On Saturday morning me and 17,000+ of my closest friends lined the streets of New Orleans for the 35th Annual Allstate SugarBowl Crescent City Classic 10k. This is first year I have ran this race and it quickly became one of my favorite races. You guys know I travel a lot for races and have my favorites. As of this weekend The Crescent City ranks among my top favorite.
On Friday Shannon and I drove in early to work at the Gulf Coast Half/Womans Half booth at the CCC expo at the Hyatt. All I can say is WOW, this expo was huge and had guest speakers. I had the pleasure of listening to my pal Bart Yasso speak. As the Chief Running Officer at Runners World Magazine, he always gives the best advice to experienced and new runners.
If your wanting to come to the beach next weekend, you can catch Mindy and I at the Gulf Coast Half in Pensacola Beach. If you are looking for a great half/10k at the end of the year, check out The Womans 10k/Half in Baton Rouge on December 8th.
We have some of the best times at the expos. Mindy and I representing some of our favorite runners Dorothy and EMZ! Love both of them, they are huge inspirations to me.
Saturday morning we woke up around 6, got dressed and walked to the start line around 7. I knew there would be a lot of runners, but it was crazy. They did have corrals this year. I couldn't imagine the previous years without them. It was very easy to find our corral and take a few pics before the start.
Melanie, Shannon, and I ready to run. The weather was perfect and the sun was shining. Perfect weather for a spring race.
I also met up with Heather and her husband in Champions Circle to give them their numbers. Its awesome getting to meet up with fellow FFA and SPA's esp my Gulf Coast H&F bloggers. Heather and I will be running the Zombie Run next Saturday in Gulfport. I hope to see some of you guys there.
And yes she looks super cute in her pink and bunny ears. I'm always in black, I need some color! LOL
At about 8:15 they started the race. It was a late start because there were runners still on the buses trying to get to the start from City Park. I had put myself in the 1:10-1:15 group based on my PR of 1:06. I figured if I ran faster I would PR, but I wouldn't be too far out of my comfort zone. I have not run much since my marathon, so I was just going in to the CCC with a comfortable pace. That may have been a bad idea. Shannon and I had to zigzag through so many people we actually ended up running 6.6 miles instead of the 6.2 course. Next time I will put myself in a faster corral to bypass the walkers. My final time was 1:11:34, like I said it was wall to wall walkers, we had to weave through everyone. Not that I am complaining, however FYI if you do walk a lot of the race, please stay towards the back. It makes things a lot easier on the runners. I will say the course was great, it ran right through the French Quarters past Café Du Monde and straight down Esplanade to City Park. It did get hot about mile 4, however the CCC made sure to have plenty of water stops at every mile and all of the crowd support was amazing.
Coming into the finish at City Park was amazing, there were people lined up cheering us in. It was great seeing Bart at the finish line.
Melanie's husband Ali ran the race in 36:19. He came in like 70th out of 17,000+ AMAZING! My husband was right there to catch a picture of his finish.
After the race we went into City Park to check out the after party. They had a great set up with tents of food and the Michelob Ultra was flowing.
The great blogging crew. Shannon, Mindy, and myself.
In the MEDIA/VIP tent they had sandwiches by SUBWAY and Red Beans and Rice served hot. It was great to relax after the race in the shade.
I was impressed by the music at the afterparty. Papa Grows Funk and Marc Broussard were rocking the stage. I am a new fan for sure. The music was great and the crowd was rocking.
Overall the 35th Annual Crescent City Classic 10k was amazing and a race I will be doing every year. If you are looking for a great race next year to PR in, the CCC would be perfect. The course is flat and fast (as long as you are in the right corral:)
I hope to see all of you there next year.
On another note. I hope you all had a wonderful Easter weekend. My kids and I went to my parents house for lunch after church. Unfortunately my husband had to work:(
Now its your turn... How was your weekend? Did you race?
