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 was 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 ru ...

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), 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 ...

hosted in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

, United States, between 1965 and 2022. It was part of the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon Series organized by

Advance Publications Advance Publications, Inc. is a privately held American media company owned by the families of Donald Newhouse and Samuel Irving Newhouse Jr., the sons of company founder Samuel Irving Newhouse Sr. It owns publishing-related companies inc ...

' Ironman Group. The Ironman group announced in September 2022 that it was canceling all future running events in New Orleans due to conflicts with the city over routing and police staffing.

History

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

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

levee A levee ( or ), dike (American English), dyke (British English; see American and British English spelling differences#Miscellaneous spelling differences, spelling differences), embankment, floodbank, or stop bank is an elevated ridge, natural ...

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

Tulane University The Tulane University of Louisiana (commonly referred to as Tulane University) is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by a cohort of medical doctors, it b ...

student, won the race in 2:47:30. The marathon was held annually since, except for 1968. In the 1980s, a noted local participant was John Allen Dixon Jr., 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 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 beating Samuel Wanjiru in the men's section while Berhane Adere 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 and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international sports governing body, governing body for the sport ...

. 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 and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Course

Mardi Gras Marathon Starting Line All-Guard Marathon Team

The marathon started on Poydras Street near Lafayette Square in the

Central Business District A central business district (CBD) is the Commerce, commercial and business center 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 wit ...

and ends in City Park near Tad Gormley Stadium. The course made significant use of St. Charles Avenue, Decatur Street, Esplanade Avenue, Wisner Boulevard, and Lakeshore Drive along Lake Pontchartrain.

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 ru ...

Recurring sporting events established in 2010