2nd Annual Chocolate Fantasia 7k Night Run & Chocolate Garden

THE 2ND ANNUAL CHOCOLATE FANTASIA 7K NIGHT RUN & CHOCOLATE GARDEN

Mark your calendar for Saturday, March 19th, 8PM and get ready to experience a chocolate-coated running fantasy world! 

The unique 7K distance will take you on a twilight tour of the beautiful downtown Punta Gorda waterfront. A chocolate garden awaits our guests and race finishers.  The chocolate tasting garden will be open to the public and sampling tickets will be for sale through our Chocolate Garden vendors. This is an exciting community event not to be missed and runners and walkers of all ages and abilities are welcome to participate in this timed event.

Race proceeds benefit 1-2-3 Runners and The Tender Hearts Partnership.  1-2-3 Runners is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) foundation committed to building a strong America, beginning with our local community. Keeping the mission of 1-2-3 Runners in mind, we have once again selected The Tender Hearts Partnership as our community charity of choice for The Chocolate Fantasia 7k Night Run. The mission of the Tender Hearts Partnership is to provide free of charge, peer-based dances and activities for adults with intellectual disabilities. The organization relies solely on the donations and volunteer hours of local businesses, community organizations, friends and family.

The Chocolate Fantasia 7K Night Run and Chocolate Garden is a familiy-oriented event and all members of the community (runners and non-runners) are encouraged to attend!  The Chocolate Tasting Garden is open to the public.  The chocolate garden will feature a variety of items available for purchase including, but not limited to:  Moe's Southwest Grill, chocolate martinis, chocolate beer, chocolate truffles, wine, snow cones, bistro bites, etc...  The Garden will also feature the return of our fabulous DJ!  Runners and non-runners are invited to invited to celebrate the night away in a festive, chocolate-covered fantasy world!  Alcohol purchase is available only to guests over the age of 21 with a valid ID.  Vendors will be accepting cash for Chocolate Garden purchases.

GOLDEN TICKET CHOCOLATE BAR FUNDRAISER

Find a golden ticket in your custom wrapped Chocolate Fantasia candy bar and you could win a chocolate diamond necklace donated by Wrigley's Jewelry valued at $970!  Beginning now through race day, participants AND general public can purchase Chocolate Fantasia custom wrapped chocolate bars at The Foot Landing for $5 each.  Golden tickets will be located at random within select candy bars!  If you find a golden ticket inside of your bar, hold on to the ticket and bring it with you to the race!  At the race, the tickets will be collected and a drawing will be held for the diamond necklace!  Must be present with golden ticket to win.

EVENT DETAILS AND SCHEDULE

Saturday, March 19, 2016
Gilchrist Park, Punta Gorda, Florida
Chocolate Garden will open at 7:00 PM
Race start time: 8:00 PM

EVENT REGISTRATION 

$30 registration blitz pricing begins at 12:00 AM on Saturday, September 5, 2015 and ends at 11:59 PM on Monday, September 7, 2015.  ONLINE ONLY. 

$45 September 8, 2015 through March 16, 2016.  No t-shirt is guaranteed when registering after February 23, 2016.  ONLINE, IN-STORE OR BY MAIL.

$45 March 17-18, 2016.   IN-STORE ONLY at The Foot Landing, Punta Gorda, FL 33950. No t-shirt gaurantee when registering after February 23, 2016.

$55 March 19, 2016. Day of race registration will be taken as long as spots are available or until 7:30 PM, whichever comes first ; no t-shirt guarantee. Day of race registration will take place at The Foot Landing until 4PM on Saturday, March 28th. After that, day of race registration will move to Gilchrist Park from 5:00 to 7:30 PM.

PARTICPANT PERKS AND EVENT AWARDS

Registrants will a technical race t-shirt (if registered by February 23rd), a box of handcrafted chocolate truffles from Haley's Handcrafted Chocolates, a post-race food box from Moe's Southwest Grill, a custom-wrapped chocolate bar when they cross the finish line and a custom, die-cast Chocolate Fantasia 7K Finisher's Medal!

Awards presented to Overall Male, Overall Female, Overall Youth (male/female), Master (male/female), Grand Master (male/female), Senior Grand Master (male/female) and Open Age Group (male/female/youth).

Thanks to a generous donation made by Walt Disney World Community Relations, the male and female overall winners of the 2016 Chocolate Fantasia 7k will each go home with two (2) complimentary one-day Park Hopper passes to a Walt Disney World theme park!

PACKET PICK-UP: FRIDAY AND SATURDAY

Packet pick-up will be available at The Foot Landing on Friday, March 18th from 10AM to 6PM and on Saturday, March 19th from 9AM to 5PM. Packet pick-up will then move to Gilchrist Park on Saturday evening from 5:30 PM to 7:45 PM.

PARKING

Participants are encouraged to use designated free parking areas throughout downtown Punta Gorda. Parking at Gilchrist Park will be extremely limited and we encourage participants to park elsewhere.  Please do not park on any residential side streets or nearby hotel or restuarant parking lots.  Restuarant and hotel parking lots are for paying patrons to those businesses only.  There is ample parking in the FREE downtown parking garage located at 117 Herald Court, Punta Gorda, FL 33950. The Foot Landing is located directly under the parking garage and Gilchrist Park is a short 5 to 10 minute walk from the Parking Garage

Host Hotel

PG Waterfront Hotel is offering special rates to all runners of the Chocolate Fantasia 7k. Use promo code "Chocolate" at the time of reservation. Prices: $99.00 plus tax for City View (reg $159.99) & $129.00 plus tax for Waterfront View (reg $189.99)