Bibrave Race Review Rock n Roll New Orleans: the 5K
March 6, 2018 1 Comment
Disclaimer: I received free entry to Rock n Roll New Orleans Half Marathon as part of being a BibRave Pro, however, ran the 5K as well and paid for it separately. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!
I survived a 4 day trip to New Orleans and lived to tell about it! I’m no stranger to Rock n Roll New Orleans, as I ran it 6 years ago while still in medical school. During that trip, a friend of mine from college was able to meet me for the weekend and we were able to catch up, though we couldn’t make it work this time around. I was more than thrilled to get back to New Orleans to race again and try for a new PR!
I flew in Thursday afternoon and took an Uber to my hotel in the French Quarter. Bonus was that I was able to use all points for it and not owe anything (extra points for only being 1/2 a mile from both starting lines!). I went for a quick run after checking in because flying all day makes the legs a little stiff and ugly. The nice thing about my hotel room was that it happened to be on the same floor as the fitness center (which also had some free weights). After showering, I went and explored the French Quarter before finding some dinner at a nice little restaurant. I was on the hungry side as I somehow didn’t get lunch with all my travels. I called it a night early since I had been up since 4 AM PST and was beat. 10 hrs of sleep later…
Friday Morning, after waking up, I headed off for breakfast and walked around the outlet mall that was close to the convention center. I ended up finding some good deals, but forgot about the 10% sales tax. Afterwards, I headed over to the expo and picked up my bibs. It was a bit congested since it was right at the opening of the expo, but the lines moved fairly quickly. If you were running the 5K Saturday and a race on Sunday, you were given a black wrist band to wear on Sunday to claim your remix medal. I picked up my shirts and explored the expo some. Didn’t purchase anything, but was able to do a demo of the Normatec Compression sleeves for 15 minutes. If you have a chance, give it a try. So worth it!
I did some sight seeing Friday night, found some dinner and got caught up with some stuff before heading to bed. NOLA wouldn’t be NOLA without some excitement as there was knocking at my door at 330 AM. Some guys thought they were at their room and didn’t realize they were wrong until I had to get up and tell them and shoo them off. One of them ended up dropping their debit card which I had to take down to the front desk, as they were already gone.
The 5K was Saturday morning and started by Lafayette Square. It was a quick 1/2 mile max walk to get there and to be able to run in shorts and a tank top was beyond exciting (it hasn’t gotten above 40 minutes in Spokane for awhile). On race day, if you didn’t have a chance to make it to the expo to pick up your bib, there was bib pick up available. Additionally, there was gear check available. New this year were easier to see corral markers making lining up easier. Additionally, bib numbers (in the past the first 1-2 numbers correlated with corrals) don’t match up to your corral, so you have to pay attention to your bib. I ended up in the first corral, which meant getting out pretty quick.
We started at 8 AM, after the national anthem and hearing from Kathrine Switzer, who ended up running the 5K and the half marathon. The gun went off and we headed off into the streets of New Orleans. We went through the Business District before heading into the French Quarter. It was kind of odd being in streets that are normally packed with people. We made it by the French Market, Jackson Square, Cafe DuMond, and the Cathedral. We looped back and finished about where we started at Lafayette Square. When you finished, you were handed a water, your medal and some food.
Overall, a decent warm up race. Only one water stop on course, but to be expected. Not much post race to do. There was a brass band playing, which kept the mood going. I hung around a little bit before heading back to the hotel to shower. Overall, good experience and race, just wish there were more going on afterwards.
drrunner 