Rock N Roll Mardi Gras Race Report

Race Expo

Fabulous. The Expo was rockin. Killer music & TONS of vendors. The only bad thing? The goody bags weren't consistently packed, so they contents varied a lot from bag to bag. Shelley and I didn't get all the same freebies & flyers. Otherwise it was a blast. After bib & T-shirt pick up, we headed to the race merchandise to stock up...

Shelley's gear!

I ended up buying a pair of capris to wear race day, as well as a long-sleeve technical T & half zip top. We spent over $150, so we were awarded Brooks VIP Potty passes (more on that later). Then we headed out to check out the rest of the vendors. A glamour band, and new tshirt for the race, and a stop by a few other booths, including...

Dan & Jackie from Biggest Loser!!

Did anyone watch the orange team on the Biggest Loser a few years back with mother/son team Jackie & Dan!? I did, and was excited to meet them and ask about life on the ranch. They are busy running 20 half marathons this year to raise money & awareness for Reach Out For Life. 

Race Day

The hotel was a quick walk away from the race start area. Shelley and I met near the Casino and walked over. By the start, they had an area set up with pre-race food. Bananas, snicker's marathon bars, water, cytomax, I was impressed, I've never been to a race with pre-race food. There was a huge area of porta-potties, but we had our VIP potty pass...

The VIP potty pass

Flushing toilets, running water, mirrors, sport beans, lotion, sunscreen. What a nice treat instead of a pre-race porta-potty! The corrals were set up with clear easy to read signs, and even porta-potties in the race corrals!

corral potties

We were back in corral 15, so we didn't cross the start until about 7:20ish with the wave start. Off we went! The miles ticked by easy, Shelley and I were cruising along thanks to a super flat course and interesting people and places to look at. We decided against wearing music for the race, and I was happy since there was a lot of on course entertainment. There were also a lot of cheering groups all dressed up, and some people with creative signs along the route. We were killing our times the first 6 miles, and slowed down a little by mile 7 & 8. Mile 9 we saw Kevin & Caitlin and they captured a good shot of us, still smiling!

Shelley left, me right!

Around mile 10, I really started feeling it. I slowed down quite a bit taking short walk breaks when I needed it. Mile 12, I started getting overheated. I shed my arm sleeves, but kept running out of fluids, and could feel my heart rate getting to high. I had to stop to refill water, but I still ran out before mile 13. A little after mile 12 I let Shelley go ahead and finish, and I did what I could to finish strong and managed to speed up a little for the last mile. I hit the finish line with an official finish time of 2:25:56, a new PR!!

Here's my Garmin split!

Post race was fun, my legs were incredibly sore, so we laid out in the sun to stretch out for a while. Eventually I headed to the beer tent to grab my free beers, Shelley got a sandwich, and we listened to a little music before heading back. The band was so-so, not really a Bowling for Soup fan, so we headed out early. The shuttle buses back downtown were speedy! We barely waited to get on one, then lucky us, it dropped us off right near our hotel! (big change for the wait at Disney last year for a shuttle)! 

Overall I loved the race, definitely my favorite half I've done so far! Did I mention Shelley and I signed up for RnR Providence at the Expo since they had a $15 off coupon code? I can't wait until the next RnR race, they really know how to throw a party! And the Medal was pretty bad ass too!

Were you at the race? What did you think?