CCC 10k Race

Today we experienced a run quite different from any I've done. We went to New Orleans to run in the Crescent City Classic 10k Race held every Easter weekend. There were so many people there you wouldn't believe it. One of the pre-race announcements was that this year's attendance was better than it had been since the runner's boom in the 80's! They had over 20,000 people signed up to run!! That's more than the population of Laurel...can you imagine?

In order to accomodate so many runners, several streets were designated to "corral" runners according to their 10k running times. With the best runners leading off, each street was "released" to join them as space became available. I was so nervous with so many people. I wanted to do this race simply to say that I'd done it. Kent had done this once before - during the 80's when running was at its peak. I stayed in our hotel room then because I knew I would never "connect" with him after the race with so many people. But this year, I wanted to be a participant. Just starting to run seriously in the past few months has made me more interested in running in different kinds of races. So, we signed up only with the intention of having fun. No times in mind, just do it and enjoy it. Well, with my competitive spirit raging to do the best I can, I couldn't help it but wanted to literally "run" it like I would any other race. This was impossible...regardless. There were so many people that you couldn't get around them well enough to shoot for a decent time.

Kent and I started out together as planned and before I knew it I didn't see him again until after the race. Who knows how we got separated, but we did and it happened close to the start. We pre-planned a rendevouz point at the finish line and it worked great. There was a second plan in place but thankfully we didn't have to utilize it.

There were many water stations which were spaced out well. There were even some groups along the way handing out cups of beer and donuts!! No thanks, don't think so. Of course, these groups were all in costume of some sort. It was fun and took the seriousness out of the race.

For some weird reason, my watch didn't record the couple of splits I thought I had done. When I finished, I noticed that the end time was no where near being correct. Thank goodness, I looked up at the clock as I ran across the finishing mat. It read 56:41. Now, that was from the cannon shot. It took us 1:09 to even get to the starting line. So with that in mind, I came out much better than I thought.

Though we saw a few here and there, several runners dressed up. Most were in bunny costumes WITH tails and some were just dressed up. I only wished I had had my camera with me but it was quite a distance to the truck to get it and was just not worth it.

The post race party was really good, too. Only runners and those that had purchased tickets were allowed in. There was plenty of water, Gatorade, Zapp's chips (the jalapeno ones were great), bananas and oranges (they were soooo good), tons of beer (yuk!), seasoned rice with lots of sausage (delicious) and smoothies (small samples-the line was so long we decided to pass this one up). The Bag of Donuts entertained us musically and was really good. (Yep, you read that right.) This was held in a stadium and was filled with tents and runners. The NASCAR Subway car was also there to see (this is the 99 car driven by Carl Edwards). I don't know how in the world they fit into those things but it is tight to say the least.

The weather was real good! The sun came out and it was just perfect for running. We had noticed on our local running club forum that several were going but we didn't know them, except for Raul. And wouldn't you know it, we 'happened up' on him at the post race party. We purchased shoe chips for accurate record timing. Though we didn't wear them during the race, the shirts are really nice with a beautiful design. We'll see what our real time is when they post it. Hopefully, I'll have a picture or two to share with you. All in all, we had a great time.