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Rock 'n' Roll New Orleans Marathon

(Redirected from Mardi Gras Half Marathon)

The Rock 'n' Roll New Orleans Marathon & 1/2 Marathon was an annual international road running marathon hosted in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, between 1965 and 2022. It was part of the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon Series organized by Advance Publications' 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.[1]

Rock 'n' Roll New Orleans Marathon
Start line in 2010
DateAround February
LocationNew Orleans, Louisiana, US
Event typeRoad
DistanceMarathon and half marathon
Established1965 (59 years ago) (1965)
Last held2022 (2 years ago) (2022)
Official siteRock 'n' Roll New Orleans Marathon
Half marathon finish line in 2009
St. Charles Avenue in 2017

History

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On March 6, 1965, the New Orleans Road Runners Club held the inaugural race, named "The New Orleans Marathon," on the Mississippi levee, from behind the zoo at Audubon Park to St. Rose and back.[2][3] The race had 19 starters and 12 finishers, and was held with no aid stations.[2][3] Harry Belin, a Tulane University student, won the race in 2:47:30.[2][3]

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.[4]

The event was taken over by Competitor Group for the 2010 edition and adopted the Rock 'n' Roll Series name after its takeover.[5]

In 2010, the marathon was run as an open class or mass race while the half marathon 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.[6] A total of around 13,000 runners participated in the day's events.[5]

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.[7]

The 2021 edition of the race was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.[8]

Course

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External images
  Course map of full marathon in 2009[9]
  Combined course map in 2020[10]
 
Start line in 2009

The marathon started on Poydras Street near Lafayette Square in the Central Business District and ends in City Park near Tad Gormley Stadium.[11]

The course made significant use of St. Charles Avenue, Decatur Street, Esplanade Avenue, Wisner Boulevard, and Lakeshore Drive along Lake Pontchartrain.[11]

Winners

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Key:    Course record (in bold)

Marathon

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Ed. Year Men's winner Time[a] Women's winner Time[a] Rf.
1 1965 Harry Belin 2:47:30 [2]
45 2009 Meyer Friedman 2:24:32 Autumn Ray 2:58:23 [12]
46 2010   Paul Wachira (KEN) 2:22:31   Karen Barlow (AUS) 2:46:06 [13][14]
47 2011   Fred Joslyn (USA) 2:18:49   Joasia Zakrzewski (SCO) 2:47:24 [15][16]
48 2012   Meyer Friedman (USA) 2:27:02   Meggan Franks (CAN) 2:49:06 [17]
49 2013   Meyer Friedman (USA) 2:28:43   Karen Lockyer (NZL) 2:52:23 [18]
50 2014   Ben Bruce (USA) 2:21:56   Andrea Duke (USA) 2:58:55
51 2015   John Brigham (USA) 2:28:45   Samantha Gardner (USA) 3:03:41
52 2016   Geoffrey Burns (USA) 2:24:57   Meggan Franks (CAN) 2:51:50
53 2017   Clay Emge (USA) 2:34:14   Hannah Cooling (USA) 2:50:28
54 2018   Marcus Hoof (USA) 2:33:43   Kylen Cieslak (USA) 2:56:36
55 2019   Ryan Hendricks (USA) 2:33:07   Kayla Campasino (USA) 2:55:03
56 2020   Brett Morley (USA) 2:27:46   Carly Forte (USA) 3:07:13 [19]
2021 cancelled due to coronavirus pandemic [8]

Half marathon

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Martin Lel (pictured here in London) beat Olympic marathon champion Samuel Wanjiru to win the half in 2010
Ed.[b] Year Men's winner Time[a] Women's winner Time[a] Rf.
45 2009 Hillary Kogo 1:08:47 Victoria Martinez 1:21:17 [12]
46 2010   Martin Lel (KEN) 1:01:07   Berhane Adere (ETH) 1:07:52 [6]
47 2011   Josphat Boit (KEN) 1:03:57   Kim Smith (NZL) 1:07:36
48 2012   Shadrack Biwott (KEN) 1:04:23   Gabriela Traña (CRC) 1:16:31 NR
49 2013   Mo Farah (GBR) 1:00:59   Meseret Defar (ETH) 1:07:25
50 2014   Liam Burke (USA) 1:11:35   Karen Lockyer (NZL) 1:20:29
51 2015   Mike Popejoy (USA) 1:05:18   Janet Cherobon-Bawcom (USA) 1:12:22
52 2016   Emil Dobrowolski (POL) 1:04:16   Neely Spence Gracey (USA) 1:14:19
53 2017   Jack St. Marie (USA) 1:09:04   Neely Spence Gracey (USA) 1:11:02
54 2018   Kevin Castille (USA) 1:05:58   Sarah Crouch (USA) 1:17:31
55 2019   Dathan Ritzenhein (USA) 1:01:24   Berhane Dibaba (ETH) 1:11:31
56 2020   Panuel Mkungo (KEN) 1:02:05   Amy Cragg (USA) 1:16:53 [19]
2021 cancelled due to coronavirus pandemic [8]

Notes

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  1. ^ a b c d h:m:s
  2. ^ Edition numbers are based on the marathon competition.

References

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  1. ^ Riegel, Stephanie (September 23, 2022). "Rock 'n' Roll Marathon canceled for 2023 in New Orleans, pulled from schedule for later years". NOLA.com. Archived from the original on May 21, 2023. Retrieved February 23, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d "Archived copy" (PDF). runnotc.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 December 2020. Retrieved 15 January 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. ^ a b c "Archived copy" (PDF). runnotc.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 December 2020. Retrieved 15 January 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. ^ Jerry Byrd, "Chief Justice rules in favor of running", The Shreveport Journal (July 6, 1982), p. 1C.
  5. ^ a b Fitzgerald, Matt (2010-02-28). Lel, Adere Win Inaugural Rock 'n' Roll Mardi Gras Half Marathon Archived 2010-03-13 at the Wayback Machine. Competitor Group. Retrieved on 2010-03-02.
  6. ^ a b Cruz, Dan (2010-03-01). Adere clocks 1:07:52, Lel beats Wanjiru at New Orleans Half Marathon Archived 2010-03-05 at the Wayback Machine. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-03-02.
  7. ^ Kim Smith Runs Fastest Half Marathon On U.S. Soil Archived 2016-10-28 at the Wayback Machine. Competitor Group. Retrieved on 2011-02-14.
  8. ^ a b c "Update on the 2021 Rock 'n' Roll New Orleans Marathon and Half". Archived from the original on 2020-10-25.
  9. ^ "New Orleans Mardi Gras Marathon Course". Archived from the original on 2020-12-12.
  10. ^ "Courses - New Orleans | Rock n Roll Marathon Series | Marathon Half M…". Archived from the original on 12 December 2020.
  11. ^ a b 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 [bare URL PDF]
  12. ^ a b https://archive.today/20201211231541/http://66.39.20.98/results09.shtml
  13. ^ 2010 Rock ‘n’ Roll Mardi Gras – Marathon Results. Competitor.com. 2010-02-28. Retrieved on 2012-05-11.
  14. ^ Astleford, Andrew (2010-03-01). Kenyan Paul Wachira, Australian Karen Barlow win Rock 'n' Roll Mardi Gras Marathon Archived 2010-03-05 at the Wayback Machine. New Orleans Running. Retrieved on 2010-03-01.
  15. ^ 2011 Rock ‘n’ Roll Mardi Gras – Marathon Results Archived 2011-11-05 at the Wayback Machine. Competitor.com. 2011-02-13. Retrieved on 2012-05-11.
  16. ^ Fred Joslyn, Joasia Zakrzewski won the Rock 'n' Roll Mardi Gras Marathon Archived 2011-02-15 at the Wayback Machine. NOLA.com. Retrieved on 2011-02-14.
  17. ^ 2012 Rock ‘n’ Roll Mardi Gras – Marathon Results. Competitor.com. 2012-03-04. Retrieved on 2012-05-11.
  18. ^ "Farah, Defar Set Records at Rock 'n' Roll New Orleans". Archived from the original on 2013-02-28. Retrieved 2013-03-01.
  19. ^ a b "Approximately 13,000 Runners Converge in the Big Easy for the 2020 Hu…". Archived from the original on 11 December 2020.
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