removing my gloves; every time it ended with me giving up and taking my gloves off.

• Using your phone - Whether you’re checking a map, answering/making a call, or snapping a running selfie with friends, sometimes you need your fingers to get that touch screen to work!

• Nature calls - I won’t go into the details here. You can probably figure it out.

• Adjusting your Aftershokz - If you use Aftershokz you know, some of those buttons to skip tracks or adjust the volume are small! You almost need that skin contact just to feel the button you’re looking for. WhitePaws RunMitts to the rescue!

If you’d like to give a pair WhitePaws RunMitts a try, use discount code “BIBRAVE5” for $5 off all 2020 WhitePaws RunMitts mittens, expires 3/31/21.

And if you like love stories, check out this stop motion animation love story between Whitepaws Runmitts and Hotties Hand Warmers: https://youtu.be/ru-2gAt8-Po

Here are a few links to other BibRavePro's reviews:

Run With No Regrets

Running On Pixie Dust

Coffee And Trails

She Runs by the Seashore

You Asked For The Bill

Run With Coach Fischer

Karen Poole Fitness

Running For My Life

I Was Running

Live Laugh Explore

The Celiathlete

Why I’m Running the Allstate Detroit Hot Chocolate 15K

 

"Disclaimer: I received a free registration to the Allstate Detroit Hot Chocolate 15K to review as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!"

It’s Virtual and Won’t Be Cancelled!

If 2020 taught me anything, it’s that life is unpredictable. I never expected movie theaters, restaurants, and parks to be shut down due to a global pandemic, but it happened. As such, most of my running goals had to be postponed as they were based on events that were cancelled. I don’t know what this year entails. I am hopeful that in person racing will return, but I’m hedging my bets by diversifying with some virtual options like the Allstate Detroit Hot Chocolate 15K. It’s a race that I know will not get cancelled and gives me a dependable goal with a set deadline to work towards.

  

It’s Been Awhile Since I Tried to Run Fast.

I haven’t run an actual race shorter than an ultra distance in almost two years and I was feeling the need for some extra motivation to do some speedwork. What better way to motivate myself to do some faster runs and speedwork than to sign up for a 15K? With it having been so long since I pushed my pace for any amount of time, I’m excited to see what kind of time I’m able to pull off. It also makes it particularly challenging to set a time goal. My base goal, which I think I should be able to achieve is to run sub 8 minute miles. My upper tiered goal is to finish in under 1:10.

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is the Official Charity Partner.

The mission of St. Jude Children’s Hospital is to advance cures, and means of prevention, for pediatric catastrophic diseases through research and treatment. I love what they stand for as a nonprofit organization and the fact that no family ever receives a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing, or food. 

Additionally, St. Jude Children's Hospital has consistently received high ratings from from Charity Navigator. Their most recent is a four star rating, the highest rating possible, with 100/100 for accountability and transparency and 87.87/100 in financial. 

My Kids Like Chocolate!

The final reason I registered for the Allstate Detroit Hot Chocolate 15K is a simple one: because my kids are pretty big fans of hot chocolate. Each Virtual Run registration includes a Chocolate Finisher’s Kit! They serve delicious dark chocolate that is gluten free and has no compounds. It's not a problem for me, but if you have a nut allergy; no worries! Their chocolate is nut free. I figured I’ll run it and share the hot chocolate swag with them. We’ll both get some of our favorites; it will be a win win!

 

If you’re planning to sign up, use code “BRHC20” to receive a free Hot Chocolate running hat with your swag package!