I offhandedly said My goal for the 2023 Cocoa Cup 5K was to beat Nolan. Mostly because the only other goal I could think of was getting the famed sweatshirt. 😛 So beating Nolan became the theme of my race, little did he know.
The Race
I was told that this race sells out and it did again for 2023. It was only a week after the Kiawah Half Marathon. While a half marathon is a long endurance battle, a 5K is a short, 100% pain cave battle. I joked that my goal was to beat Nolan. This turned into a bigger thing, with several of my friends texting me that morning and immediately asking if I beat him. 😂 He didn’t find out about this “goal” until the night before the race.
We were also told that it’s crowded with walkers/kids/strollers, so we started right in the front. I took off a little hot but managed to stick right around 9:00/mile. (My face is terrible above, but I bet it looked like that the entire race.) I felt like I was battling to keep pace the entire time, having no idea where Nolan was behind me. Turns out, he was right on my heels and secretly trying to figure out a way how to pass me without me knowing.
I ended up finishing just 17 seconds ahead of him. My official time was 28:00, 1:26 faster than my last 5K! Our before/after photos look almost identical. Mission accomplished and I vow never to set my goal to “beat Nolan” ever again! Unless… 😉
2023 Cocoa Cup 5K Swag
The hot chocolate after was actually pretty good and came in a reusable cup. But, the reason this race sells out is because of the sweatshirt. After getting our packets I was a little underwhelmed. Then I put the sweatshirt on later that day and realized just how soft it was inside. Definitely worth the 3.1 miles in the pain cave.
