This was the 5th Annual New Orleans Rock and Roll
Race Series with a full and half option, as well as a Relay for the Half. There were over 15,000 runners in all.
February is my month to celebrate a full year of running a
half a month with the 26.2 with Donna. However, I decided to jump on the
bandwagon of 13 races in 2013 (although my ‘year’ runs from Mar-Feb) and did 12
half marathons + the full for 13 races this year. This was easily decided when
the group of girls I met at the Sarasota race in March told me they were going!
My friend Toni and I decided to make it a road trip. It is an
easy 8 hour STRAIGHT drive from Jacksonville down I-10. And it ended up being a
pretty cool one too. As the night sky fell upon us quickly, we drove straight
into a really cool sunset. Later there was a cool sliver of a moon in the sky
and I got a chance to see a shooting star in the very dark sky!
We originally were going to drive in on Sat, but decided to come
in Friday night to meet up with her cousin she hadn’t seen in a long time, who
lives right outside of New Orleans. We arrived around midnight, so it wasn’t long
before we quickly headed to bed. We had a restful morning, chatting over coffee
and painting nails and later headed out to Lunch, where we quickly learned Café
du Mond is a CHAIN! GASP!
We didn’t get to the Marriott French Quarter until late afternoon. It was ridiculous
traffic trying to get parked at the hotel. I had to throw Toni out in the
middle of traffic to unload the car, as we had cheaper parking down the street.
(the hotel wanted $38/nt, but I got a lot for $18 for the entire stay! Good
benefit of being a runner? Not minding a mile walk to the hotel!) It was a
gorgeous warm day out, a contrast from the week before as the entire South
was covered in ice and snow!
EXPO
LARGEST
Convention Center EVER!...it was a quick walk from the Marriott, but the Expo
was on the complete opposite side of the building. I swear I walked a mile just
to get there
THREE
Melissa Johnsons running?! I didn’t print my race number, so when I looked up
my name on the board, I found there were 3 of us!!...and no way to decipher who
was who. My cell service wasn’t working,
so I had to borrow someones phone to look up my email with my number.
Lines
were Ridiculously long! I ended up skipping the gear bag line, as I already
brought with me an identical bag from a
previous RnR.
It was too crowded to shop! The Vendors were packed in there. It seemed there were options, but too many people too close together to even care. I didn’t buy a thing as I was too stressed out. I did
pick up a pace bracelet given away by the Westin. I grabbed one for the full marathon as well,
that would use for The Donna in a couple weeks.
Brooks
put on a 'Run Happy Island'…a very cute and fun interactive area, but again there were ridiculously
long lines. I did get a very cool shirt, but was not able to complete the gait
analysis to receive the very cool cooler bag! Of course, I emailed Brooks when I got
one, and they put one in the mail! ;)
The race shirt is
okay. I like that it is short sleeved and is not plastered with sponsors on the back.
Night before Race Day
It was a
beautiful day out and I was ready to explore some New Orleans! We headed out
toward Bourbon Street and met up with the other girls for Happy Hour at 21st
Amendment.
Toni and I had dinner at Remoulade’s. We tried the Louisiana and New Orleans sampler platters of turtle soup, crawfish patties, gumbo, jambalaya. Half way through, I started to wonder how bad of an idea this was before race day!
On our
way back to the hotel we popped into a few of the touristy shops on Bourbon Street
when suddenly we thought it would be a good idea if I ran in a purple and green
tutu and face mask! Well, I decided against the overpriced tutu but I did buy
the purple mask!
Race Morning
We got to
bed at a decent hour. The Marriott was less than a mile walk to start, so I got
to sleep in a bit before having to meet the girls at 630a. I walked out the door to a heavy fog with mild air. I later
found out it was near 100% humidity! All I could think was, at least it was not
raining! Ive had a lot of close calls with races in rain, but Ive still managed
to race 35 half marathons without real rain!
I decided not to pack a gear bag, which I later regretted at
the finish line because it ended up being really cold and wet.
Start
Line
There was a corralling system with separate start times, but it was not monitored, so
our entire group started off together, which was fun. The set up of the Starting Village was a little awkward as I never really saw
the park where the porta potties, gear truck, food, etc was. Yep, that’s right,
my hotel was so close to the start, and we met so close to race time, I didn’t even
use the porta potty! So no comment on lines nor amenities before the race!
My Garmin, as well as others, had a really hard time getting a
signal in the thick fog in the middle of all the tall buildings. Luckily it
kicked in right before our corral started!
The
Course
This is a flat race (although I heard there were a few hills
for the full marathon) although you quickly learn it is not the hills that will
slow you down on this course, but it is the horrible old roads! Pot holes
galore! The streets were really beat up. Add in the overcrowding of the people
and the slick streets from the fog, there was no way it was going to be a PR
race!
The half and full marathon run the same A to B course ending
at City Park. The full continues past the park and the comes back. A shuttle
brings us all back to the Start (or a mile away as it ended up being!)
The course starts off with an out and back on St Charles Street
of the Garden District. In the middle of
the street was the cable line, on grass and dirt. There were so many people on
the roads, that runners were trying to run on the tracks so they could get some
space. I tried this myself, but it was completely uneven and gave up.
This is supposed to be a very pretty part of town with cool
architecture, but unfortunately none of that was able to be appreciated in the
weather and crowd. I did notice lots of trees with beads strung all over them!
We then ran back passed my hotel and headed toward the
Riverfront (but never saw the river) where we turned a corner and hit a very
cold blast of air and even heavier fog. We passed the French Marketplace with Café Du Mond (missed it) and the St Louis
Cathedral in Jackson Square with bells ringing (couldn’t see it through the
fog) and then up to City Park (where my shoe lace decided to come undone in the
last mile!)
The entire course was crowded and never thinned out. I never
felt comfortable running, as I was always trying to not run into the runner in
front of or next to me. Doing the run/walk method also didn’t help. Hand signals
definitely had to be used to warn the people behind me!
I was on pace for a very close PR until about M11 it hit me hard, probably the humidity and stress, and
I walked a lot.
Hydration
Stations
Every single hydration station was out of Gatorade and I did
not get any until the last few miles. By that time I had already accepted beer
shots along the way just to get some carbohydrates in me!
Each station also was very crowded, people bumping into people
and cutting people off trying to reach for cups. There just never seemed to
be enough volunteers with properly stocked stations.
The Music
The few bands I saw were very eclectic and local.
Unfortunately I was really able to enjoy them. Some of them weren’t even
playing as I passed. The band at the Finish Area was so far away from
everything else, no one was really over there listening. With all of us being
soaken wet from the fog, and the cool wind making it a little miserable, I didn’t
even get to enjoy the After Party band.
Finish
Line
We were only given 1 beer this year. This is a downgrade from
what used to be 2 at previous RnR events.
There was normal runners food at the finish line, in addition to
chocolate milk and chips.
City Park is HUGE and the race took advantage of this. The
problem? You cant really enjoy it all. If you are waiting for runners to come
in the Finish, you should be able to listen to the After Party Band, however, they were so
far off into the distance you couldn’t enjoy it with all the other festivities.
The line for the shuttles back to start was about a mile long. It took over an hour to wait and then it was
a 20minute ride back to start. It makes for a very long day when you have to shuttle back.
Crowd
Support
The crowd support was okay. The ones that stick out where the
ones passing out beer and jello shots with doughnuts and the sign that read “look alive,
cemetery ahead”
Medal
The medal is a little disappointing. The lanyard is a string
of beads. Yes, appropriate for New Orleans, yet, it seems they could have
stepped it up a notch….maybe beads AND a ribbon with the race name/date/etc.
The medal itself is also exactly the same for the Relay, Half, and Full. The instruments
on it could have been a little more detailed. But being on beads, it did give an excuse to wear it all weekend!
After the
Race
After a long morning, Toni and I headed over to Arnauds Jazz
Brunch at 2p. The prefixe 4 course menu was a TON of food and we walked away
happy! We then spent the rest of the day exploring and utilizing my travel
agent VIP pass to check out different restaurants and bars! We even ran into
Wayne Brady and the So You Think You Can Dance judges! We stayed an additional day to explore the
city, but I happened to wake up the day after the race with an extreme sore
throat! I was officially sick. It was a very cold day, but we still explored
the grave yards, the celebrity houses, and enjoyed some more local cuisine! I
sucked it up throughout the evening, and still enjoyed the eclectic music
nightlife, ordering hot toddies at the bars! The next day we drove home through
4 states of nothing but fog. It was a crazy weather weekend!
Overall
Thoughts
I did happen to get a race discount for this RnR. However, I feel
like RnR races are falling short on what they promise and provide with their
regular over priced entry fees. I am starting to realize with this journey,
that smaller races can sometimes be better than these overcrowded races. It
also seems like RnR is trying to nickel and dime you with ‘add on’ options….such
as VIP starting areas, or shuttle charges (I still am very confused on why
there were shuttle charges, when there were free shuttles but I know people
paid), or their race tracker. New Orleans is definitely a cool destination with
some sights to see, but their streets just don’t seem up to par for some stable
road conditions for running. I just don’t know that I would recommend RnR New Orleans. Maybe
it would be better if it wasn’t so crowded and we had better weather
conditions. But overall, we still had a blast! Sick n All! It was a unique experience that was incomparable to any other race so far!
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State #152:21
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