LA – Racing Americana

Saturday November 21 2020

We flew from Charlotte Friday afternoon, arriving in New Orleans (‘Norlins’) around 6pm. We picked up our compact and drove north to Ponchatula. The town was abuzz with a big local wedding, trucks aplenty, not a mask in sight. It was fantastic being around that now-ailing sense of collective humanity – people smiling, having fun, loving and enjoying each other – the only really purpose a human has, if one even exists. We had a nice tea in La Carreta then headed to our Air BnB. A big modern house with a pool. Once we had fixed the smoke detector, I got ready for Saturday’s race, The Old Highway 51 Half Marathon, and bedded down for the night.

We left early Saturday, driving the 10 minutes south to Akers. We had to park up before the big bridge, and walk over the half mile bridge to get to the race epicentre, at Gators Den. I picked up my packet, stood for the Anthem and headed to the start line.

Chuck and his team had really put on a fantastic event. Music, food, great organisation, prizes, a PR Bell, results podium, local sponsors and contributors. It was just lovely to be around, and I felt so lucky that my original New Orleans event – The Big Easy Half – had been cancelled.

Off the back of a few strong performances, I lined up on the front row on the start line. Alas, I went out too fast, and I paid the price, especially as my right hamstring tightened up a lot – something that happens after dropping training levels lower.

There were some very strong runners in the field, the 10-mile course set off at the same time as the half marathoners, it was hot, sunny and there was no shade. It was also the first race I’d done in a while where things were back to normal – IE. Everyone set off at once. So you could see the pace of those ahead of you, and besides the half/ten-mile confusion, you had a definite calibration on how far behind the pace you were.

So it wasn’t my finest hour of racing, or indeed my finest hour and a half. My pace slowed over those middle miles, and I came over the line at 1.31.31. 7th overall and 3rd in my age group. I got some good prizes anyway, so after collecting myself, and some food & drink, we bade farewell to Chuck and his team and rushed back over the bridge to the car, Andouille sausage in hand.

We zipped back to the Air BnB for a quick turnaround, before zooming off to Westwego for an air boat tour of the swamps.

We looked around the local fish market, then grabbed a couple of fried alligator & crawfish sticks for lunch, then headed to The Saint hotel in central New Orleans. We rested briefly then went to look around and have a few drinks. We checked out Bourbon Street (particularly Lafitte Blacksmith Inn), Frenchmen Street, ate a nice dinner at Herbsaint, then grabbed dessert at Kilwins before hitting the hay.