Will run for chocolate.

It's hard to pass up a race that revolves around chocolate -- and lots of it.

So in June, I signed up for the Hot Chocolate 15k. I had never run a 15k before, but the distance (approximately 9.3 miles) seemed very doable. (I've run three marathons, seven half-marathons and numerous other races.)

The Hot Chocolate 15k was held in Chicago's Lincoln Park yesterday. My running buddy, Naomi, timed her visit during the weekend of the race.

Together, Naomi, Ben and I ran it. They could have left me in their dust. Although I've run and trained with Naomi for four years, she is a better and faster racer. And Ben can kick my butt almost any day. But since Naomi was visiting, she wanted to hang back with me. And I think Ben just wanted to see how fast he could push me. He didn't let a mile pass without telling me to pick up the pace, letting me know the pace, encouraging me or asking me who I was feeling. A series of f-bombs filled my mouth but never escaped my lips. I ran an average 9:06/mile pace and finished in 1 hour, 24 minutes.

With the exception of the Twin Cities Marathon, the Hot Chocolate 15k is now a race favorite. It was well-organized. The goodie bag outshines every other goodie bag. (I got a Nike running coat, fleece hat and a draw-string bag. When I wear the coat, I feel like Kara Goucher -- only not as fast or as gorgeous.) There were plenty of port-a-potties with little or no wait for them. Sometimes racers get greedy and gobble up more than their fair share of post-race food. But there was ample hot chocolate, fondue snacks and backpacks full of chocolate candy afterward. And you can't beat running along Lake Michigan with thousands (4,100 people finished the 15k component) of strangers.