Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Crescent City Classic 10k Race Recap

RACEDAY! CRESCENT CITY CLASSIC 10K

Yep it was finally time to hit the streets of New Orleans for the Crescent City Classic 10k. But first Melanie and I needed to get to the start line. It was a short walk to our hotel to the start.
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We headed down to Champions Square to meet up with Heather. How super cute is her little baby bump?
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One of the great things about CCC is that they always make sure there are enough bathrooms at the start. Melanie may have had to wait 15 minutes in line. For 27,000 people that's pretty good. While waiting, we met up with Nicole and Jenn.
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Is was so much fun to meet up with Nicole, we are doing the IRONMAN Augusta relay together with her friend Laura in Sept. I am so excited!
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As you can see behind us Champions Square was starting to clear out and everyone was headed to their corrals. By the time Melanie and I got out to the streets to line up it was so full we just kind of stopped where we could. Check out the crowd up the street...
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and down the street...
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It was pretty crazy. Organized but crazy. LOL! We were able to find Holly and her husband Joby in this crowd. Joby was running his first 10k and totally rocked it.
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After singing the national anthem, the elite group was off and running. The winner would eventually win with a crazy time of 27:43. Super fast.

We crossed the start around 8:13. I think I read this mans shirt to myself about 5 times.
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The course was really easy basically you run towards the French Quarter, down past Café Du Monde and the French Market and up Esplanade to City Park.
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There were def some crazy sites along the route like Beer and Breakfast. You could stop and get some alligator sausage, bacon and a beer around mile 3.
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And some very touching moments.
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Around mile 5 you enter City Park for the last mile. This park is so beautiful.
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This is also the finish line for the Rock n Roll New Orleans, so I was familiar with loop. Its always nice to have a bunch of strangers cheering for you at the finish.

One of the complaints from last year was the crowd at the finish line. You could barely get across the finish because so many people were piled up trying to get out of the chute. This year they fixed that problem for sure. You had to basically walk a block to get to your medal and then stand in a long line to get into the finish line party. Not sure how they could fix that except have more entrances. Either way it was better than being crowded at the finish line. We made our way into the party and met up with the other bloggers that were covering the race.
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Jewel, Melanie, Me, Holly, Heather, Jenn, Nicole, and Mindy.
I love my blends!

The CCC10k has an awesome finish line party. It is a full on dance party from start to finish. They also have food and drinks for purchase. And tons of free beer to be consumed.
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I ran into a few of my friends at the after party.
Jason and Jewel from The Biggest Loser Run/Walk. (Check that race out if it comes near you, its a ton of fun. They put on a great race.)
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And my buddy Aaron, the manager from my local running store Run-n-Tri.
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Then of course I had to grab the race organizer Eric, for a quick pic.
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I would tell anyone no matter what level of running, walking, crawling you do, the CCC10k is for you. From the elite runner to the occasional walker, anyone can do this race. If you are looking for a great time, bring your friends to New Orleans next year for the Crescent City Classic 10k. It is always the Saturday before Easter, so mark your calenders now!

I want to thank the CCC10k race director Eric Stuart and Laine for putting on such a great organized race. Cant wait till CCC10k 2015!

Have you ever raced in New Orleans?
What's your favorite 10k race you have ever ran?
I was given a free race entry and VIP entry, no other compensation was given. Thoughts are of mine and no one elses.

4 comments:

  1. LOVE IT! SO much fun. Such a great race and so many wonderful people to hang with. So good to see you!!

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