Linda Bichler's Staging Area

The race starts on Superstition Mountain. You get bused up there before dawn and dropped at a camp site (for lack of a better word) that is already set up with scores of small campfires with mats next to them. They have hot beverages and snacks as well as lots of porta-potties. I sat on a mat next to a campfire and star gazed, amazed at the night sky of the desert. When the sun rose, we all saw that we were next to a majestic red rock cliff that looked amazing with the morning sun dancing across it. The start line is on a dirt road . The first 6 miles are down this dirt road in the middle of the desert. The scenery is breath taking and it is down hill. The first half (give or take) is down hill, the second half is mostly up hill. If you are on the slow side you may find that it gets pretty hot as the sun rises. Also, there is no shade. Part of the race is on a high way, which meant a bit of car exhaust, most of it is on fairly empty stretches of highway. The support was fabulous, the town is friendly and easy to navigate. I loved the race, but wish I had trained more down hills.

The low altitude of this course makes it a great place to PR if you are from any where above sea level. I came down from Dallas and was amazed at how little I had to breathe compared to at home. The course goes through French Quarter, Park Land and along Lake Pontchartrain. Aside from one overpass the course is flat and quick. The wind along the lake was a bit much when I ran, but I hear that is not always the case. I enjoyed the palm trees along the lake as well as the flavor of the French Quarter. There are lots of tourist attractions in the area, tons of food, and shopping. A warning though about the coffee. Louisiana coffee is intensely strong. I did not know that ahead of time and ordered a black coffee. I couldn’t drink it without getting a pot of hot water to dilute it with. This is a good place to take a hint from the locals and accept the kindly offer of milk and sugar and whatever else they offer you to put into the coffee…. beignets, for instance.

This was an awesome marathon. The down town part of the course takes runners through China Town where we were greeted by dancing Chinese dragons, lots of color and drums. That alone was pretty cool. Then through another section where we were greeted and cheered by very elaborately put together cross dressers. They were quite gaudy and amusing to look at. There is a very steep hill that leads up to the Saint Johns Bridge with is a beautiful green steel bridge which has a great view of the river and Port. It is rather a long bridge and there is a pretty long gap before the next water stop. From there, there is a long down hill which murdered my legs, followed by a brutal up hill presented a mixed blessing. The next point of interests was crossing another steel bridge. I have to admit it was a bit scary to me to look through the grates and see the river right below me. Also, since it was the kind of bridge that opens to allow for ship passage, there were a couple of gaps, where the bridge sections meet. The gaps are about like the gaps between the rails in a cattle guard. Runners just trot over them, no problem, but they did spike my adrenaline a bit since the whole looking down at the river below was freaking me out a little anyway. If you look around, and not straight down, the scenery is beautiful. At the finish line, we were given an awesome medal, a mini medal that you can wear every day like a small pendant, a coin ( I think so the guys have something that isn’t too girly) a red rose, a baby tree and lots of refreshments. This was a wonderful race in a wonderful city.