Race Recap -- New Orleans, LA

Rock n Roll Half Marathon New Orleans

Registration:

Registered online again.  This race did not require proof of finish time, but asked for an estimated finish time.  I gave 1:45 as my estimated finish which put me in corral 2.

Fee:
$107.48 total -- same as the Tempe Race
$95.99 registration
$11.49 transaction processing fee

The Expo:
This expo was at the New Orleans Convention Center.  This expo was set up exactly like the Arizona expo last month.  The same vendors, the same set-up, the same race bags, the same bibs and tracking system.  I suppose the Rock 'N' Roll series is attempting to make the experience uniformed for each race.  I will admit that these Rock 'N' Roll series races have been more organized than some of the other ones, so I guess they are accomplishing what they have intended to accomplish.

Shirt:
The shirt was a wicking, tech shirt.  I have gotten smarter and ordered an L this time.   The writing reads Laissez les bon temps rouler, which means let the good times roll.


Race Day:
Sunday

Race Start Time:
7:30 am.  We started on time.  The wheelchair athletes started a couple minutes early, but the elites and corral 1 started right at 7:30.  In Arizona, Corral 2 was held for 1 minute and 15 sec.  In this race Corral 2 was only held for like 20 secs.  Just enough time for us to get up to the start line.  Not sure why there was a difference, but this configuration kept us more more "bunched up".  I was dodging people literally the entire race.  In the other races, it seemed much more spread out... especially after the first few miles.

Course Map:


This course was marked well.  I did not notice as many police, or volunteers, or even spectators for this race... until the end.  The "crowd" was sparse and those that WERE there were offering some minor "golf claps".  -- oh, and I noticed several cow bells.  Not sure what that was about, other than a noise maker.

Race Type:
This was all road race, and very flat at that.  Of course when I say flat, what I mean is in terms of elevation.  I think there was some 12 feet of elevation to the entire race.  My Garmin showed a maximum elevation change of 35ft.  I guess that is pretty good for a town that is below sea level.  What was NOT flat about the course were the roads themselves.  I felt like I was leaning the whole time.  Actually, check out the other guy in this picture:

He ran on the left side of the road the ENTIRE time, and he leaned left the ENTIRE way.  I am not exaggerating.  I know because we passed each other multiple times AND HE FINISHED IN FRONT OF ME... of course I think he might have fallen over (to his left) when he quit running, but I am not positive.  Anyway, that is how I felt that I was running because all of the roads were in such bad shape.  Potholes, uneven roads, orange caution cones everywhere.

Accommodations:

It was a bit difficult agin to find a place to stay near the start and near the finish, and the prices were quite high because of the time of year, being around Mardi Gras and all.  I ended up 2 miles from the start and 2.6 miles from the finish.  I definitely limped back to the duplex because of my blisters.  It took me 45 minutes to hobble back to my place. Funny thing though, I got stopped 7 times by people heading to the finish trying to find how to get there.  None of them could believe that I had already finished.  I am not sure how long they thought it should take, but it made me feel good that they were impressed.  I had a police officer offer me a sincere congratulations and a blessing.  I was hoping he would offer me a ride, but I was happy with the blessing.

Transportation:
Riskshaw was the most common form of transportation that I noticed.  Since I got the AirBNB, I walked.  Most everybody was walking as it looked like they stayed in one of the hotels in the French Quarter, but there were several who were utilizing the rickshaw mode of transport.  I suppose I am too cheap for that. :)  Walking to the start was no big deal.  I treated it like a warm-up.  I tried as hard as I could to show up right on time, but alas, I was 30 minutes early still.  I cannot seem to figure out how to show up right on time.  The walk back was a bit tougher.  My biggest blister did not pop until I got to the airport, but immediately felt better.  If I had known that, I would have popped it before I hobbled home.  Oh well... live... learn.

Weather:

The weather was great.  The sun was shining and it was 53 F at the start and warmed up to about 60 F.  I was comfortable and happy to not be freezing.

Race Morning:

There were 20 corrals for this race also.  I was in corral 2 and my pacer was also in corral 2. There were 9,208 finishers in this half marathon and there was a the full marathon that also started with us, so there were LOTS of people.  The start was a wave start, but a quick one.  Corral 1 went off and we waited about 20 secs before we went off.  There were people everywhere. -- racers that is.  I think I went three or four miles longer than the actual race, but only sideways, as I was dodging people the WHOLE time.  It was kind of like my golf game.  I have a tendency to hit the ball very hard and it goes a long way.. just not straight.   300 yards to the right, and 250 yards to the left.  When I finally get into the fairway, I have already hit 700 yards and the hole was only 426 yards to begin with... and I still have another 100 yards to the hole.

Race:

The course was all pavement.  All roads.  No traffic.  The only bit of confusion was when the half and the full marathon course split off.  It was early in the race and it was clearly marked, but I noticed a couple folks complained that they were confused.  The course was almost totally flat, no bridges or overpasses.  The two things that I did not like about the course:  1.  The roads were uneven and I was leaning the entire race.  2.  There was mostly two long straights.  There was a turn around at mile 4 and then a left turn at mile 8 or so, then straight, straight, straight.  It reminded me of Interstate 10.  It is LONG and flat and boring and LONG and did I mention long?  It seems longer to me when you are just running straight... and the people dodging wasn't enough to give me that variety that I was looking for.

Water/Food Stations:
Plenty of water and Gatorade every 1.5 miles or so, but no other food or other drinks.  The only other thing I saw was Gukos Energy packs after mile 8.  I drank one, but it did not seem to help this time.  I got a blister on my left foot, on the bottom and outside at about mile 9.  Then a blister on my right foot between my big toe and the next one at about mile 11.  My times slowed significantly after that.  Not sure if the blisters were the cause of my slow down, but I recall feeling every step and wanting to stop and walk and remove my shoe or something but I forced myself not to stop.  I only stopped at one water station to  take a drink without splashing it all over myself, then immediately started back again.

Scenery:

Ya know, I m not sure what I was expecting.  I thought it would be cool to run through the French Quarter.  I guess maybe I had visions of Mardi Gras parades and Canal St and Bourbon Street.  I guess I envision hordes of people dressed in some crazy Mardi Gras outfit or at least some of the famous NOLA "flavour".  As it was, I just felt like I was running, on an incline, straight through some old neighborhoods and then through the business area, then into the park.



Race Entertainment:
There were several bands, and one was a brass band all wearing kilts.  Not sure what that was about either.  But there did not seem to be much in the way of entertainment along the course.  I can think of 5 bands playing on the side of the street.  And one of the "bands" was just one guy playing the guitar.  A one man band, I guess.  I remember thinking there was simply not a lot of turn-out for this race -- comparatively speaking.

Finish:
The finish was in the park past the New Orleans Museum of art.  I had lost all track of time or distance at the point that we reached the Museum.  I could not see around the museum, so I thought the finish was just behind.  I assumed that I would see the finish as I rounded the semicircle past the museum, but it was like another half mile or more away.  I, of course sped up -- no one would mistake my increase of speed at the finish for a "kick", but I did pic it up a little -- UNTIL I rounded the semicircle and realized that I could STILL not see the finish as it was STILL too far away.  That was a bit disappointing.  But I did finish, and survived the whole thing... blisters and all.



Bling:




Misc:

I was alone for this race.  I did not speak to anyone... well, I did speak to one person.  At the finish, I limped over to the ambulance and asked the EMT if a band-aide for a blister was too small of a medical emergency for them to manage.  There were two of them sitting there.  One told me no, and the other said, "I think we can handle that" and gave me a band-aide.  Otherwise, I spoke to no one before, during, or after the race.  I did speak to several spectators on the walk home.  Everyone was very nice.  Some went out of their way to say hello or how ya doin.  My point, other than the local folk seemed very nice, is this was a no "frills" race for me.  But, to be fair, that was how I set it up.  I did not participate in any of the activities or parties or anything but the race.  I had dinner at a pasta restaurant the night before, alone.  It was actually quite good.  I witness a real live fist fight as I walked to the restaurant.  I was walking up, about 6 or 8 feet from three guys when one of them punched the other in the mouth and his friend also jumped the guy who got punched, so now it was two against one.  I quickly crossed the street.  They were gone by the time I walked back.

Post Race:

Post race consisted to my visit to the EMT ambulance, a five minute sit down leaning against a tree and a 45 minute walk back to the room.  I had a nice hot shower, laid down for 15 min. then caught an Uber to the airport.

I finished 624th out of 9208 with a time of 1:46:51, two blisters, and sore calves.  Only 45 more to go.  LOL!!  Next month, Little Rock, Arkansas.  Valerie will be with me for this one.