Run for Chocolate Reading 2019

Sometimes it’s just good to not take things too seriously.

This weekend I found myself responsible for my 12 year old, which meant I couldn’t sneak off and run the Wokingham half, which I might have otherwise tried for. Instead I looked around and found the ‘Run for Chocolate’ 5k in Kings Meadow which for some reason piqued the interest of my son in a way that running rarely does. We signed up and were ready for a civilised start time at 10:00 on a sunday morning.

A couple of days before the event we received an email notifying us that the location had changed from one park to another. This was not a big deal but was slightly unnerving throwing off what I thought I knew about the run. As a result it was a relief to arrive at Propect Park and see marshals guiding us into the main car park.

As far as I could tell there were about 120 runners – so a much smaller bunch than usual, and possibly connected to the big local half taking place nearby at the same time. There seemed to be many more dads and mums running with their kids, and what looked like new runners than I’d expected. In response to this I found myself resetting my expectations from the massive events I’ve been running recently and started to relax and enjoy the charm of what proved to be a but tiny friendly event.

No chip timing here, a couple of tables for a quick check in and being handed an unexpected run branded buff that was welcome given the cool morning. Although there was a warm up it was really only just long enough to get us smiling before we made for the start. A young lad in a high viz jacket was positioned as lead bike, and with a quick count down we were off.

Two and a (tiny) bit laps of the park gave us a mix of tarmac paths, gravel and trail, a single steep climb that we hit twice (make it up the hill for the second time at about 3.2k and you know you are going to get home) and a gradual drag up to the finish. All this meant plenty of variety and no long and dispiriting stretches to depress the spirits. There was a mix of clear sign posting and marshals (who were all incredibly friendly and encouraging as we loped around) on any remotely complicated parts of the course.

As we sprinted up the slight rise to the finish for the third and final time to cross the line, we were handed chunky coloured medals and a chocolate bar before beating a path to the hot chocolate table. Efficiently handed a large cup my son was delighted to explore the squirty cream, marshmallows and biscuit chunks. By the time he’d finished I’m pretty sure he’d consumed all the calories he’d burnt but was very happy indeed.

In all, although it didn’t feel too different to a smaller scale Saturday parkrun, I think this was an excellent event for a new runner or someone gradually introducing their family to the idea of a 5k run – really cosy and friendly and with a good collection of worthwhile swag at the end. If you are looking for a competitive race this is probably not for anyone other than the most extreme chocoholic. I suspect I’ll be back for the Prosecco themed ‘Run for Sparkle’ with the rest of the family later on this year.

Details can be found here: https://www.runforchocolate.co.uk/