This was my first RnR marathon, and from an organization standpoint, I was very pleasantly surprised. The start was well situated from lots of hotels (mine was in the French Quarter), for an easy arrival. PLENTY of toilets (you all know how important that one is), refreshments at the start, easy bag check. The corrals and staggered start worked great for me  I was in corral 5 out of 18 or so. I actually enjoyed being mixed in with the half-marathons, as it kept enthusiasm high and the pace quick. For the first time in a long while, I felt like I was in the right pace group  no walkers or slow people.

Other comments here are right on the money, so no comments on the expo or swag bag (both fine). I like the shirt, though it would have been nice to have a different one for the marathon than the half.

Heed the notes on the rough roads  it is no joke, especially miles 10-12 on Esplanade. It was hard to enjoy the scenery, as your footing required constant vigilance. After the marathon split from the half, the road was in excellent shape.

The bands were decent! What a surprise. And the styles were quite different. Some rock, some jazz, a marching band, a blues quartet  really fun variety.

Dislikes: THE MEDAL. It's hideous. You have to be inches away from it to tell which marathon it is. It's a lump of medal, and that's about it. I almost didn't even take one. And it could have been so nice  a giant fleur-de-lis, perhaps. This is not a souvenir I'll keep very long.

And also missing was local color, apart from the bands. How about hurricanes or local Abita beer at the end? Or Mardi Gras beads? or beignets?

Still, after a bleak New York winter, the 60-degree sunny day was a pleasure. I met some nice athletes along the route and enjoyed the city in general.

Overall, RnR got the big stuff right: Clear instructions, organized start and finish, solid logistics.

This was my 30th marathon and I PR'd so you would think I'd be ecstatic about this race. Well I am about my effort but the race was very average.

The Good: Well laid out expo, organization of the start corrals, interesting course good for PR'ing, Well run aid stations, and decent entertainment along the course.

The Not so Good: Price, extra cost for everything like runner tracking, medal is boring, roads rough in some spots, too congested until the half/full split, post race food average and not anything to do with NOLA, crowd support for a big city marathon was mediocre for the most part.

Did enjoy the city as it was our first visit there. I would recommend the marathon more for the city than the actual race. The race was good enough but I expected more for the money.

Thank you NO! I have finished 20 marathons, and really I don't have complaints regarding the race directors, I thank you all for your great efforts!!! I complain about weather, or the crowd (or lack of crowd). I don't like to be lonely, and for the most part, this was an active marathon. I like a big crowd to run with, I loved the out and back so I could watch the elite athletes firing into the finish!
We were late getting into NO, and were unable to get to the expo :( and in 20 marathons, this had never happened to me. I tried to call the Convention Center (machine), and called the numbers on the website for RnR (it was a weekend, so answering machine), but thanks to a local contact who went into the expo to help me!, I knew to go to the 'solutions tent' in the am. What a relief!! Great job, and I received my t-shirt and bag after the race!!.
I loved running 12 miles with the 1/2 marathoners. What a fun crowd.

My only complaint: please put more toilet paper in the portable toilets. Seems so simple.
Thanks for a great weekend.

Have run one prior marathon in Dallas 5 years ago and many half marathons including two R & R 1/2 marathons. New Orleans as a city was a great place to be. Multiple hotels in or around the French Quarter that were within a short walk to the start. The Expo was fair with few samples and was less than expected as compared to other Expos I have attended including others by R & R. A nice tech shirt with the swag bag but only samples were two tiny sunscreen packets and a small sample of a topical pain reliever. Was able to leave my hotel at 6:30 and was in my corral by 6:40 for 7:00 start. For my liking the weather was very nice during the race 50's to 60's. Plenty of water stations and 2 gel stations so I carried nothing with me except 2 additional gels. First 13 miles ran with 1/2 marathoners making it a little congested especially at some of the water stations. Very uneven road miles 10-12 where I had to focus more on where I was running. Course itself ran through scenic parts of the city and was flat with plenty of shade during the first half of the race. The second half the race was much more open and on better roads. Peaceful out and back along the lake and hills over the bridges not too bad but more to them than what I expected. Pretty last 3 miles in and around the park. Scattered cheer squads were enthusiastic and many bands along the course. Otherwise fans were fewer and less supportive as compared to other races I had participated in. Despite cramping the last 3 miles I had my PR under 3:45. Medal had a nice New Orleans flare to it otherwise looked like my other medals from R & R races. Great shuttle service back to the start. Not sure I want to do another R & R race. They are well organized but expensive, have a cookie cutter feel to them that takes away from the uniqueness from each individual race, and amenities have diminished over time. I would definitely go back to New Orleans for other races.

I have a love/hate relationship with Competitor Group who put on these Rock and Roll series races. I love the destinations, but hate the over-priced race entry fees. Don't ever forget they are all about the profit, and will nickel/dime you to death. Want to track a runner? OK, but you have to pay for it. You get a blah race shirt with your entry fee, but the really cool ones cost extra. Want to park within a mile of the finish? Sure for $20.

Expo: Easy in/Easy out. They always have a ton of vendors and it's easy to burn an hour or more browsing.

Start: The start was well within walking distance of the French QTR and CBD. With 15,000 people participating, the corral system worked well. Most people seemed to respect their corral placement and the number of walkers out of the gate was kept to a minimum.

Course: Fast, flat and scenic. You hit a lot of the 'must see' places in NOLA. Watch out for Esplanade Avenue though. Poor road conditions and a steep camber make for interesting miles 10-13. Spectators are plentiful along St. Charles Blvd, but pretty sparse along the lake, miles 16-22.

Water stops: Spaced evenly, but sporadic on street location placement. Sometimes they are on both sides, sometimes only on the left side. For example, the first at the 1.8 mile mark they only had water/Gatorade on the left side of the street causing a lot of congestion.

Finish: Meh. Again, for the price I expected more I guess. Water, choc milk, green bananas, and protein bars. Nothing salty. This is NOLA, how 'bout some Abita and Red Beans/Rice at the finish? Nah, instead you get unripe bananas and Michelob Ultra (beer by name only).

Post race music. 'A Bag Of Donuts' who came on after the headliner, rocked the house. They were just awesome.

Bottom Line: I would recommend this race for those that don't mind paying the Competitor Group premium. It's a good destination race that is ripe for a PR.

We have all heard the bashing of Competitor and the R&R series. This was my 19th marathon, but my first R&R race. Yes, it was pricey, and they charged top dollar for all the add-ons at the expo. But as for the race itself, the corrals were clearly marked, the start and traffic flow was pretty smooth - I was in corral 5 of about 18, and finished about 10 minutes slower than my estimated finish time, but was never in too much traffic. Post-race logistics were clear and logically laid out - but the walk to the shuttle buses could have been a bit shorter. The last 10 miles of the course through a soggy park got a bit tedious. Overall I did not encounter anything that would prevent me from entering another R&R event - despite the fact that the medals and t-shirts for the full and half were the same (except for a microscopic 1/2 in front of the word Marathon on the medal), which somewhat cheapens the full marathon accomplishment, but they were pretty nice shirts and medals.

I picked this race to PR and I did. TIP #1: run on the streetcar path while on St.Charles. Relieves the congestion from the mix of half and full runners, and is easier on you than the city street. TIP#2: the streets really aren't as bad as some report, but do watch the pavement from mi 10-11 on Explanade Ave. TIP#3: stayed at Sheraton (helpful staff, nice room, pick the river view) within easy walking distance of the start. There's a restaurant just across from hotel with great pasta for prerace dinner, Red Gravy. Make reservations.

This is my hometown, and I'm glad everyone enjoyed NO. But, in NO we do races differently. We have unlimited free beer, red beans & rice and/or jambalaya at the post party. RnR bought out the Mardi Gras Marathon a few years back. I ran the first RnR and was sadly disappointed. I hoped RnR had learned that NO runners expect more than a banana or protien bar after huffing it 26.2 miles. This year proved that they had not. I will never run this marathon again.

This was my first experience with the Rock n Roll group. I was not to impressed with the expo. I did get some nice free samples but most of the things on sale I just was not impressed with. The men's gear looked better than women's to me. I only bought the stick because I could not pack my foam roller. I thought race day was well organized. I was surprised the corrals moved as quickly as they did. Some of the water/gatorade stops were not staffed fully to meet the needs. I was happy for the salt packet around mile 6-7 or so. I really enjoyed the course and the crowds were decent. The only real big negative was the bumpy roads. I'm from NYC so I am used to potholes but really this was something. I was afraid I would twist or roll something. I would run the half again and might even consider the full in the future.

Very well run event! Lots of hotels (not to pricy either) within walking distance of start line....easy to take a bus from finish back to starting area.....the corral/wave system worked great - lots of runners but they were spread out well on pretty wide streets...weather was great...flat course...well policed - lots of volunteers passing out water and gatorade....not a ton of spectators but who cares...great job NOLA and Rock N Roll....very professional - no complaints!