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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 171 to 181]
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A. F. from Austin, TX
(1/4/2008)
"WONDERFUL" (about: 2007)
11-50 previous marathons
| 2 New Orleans Mardi Gras Marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 This race has it all. Very organized, flat course, plenty of fluids, tons of food and refreshments at the finish, and usually great weather. Be prepared to see a little bit of everything. I've run the half and the full marathon, and plan to go again in 2008. | |
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Lane Gremillion from Pineville, LA, USA
(12/23/2007)
"Worth the trip" (about: 2007)
2 previous marathons
| 1 New Orleans Mardi Gras Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 I am a Louisiana native and decided to make this my first marathon. The marathon and half marathon start together, so it is a little crowded at first but it thins out eventually. Only about 1,500 marathoners, which was good. It wasn't elbow-to-elbow the whole race. There were lots of lively and unusual spectators along the route. The aid stations were very good. All had water, Gatorade, Gu gel, salty and sweet snacks, Vaseline, fruit, etc. They did their best to keep you hydrated and energized. At mile 18, there was a huge aid station with a ton of spectators and they would call your name and city over the loud speaker, which gave you some much needed motivation at that point in the race. At mile 24, you could get beer at the last aid station, if you wanted it. (Hey, this is New Orleans. You have to like beer.) Overall, it was a great marathon experience and it overshadowed my second marathon of 2007 by far. It was well worth the trip. | |
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J. C. from Lafayette, Louisiana
(10/5/2007)
"great, flat, fast course" (about: 2007)
6-10 previous marathons
| 2 New Orleans Mardi Gras Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Great place to run a fast marathon, and a great time to visit New Orleans. The course takes you through all the places a tourist would want to see: the Superdome, the Quarter, City Park, Business District, Uptown/Garden District, and Audubon Park. The only hill is one overpass. It's right after Mardi Gras, so the tourists are scant, but the locals are there to cheer you on. | |
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Steven Rogers from Baton Rouge, LA
(7/19/2007)
"One word: Facilities" (about: 2007)
11-50 previous marathons
| 2 New Orleans Mardi Gras Marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 4 I ran this course with my sister for her first half-marathon, so we were about an hour off of my PR. Unfortunately for the runners who aren't so fast, the facilities are horrible. And even worse, she was having stomach problems. Not only were the port-o's sparse in number, they weren't stocked. I would regularly run about a half-mile ahead of her to try and get in line for one, only to find out that they were either locked or completely unsanitary. Don't get me wrong, I know it's a port-o, but there were multiple cases where there was feces all over the place. Unacceptable. | |
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Freddie Lee Jones 3rd from Doha, Qatar
(6/27/2007)
"Great to be back home." (about: 2007)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 New Orleans Mardi Gras Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 It was great to be back home in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina nearly wiped us off the map. Being there during the storm and the aftermath but also for the race will always be a truly unique experience. While Ray Charles has sung about his beloved Georgia, New Orleans, my home, will always be on my mind V/R SSgt. Freddie Lee Jones 3rd USAF | |
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J. R. from Santa Monica, CA
(4/1/2007)
"Well on its way" (about: 2007)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 New Orleans Mardi Gras Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 An interesting mix of a wonderful destination city and a not-so-big marathon. Visiting New Orleans again was both fun and enlightening. Much remains to be done - but it felt good to be supporting the city in some small way just by spending the tourist dollars. Race was well organized, and while the expo was small, there was good on-course support. Could have used a couple more water stations - and you do have to watch your footing on the rough streets (especially after exiting th French Quarter) - but overall a flat, fairly interesting course with some wonderful moments of fan support (definitely displaying the New Orleans spirit!). Good post-race food - though hiking up the lonnnggg ramp to the second floor of the Superdome was probably the biggest hill of the day - and not what you want after 26.2. I'd encourage folks to run this race - expect it will grow and become even better. And New Orleans' incredible restaurants and atmosphere are there to be enjoyed. | |
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B. P. from Iowa
(3/21/2007)
"Best Marathon I've Run So Far!" (about: 2007)
2 previous marathons
| 1 New Orleans Mardi Gras Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This was my third marathon, and I thought everything about it was wonderful. Since the course was flat, I lowered my time by over 10 minutes. My only disappointment was that the race was called Mardi Gras Marathon and Mardi Gras ended a few day before it. The weather was absolutely amazing and you could not ask for a better day. I will definitely return someday for this marathon. | |
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M. K. from New Jersey, USA
(3/17/2007)
"Destination Marathon" (about: 2007)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 New Orleans Mardi Gras Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 My running partner and I have run 19 marathons. We are into running destination marathons and try to make an entire learning history trip out of it. New Orleans definitely makes our Top 3!!! Top Things We Loved About the New Orleans Marathon 1. Organization was amazing for a small marathon. All water stops were fully stocked starting at mile 1 with Gatorade, food, and vaseline. They never ran out of anything. They fed you well all throughout the course. Every water stop was supportive, especially the dudes at the red dress water station. 2. Running through French Quarter, all types of neighborhoods, including Katrina affected, beautiful parks and a taste of the city throughout the entire run. 3. Finish line had amazing food. Medals, gorgeous, and purple technical shirt, amazing. Straight bee line to red beans and rice with beer! 4. Tourist marathon destination. We ate all Southern food: jambalaya, gumbo, beignets (12 total for me), po' boys, oysters, shrimp, fried chicken, and 9 lbs. of grease! 5. Took alligator tours, Katrina tours, haunted house tour, history of the city tours, steamboat ride on the Mississippi tours, and historical house tours. 6. Great touristy marathon and definitely voted as one of the top three destination marathons you should go to. Media doesn't cover Katrina good enough. You have to visit and see for yourself. New Orleans is a city with tons of history and tons of fun. 7. Spectators were few and not needed. Too much to look at. The ones that were there were quality spectators. 8. Entering the park, they annouce your name. You have it announced twice. The water stop entering and leaving the gorgeous park by the Audobon Zoo was awesome. 9. Start and finish at the Superdome. That was pretty awesome. And you only had to walk 5 minutes from the hotel (Holiday Inn). One of the marathons right outside your door. 10. Perfect size marathon. Lots of historical architectural eye candy. A must-do. Help New Orleans rebuild! Y'all should check it out! | |
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Bill Ackley from Puyallup, WA
(3/15/2007)
"Worth the Trip from Seattle" (about: 2007)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 New Orleans Mardi Gras Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 2 I enjoyed this marathon in spite of the warm weather and race shortcomings (see below). This was my first visit to NO since Katrina struck, so I had plenty to look at as I ran. The first 13 mile loop - after passing through downtown and then the French quarter - took us through some of the flood devastation north-east of town. The second half went through the Garden district - including a welcome, road-relieving 2-mile asphalt trail around a golf course and park. Four areas for improvement: 1) Not enough water stops. Luckily, I carried a water bottle (always do for a warm marathon) and filled it up frequently - this let me get by more easily than those that didn't. 2) Mile Markers - missing or poor visibiity for many. I missed many of the mile splits because I could not find the mile markers. When your past 20 miles and your brain is out of blood sugar, this can really be disorienting! 3) Poor race information. The race information in the packets was not very informative. For example, this is the first marathon that did not say if there would be a place to store personal items while you raced. I wanted to take a camera to get pre- and post-race pictures, but I didn't know if I could store it or not while I ran. 4) Waaaaay short of porta-potties. | |
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W. R. from Shreveport, Louisiana
(3/12/2007)
"Good Marathon, Considering Conditions" (about: 2007)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 New Orleans Mardi Gras Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 My comments are a little biased because I live in north Louisiana and get to hear a lot about challenges facing New Orleans durng its recovery from Katrina. I think that considering all the issues the city is dealing with, this race was put together quite well. The course was well designed, giving runners a chance to see several different sections of the city. I liked being able to run a mixture of downtown, residential neighborhoods, and through city parks. Potholes were an issue in numerous areas, but I think street maintenance is probably low on the city's list of public service issues to resolve; hopefully this will be fixed by 2008. I thought the volunteers working the course aid stations did a great job, especially the kids. Plenty of water and Gatorade except for the 3-4 mile section that someone else mentioned. I agree with other comments that the mile markers need to be better. Shouldn't be too difficult to put mile signs on poles on both sides of the course so they can be clearly seen. And as with other marathons I've run, some elevated signs or balloons or something visible from a little ways away showing the aid station's location would be nice. Spectator support was spotty throughout the course but highly enthusiastic where groups had congregated. One thing that could use improvement was race organization at the expo, and on race day. Could really use signs near parking areas directing participants towards the race start area instead of letting us wander around following each other. |
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