Mardi Gras Half Marathon Finish Poydras 2009 All-Guard Marathon Team

Rock N Roll Marathon New Orleans St Charles Avenue Feb 2017 07

The Rock 'n' Roll New Orleans Marathon & 1/2 Marathon is an annual international

road running Road running is the sport of running on a measured course over an established road. This differs from track and field on a regular track and cross country running over natural terrain. These events are usually classified as long-distance ac ...

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

hosted by

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

, in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, since 1965. It is part of the

Rock 'n' Roll Marathon Series The Rock 'n' Roll Marathon Series is a collection of road running events owned and operated by the IRONMAN Group's Competitor Group, part of Advance Publications. The series is known for lining race routes with live bands, cheerleaders and themed ...

organized by

Advance Publications Advance Publications, Inc., doing business as Advance, is an American media company owned by the descendants of S.I. Newhouse Sr., Donald Newhouse and S.I. Newhouse Jr. It owns a large number of subsidiary companies, including Condé Nast, an ...

' Ironman Group.

History

On , the New Orleans Road Runners Club held the inaugural race, named "The New Orleans Marathon", on the

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

levee A levee (), dike (American English), dyke (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), embankment, floodbank, or stop bank is a structure that is usually soil, earthen and that often runs parallel (geometry), parallel to ...

, from behind the

zoo A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility in which animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for Conservation biology, conservation purposes. The term ''zoological g ...

at Audubon Park to St. Rose and back. The race saw 19 starters and 12 finishers, and was held with no aid stations. Harry Belin, a

Tulane University Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private university, private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into ...

student, won the race in 2:47:30. The marathon has been held annually since, except for 1968. In the 1980s, a noted local participant was

John Allen Dixon Jr. John Allen Dixon Jr. (April 8, 1920 – February 22, 2003) was an associate justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court from January 4, 1971 to February 29, 1980, and chief justice from March 1, 1980 to April 8, 1990. Early life, education, and career ...

, Chief Justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court, who won the race in the over-60 category several times. The event was taken over by

Competitor Group Competitor Group, Inc. (CGI) is a privately held, for-profit, sports marketing and management company based in Mira Mesa, San Diego, California. The company owns and operates over 40 large scale running, cycling, and triathlon events; of which inc ...

for the 2010 edition and adopted the Rock 'n' Roll Series name after its takeover.Fitzgerald, Matt (2010-02-28)
Lel, Adere Win Inaugural Rock 'n' Roll Mardi Gras Half Marathon
. Competitor Group. Retrieved on 2010-03-02. In 2010, the marathon was run as an open class or mass race while the

half marathon A half marathon is a road running event of —half the distance of a marathon. It is common for a half marathon event to be held concurrently with a marathon or a 5K race, using almost the same course with a late start, an early finish or shortcu ...

formed the elite section of the event. The elite competition started strongly, with

Martin Lel Martin Kiptolo Lel (born 29 October 1978) is a Kenyan professional long distance and marathon runner. He won the London Marathon in 2005, 2007, and 2008, the New York City Marathon in 2003 and 2007 and the Great North Run in 2007 and 2009. His p ...

beating

Samuel Wanjiru Samuel Kamau Wanjiru (10 November 1986 – 15 May 2011) was a Kenyan long-distance runner who won the 2008 Beijing Olympics Marathon in an Olympic record time of 2:06:32; becoming the first Kenyan to win the Olympic gold in the marathon. He beca ...

in the men's section while

Berhane Adere Berhane Adere Debala ( Ge'ez: ብርሀኔ አደሬ born 21 July 1973 in Shewa) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner who specialises in the 10,000 metres and the half marathon. She was world champion over 10,000 m in 2003 and world champio ...

and Kim Smith ran the fastest and third-fastest times ever on American soil, for first and second place respectively.Cruz, Dan (2010-03-01)
Adere clocks 1:07:52, Lel beats Wanjiru at New Orleans Half Marathon
.

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...

. Retrieved on 2010-03-02. A total of around 13,000 runners participated in the day's events. In 2011, Kim Smith returned to set a 19-second personal best of 1:07:36, a new U.S. all-comer's record for the women's half marathon.Kim Smith Runs Fastest Half Marathon On U.S. Soil
. Competitor Group. Retrieved on 2011-02-14. The 2021 edition of the race was cancelled due to the

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

Course

Mardi Gras Marathon Starting Line All-Guard Marathon Team

The marathon starts on

Poydras Street Poydras Street (french: Rue Poydras) is a street that serves as the main artery of the New Orleans Central Business District, in New Orleans, Louisiana. The street is named for Julien de Lallande Poydras. Many of the city of New Orleans' and the st ...

near Lafayette Square in the

Central Business District A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...

and ends in

City Park An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a municipal park (North America) or a public park, public open space, or municipal gardens ( UK), is a park in cities and other incorporated places that offer recreation and green space to resi ...

near

Tad Gormley Stadium Tad Gormley Stadium (originally City Park Stadium) is a 26,500 seat multi-purpose outdoor stadium, located in City Park, in New Orleans, Louisiana. The stadium is home to the University of New Orleans Privateers men's and women's track and field ...

.https://web.archive.org/web/20200929073649if_/https://www.runrocknroll.com/-/media/RnR/Images/Events/New-Orleans/Maps/RNR_20_NOLA_Course_Map_012020_al.pdf The course makes significant use of

St. Charles Avenue St. Charles Avenue (french: avenue Saint-Charles) is a thoroughfare in New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. and the route of the St. Charles Streetcar Line. It is also famous for the dozens of mansions that adorn the tree-lined boulevard for much of the ...

, Decatur Street,

Esplanade Avenue Esplanade Avenue is a historic street in New Orleans, Louisiana. It runs northwest from the Mississippi River to Beauregard Circle at the entrance to City Park. History Esplanade Avenue was an important 18th-century portage route of trade betw ...

, Wisner Boulevard, and Lakeshore Drive along

Lake Pontchartrain Lake Pontchartrain ( ) is an estuary located in southeastern Louisiana in the United States. It covers an area of with an average depth of . Some shipping channels are kept deeper through dredging. It is roughly oval in shape, about from west ...

Winners

Key: Course record (in bold)

Marathon

Half marathon

Notes

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rock 'n' Roll Mardi Gras Marathon Marathons in the United States

Road Running Road running is the sport of running on a measured course over an established road. This differs from track and field on a regular track and cross country running over natural terrain. These events are usually classified as long-distance ac ...

Recurring sporting events established in 2010