Seemed to have skimped a little this year. Way less water stations and bathroom stations. The event…read morestarted on time this year which is great!

Had an overwhelmingly positive experience with this run. First of all--in terms of a tour of…read morePhilly, it's hard to beat a ten mile run down the main artery of the city surrounded by 40,000 other Philadelphians. Cruising by Temple University (complete with marching band and cheerleaders), the Philadelphia Orchestra (complete with tuba players and timpani) and city hall (with hundreds of locals cheering you on) is an absolutely delightful way to experience the city. I had so much fun and can't wait to do it again next year! The course itself is a dream--slightly downhill with almost no turns the entire route. Many personal bests to be achieved here! The crowd support is also amazing. I was shocked at how many people are out there supporting. This year was an absolute downpour yet there were still thousands of friendly supporters almost the entire route. Logistically the race went smoothly. It's very easy to pop on the septa and get to the starting line. Be prepared for a crowded ride, but it's a good natured crowdedness nonetheless. Got on the subway an hour and a half before start time and arrived about an hour early. Didn't experience lines for bathrooms or gear check. Really high energy before the start. I picked a corral that was on the slower side and was passing a ton of people throughout the entire race. I thought this was kind of cool because I felt speedy but for those who want a less crowded experience don't be afraid to estimate your time as a little on the faster side. One negative was the gear check pickup. Definitely a logistical struggle here, I waited about half an hour for my bag but I heard of people waiting over an hour. Consider leaving the gear at home unless really needed. I LOVED how close the end was to the septa station--was back home super fast (thank goodness, because as I mentioned, total downpour)!

I had a chance to run this 15K race a bunch of years back when they had it in Brooklyn. The course…read morewas about 2.5 loops of Prospect Park and it was a lot of fun. Well organized, the race HQ was at the LeFrak Center, we received terrific race swag such as jackets and hats, the finisher medal was awesome, and the post-race eats and hot chocolate was just perfect to refuel. The Hot Chocolate 15K and 5K is held around the country but for some reason they have not come back to NYC since. When I ran it there were around 2000=2500 runners so it was well attended. Its sponsored by Sketchers now where in the past it was Allstate.

I've ran the LOVE run, Philly Half, Rock & Roll Half, and the Broad Street run many times, but this…read morewas my first time running the Hot Chocolate 15K. I've known of this race for years, but never did it till this past weekend. You must know I never review races. This is the first time I am writing a review for a race, and it's because this race is super underrated. I was first drawn to the race for the free running jacket! Never have those aforementioned races I have ever done gave out free jackets! It's always a free t-shirt, and if you're lucky a drinking glass, though that's very rare these days. The Good: - The free running jacket of course. It's good for temperatures above 50 degrees, unless you plan to run in it, then it might keep you warm in 30-40 degree weather. - Registration Costs are not expensive (under $60 if you register early). - The course was easy, beginner friendly - some hills every now and then (nothing like the Rocky Run - which I am not going to recommend). - There were just enough water stations, and they actually have electrolyte drinks! Many race organizations try to cut costs and only give out water or watered down Gatorade, but NOT the Hot Chocolate 5K/15K. They even give out gummy bears, marshmallows and m&ms at one water station! - There were plenty of portapotties. Because there aren't as many runners, the wait times for the portapotties aren't very long. - Finisher's medal is well designed and not UGLY. - Hot chocolate, chocolate fondue dip, banana and a bunch of Nabisco treats at the finish line. This may not sound like much but wait till you see the other "goodies" from other races. I'm telling you these are good stuff! - Photos of you taken from the race usually cost money, but Ventures Endurance won't charge you for the Lo Res version, and to be honest they look pretty good. The Bad (if you can really call them the Bad): - The week leading up to the race, I was expecting an email from the race organizers like you normally get. Just so you know, the organizers for this race will never email you, except when you first register for the race and marketing emails. All the necessary information can be found through their website. - There wasn't a big showing of spectators compared to the other races. - The Expo was one of the smallest expo's I've ever been to, but people only go there to pick up their bibs anyway. This is a fun one, guys! If you are considering doing a 5k or 15k in Philly, this is the one.

Run the 8.4 mile loop around the river as part of this Bryn Mawr Running race. Admission is cheap…read morewhile support is light. Entry gets you a bib with time tracking and new in 2018 a finisher medal. When I say support on the course is light, I mean two small water stops. While you get chip timed, some of the prizes are based on gun time. If like me, you've never run a race with such an odd distance, you get an automatic PR in your first year! It was fun in 2018, even with the rain. Had I paid more I might have hoped for more, like mileage signs. However, I was happy with what was provided and the free drink at bishops collar after was a nice touch. I'll probably be repeating next year...

It's taken me two and half weeks to process the Philly marathon, so here we go...!…read more I've wanted to run this marathon for a good amount of years now, and had added it to my to run list. I was all set to go then 2020 happened and it was canceled. I signed up for another year but ended up not making it to town to run it. This was my year, I'd registered in 2022 the day of the race for 2023. All in all, I'll say this race is a great race. I was in an out of the expo because I had dinner plans Friday night. I didn't have my best race, and that's putting it lightly. I was on the 6a shuttle from my hotel and managed to make it onto the last bus departing. If you're like me, and don't love showing up super early to a start (I prefer showing up 15-30 min max before, NOT hours ahead). My tip here, is don't wait if shuttles are running 5a-6a, I came out around 545a and just lucked out on snagging a seat on the final departure. You'll want to lean more towards the 515a line up/boarding option time. I'm a born and raised California girl (I know! barf!) with that being said, anything under 70 degrees is cold to me. While many runners were grateful for the 37degree temps (even referring to the weather as "much warmer than last year") I was f**cken COLD! We arrived to the start line and bathroom lines were INSANE! I arrived by 615ish and had to wait until 710a to use the porta potty. I stood there freezing the entire time because somehow I completely dropped the ball on remembering to pack pre race area layers. I made a mad dash to begin with my corral and was fortunate we didn't go off until 715a. As excited as I was to get this race started, I very quickly needed to use the restroom again by Mile 1. This continued on the ENTIRE race, through mile 23. I've never in my life experienced this, although earlier this year a very similar thing happened on the Big Sur course. I started calling this marathon "tour de porta potty" having used the porta potties SEVEN TIMES!!! I can't make this shi* up. I clearly need to be far more cognizant of my pre marathon food and drink intake, and research reasons this occurred twice this year. I've run in very cold temps before and through extremely wet conditions so I'm not quite sure why my body did this. My moving time via Strava wasn't terrible, but definitely not my strongest race but my overall time was quite disappointing after lengthy waits for all porta potties until mile 23. Pro tip for the ladies, and gents too I suppose: ALWAYS pack tons of extra tp. I usually have a good amount on me, but def not enough for 7 trips to the restroom and ended up having to take off my gloves and use those. Girl problems! As disappointed as I was in my body on this course, the course itself was great a ton of the time - it's just hard to enjoy something when you keep having to pee. The signs were some of the best marathon signs I've ever seen, and the dogs along the course were the cutest! The neighborhoods were a lot of fun. My body just somehow butchered my run and I've accepted that fact. I've had an incredible year this year, taking 1st in almost every shorter distance run, overall in two trail races, a Masters spot, and a marathon PR. I came home to race two additional races within days of this and will probably marathon annually until the day I die. That being said, don't beat yourself up if you have an unusual race. It can be hard when you register, and pay to travel out of state + accommodations and F it all up, but Check! I've run Philly. If you're a local, this is a superb first marathon race. If you live in a nearby state via train/car, this is a no brainer marathon. I heard some folks mentioning they didn't like the marathon shirt, I thought although a bit flashier than most - it's nice to have a long sleeve quarter zip option and later felt proud to wear it on my return flight home. The medal is one of the cutest ever too! An actual ringing mini Liberty Bell. Fluids/Blocks etc were plentiful although I wasn't in need of taking much of this in. My only request MORE restrooms! Although I'd never want to need to use one on course, the lines were just SO long and there didn't seem to be enough OR enough tp in them. Start/Finish line are a breeze, for walking back to hotels in the area after I was about 1.5 miles away. If you're coming in from out of town, definitely stay in that area. All in all, 5 STAR spectators, great course - terrible morning for my system for whatever which reason. As always feel free to DM if I've left some key points out - happy to help! Now, go RUN.

I hope to not catch hands for this review as I am SO proud of what our city is able to put together…read moreevery Marathon weekend. There's so much effort and coordination that goes into making this happen and, as someone who puts on events and truly despises when people revel in nit picking small details, I find myself a bit soured by my experience running the Philadelphia Half. I want to start with what's AMAZING: + The course itself is FUN and challenging and the crowd support is fabulous. It's an amazing way to take in our city from the Delaware to the Schuylkill and many different neighborhoods. + The expo is well put on with great sponsors and partners. + Enough on course porta potties and ample hydration/fuel stops. Some points I feel could improve for future races: + The elephant in the room...security lines. I don't understand how this happened and, while I understand and value the commitment to safety, the processes need to be changed for the future. There was confusion about entrances that were not communicated at ALL within the event or before (more on that coming soon) and it really created a lot of pre-race stress. I moved out of one line into another and was able to get into my corral juuuust in time despite arriving to the race an hour and a half before start time. + Pre-event communication was more or less non-existent until the day before the expo. This is my 5th half and I run Broad Street every year, so I feel like I have an idea for what the "standard" pre-race comm plan looks like. The Philly Half does not follow that formula and I think it lead to some of the confusion. There was no email about results, no post-race communications at all...very odd. + Post-race crowding and post-race transport/shuttle is messy messy. I ended up walking the mile home after receiving my medal. While this isn't a race I'll run again, I am SO proud to have this event in our city and do recommend folks run the half or the full here in Philly for the amazing course alone. I hope organizers can take the security issue to heart and figure out a way to keep spectators and athletes safe without it creating so much pre-race stress.

Such a nice workout ! I have been to this studio twice and just signed up for another class in a…read morefew days. The first class I took here was a beginner's twerk class and I recently signed up for booty blast. If you haven't guessed by now I am really trying to get my lady lumps in shape LOL Overall the instructors are professional and you will definitely break a sweat. Try here

I took my very first pole dance class at this studio and it was enough to get me hooked on the…read moresport (yeah I said it!). The owner, Barb, is a former exotic dancer and the official House Mom at Club Onyx. Needless to say her pole skills are tried and true. The staff there is SUPER friendly and encouraging even to newbies who haven't the grace of a newborn baby cow. When you go here be prepared to work. The pole classes will more than likely have brand new people as well as advanced and Barb will encourage you to try everything at least once. I found myself doing things that I would've never imagined in my first class (like inversions!). Learned the walk, a couple of spins, and then tried (in vain) to climb the pole. I found in my first class that my arms and core were much to weak for many of the maneuvers but it was a great workout nonetheless. The only drawbacks I can say is that with this style of teaching you'll either feel really inspired by your lack of skill and get a great desire to learn or you'll end up really discouraged that you're not at the level of others and forgo the sport altogether. The methods of teaching here are very "watch me, now you try" which isn't effective for everyone. In addition to pole instruction classes they offer Abs class, Booty Blast (learn to make it clap), and various other sexy fitness courses. After my first class my body hurt like never before. Being a former competitive swimmer, and short distance runner, this pain was still new to me. I literally couldn't lift my hands directly above my head for 2 weeks. It's an awesome workout and a lot of fun.

While half marathons aren't for the faint of heart, you don't need to be an uber-athlete to take…read morepart. This half is one of my favorites, and worth the price of admission. It's well-organized, and you can score free stuff. The race is a solid test of endurance without being too grueling, thanks to a relatively flat course. The course itself is quite scenic, offering runners the opportunity to take on streets usually clogged with traffic, through historical neighborhoods, and along the tranquil Schuykill River. You're rarely alone unless you're exceedingly slow (or a Kenyan). Bands every couple of miles provide entertainment - and let's not forget the energetic crowd. Register today! Can't run? Volunteer to support the event! Every little bit counts.

I like this race. I think it is a fantastic race if you want to run with 15-20,000 other people…read more.. but I am sick of doing big corporate races. I just want to run, be timed, have a blast. I run on average 20 races a year. I always fall somewhere in the middle, so I'm not zippy-I can hold my own. The more races I do the more I appreciate showing up the day of a race, getting your race packet, pinning your bib on and going. Larger races such as the ING do tend to have a fantastic expo with some free schwag, and closeout deals-a plus for the cheap-skate like myself. They also tend to cost a heck-of-a-lot more than smaller community races. The negatives are as follows: parking headaches getting to the expo, you're a number-not a name, sterile feeling. Overall, it's a fantastic race for those who love to race. I'm just not doing anymore for a while. I've decided to do half marathons in smaller towns that cost a lot less and really show the effort of the few organizers who poured their entire self into them.

Princeton half marathon is a great race for runners to enjoy the nice town in golden fall season…read more It's less formal than big races like NYRR or Rock n' Roll, but it's also less crowded with great scenery alone the way. Route: 1) a bit hilly at mile 9 - 10 (My feel like it is ~3% incline for about 1 mile); then two other small hills towards the end. 2) there are two sections of off the road trails in the woods. A bit narrow so make sure you starts with the right speed group. Plus: 1) pacers help to pace the race: I ran between 2:00 and 2:05 pacers the whole route; 2) mile mark at every mile; 3) free massage at the finish line!!! Overall, highly recommend if you'd like a good run in the crisp air than hitting your best time (Boston or Jersey city half would be better choices since they are flat).

Chris and Nick are great coaches, lots of value in clinics. They do great community workread more

Adult clinics are very fun and will level up your game quickly. Courts are well maintained and…read moreresurfaced periodically. Membership is affordable (under $500 a year no initiation fee, clinics about ~$50 drop in with 8 pack discount). Personal coaching is available but I have found that even in clinics coaches will pay attention to everyone's game. Regarding reviews that say they're not responsive - this is a non-profit and front desk is occasionally understaffed. You should check what the membership prices are at full service country clubs featuring "racquet sports". This is the place for serious tennis. Instruction is better here, much cheaper, and you're more likely to play younger/fitter opponents. Find the clinic schedule online and show up in person, I have never been turned away. Highly recommend 10/10.