Three ladies getting excited to run the 5K in freezing temperatures.

On Saturday morning, DFW experienced its first winter day. We awoke to below-freezing temperatures and an e-mail warning us about hypothermia. Yet The Sassy Writer, my mother-in-law Kathi and I piled in my car and headed to Dallas’ Fair Park for the Hot Chocolate 5K, raising the question: What won’t we do for chocolate?

The run was sponsored by Ghirardelli. Need I say more? Actually the race was pretty pricey for a 5K, but we got an awesome Hot Chocolate running jacket, a ticket to the Ghirardelli fondue line and a ticket for a cup of Ghirardelli hot chocolate. The bonus: our race packets and the finish line came with little squares of chocolately goodness. The fondue was so good. Later I saw a little girl dipping her hand into the chocolate because she still had some left in her dish. I really wish I had thought of that. As it was, I dipped my chocolate squares into the chocolate.

Chocolate fondue with a cup of hot chocolate.

Even with the chocolate though, I don’t know if I would do this run again because picking up the packets at  Fair Park during the week and having to pay for parking is a bit annoying. Plus our start time was 7:30 a.m. Yikes! But I will say the race was delicious and extremely well organized. I actually zipped right out of the parking lot, which is more than I can say for the Dallas Rock ‘n Roll Half Marathon.

We also got coupons for discounts at Grapevine’s Ghiradelli factory store. There’s a factory store 30 minutes from me? How did I not know this?

I think I just found a new running mantra: Will run for chocolate. And hey, I can set up my own chocolate run thanks to those coupons.

A beautiful sunrise on the morning of the Chocolate Run and The Sassy Writer and me posing in Fair Park after running and chocolate.