Santa Hustle 5K

I hate running, yet every year I always get the brilliant idea to sign up for different races…
People in some of the other reviews were complaining about the cold… But let’s be honest, what do you expect when you sign up for a 5k in the middle of Winter?!
The beards are really itchy to run in, but it’s half of the fun of the race, so don’t be a pansy and keep it on! I expected there to be a lot of Christmas music at this event, but that wasn’t the case, so that was kind of a downer, but the sound of other runners jingle bells and ho ho hos get ya through the 3 miles!
Overall, it’s a pretty enjoyable 5k and working out around the holidays when we’re all shoving our faces with food with family and friends can’t be a bad thing for anyone’s health!

All the Santas were fun but I doubt I’ll run this race again. It was one of my first runs. I ran the Dec. 2013 Santa Hustle with my daughter.
I guess I missed the memo about putting our race number on our backpacks ahead of time for check in.(my first 5K) Shouldn’t have been a big deal but it was so freezing cold that my hands and fingers just would not function enough for the little pins that attach the race numbers. When one of the staff tried to help me one of the supervisors approached and glared at me and told the staff not to help me and to «make her do it herself.» (wasn’t really feeling the Christmas Spirit at this point). I struggled a few more minutes, but the longer I kept my gloves off to attach the pins the colder and colder my fingers got, so I was still unable to attach the pins. Finally the staff decided to help me regardless of the supervisor’s angry glares.
I assume part of the $ 50+ per runner fee (one of the most expensive in my experience) went to pay the staff so I am not sure why he was acting like I was begging for charity here.
On another note, I think I am in the minority on this one. but I didn’t like that the run came with such a high quality (expensive) shirt that I can’t really wear again. It was fun that it had the Santa pattern for the race but maybe a red shirt that we can wear again would have been better… I only say this because it is a really nice, high quality shirt… that I would like to wear Oct., Nov., Jan., Feb., etc.
I had enough fun that this race did interest me to sign up for other 5K’s but I don’t think I will ever run this one again.

This race was a lot of fun. The santa outfits and decorations are a great touch right before Christmas. It was crowed but well organized. The after party was fun and I met some really cool people. I’m in for this year again!

Please no walkers in the 11 minute corral! You cannot walk an 11 minute mile. Other than that, the swag was fun… Got a hat an beard! This was a huge race with candy on the course and lots of great cheer. I really loved the decorations and it seems the organizers put a lot of thought into how the course would look with some fun blow ups and real reindeer. snazzy!

This race was too much fun last year! I liked it so much that I already registered for the 2013 race in Chicago! Hopefully we have another freakishly warm December day like we did last year. Cant wait!!!

This race was really goofy and fun, but I don’t know if I would run it again.
Pros:
— Running in a pack of 7500 Santas was hilarious.
— Christmas music!
— You get a free Santa dri-​fit shirt, Santa hat, and beard!
— Some people had ridiculously awesome costumes. (ex: Christmas trees!!)
— Post-​run granola bar and banana really hit the spot.
— There was a giant inflatable reindeer. I got separated from some friends and got the best text ever — «We’re at the reindeer butt.»
Cons:
— The start line was really crowded and disorganized, and people lined up at the wrong pace marker. I was running really slowly and yet managed to pass a ton of people.
— The course does a really tight turn halfway through, and that’s where they decided to have their water/​gatorade station. Also, they put the water/​gatorade tables really close to the trail, so it was maybe three people wide. In short, this area was a crazy bottleneck and people were stopping and stumbling over each other and I pretty much had to walk this part.
— How the heck do people eat cookies and candy (M&M mini’s) during the course? I thought I would choke on them, so I didn’t eat any, thinking that there would be more at the end. Nope :(
— They didn’t have very many speakers playing Christmas music. Kind of a letdown.

Loved the race! Everyone was in the Christmas spirit! Think the candy and cookies should be at the end– but loved the idea of it. Just seems to be a great addition to the theme!

I think this run is really fun but There were some safety issues and also «basic race organization 101» issues that need to be addressed. I give it two because it really is a «meh, I’ve experienced better».
Positives:
— It’s really cool to look out at a crowd of santa’s
— They had reindeer to pet at the race
— Free breakfast afterward at the afterparty
— Cool t-​shirt design
Negatives:
— No snow clearing on the race course. Made it really dangerous to race. Santas were falling everywhere.
— They ran out of santa beards to hand out at teh packet pick up. Seems like this is pretty simple and it kinda sucks showing up the nexdt day to do the santa hustle with no beard.
— the t-​shirt is cotten. Get with the times (and the $ 45 entry fee) and do a dry fit. They arent that much more expensive.

I had so much fun running with all of the other Santas, hearing the Christmas music, and enjoying cookies en route. I was a bit disappointed, though, that the organizers hadn’t managed to coordinate snow-​clearing efforts with the city. A bit of salt on the path would have been nice. Santas were going down at every turn. If it had been a freak storm, I would understand. But we had plenty of warning that the first snowfall would occur during that evening, so a little more planning would have been appropriate. I also didn’t totally agree with the choice of the Cubby Bear for the after party. I was so intimidated by the buffet line that I didn’t even bother waiting. Also, many races give out free drink tickets, which would have been nice to have after the race. And just a thought for next year, I would pay $ 5 extra to have a shuttle bus get us to the bars in Wrigley, just to avoid the hassle of trying to find a taxi with 3000 other Santas doing the same thing. But I did really enjoy the run, don’t get me wrong! Just a few suggestions for next year, because I definitely plan on doing it again!