Race morning I woke up (from my deflated air mattress) and got ready to go! I grabbed a cup of coffee for the road and Paige, Billy, and I were on our way. The plan was for Billy to drop us off at the start line and he would park at City Park where the finish line was. That way we didn't have to worry about any shuttles! Score!
Paige and I got out of the car at a nearby red light and stopped for a few pictures in front of the Superdome!
We stopped for a potty break and then headed to Champions Square to see if we could find any of our running friends. Champions Square was super crowded! We found one friend but no luck finding the others.
Then it was time to head to our corral. And we found our friend Donna so we were super excited! We did a little stretching and some picture taking while we waited to start the race.
I started looking around me and found Nicole! It had been forever since I had seen her and I was so excited to just run into her in the corral!
As we were inching up towards the start line we found Paige's friend Scott! And then finally it was our corral's time to start!
This race is always fun because people dress up. They act crazy. They pull wagons with kegs in them. Some of the water stops serve beer and shots. Only in New Orleans lol! They said there were 27,000 participants there. It's a huge race that a ton of people participate in. Some are serious runners and others just walk the course. It can get crowded especially with the people that choose to walk and don't move over for the runners. That was a little frustrating.
Do you see the people dressed as red solo cups???
Before I knew it we were entering the French Quarter and mile 1! We also found Scott's friend Ashley around this point and she finished the rest of the race with us!
We passed Jackson's Square!
And Cafe Du Monde! And those beignets smelled so good!
It was fun running through this area. In the Rock 'n' Roll course you run through here around mile 9. So it was easier to enjoy it on fresher legs!
We then made it to Esplanade Street and mile 2! Paige started having stomach issues around this time and had to stop at the porta potty. Since this race was just for fun we all waited on her. No man left behind!
All along this street there were people handing out beer! And so many runners drinking it! It was pretty funny to me! This was one of those stops!
We were having so much fun and before we knew it we had made it halfway! We were at mile 3!
I knew somewhere soon the Easter Bunny would be out. He was there last year but was pretty grumpy at me when I stopped to take a picture with him! But first I saw these guys!
And not far behind them....there was my Easter Bunny! And it must have been a different guy because this one was super nice! :-)
We ran a little longer and there was mile 4! We were having so much fun and the miles were just flying by!
We ran a little more on this street and then it was time to enter City Park! This brought back tons of memories of running my first full marathon here!
City Park is beautiful! I love that I was able to enjoy running there (instead of it being at mile 24 and 25 when I was so tired). We reached mile 5 inside City Park.
And Paige had to stop again for the bathroom. I was amazed at all the runners running while we waited on Paige!
Next stop...the finish line! Scott and I would run a little faster than everyone else the entire race and then slow down so they could catch up with us. But once we knew we were near the finish line we took off! It felt good to run as fast as I wanted since I had been holding back the whole race. I just LOVE finishing strong!!!!
It's my second worst 10K time ever...but I had a blast running this race with friends!
After getting our medals and finding our friends we headed towards the after party! We had to stop and take a few finisher photos first though! Priorities lol!
Then we headed towards the after party!
The downside...there were so many people that it took forever to get into the after party area! But I entertained myself with watching other people! And I saw this guy and his costume! ;-)
Once we made it inside the after party we headed towards the VIP area. There was a ton of food in there! They had some New Orleans type food (gumbo and jambalaya), Subway, and Hooters Wings. I treated myself to a Subway sandwich and some cold chocolate milk. It's awesome to be a blogger! ;-) Inside I found some of my blogger friends...Melanie, Heather, Larisa, and Holly!
I was super excited to see Heather and her cute little baby bump! She is seriously the cutest pregnant woman ever!!!
It was fun to sit and relax with my blends (blogger friends)! We also found a few more friends outside the VIP area...Jewel, Jen, and Nicole (again)!
The after party of this race is so fun! They have a band playing and tons of food! Red beans and rice is a favorite! They also have inflatables for the kids too!
Here's Paige and I with our finish photo and medals! Oh yeah...that's right....Crescent City Classic gives all finishers a medal! Sweet!
QOTD: Have you ever run this race? What is your favorite city to run in?
