TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) -- Sugar highs and runners' highs collided in Downtown Tampa on Sunday with around 7,500 people participating in the Skechers Hot Chocolate Run.
People burned hundreds of calories during the run, but regardless of whether they ran or walked the distance, participants were able to replenish what they lost with a prize sweet enough to make anyone's tooth ache.
"We have folks that travel in, we see them in the hotel, four- five, six friends, they put together a weekend, and they run Bayshore and they say, 'Wow, that was special,'" Todd Busteed with the Hot Chocolate Run said.
Waiting at the end of the course for walkers and runners was 345 gallons of hot cocoa and 1,800 pounds of chocolate fondue.
"Chocolate is the essence of what's going on here today," Busteed said.
Organizers say the event also serves a larger purpose beyond the finish line.
"We help out the Special Olympics in each of the cities that we go to," he said.
All of the day's proceeds benefit Special Olympics Florida, which is gearing up for the USA Games. Organizers say sending just one athlete to compete costs about $1,500, but athletes are never expected to pay those expenses themselves.
"Any donation to Special Olympics Florida helps to offset those costs," said Jackie Dryden, director of corporate sponsorship for Special Olympics Florida. "It's incredibly meaningful. It's an incredible community event."
"We're making sure that they get there and get that incredible experience of competing against athletes from all 50 states," Busteed said.
Organizers say the run started in the much chillier and windier city of Chicago in 2008, but even more than 1,000 miles closer to the equator, Tampa residents enjoy it just as much.
"We'll be in the Midwest, going to the East Coast, but we like wrapping up the year here," Busteed said. "It's a little warmer here than it is in other parts of the country, for sure."
The Tampa run marks the final stop on the Hot Chocolate Run's 2025 tour. Organizers say the event will pick back up again in January.