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Marathon Details - New Orleans Mardi Gras Marathon

North America Marathons > USA > LA > New Orleans > New Orleans Mardi Gras Marathon

New Orleans Mardi Gras Marathon

New Orleans Mardi Gras Marathon & Half Marathon, 10K, 5K

New Orleans, LA USA

~~February 6, 2022~~ - CANCELLED

http://www.runrocknroll.com/new-orleans

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Address:	Competitor Group 9401 Waples Street, Suite 150 San Diego, CA 92121
Phone Number:	(858) 450-6510
Fax Number:	(858) 450-6905
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Runner Reviews (315)

Course 4.2

Organization 4.2

Spectators 3.5

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Number of comments: 315 [displaying comments 1 to 11]

More Comments: [ < 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 .. 32 > ]

K. M. from MO (2/26/2019) "Fun place for a marathon trip" (about: 2019) 11-50 previous marathons COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 I will preface my comments with the fact that I hit my goal time (thanks to a great pacer!) and that we had near perfect marathon weather -- around 60F with overcast skies. Pros: Overall, I would recommend this race. 1) New Orleans is a super fun town for a road trip and a great place to spoil yourself post-race! 2) I liked the course. As others have said, the first half is very interesting, but I also liked the 2nd half out and along Lake Pontchartrain. I could see that if it were full sun, it could be more difficult. 3) The start was very organized and the corrals were well run. There are also several hotels right by the start so you could stay in bed and inside almost up until the start time. 4) The shuttles to and from the finish were much easier to use than I had imagined. 5) The course support was spot on. 6) The medal is cool, if that is important to you. The t shirt is just okay, but I did appreciate that they had a separate shirt for the marathon. Cons: 1) The expo was really disappointing. For a town as cool as New Orleans, they could have had more merchandise than just the Rock and Roll stuff. 2) You really need to watch your step on the New Orleans roads. 3) The finish area was just okay. Maybe it was hopping when all of the half-marathoners finished, but by the time I finished the marathon, it was just a mostly empty field. 4) They could have done a much better job communicating about the start, finish, and shuttle pick up areas by providing maps of these areas ahead of time. 5) The marathon is pretty flat, but there is a rather large bridge at Mile 25. I was glad our pacer warned us in advance and had a good strategy to attack it. Otherwise, it could really put a wrinkle in your time planning.
B. H. from CO (3/10/2018) "Had higher expectations for this race..." (about: 2018) 3 previous marathons \| 1 New Orleans Mardi Gras Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 1 This would be a badass half-marathon...unfortunately I was doing the full marathon. Personally I need some shade and crowds and music and the first half of this race gives you all of that... it really was a solid run for the first 13 and you cover some great sights of NOLA. The back half was abandoned. Full sun, no crowds, not enough music. I've run with a lot more music at non-RNR events...I didn't really see what made a Rock n Roll event special or different. Finish line was weak, food was lacking (cheese-its and banana) and the beer was Michelob Ultra (which isn't beer). All in all I would recommend this race for people wanting to do a half, not for those seeking out a full.
S. B. from Waco, TX (2/10/2017) "Big Time in the Big Easy" (about: 2017) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 New Orleans Mardi Gras Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 The Rock and Roll race series definitely knows how to put on an event and the New Orleans Marathon was no exception. The Expo was well done with plenty of interesting and knowledgeable vendors to spend time with and pick their brains. The corral setup was smooth and actually ran quickly and efficiently, much better than I have experienced in the past with Rock and Roll events. The course was staggeringly flat, almost to the point where the lack of topography was worse than having a few hills for variety. The first half of the race was quite interesting, through some historic neighborhoods and the French quarter. The half and full didn't split until after mile 12 so there was plenty of weaving in and out of crowds during the first half of the race. After the split, there was a massive decrease in the number of runners around me. It seemed that this race had an even larger proportion of half marathoners than any race I've done in the past. This wasn't a big deal to me, but someone who isn't comfortable running by themselves might find this disconcerting to come so far into the run. The biggest draw back to this race was the lack of spectators. While I don't need big crowds for motivation, it was oddly quiet for the vast majority of the run. I assume this was as a result of being New Orleans and early on a Sunday morning so shouldn't have been much of a surprise. The back half of the marathon was not as interesting, a couple of out and backs through a park and along a lake front. It was nice, but without much spectator support it wasn't much different than a typical weekend long run. But, with the flat course and great weather, it was definite PR type conditions and I was able to set a PR by about 10 minutes so no complaints for me.
T. K. from Cincinnati, OH (3/2/2016) "Loping in Louisiana" (about: 2016) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 New Orleans Mardi Gras Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 Top 10 Reasons to Run the New Orleans RNR! 10 - No lack of outstanding restaurants to have a delicious carb-loading meal the night before the race 9 - No lack of outstanding restaurants to have a memorable post-race celebration 8- Running along tree-lined St. Charles Avenue a very pleasant, mellow kind of experience 7- Running along Decatur Street in front of Jackson Square, St. Louis Cathedral and Café du Monde with music blaring a quintessential New Orleans experience 6 - Viewing at the Expo all of the special (and sometimes outrageous) medals RNR offers for runners participating in 2 or more RNR races in a year 5 - Staggered start of all 33 corrals gives even us back-of-the-packers the feeling that we are the race leaders as we run down Poydras Avenue with no visible runners ahead of us at race start. 4- Attending mass at St. Louis Cathedral on Saturday evening where the priest informed us that since he gave up alcohol for Lent that we should have a few drinks for him! 3 - The sound system set-ups along Jackson Square and along Lake Pontchartrain where the DJs set up speakers which extended for nearly a mile along the race course. 2 - Part of the course is below sea level & so if altitudes above sea level deprive runners of oxygen, do we gain oxygen if we run below sea level??!!! 1 - Finishing medal with unique New Orleans flare
M. K. from Austin, TX (3/2/2016) "Easy Course/Nice Organization" (about: 2016) 3 previous marathons \| 1 New Orleans Mardi Gras Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 Pros: It's New Orleans! The course is completely flat except for a few small hills near the end. The medal is awesome. The expo is perfectly run. Organization is great. No issues with running out of water/gatorade and no portapotty issues. Cons: Soooooo many people run the 1/2 marathon and the beginning is completely packed. There are so many starting corrals. If you're in the back, you're not making it to the starting line until almost A FULL HOUR after the first people cross it.
Wayne Wright from Palmdale, California USA (4/27/2015) "Easy Run in The Big Easy" (about: 2015) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 New Orleans Mardi Gras Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 INTRODUCTION: I am a race-walker with a median marathon completion time of 5:15:58. The Rock n Roll New Orleans Marathon was my thirty-second 26.2-miler accomplished. COURSE: It was a great day for a marathon, temperature at the start was 50 degrees with a few clouds, 57 percent relative humidity and a northwest wind of 14 mph with gusts up to 21 mph. Eighteen corrals of approximately 600 marathon/half-marathon participants each started between two minutes apart of each other. The result was an unencumbered beginning of our pancake flat course on three lanes of Poydras Street heading lakeside. Our parade turned left onto South Rampart Street at mile 0.4, and at mile 0.7, we turned left again onto Howard Avenue before turning onto Saint Charles Avenue at mile 0.9 heading uptown. We stayed on Saint Charles Avenue for the next seven miles. The street, a main thoroughfare in the Garden District, was characterized by many trees which gave us shade from the sun, a wide grassy neutral ground which provided space for the green street car line, and potholes, potholes, and more potholes, fortunately marked with white spray paint by a thoughtful group of organizers. Past Louisiana Avenue, our two lanes narrowed down to one, but despite this, congestion was not a significant issue. We continued uptown until reaching Loyola University at mile 4.5, where we reversed course and returned downtown on the opposite side of the median. We entered the Central Business District at mile 7.9, embarking on a series of mostly one-way streets before entering the French Quarter just past mile 9. Our mile trek down Peters and Decatur Streets took us past Jackson Square and Cafe du Monde, where the queue at this vintage 1862 coffee stand was longer than your average race course portolet. As we passed the French Market and Old US Mint on the left, we turned on Esplanade Avenue at mile 10.2, heading lakeside on our way toward City Park. Passing through Marigny and the Seventh Ward, we stayed on Esplanade Avenue for the next two and a half miles. This tree-lined parkway once again provided us some cover from the sun until we passed by the Saint Louis Cemetery Number 3, where above-ground tombs marked the final resting place of some old Creole families. After crossing over Bayou Saint John, and before entering City Park, we separated from our half-marathon counterparts at the traffic circle at mile 12.8, marked by the statue of CSA General Pierre Gustave Toutant-Beauregard, to begin our mile and a half out-and-back on North Carrollton Avenue, where upon turning on City Park Avenue at mile 14.3, we ran along the southern and western extremes of City Park for the next 3.1 miles. With the half-marathoners no longer around to keep us company and without any trees to give us shade from the sun, we now had to concentrate to maintain our pace for the rest of the race. After turning right on eastbound Robert E. Lee Boulevard at mile 17.4 and left on Saint Bernard Avenue at mile 18.3, heading north, we encountered Lakeshore Drive at mile 18.7. Once again heading east, we had our first glimpse of Lake Pontchartrain on our left after crossing over the London Avenue Canal past mile 19. Passing by the University of New Orleans and arriving at Lake Oaks Park, we turned around at mile 20.4, retracing our steps until reaching Wisner Boulevard at mile 22.6, where we headed south along the eastern side of City Park. We entered City Park near mile 24.3, where once again tree cover shaded us from the sun for most of the remainder of the course, which ended on Roosevelt Mall inside the park. Temperature at the finish line was 60 degrees with a few clouds, 38 percent relative humidity and a northwest wind of 14 mph. ORGANIZATION: Very well executed expo with a good selection of race merchandise to choose from. Race execution from start to finish was flawless. My only disappointment was being too slow to finish on time to see the headline act, Trombone Shorty. FANS: Average for this size event. A plurality of jazz musicians was a pleasant surprise for those of us who have eclectic tastes in music. A zydeco band was also present on Saint Charles Avenue, not to mention a bagpipe and drum ensemble on Magazine Street in the Central Business District. For truth-in-advertising purposes, one would think this event should be named the Jazz Music Marathon. CONCLUSION: An easy course, great weather, and enjoyable music along the way made this a truly enjoyable run in one of Americas more unique cities. Well done, Competitor Group and NOLA.
B. C. from Shreveport, LA (3/4/2015) "Fast course but could be better" (about: 2015) 11-50 previous marathons \| 4-5 New Orleans Mardi Gras Marathons COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 I love running RnR New Orleans and have run it four times since RnR took it over in 2010. That being said, I feel like ever year the Competitor machine has figured out a way to squeeze more efficiency out of the operation. This has had a bit of a detrimental effect on the overall feel of the race. The expo is great. The course is super fast. When the weather cooperates, this is a definite PR race. However, every year I have run this race, they have made the course more and more boring. They've cut out some scenic areas at the expense of some still scenic but otherwise really boring out-and-backs. The out-and-back on Carrolton was ridiculous and demoralizing. TO sum it up, you basically run 13 miles of scenic New Orelans and 13 miles of sun-baked, shadeless, spectatorless suburbs and park by the Lakefront. Of course, for the all important half'ers, that isn't a problem. But hey, at least us marathon runners got a Brooks finisher's jacket in addition to the local 5k-looking 1 color race tee. I'm not big on all the trinkets but you could feel the cheap being squeezed out of this race. Also, whoever coordinates volunteers was not on the ball this year. I ran through quite a few aid stations where the poor aid station workers were frantically pouring and handing out drinks. To summarize, beautiful city, fast course, but quit being cheap with our entry fees, RnR!
N. M. from Chattanooga, TN (2/8/2015) "Nice finisher's gear" (about: 2015) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 New Orleans Mardi Gras Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 This was my 11th marathon/11th state. Most of my impressions about this race are positive, although I do see some areas that could be improved. Pros: Great medal (I even sat next to the designer on the bus) Nice finisher's jacket (included in the not so cheap race fee) Chocolate milk at the finish (tremendous help) Cons: Aid stations could use some improvement. Volunteers were great, but for a race fee like that, I would suggest making some food available on the course like banana slices, orange slices, etc. Water and Gatorade and an occasional gel just doesn't cut it for $130. Given the fact that the time cut off is 7 hours, some of the music stations and stages were broken down by the time I got to them, and I was 45 minutes ahead of the cut off. Music on the doesn't matter to me, but it might for some. There was miscommunication about when the last bus left post race (since the end is nowhere near the start). We were told the last bus left at 2:30, which is 7 hours after the start, but it takes 30+ minutes to get to the start if you're towards the back. The last bus was actually suppose to leave at 3:30, but even then if someone finished in 7 hours they would have to hurry to get to a bus because the finish is a good ride from downtown. All in all, I had a good time. The out/backs were a bit annoying but it's not a deal breaker. Volunteers were great all around. The finish line was starting to get sparse by the time I got there, but there was still chocolate milk left and the announcer was still full of energy. I personally prefer races that are a bit smaller, but if you like medium to large races, you'll probably like this one. Several hotels within walking distance to the start.
D. G. from New York (1/29/2015) "Great city, great race" (about: 2015) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 New Orleans Mardi Gras Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 I was impressed with just about every aspect of the race - the organization, the people, the course and the city. So many great things to say, check out the blog post for a more complete discussion: https://rundavidrunblog.wordpress.com/2015/01/29/sometimes-failure-can-be-fun-the-new-orleans-marathon-part-2-of-3/
B. S. from New York, NY (1/26/2015) "Great city, decent race" (about: 2015) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 New Orleans Mardi Gras Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 New Orleans is a great American city. Competitor is a professional operation, but it is clear this event does not capture the hearts of New Orleans. Spectator support is remarkably mild. A big part of that is the coursethe second half is deliberately routed through low congestion parks, where no one would venture randomly. That said, it is a good operation, with decent perks.

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K. M. from MO (2/26/2019) "Fun place for a marathon trip" (about: 2019) 11-50 previous marathons COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 I will preface my comments with the fact that I hit my goal time (thanks to a great pacer!) and that we had near perfect marathon weather -- around 60F with overcast skies. Pros: Overall, I would recommend this race. 1) New Orleans is a super fun town for a road trip and a great place to spoil yourself post-race! 2) I liked the course. As others have said, the first half is very interesting, but I also liked the 2nd half out and along Lake Pontchartrain. I could see that if it were full sun, it could be more difficult. 3) The start was very organized and the corrals were well run. There are also several hotels right by the start so you could stay in bed and inside almost up until the start time. 4) The shuttles to and from the finish were much easier to use than I had imagined. 5) The course support was spot on. 6) The medal is cool, if that is important to you. The t shirt is just okay, but I did appreciate that they had a separate shirt for the marathon. Cons: 1) The expo was really disappointing. For a town as cool as New Orleans, they could have had more merchandise than just the Rock and Roll stuff. 2) You really need to watch your step on the New Orleans roads. 3) The finish area was just okay. Maybe it was hopping when all of the half-marathoners finished, but by the time I finished the marathon, it was just a mostly empty field. 4) They could have done a much better job communicating about the start, finish, and shuttle pick up areas by providing maps of these areas ahead of time. 5) The marathon is pretty flat, but there is a rather large bridge at Mile 25. I was glad our pacer warned us in advance and had a good strategy to attack it. Otherwise, it could really put a wrinkle in your time planning.
B. H. from CO (3/10/2018) "Had higher expectations for this race..." (about: 2018) 3 previous marathons \| 1 New Orleans Mardi Gras Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 1 This would be a badass half-marathon...unfortunately I was doing the full marathon. Personally I need some shade and crowds and music and the first half of this race gives you all of that... it really was a solid run for the first 13 and you cover some great sights of NOLA. The back half was abandoned. Full sun, no crowds, not enough music. I've run with a lot more music at non-RNR events...I didn't really see what made a Rock n Roll event special or different. Finish line was weak, food was lacking (cheese-its and banana) and the beer was Michelob Ultra (which isn't beer). All in all I would recommend this race for people wanting to do a half, not for those seeking out a full.
S. B. from Waco, TX (2/10/2017) "Big Time in the Big Easy" (about: 2017) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 New Orleans Mardi Gras Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 The Rock and Roll race series definitely knows how to put on an event and the New Orleans Marathon was no exception. The Expo was well done with plenty of interesting and knowledgeable vendors to spend time with and pick their brains. The corral setup was smooth and actually ran quickly and efficiently, much better than I have experienced in the past with Rock and Roll events. The course was staggeringly flat, almost to the point where the lack of topography was worse than having a few hills for variety. The first half of the race was quite interesting, through some historic neighborhoods and the French quarter. The half and full didn't split until after mile 12 so there was plenty of weaving in and out of crowds during the first half of the race. After the split, there was a massive decrease in the number of runners around me. It seemed that this race had an even larger proportion of half marathoners than any race I've done in the past. This wasn't a big deal to me, but someone who isn't comfortable running by themselves might find this disconcerting to come so far into the run. The biggest draw back to this race was the lack of spectators. While I don't need big crowds for motivation, it was oddly quiet for the vast majority of the run. I assume this was as a result of being New Orleans and early on a Sunday morning so shouldn't have been much of a surprise. The back half of the marathon was not as interesting, a couple of out and backs through a park and along a lake front. It was nice, but without much spectator support it wasn't much different than a typical weekend long run. But, with the flat course and great weather, it was definite PR type conditions and I was able to set a PR by about 10 minutes so no complaints for me.
T. K. from Cincinnati, OH (3/2/2016) "Loping in Louisiana" (about: 2016) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 New Orleans Mardi Gras Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 Top 10 Reasons to Run the New Orleans RNR! 10 - No lack of outstanding restaurants to have a delicious carb-loading meal the night before the race 9 - No lack of outstanding restaurants to have a memorable post-race celebration 8- Running along tree-lined St. Charles Avenue a very pleasant, mellow kind of experience 7- Running along Decatur Street in front of Jackson Square, St. Louis Cathedral and Café du Monde with music blaring a quintessential New Orleans experience 6 - Viewing at the Expo all of the special (and sometimes outrageous) medals RNR offers for runners participating in 2 or more RNR races in a year 5 - Staggered start of all 33 corrals gives even us back-of-the-packers the feeling that we are the race leaders as we run down Poydras Avenue with no visible runners ahead of us at race start. 4- Attending mass at St. Louis Cathedral on Saturday evening where the priest informed us that since he gave up alcohol for Lent that we should have a few drinks for him! 3 - The sound system set-ups along Jackson Square and along Lake Pontchartrain where the DJs set up speakers which extended for nearly a mile along the race course. 2 - Part of the course is below sea level & so if altitudes above sea level deprive runners of oxygen, do we gain oxygen if we run below sea level??!!! 1 - Finishing medal with unique New Orleans flare
M. K. from Austin, TX (3/2/2016) "Easy Course/Nice Organization" (about: 2016) 3 previous marathons \| 1 New Orleans Mardi Gras Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 Pros: It's New Orleans! The course is completely flat except for a few small hills near the end. The medal is awesome. The expo is perfectly run. Organization is great. No issues with running out of water/gatorade and no portapotty issues. Cons: Soooooo many people run the 1/2 marathon and the beginning is completely packed. There are so many starting corrals. If you're in the back, you're not making it to the starting line until almost A FULL HOUR after the first people cross it.
Wayne Wright from Palmdale, California USA (4/27/2015) "Easy Run in The Big Easy" (about: 2015) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 New Orleans Mardi Gras Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 INTRODUCTION: I am a race-walker with a median marathon completion time of 5:15:58. The Rock n Roll New Orleans Marathon was my thirty-second 26.2-miler accomplished. COURSE: It was a great day for a marathon, temperature at the start was 50 degrees with a few clouds, 57 percent relative humidity and a northwest wind of 14 mph with gusts up to 21 mph. Eighteen corrals of approximately 600 marathon/half-marathon participants each started between two minutes apart of each other. The result was an unencumbered beginning of our pancake flat course on three lanes of Poydras Street heading lakeside. Our parade turned left onto South Rampart Street at mile 0.4, and at mile 0.7, we turned left again onto Howard Avenue before turning onto Saint Charles Avenue at mile 0.9 heading uptown. We stayed on Saint Charles Avenue for the next seven miles. The street, a main thoroughfare in the Garden District, was characterized by many trees which gave us shade from the sun, a wide grassy neutral ground which provided space for the green street car line, and potholes, potholes, and more potholes, fortunately marked with white spray paint by a thoughtful group of organizers. Past Louisiana Avenue, our two lanes narrowed down to one, but despite this, congestion was not a significant issue. We continued uptown until reaching Loyola University at mile 4.5, where we reversed course and returned downtown on the opposite side of the median. We entered the Central Business District at mile 7.9, embarking on a series of mostly one-way streets before entering the French Quarter just past mile 9. Our mile trek down Peters and Decatur Streets took us past Jackson Square and Cafe du Monde, where the queue at this vintage 1862 coffee stand was longer than your average race course portolet. As we passed the French Market and Old US Mint on the left, we turned on Esplanade Avenue at mile 10.2, heading lakeside on our way toward City Park. Passing through Marigny and the Seventh Ward, we stayed on Esplanade Avenue for the next two and a half miles. This tree-lined parkway once again provided us some cover from the sun until we passed by the Saint Louis Cemetery Number 3, where above-ground tombs marked the final resting place of some old Creole families. After crossing over Bayou Saint John, and before entering City Park, we separated from our half-marathon counterparts at the traffic circle at mile 12.8, marked by the statue of CSA General Pierre Gustave Toutant-Beauregard, to begin our mile and a half out-and-back on North Carrollton Avenue, where upon turning on City Park Avenue at mile 14.3, we ran along the southern and western extremes of City Park for the next 3.1 miles. With the half-marathoners no longer around to keep us company and without any trees to give us shade from the sun, we now had to concentrate to maintain our pace for the rest of the race. After turning right on eastbound Robert E. Lee Boulevard at mile 17.4 and left on Saint Bernard Avenue at mile 18.3, heading north, we encountered Lakeshore Drive at mile 18.7. Once again heading east, we had our first glimpse of Lake Pontchartrain on our left after crossing over the London Avenue Canal past mile 19. Passing by the University of New Orleans and arriving at Lake Oaks Park, we turned around at mile 20.4, retracing our steps until reaching Wisner Boulevard at mile 22.6, where we headed south along the eastern side of City Park. We entered City Park near mile 24.3, where once again tree cover shaded us from the sun for most of the remainder of the course, which ended on Roosevelt Mall inside the park. Temperature at the finish line was 60 degrees with a few clouds, 38 percent relative humidity and a northwest wind of 14 mph. ORGANIZATION: Very well executed expo with a good selection of race merchandise to choose from. Race execution from start to finish was flawless. My only disappointment was being too slow to finish on time to see the headline act, Trombone Shorty. FANS: Average for this size event. A plurality of jazz musicians was a pleasant surprise for those of us who have eclectic tastes in music. A zydeco band was also present on Saint Charles Avenue, not to mention a bagpipe and drum ensemble on Magazine Street in the Central Business District. For truth-in-advertising purposes, one would think this event should be named the Jazz Music Marathon. CONCLUSION: An easy course, great weather, and enjoyable music along the way made this a truly enjoyable run in one of Americas more unique cities. Well done, Competitor Group and NOLA.
B. C. from Shreveport, LA (3/4/2015) "Fast course but could be better" (about: 2015) 11-50 previous marathons \| 4-5 New Orleans Mardi Gras Marathons COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 I love running RnR New Orleans and have run it four times since RnR took it over in 2010. That being said, I feel like ever year the Competitor machine has figured out a way to squeeze more efficiency out of the operation. This has had a bit of a detrimental effect on the overall feel of the race. The expo is great. The course is super fast. When the weather cooperates, this is a definite PR race. However, every year I have run this race, they have made the course more and more boring. They've cut out some scenic areas at the expense of some still scenic but otherwise really boring out-and-backs. The out-and-back on Carrolton was ridiculous and demoralizing. TO sum it up, you basically run 13 miles of scenic New Orelans and 13 miles of sun-baked, shadeless, spectatorless suburbs and park by the Lakefront. Of course, for the all important half'ers, that isn't a problem. But hey, at least us marathon runners got a Brooks finisher's jacket in addition to the local 5k-looking 1 color race tee. I'm not big on all the trinkets but you could feel the cheap being squeezed out of this race. Also, whoever coordinates volunteers was not on the ball this year. I ran through quite a few aid stations where the poor aid station workers were frantically pouring and handing out drinks. To summarize, beautiful city, fast course, but quit being cheap with our entry fees, RnR!
N. M. from Chattanooga, TN (2/8/2015) "Nice finisher's gear" (about: 2015) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 New Orleans Mardi Gras Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 This was my 11th marathon/11th state. Most of my impressions about this race are positive, although I do see some areas that could be improved. Pros: Great medal (I even sat next to the designer on the bus) Nice finisher's jacket (included in the not so cheap race fee) Chocolate milk at the finish (tremendous help) Cons: Aid stations could use some improvement. Volunteers were great, but for a race fee like that, I would suggest making some food available on the course like banana slices, orange slices, etc. Water and Gatorade and an occasional gel just doesn't cut it for $130. Given the fact that the time cut off is 7 hours, some of the music stations and stages were broken down by the time I got to them, and I was 45 minutes ahead of the cut off. Music on the doesn't matter to me, but it might for some. There was miscommunication about when the last bus left post race (since the end is nowhere near the start). We were told the last bus left at 2:30, which is 7 hours after the start, but it takes 30+ minutes to get to the start if you're towards the back. The last bus was actually suppose to leave at 3:30, but even then if someone finished in 7 hours they would have to hurry to get to a bus because the finish is a good ride from downtown. All in all, I had a good time. The out/backs were a bit annoying but it's not a deal breaker. Volunteers were great all around. The finish line was starting to get sparse by the time I got there, but there was still chocolate milk left and the announcer was still full of energy. I personally prefer races that are a bit smaller, but if you like medium to large races, you'll probably like this one. Several hotels within walking distance to the start.
D. G. from New York (1/29/2015) "Great city, great race" (about: 2015) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 New Orleans Mardi Gras Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 I was impressed with just about every aspect of the race - the organization, the people, the course and the city. So many great things to say, check out the blog post for a more complete discussion: https://rundavidrunblog.wordpress.com/2015/01/29/sometimes-failure-can-be-fun-the-new-orleans-marathon-part-2-of-3/
B. S. from New York, NY (1/26/2015) "Great city, decent race" (about: 2015) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 New Orleans Mardi Gras Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 New Orleans is a great American city. Competitor is a professional operation, but it is clear this event does not capture the hearts of New Orleans. Spectator support is remarkably mild. A big part of that is the coursethe second half is deliberately routed through low congestion parks, where no one would venture randomly. That said, it is a good operation, with decent perks.

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Marathon Details - New Orleans Mardi Gras Marathon