The Mardi Gras Marathon was yet another marathon that has since been taken over by the Competitor group as part of its Rock and Roll series. I have to admit, I like the layout of the current course much better than the one we ran back in 2000, but we enjoyed the course well enough. One clear advantage to the older marathon was the smaller, more intimate feel, and too, the Mardi Gras theme. Our marathon started outside the Superdome and finished inside the Superdome. (This was all pre-Katrina, so there was no creep factor). The new course finishes in the City Park.
Our group was pretty small for this one. It was just us and "The Murgi", Kathy and Mike Murgas. Kathy and I ran the full and the guys ran the half. We expected it to be warm and humid, as New Orleans usually is, but it was unseasonably cold and dry that morning! My game plan was to try to stay with Kathy as long as possible. She (still) tends to start out slower and gradually speed up, which is the exact opposite (still) of what I do. My secondary goal was to HAVE FUN. No more shitty marathons, remember? Anyhow, I'm happy to say it was a fun day.
Since a big part of the marathon consisted of two long out and backs we got to see a lot of fellow runners high fiving and shouting out to one another. It was apparent that New Orleans had (and hopefully still has) a very large and active running community. My least favorite part of the marathon was having to run past the Superdome at mile 13 to head out for the second half. Any marathoner will agree with me when I say it should be against the law to lay out a course that makes the runners run past the finish line! My favorite part of the marathon was hitting the water stop manned by the New Orleans Hash House Harriers, because they (mostly men) were wearing red dresses. Hilarious! And no, I did not partake in their beer!I managed to stay with Kathy until we got to Audubon Park, around mile 18 I think, but long enough to get our photo together at least.
I remember on the last mile a guy passed me wearing a diaper. I think that's when it really sunk in that yes, it's a tough endeavor to run a marathon, but it doesn't have to be taken so seriously. Or I don't have to take myself so seriously. But then again I could never run in a diaper. Ever.
I really loved our finisher's medal:
My finishing time ended up being 3:50:14, and I was fine with that. At last! Ironically, I found out later that I had actually qualified for the Boston marathon with that time, due to advancing to the next age group, where the qualifying time was 5 minutes slower! A bittersweet discovery though, because I knew something was really really wrong with my pelvis. I felt it throughout the marathon, and shortly afterwards an MRI confirmed I had a stress fracture and I wouldn't run again for over a year.
