Race Report – Rock and
Roll New Orleans (March 4, 2012)
(written by Ted
Barron for Runners World On Line Forums)
Twelve of us from my local southern Indiana running group
(Band of Runners) traveled to New Orleans for the long weekend and stayed in
the same hotel, Country Inn & Suites, a couple of blocks from the start. Several were not running at full capacity
because of injuries. My wife and 1
runner (who had knee surgery earlier in the week) were spectating and providing
moral support. On Saturday, most of us walked from the hotel
to the Expo at the Convention Center, probably a mile to a mile and a half
away. The Expo was nice, about medium
-sized and nothing out of the ordinary.
Brooks was the official sponsor and the only company selling race shirts.
I bought one which was nice but pricey.
We noticed there was no pacer table as some were looking for pace bands, and on
race day I’m not sure why but there were no pacers as advertised. From the Expo, we caught a trolley for $1.25
that took us all the way to the French Market at the far end of the French
Quarter, where we had a great lunch at the Louisiana Pizza Kitchen. Then we walked around too much, and wound up
back at the hotel and tuckered out at 2:30ish.
After an enjoyable group dinner at 5:30 we were back at the hotel by
7:30 to get the bibs pinned on and stuff laid out for the a.m. After a pretty horrendous night’s sleep, it
was down to the lobby by 6:20 to meet up for a photo and short prayer, and off
we went.
Luck was on our side for a couple of reasons. After weeks of high temps and humidity in
NOLA, it was upper 40s at the start and sunny with a forecasted high of 62 on
race day! Without knowing the exact
layout of the start area, we walked 2 blocks and were standing right at the start
corrals minutes later. That even gave us
time for an unplanned extra portajohn stop which is always good. Because of the early morning chill, I wore a
tank and arm warmers but rolled the arm warmers down before we even started. I lined up in Corral 3 with 4 others from my
group. One had switched to the half
because of a muscle tear a few weeks prior.
Although we were all planning to run in the same pace ballpark, I had
decided to run my own race, with an “A goal” of breaking 3:30 which had been eluding
me for over a year.
RNR marathons are pretty nonchalant on worrying about where
people line up. Corrals are marked but
it’s mostly an honor system. Although
the majority of the runners seemed to be where they were supposed to be, there
were the usual number of jerk slow runners and walkers who were in the way in
the first mile or two, when it was pretty crowded.
For my one and only complaint about the entire race, the
pavement for most of the first half of the race was probably the roughest I
have ever run on. Now for the good
stuff. My original plan was an 8:15
minute pace first mile, then all miles around 8:00 thereafter. Depending on how it went, I would slow and
try to better my time for Boston 2013 (BQ -1 minute). But it didn’t quite go like that. I was glancing at my garmin in the first mile
as I always do to make sure I don’t start out too fast. My garmin was reading 6:15 pace, but I was
certain that wasn’t possible because I would have felt it. When my garmin ticked off 1 mile, I went another
.13m before seeing the 1 mile marker. I
get garmin differences but that seemed extraordinary. At the mile marker, my garmin actually said
8:15, but my distance was 1.13m, so I remain a little puzzled by that one.
The course started in the Central Business District, outside
of the French Quarter. We ran an out
and back for most of the first 8 miles along a beautiful tree-lined street
named St. Charles Avenue. There was
plenty of shade over the first half of the course from all of the mature trees,
with beautiful homes on both sides. There were quite a few spectators along
this part of the course with a great vibe, and kudos to all of the volunteers
at water stops throughout the race. They
were just great.
There were also a lot of cheerleader groups and bands (good
ones too) – more than at any other RNR race I have done. There were people with orange slices, candy,
salt packs, beer, martinis – you name it!
A virtual friend from the RWOL 3:30 thread, who is a resident of New Orleans, was positioned
around mile 3.5, with a sign saying GO TED, 3:30 OR BUST. I spotted her and we exchanged hellos (thanks
Bren!). A nearby runner heard the 3:30
comment and said that was his goal. He
was from Memphis and very pleasant. We
ran together and talked for about the next 3 or 4 miles. I never got his name but I hope it turned out
well for him in case he is reading this.
These were the first of several fun exchanges along the course.
1 - 7:08 (whoa, not what I planned)
2 - 8:04 (more like it)
3 - 7:54 (faster than planned but settling in)
4 - 7:53
5 - 7:50
6 - 7:45
7 - 7:49
8 - 7:45
Around mile 8, we turned onto Magazine St. and ran right
past our hotel and straight into the French Quarter, past the WWII Museum,
Jackson Square and the French Market, with the Mississippi River off to our
right. According to the course map,
there was a 50 foot climb in this area, but honestly I don’t remember it. At mile 10 we turned and started heading
north along Esplanade. The full ran
together with the half marathoners for about 12 miles before we split so it
remained somewhat crowded though not overly.
09 - 7:51
10 - 7:39
11 - 7:53
12 - 8:01
13 - 7:54 (Official 13.1 split of 1:42:xx)
This was my 9th marathon and the first time I
have ever run a half split faster than a 1:45.
I was wondering if I could keep the pace up but it felt so good, I just
didn’t want to back off. At the split we
turned left, then right and headed north again, along beautiful City Park from
mile 13 to mile 16. I was running
alongside a guy from New Orleans at this point and talked to him for a couple
of miles. He told me that the pavement
was going to be good and smooth for the rest of the way and he was right. It
was really nice from there on. He was
running Boston in a few weeks and I wished him luck. My wife and friend Tom (recovering from knee
surgery) were positioned near mile 15 and were waiting with smiles and high
fives. I am guessing this is from the City Park Area:
After mile 16 we turned left onto Lakeshore Drive and began
running the first of several out and backs along Lake Pontchartain. It was beautiful along here – the lake is
huge! But we were definitely exposed to
the sun and wind now for about the next 6 miles until mile 22. The wind was directly in my face for the
first part of it and I thought it would slow me down (but it didn’t) and it
felt good since it was starting to feel pretty warm. Oh yeah, around mile 17, it felt like one of
my toenails was pulling off-ouch. The
pain eventually subsided and I discovered after the race that it was really
just a large blister. The great thing
about the out and backs in this stretch was that I was able to see and high
five 6 of my running club friends as we passed on opposite sides of the road. It really gave us all a boost and we were all
doing extremely well!
14 – 7:55
15 – 7:58
16 – 7:57
17 – 7:56
18 – 7:52
19 – 7:51 hill
crossing bridge here (all “hills” were baby hills)
20 – 8:00 hill bridge
21 – 8:01
22 – 8:05 hill
crossing same bridge coming back
At this point, as you see in the splits, I was slowing down
ever so slightly, but still cautiously feeling good. I told myself to just hover at 8 minute miles
and I would be okay. I have had my share
of cramps late in races but on this day I felt like I was holding up well.
At mile 22 we turned and headed south again, back alongside
City Park heading to the finish. I
passed hometown friend Jeff (who ran the half) at mile 24, and Tom (knee
surgery) and wife Diane at mile 25, before heading into the final winding,
winding stretch to the finish. We wound
around in the park and then headed straight towards the Art Museum before going
around it and finally seeing the finish line and a great crowd to welcome
you. Here’s how it ended:
23 - 8:06
24 - 8:08
25 - 7:58
26 - 8:01
.36 in 2:47 (7:50 pace)
Official Time 3:27:56!
PR by 6 minutes and BQ – 12 minutes
I am really excited at the outcome and appreciative of all
the advice and support from everyone on RWOL, and of course from my wife and
running friends from home. I upped my
mileage this cycle and used a modified Pfitz 12/70 (but maxing at 66mpw) and
think it must have made the difference for my endurance.
It was a great day for our group, with 5 PRs and several
near PRs and solid races by all. Four of
us finished within 7 minutes of each other and gathered at the finish line for
a pic:
The after party in the park with a headliner act was a blast
and free transportation took us from the finish back to the start area near our
hotel. We hit a great sports bar later
that day in the French Quarter with a GM from Indiana who put the Indiana Univ
vs Purdue basketball game on every screen in the place. Couldn’t get any better than that for us.
I know some have had bad experiences with RNR races, but
honestly this one was terrific. Our
entire group loved the New Orleans experience and would highly recommend it.
