Cool, damp weather doesn’t stop Sunday’s Great Chocolate Race in its tracks

An unseasonably cool Sunday with occasional rain and thunder in the forecast did not deter more than 500 participants from walking or running for sweet treats and a good cause in the second annual Great Chocolate Race in La Cañada. The event was organized by the Flintridge Guild of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.

Before the sun peeked through the clouds, racers gathered at Memorial Park for a ceremony that included “The Star-Spangled Banner” performed by Nicole Reynolds of La Cañada High School and the Pledge of Allegiance led by Jada Yang, a Paradise Canyon Elementary School fifth-grader who started the race with Susan Harlan, radiologist at CHLA. Breakfast from Frank’s Famous Kitchen and Bakery was served on site.

Racers participating in the 5K or 2.5K registered and began the course in front of La Cañada Unified School District offices on Cornishon Avenue, and then looped down to Descanso Drive, passing Descanso Gardens, and back up Verdugo Boulevard to the starting point. There were five different chocolate stations set up along the race course, which included chocolate-covered bananas, chocolate cookie bark from a baking class at the high school, chocolate milk donated by Nestlé, chocolate doughnut holes and chocolate Hershey’s kisses. There were also treats for dogs, according to race organizers.

“It’s beautiful, a little hilly,” said Erin Wehrenberg, of Burbank, who did the 2.5K. “Maybe next year we’ll do the 5K. The chocolate was delicious.”

The Rae and Hicks families, both of La Cañada, had just finished the race with their kids, noted they really loved the chocolate bananas and milk.

Michelle Sabourin, chair of the race and vice president of fundraising for the hospital guild, offered words of gratitude to those who made the effort possible.

“Thank you to all the people who sponsored the race,” Sabourin said.

The guild partnered with its local youth branch Teens for Advancement of Children’s Hospital (TACH), which ran a kids fun zone for the remainder of the morning and afternoon as part of its TACH Bash, including a silent auction and award ceremony for the race. The fun zone included a basketball bucket game to dunk TACH members, a bounce playground and a pie-in-the-face game.

“A lot of the guild members work closely with CHLA,” said Luke John, a senior at La Cañada High who noted the group meets once a week at school and always brainstorms how to raise and donate money to the guild. “That’s what motivates us.”

Sabourin said details for the 2018 race are already in the works. For more information and a full list of the race sponsors, visit www.fgch.la.

Matt Sanderson is a contributing writer for Times Community News.