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May 12, 2024

New Orleans Mardi Gras Marathon Runner Comments

Back to New Orleans Mardi Gras Marathon Information & Reviews

Course 4.2

Organization 4.2

Spectators 3.5

Number of comments: 315 [displaying comments 81 to 91]

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Sheila Lafave from Williamstown, ON (3/4/2010) "Loved The Big Easy and Race" (about: 2010) 11-50 previous marathons COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 Three runners from Canada loved the whole experience in New Orleans! We stayed just outside of the French Quarter and had an easy 15-minute walk to the expo and start line. The bus after the race took us back to a location near our hotel. Yes, the roads were rather messy and bumpy, but the course was great, with so many lovely homes to gawk at. And it was FLAT too! The water stations were well manned and the finish line treats were adequate. The beer was chilled to perfection, and the bands really got the crowds pumped up for celebration. The finish line area was huge, but family was still easy to find with the letters that were placed. We loved the medals - both the full and half medals were equally gorgeous. It would have been nice to run into the Superdome as in past years, but luckily the weather was perfect and the sun was a real treat for us Northerners. Celebrating on Bourbon St. was something that we will always remember. That's where we found out that Canada had won the gold medal in hockey!! Thanks, New Orleans, for being such a friendly city!
K. J. from Detroit, MI (3/4/2010) "Better than some Competitor events" (about: 2010) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 New Orleans Mardi Gras Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 This was my third R'N'R marathon in 12 weeks. I've learned to expect substandard race shirts, unbelievably long lines at the expo, and a long wait at the starting line. Competitor did get several things right: -This expo was much better managed than previous R'N'R expos. -The start line amenities were great. -I LOVED the course split from the half-marathoners - no need to dodge giddy half-marathoners spread 5-wide. -The course was BEAUTIFUL. Great scenery and surprisingly more spectators than I expected. -Fast and flat (aside from the road surface issues - see below). -I loved the post-race concert and there was no wait to get on a bus back to downtown. -The medal ROCKS!!! But, of course, there were things that went wrong: -The first 14 miles of the course were littered with potholes, uneven pavement, slants. The road surface was just TERRIBLE! In fact, my right knee is still a bit achy from it. -The half-mile or more walk to the buses at the finish line was completely uncalled for. I don't mind walking after a marathon - I usually feel pretty good afterwards - But I am sure most people hated it. -Please, please, please, dear folks at Competitor, I paid over $100 to enter this race. Give me something more than awful Cytomax and water at the aid stations. Pretzels? Cookies? Something! -Did I mention the awful road surface conditions? Overall, I came out smiling, but there is definitely room for improvement.
E. J. from NW Ohio (3/3/2010) "not impressed at all" (about: 2010) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 New Orleans Mardi Gras Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 Of my 59 marathons across this great nation, I can say that New Orleans has without a doubt the most horrid roads of any place. It's tough to enjoy the scenery when you are fearful of where your next footstrike will land. At the very least, run a sweeper over the roads to clear the rocks, asphalt chunks, and debris so ankles don't get broken. After all, for the outrageous entry fee, there should be funds available to take care of road maintenance. That being said, the course was flat and the start was well organized. Whatever that drink was on the course, it was worthless. The bands on course were good and the finisher's medal was a quality one. I had really hoped for a much more enjoyable marathon from R'n'R; unfortunately, I didn't get it.
C. M. from FL (3/3/2010) "Bring your wallet" (about: 2010) 50+ previous marathons \| 6+ New Orleans Mardi Gras Marathons COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 3 I knew there would be many changes to this marathon - both good and bad - as soon as I heard that Elite Racing (Rock 'N' Roll) was taking over. I had run the New Orleans Track Club version 6 or 7 times before, and even then they had a few problems - mostly with traffic. But it was a small, volunteer run then. By the way, I am nearing my 200th marathon, so I am NOT new to what can or should be expected at an event. I AM NOT a fan of Elite Racing and feel that they are taking over too many races. These people are NOT runners; they are event planners looking for profit. First off: the old packet pick-up at the host hotel (or the Super Dome) did not require you to pay for parking and walk several blocks (fighting a crowd of teeny-boppers and other convention-goers). There were no signs to point the way. The location did not offer anything more - just the usual, expensive, Rock 'N' Roll stuff. The expo also closed too early for out-of-towners coming in late. Sunday was another day of paid parking (the start at the Super Dome in previous years offered FREE parking). I do have to say that the buses did run smoothly on race morning. Two years ago the old marathon route was changed to avoid the broken up streets, so I was surprised when we were back on them. Did Elite not listen to runner complaints about this? What was wrong with last year's route, or something close to it? Many of the same sights! No need for shuttles with a loop course, either. Nothing but water and yucky "sports drink" when previous years had lots of goody stops. Yeah, I know the Rock 'N' Roll policy. I practically had to sign a waiver to get one Excederin from a first aid station and ask for water to get it down. And of all things, they made us take a half-mile hike to the shuttles (no signs to point the way) after having to search for our warm-ups. Several people coming to this race were disappointed not to be able to run near (or like back in the old days finish inside) the Super Dome. I did enjoy the floats, the bands and the absence of traffic problems. The medal was nice; the shirt, compared to other years, was terrible. (That's typical for a R'n'R event; they sell the nice stuff.) If I only did a few marathons a year, and this were my first trip to New Orleans, I think I would have had a better time. I may not ever do it again because of the HUGE price increase.
B. R. from Atlanta, GA (3/2/2010) "Course was 26.4 miles?" (about: 2010) 4-5 previous marathons \| 1 New Orleans Mardi Gras Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 My Garmin 305 said that I ran 26.4 miles. Up until mile 6, it was dead-on; and then it started to go off slowly after that. I think the BQ people should get an extra 2 minutes, at least!! Well done, other than that. They just could have explained the race logistics a bit better, but I had some friends who all helped out.
p. k. from NC (3/2/2010) "Fun, flat, great city tour" (about: 2010) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 New Orleans Mardi Gras Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 What a great place for a marathon - a fun city! The course was flat but uneven; you had to watch your step. The weather was perfect. Many water stops and the spectators were interesting, and some were very funny. I would love to see more food choices. I can't do GU, and I know many runners who can't! Fruit, Fig Newtons, animal crackers... anything! The walk to the shuttle bus was the worst!! You don't want to take that mile hike through uneven grass after running 26.2 miles! THE MEDAL ROCKS!
B. B. from St. Augustine Beach, FL (3/2/2010) "Great tour of one of America's great cities" (about: 2010) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 New Orleans Mardi Gras Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 I turned this into an extended weekend with my family and had a blast. The expo and start were convenient to downtown, and the shuttle brought us back right to the front of my hotel after the race! I had never done a Rock 'n' Roll before and had heard some negative things, but on the whole this was an impressively well organized event. The only negatives were the expo end time of 5 p.m. on Saturday, and for about 2/3 of the course, the roads were uneven or full of gravel. Plus, I didn't cross the start line for 45 minutes. I think that was by design, though. Otherwise, I had a great time and thought the course put New Orleans in a showcase. As a back-of-the-packer, I met many first-time marathoners with great stories. I would run this one again.
T. E. from Texas (3/2/2010) "Fun race. Very expensive marathon." (about: 2010) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 New Orleans Mardi Gras Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 R'n'R Mardi Gras is the most fun of all of the R'n'R races. I loved the course - it's flat and fast. Spirited spectators. Organization was good for an inaugural race, but there is definitely room for improvement. I would like to run this race every year, but the fees are very expensive. Elite also charges additional fees for access to the pre-race VIP area. Nonetheless, this is a great excuse to visit New Orleans.
k. m. from GA (3/2/2010) "A nice run with room to improve" (about: 2010) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 New Orleans Mardi Gras Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Read the comment by MG from Arizona, who has run 50 plus. Very well said. I would have given the course a "5," but there were potholes and uneven roads for several miles. I do not believe that they can control all of that, so I give them a 3, as it probably "is what it is." Volunteers were great!
W. R. from Shreveport (3/2/2010) "Good race; lousy post-race" (about: 2010) 6-10 previous marathons \| 2 New Orleans Mardi Gras Marathons COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 4 Having run the MGM in 2007, I was looking forward to this race and spending a long weekend in New Orleans. The city was fun, and the restaurants were excellent as usual. Even the weather from Saturday afternoon through Sunday night was perfect. I was a bit apprehensive since the race organization by R'n'R/Competitor group leading up to the event was pretty bad - offering a lousy website without many details until just a few days before. They did a great job of trying to SELL you stuff on the website, but not so great at giving advance details of shuttles, race course, parking, etc. So after finishing the race, here's my observations. The Good: Weather was almost perfect. The course showed off a lot of New Orleans and avoided some of run-down industrial areas we passed through in 2007. Liked going out to Audubon Park early, and having a split course for marathoners and half marathoners. The start area was well organized: it was easy to find gear-drop trucks, and there were lots of porta-lets, including a few in each corral. The OK: The expo was a letdown: there was lots of Brooks stuff for sale and lots of information for other R'n'R events, but not much else of interest. The main speakers were Competitor's on-staff experts, and there were only a couple of them. They had repeat "clinics" in morning and afternoon. Runners were assigned to start corrals, but there was nobody checking race numbers at the corrals. I heard numerous stories from others of having to dodge walkers lined up in corrals 3-4 instead of towards the back. The Bad: The 2 mile out-and-back segment east from city park over a small bridge and back was terrible. Why would you have miles 20-22 of a course do that? The post-race area and festival was an example of terrible planning. After leaving the finish area with medal, food and drink, runners had to walk almost a half-mile to get to the gear bag pick-up. There was all kinds of open space along the road, and around Tad Gormley Stadium - why not use that? Talk about a death march. I saw at least 2 people down along that hike - good thing the weather was not worse. And then there was another half-mile hike to get to shuttle buses. This was the first race I'd ever been to that limited the number of "adult beverages" for the runners - 2. After that you had to pay $2. And PF Chang's was supposed to have food after the race, but ran out of wristbands very early on Saturday afternoon at the expo. No wristband, no food. Runners could BUY food from a grill if they wanted. My advice: if you do a R'n'R Series event, don't expect much information before the race and carry LOTS of money with you at the post-race events afterward. I've never seen an organization so devoted to gouging runners for every cent they could.

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