Race Recap and Review: New Orleans Rock 'n' Roll Marathon, January 25, 2015, Marathon State #6 - Louisiana

After a 14 month break from running marathons for one reason or another, I returned to marathon running to celebrate my 40th birthday at the New Orleans Rock 'n' Roll Marathon. 

The goal for this marathon was to simply finish. Preferably before all the bananas and finisher's jackets were gone and the shuttles back to the start line stopped running. Not a problem.

Packet pick-up/Expo: Grade: B. The Expo is the standard Rock 'n' Roll marathon expo. Big, mandatory, and well run. I was in and out quickly (aside from the walk there from the other side of the expo center - more on that) but I'm sure I could have spent a fair amount of time shopping there. Whatever...

As a side note the New Orleans expo center is HUGE.  We entered on the opposite side of the center and had a ten minute walk to the other side. It was empty when we were there, aside from the Expo, but that place must be rocking when it is full.

Joan of Arc watching the runners.

Shirt/Swag: Grade: B+.  The shirt was a nice tech shirt with a big fleur de lis on the front.  They love their fluer de lis down there. New to me in the RnR series was a finisher's jacket.  It isn't anything I'll wear out to the Ritz for dinner, but it will be nice to have to throw on during a breezy northwest day. The standard RnR gear bag and samples were also given.

Starting line: Grade: B+.  The start line is near Lafayette Square and the corral lines wrapped around the Square.  Again, it is an RnR, so there are mandatory corrals and a lot of porta potties.  What was a little different here was that the porta potties were being used by run tourists who had been eating gumbo, jambalaya, and other creole dishes for the last few days, so they smelled a little different.
It took about 30 minutes from the gun for me to cross the start line which I consider not bad in these giant races.


Support:  Grade A-.  Again, this is something that the RnR is good at now.  Plenty of hydration and gu, even for those of us that were amongst the last to hit each watering hole.  There were also plenty of medical tents. I hit one at about mile 18 to get some Vaseline after my Body Glide had expired for the day. There seemed to be fewer bands than on the Seattle RnR  route, and I was a little disappointment there wasn't more of a New Orleans feel to a lot of them. But I was never one to stop and listen to the bands anyway. They might run out of bananas if I stop to appreciate the bands.
There was also plenty of police in the areas where the course ran through more "interesting" parts of the city. 

Jugging footballs for 26.2.

New Orleans also had a nice showing of unofficial support. On one of the course segments that was a hairpin, the inbound and outbound were separated by a wide median. Some folks were barbecuing on the median. On the inbound side of the course a man was telling you we were a mile and a half from barbecue. And on the way out, there was another person from the gang handing it out. I wish I could have stomached partaking.
There were also several people handing out beer on the course, but that is less novel in New Orleans than it is on other courses.


Course: Grade: A-. Can I tell you how much I love flat courses? I love them a lot. And boy, was this course was flat. There was only one small hump near Lake Pontchartrain that I can recall.
The course itself runs through all the famous areas of New Orleans. The French Quarter, the Garden District, the shores of Lake Pontchartrain.
The worst thing about the course was that it took great effort not to stop at Cafe du Monde and down some beignets.

My other minor complaint that this was another race where the marathoners have to watch/listen to the half marathoners finish at mile 13 as the courses separate.  That is always disheartening...

Medal: Grade A.  The RnR series races always have nice medals. But in addition they gave you the option of attaching some Mardi Gras beads to the medal, which I took them up on.

Finish Area: Grade: B+. The race ended in City Park.  RnR does a good job of having water and fruit ready.  My only complaint was that they took advantage of the size of the park and spread everything out.  It was a good half mile walk to gather up the finisher's jacket and get to the shuttle back to the start.

 Miscellaneous: 

• I got to the start line and was arranging my music for the run.  I found out too late that I did not switch out my Harry Connick, Jr. Christmas albums for some of his non-Christmas music. Since I could not in run a marathon in Harry's home town without him on my playlist, I ended up listening to some Christmas music in January.
• Speaking of playlists, make sure you have "House of the Rising Sun" on yours somewhere if you partake in this race.

Overall Grade: A-.   I'm sure the organizers realized that this would be a destination race for many of the participants. The course gave a nice tour of the famous parts of the city and they made sure we were well supported. Well done!

Even on the shuttle bus, the fun continued.