Saturday 6.28 miles / 65:28

Before getting the flu, when all of my half marathon training was still intact, I had the brilliant idea to run the Mardi Gras Mambo 10k in Baton Rouge with my fellow princesses the weekend before Disney Princess Half Marathon. At the time, it was a great idea.

Well, it was still a good idea even though I have a hacking cough and posted a time that was less than what I know I’m capable of. It was still a good plan for a couple of reasons:

1. They have good swag bags.

2. It was the longest distance I’ve run in about a month.

3. Who can resist running with your besties?

not me, that’s for sure. I always have a good time with them. Picture stolen from A.

This was also a cheap race. I think I paid $25 for it. When I did it for the first time about 8 or 9 years ago, it was a typical local race.

Well, somewhere in the last 8 or 9 years ago, this race blew up. It was staged in a casino/hotel lobby in downtown Baton Rouge. No clue which one, but it was big. It needed to be big, because it. was. packed.

One thing you have to know about Baton Rouge races. Pre-race festivities include like 35 minutes of Zumba followed by the wobble. I couldn’t handle that, so I ducked into a bathroom line and stashed my swag bag in my car.

I liked that at the start line, there were pace groups posted. It’s always nice to know where you should stand. In no time we were off!

For Louisiana, it felt especially cold and windy. The course went from downtown and then through LSU and out to the levee along the river. LSU is a pretty campus to run through and normally I would enjoy running on the levee, but by that point I was so cold and tired, I wasn’t paying attention to the scenery.

I was disappointed that about .25 mile into the race I got a side stitch and then two random waves of naseau during the race. I just never felt good the whole time. I was pretty grateful to be finished and had a lot of fun cheering on F and A as they finished the race.

They both did awesome! It was A’s first 10k and F’s second and they are both such rockstars for it!

bib, medal, free stuff, and swag bag

The medal from this race was cool: a large custom Mardi Gras bead style medallion. I love when races come with drawstring bags too. In the bag were a couple of granola bars along with some coupons and race fliers. There was also a long sleeved cotton race t shirt. I liked that when I filled out the entry form, I could have upgraded my cotton tee to a long sleeved tech tee. After the race, there was jambalaya, power ade, granola bars, and fruit. Lots of race had booths set up inside the casino/hotel lobby to check out which was fun.

All in all, if you like running in big races, this is a quality one.  The course is pretty, the swag is good, and there was a lot of bang for your buck. I am not a huge fan of big races, so I will probably skip it next year… unless my friends talk me back into it!

Do you like big races? Or do you stick to small races instead? Does the size of the race influence your decision at all? Do you prefer to race with friends or alone?