[Race Report] 2026 San Francisco 10K Hot Chocolate Run

I ran the San Francisco Hot Chocolate 10K on January 11. This was my second ever 10K race and part of my preparation for Boston in April (my first 10K was also my first ever running race, which I finished in 61:23 3.5 years ago).

Going into the race, I had scouted the Golden Gate Park but I had not realized how hilly it was. My initial goal was to break 35 minutes, but once I saw the terrain and the field, I adjusted my strategy and decided to race for placement rather than chase a specific time.

The morning of the race, I woke up at 5 am and had two peanut butter and honey sandwiches. I left home around 6 am, arrived in San Francisco at 6:30 am and got lucky with a parking spot near a restaurant I had tried a few weeks earlier. From there, I walked about 1.5 km to the race area. I did a 2K easy warm-up, followed by ~300m of light strides. I checked my gear, took a Maurten caffeinated gel, and had three sips of water.

There was a very long line of corrals. I was placed in Corral J, at the very front. It was exciting to start at the front of a race for the first time! Runners with disabilities, including deaf and blind athletes, started the race first. I was in the second row when we started. The field included both 10K and 15K runners.

I didn’t push hard at the start. Within the first 100m there was an uphill turn, and a group of about 15 runners quickly separated from the rest. I settled in and ran behind people, jumping from one slipstream to another. The first half was mostly downhill. As I passed people, some runners’ guides told me I was looking fresh and bouncy, which was encouraging. The front group was always in my sight. Around the 4-5K mark, I caught them. Shortly after, 10 or so people split from us to the 15K course.

At this point, 2 younger runners were about five seconds ahead of me, and I was in 3rd place. I eased off slightly and tucked in behind a group of 3 other runners. At around 6K, a fast guy came through and passed all of us. Then I caught the youngsters. I didn’t mark the fast guy because I knew I would explode trying to hold that pace.

The second half was uphill into a headwind. I focused on position rather than pushing hard, playing for a podium finish. The three guys that were behind caught me and the two youngsters. Six of us ran together for about 2K with me tucked in behind the front-runners. One of the youngsters did a Japanese turn, which made me laugh because I was thinking of the same thing.

Eventually, we dropped the two youngsters. I stayed tucked in behind the remaining three, but one of them fell of first. By the 9K mark, I began to lose contact with the other two. I checked over my shoulder to make sure I had 4th place locked in. I crossed the line in 37:51.

After the finish, I exchanged fist bumps with the second and third place runners. I really like that sense of camaraderie. It felt like we fought for something together even though we were each other’s opponents. That’s what I like about running: racing and camaraderie. I remember watching the David Beckham documentary on Netflix and thinking about the class of ‘92. Shared purpose, year-long efforts, working towards something bigger… I wished I could be part of something like that, and running feels like the closest thing at the moment.

At the finish area, there was hot chocolate and plenty of sweets. I drove back home thinking I placed fourth, forgetting that runners starting later could still beat my chip time. It turned out I placed 10th overall and 3rd in my age group. Still a solid result! My first top-10 overall finish and second age group podium. On a flat course, I think I could have run around 36:40 based on effort. It is still too far from 35:00 though.

I am continuing with the Pfitz 18/85+ plan for Boston. Until then, I will race a 5K without fully pushing and a half marathon where I plan to go all out and run a 1h17m. Looking at my training data, I can see that I improve a little bit but I don’t know if that’s going to be enough to break 2h40m on a hilly and demanding course like Boston.

• Overall: 10 out of 3608 (0.28%)
• Male: 10 out of 1381 (0.72%)
• Male 25-29: 3 out of 251 (1.20%)

Some Race Photos

Published: Jan 17, 2026.
Last edited: Jan 17, 2026.