Race #3 of the 13 in 2013

Race #6 Overall

Race Bib

This bronchial infection over the last five or so weeks has really led me on some highs and lows.  I thought I was over it two weeks ago but I ended up having a fairly nasty relapse.  Luckily, that relapse only seemed to last about a week.  Things seem to be much better now.  The downside however was that with the sickness, I didn’t run in several races I wanted to in March.  So that meant another determined race with little to no training or preparation   I seem to be getting good at this.

Sunrise Lake Ponchartrain

I’m glad I started feeling better again just in time for this race.  The CCC10 is a huge race.  Last year they had over 16,000 participants.  This year, they ended up having about 1,500 more.  That’s a lot of people.  With the race being at 8am on a Saturday, I opted not to stay in NOLA the night before and just drive in from BTR the morning of.  That meant being up early and making the 70 minute drive down, but with Saturday morning traffic being minimal, It really wasn’t a problem.  In the deal, I got to see a spectacular sunrise driving into Kenner.  I don’t think I’ve ever see such a large and red sun.  It was easy to look at and it was huge.  It was rather brilliant.  By the time I got to the 610 split though, that soft red glow turned into a piercing yellow blinding light.

Starting on Poydras

Once downtown, I ran into a little bit of traffic getting off at the Superdome exit and into the parking garages adjacent to the dome itself.  The start line was at Poydras and Loyola with corrals lined up Poydras to the dome.  The starting corrals (the small distant group highlighted in yellow in the picture) were for ranked and qualified racers (i.e. Kenyans and high school track and Olympic stars).   The rest of us lined up in various corrals behind the lead pack based on our projected finish time.  I’ve been running 5Ks at about 35 minutes now so I figured I could potentially do a 10K in 70 but decided to go with the 75 to 90 minute pack to be safe which worked out perfect because it was the corral right in front of the walkers (not the zombie walkers from Walking Dead).  Of course this ended up not really mattering as right before race time various people started ending up in various corrals.  Several times I noticed walkers in front of me and higher seeded racers behind me.  I figured they were just trying to be near friends or other people they knew.   In that regard, the corrals behind the lead pack weren’t managed extremely well.  That led to the bottleneck that I had read about prior to the race.  I read a post about how racers had to dodge walkers and strollers and coolers being pulled behind walkers and I couldn’t imagine how this was possible since I was under the impression that walkers were last to cross the start line.  Well, I found out why real quick.  After the lead pack left, it seems they let some of Groups D and E go and then someone must have let out Groups F,  G and the Walkers simultaneously, because all of a sudden we were all moving and when we got to LaSalle (a block before Loyola), we were heavily merged together in one huge walking jam.  At that point, we inched our way forward to Loyola and the start line.  We got up to the starting booth and the MC announced the youth run NOLA group that had seemed to sneak in all of a sudden right next to me.

Start Line

They were a relatively large group of various kids perhaps ages 9-15 all in bright yellow shirts.  I ended up pacing with many of them almost all the way through the Quarter.  The MC called out the youth group, had us all cheer and noted that the first ‘float’ was passing by.  This was one of those ‘coolers’ I had heard about.  Seems it is very popular with some groups, especially walkers, to pull behind coolers, or make push cart type deals fully decorated with signs and filled with alcohol generally.  I saw two guys walking at one point merely with a six pack of beer around Mile 3.  This ‘float’ comment would come up again later.

At the point we crossed the starting strip, many people continued to walk, and some people behind started complaining.  So it was hard to determine what to do next.  I didn’t want to run over anybody and we were packed relatively tight still.  So I stayed behind some walkers until it finally started to clear out (slightly) closer to Baronne or Carondelet.  Then I took notice of the runners hitting the sidewalks running past the walkers.  This was probably the most narrow part of the race, on Poydras because it was near the start and it ran thru the CBD.  I nearly forgot about the group of tourists that nearly tripped some of us.  A few people were stationed in the CBD part of the route to cheer, but at one particular intersection some tourists decided they didn’t want to wait for the runners to pass anymore and decided to start making their way across Poydras with their luggage pulled behind.  Mind you the pack was still relatively tight, so these people basically just took a chance and started darting out around people.  I nearly hit the first guy.  He was obviously the ringleader who decided ‘let’s go honey, we can make it’.  I’m glad I didn’t actually hit him, but I kind of hope someone did.  It quickly reminded me of Tigerband and that one unwritten rule that you were expected to follow or you got heckled by your peers: NOBODY BREAKS RANKS!  And if someone did try to sneak thru the band, depending on who it was you were expected to stop them.  If it was a girl, you pushed them back politely, but if it was a annoying drunk guy, you laid him out.  Simple as that.  Well, this wasn’t Tigerband.  This was probably 7,000 serious runners and 10,500 not so serious ones running around the streets of New Orleans, thankfully with their clothes on.

St. Peters

Once we turned on St. Peter’s, I found it more manageable except for another slight bottleneck in the Quarter close to Cafe du Monde past Jackson Square.  Then we started running thru the passageways paralleling St. Peters.  The Quarter was much more fun.  The tourists here were much more fun.  Instead of being cheap, these people splurge and stay in the French Quarter.  These people drink all night and then get up mid morning for bloody marys, mimosas and beignets.  These people will cheer a row of ducks crossing the street let alone a parade of runners.  So it was much more fun.  I wonder how many runners/walkers stopped to get a beignet, never mind the line was probably long.  The cafe did look pretty packed when I ran by.  In front of Jackson Square was also our first live jazz band playing as we ran by.  Also nearby was the first mile marker with split time checking and water.

Jackson Square

The CCC had split timing and water set up for every mile (except for the 6th since it’s so close to the finish).  I somehow missed running over the split at the second mile mark, but it was still evident that I was averaging a slightly slower pace with every mile, from around 12 minutes at mile 1 to nearly 13 minutes by the finish.  I’ve noticed also that giving a cup of water to more than 17,000 runners makes the ground very wet.  I couldn’t tell at first if it had rained or if it was the typical liquid nastiness you sometimes get in the Quarter, but I feel confident that at least most of it was Kentwood water spilled on the ground.

I nearly lost my key here too.  I had forgotten I had my spare key in my pocket and a small towel, so I went to pull the towel out here for the first time and about a second later heard the sound of metal hitting the ground.  I knew immediately it was the key.  Luckily someone behind me picked it up for me and handed it to me so I didn’t have to spend any time looking for it.

This is probably a good time to mention all the different costumes and getups there were represented out there.   Of course, with the race being on Easter weekend, many people were dressed as rabbits/bunnies, with bunny ears and such.  A select few even wore the whole bunny costume.

Chasing Rabbits

Also once again (a reference to the Mardi Gras Mambo), lots of tu-tus.  I saw what appeared to be the Pope and Cleopatra (not at the same time of course, that would be sacrilege).  There were several super heroes, supermen, superwomen, batgirls, a guy wearing dive fins (you could hear him a block away [flip, flap, flip, flap, flip, flap]).  On several occasions I was chasing or fishing for rabbits.  I’d find a bunny in front of me and usually reel them in (them?  It was usually a her, but there were some guy rabbits out there to, don’t want to misrepresent).

After turning onto the Esplanade, we were passing by the Marigny district.  This is mainly where the race took a turn for the more silly and fun.  First off, the boulevard was wide.  You could race in either the riverbound or lakebound lanes, or the neutral ground even if that’s what you favored.  I sort of went back and forth at times, started in the riverbound lanes, then switched to the neutral ground when traffic got too tight, then danced over to the lakebound lanes as we passed our next band, sounded like Rebirth but they were dressed like military and playing “Do What You Wanna”.  I had to be in one of the roadbeds for split time.  This is probably where I missed my second mile split.  I was too busy eyeing the lemonade stand in front of me on the lakebound lanes while the riverbound lanes had some group of people offering to basically funnel beer down your throat while offering you donuts.  Only in New Orleans can you do this sort of thing right… run or stagger a 10K and be fed donuts and drink beer?  This city is so awesome!  Meanwhile another band in the neutral ground is playing Springsteen’s “Baby We Were Born to Run”.  There were more spectators, mainly local residents who would do various things, hold up various signs, perform various antics.  Like the girl jumping up and down on one of those small fitness trampolines holding a sign that read “Why do all the good guys run away?”  The best yet was the sign that read “This is the worst parade ever!”  That had me rolling.

By the time we got to the fairgrounds, there were more bands, some outside clubs and others outside houses.  Then there were the “fans and bystanders” sitting down in lawn chairs along the route here offering you water, orange juice, powerade, and of course… jello shots.  I’m sold now.  I’ve already marked this race on my 2014 calendar.  Don’t expect me to beat this year’s time though.  It was funny listening to one woman asking if it was shameful that it took her some 30 minutes to make it between Mile 3 and Mile 4.  Yes, ma’am, that was most definitely the best mile ever.  LMAO!  I want to be like that next year.

Finishers Medal

Finally, towards the end, we end up making a circle around a portion of City Park and then it’s on to the grand finish.  The finish was slightly confusing.  People would stop way too short of the finish and just sort of walk.  So over time, that seemed to stack up people before the finish, although when I made it I was able to make it across in stride.  But they were handing out water and medals way too close to the line.  I guess I thought there would be a chute where you continue on for a short distance to get that stuff.  Speaking of, this finisher medal looks great.  It’s my favorite yet.  From what I gather, it’s not typical of the CCC handing out finisher medals, but this year is a commemorative year and supposedly that’s why they did it.  I feel lucky.

After party

Now after getting out of the end debacle with some water and the medal, you were able to continue to the festival area where you got powerade and then all sorts of goodies along with being treated to live music from Papa Grows Funk.  The festival area had the feel of a mini Jazz Fest.  It was great.  People were laid out on the lawn and on the track, with their coolers and attached totums.  They didn’t have as much food selection as I had read they would but it wasn’t a huge deal to me.  I was happy with the jambalaya.  They had Subway as well but I didn’t feel like subway.  Cajun food is perfect for post race meals.  There were plenty of options for drinks, including more alcohol if you preferred.  There were also various booths with items such as race posters, pictures, sunglasses, health and fitness and others.  The music couldn’t be beat.  People were still finishing the race.  Who knows when they started or crossed the start line, but I did notice that some of the latest chip times were over 2:45:00.  I don’t believe I saw any over 3 hours unless those were the two that got DQ’d.  I imagine they got lost between Mile 3 and 4 and the beer soaking booth.

So overall, well… this goes down as my favorite race to date.  It’s well worth any registration price, any hotel price, any traffic congestion, and school bus shuttle ride.  It was that fun.  No wonder it’s so popular.  There were several Kenyans in the bunch, one who won, and there were also tourists from Australia and students from the UK.  I never had any idea of this race.  I can’t believe I’ve been so deprived.  I say: no longer!  I have found my new Easter tradition.  🙂

State #1 is officially off the list now and three more are registered/planned.  It’s funny how plans change so quickly.  Originally I was planning for Alabama and Mississippi in March, but instead I got sick so I canceled.  Now I’m planning to stay busy.  I’ve got two local races planned for the next two weekends.  Then I plan to hit my first 10K outside of the southeast in California.  I’ll be racing across the Golden Gate Bridge.  I’m excited for that one, but after yesterday in NOLA, well, I’m not sure if even SF will surpass the CCC.  But it’s still a once in a lifetime opportunity.  Then I’ll come home to some more local races and then 10Ks in Fort Worth, Texas in early May and Ridgeland, Mississippi for Memorial Day weekend.  So I still intend to knock out four states as quick as possible.  There’s still time to meet me in San Francisco.  See you there.

Race: CCC10

Date: March 30, 2013, 8AM

Place: New Orleans, LA

Time: 1:19:48