Red Dress Run

Saturday was the New Orleans Hash House Harriers' Annual Red Dress Run. It is a 2-mile run and an all day party and everyone is required to wear red dresses. Every August all the consignment shops in the greater New Orleans area sell out of red dress and skirts. I made a last minute decision to participate this year and the only dress I was able to get was from the children’s section at Walmart.

The run leaves at 11 but the park, bar, beer truck and margarita/daiquiri tent all open at 9:30. I made it downtown around 10am after running 6 miles and trying to wait out the thunderstorms in the hope of getting a 40 mile bike ride in before the festivities. I skipped the 2 mile run because my friends were still waiting in line for their packets when the gun went off. 

The after party involved live music, BBQ, as well as more beer and liquor. We spent the rest of the day bouncing back and forth between Louis Armstrong Park and Bourbon Street. By early evening the fact that I woke up at 4am to run finally caught up with me. I have no idea when the party in the Quarter finally came to a close because I was home and in bed by 8pm.

River Cities Weekend

I am finally recovering from a busy weekend with friends. The weekend started with me waking up at 4am for what was supposed to be an 8 mile run.  It was cut a little short due to a lightning but I was happy that the first 6 miles were done at low 10 minute pace.  That is a lot slower than what I am used to but better than my heart rate runs have been so far.

The rest of the weekend was devoted to supporting friends in the River Cities Triathlon in Bossier City, Louisiana. The race is known for the amazing swag bag and hotter than hell temperatures.  It lived up to its reputation in both categories. The race bag included a nice looking duffel bag, technical T-shirt, cotton T-shirt, sports socks, flip-flops, sunglass and all the usual Gu and recovery drink samples.

It was a typical race weekend for us. After driving 4+ hours to get to Shreveport we decided we were too close to Texas not to drive over and pick up some New Belgium Brewery beer. Saturday night we piled five people, three bicycles and a dog into one hotel room.

Race morning started hot despite the overcast skies. That race really needs to start at 7 instead of 8. One unique aspect of this race is that each swim wave is started with the firing of a cannon. The swim was a ½ mile rectangle in a hot tub temperature lake.

The biggest complaint I heard from race participants involved the distance participants had to run out of transition with their bikes before getting to the mount line. The bike course was a hilly 18 mile loop, 90% of it on smoothly paved roads. I spent a lot of time spectating at the mount/dismount line. I have never seen a running bike collision but there were some very close calls when faster athletes were trying to run passed walkers during the long transition zone mentioned earlier.

Once the athletes made it thru transition off they went on the run course which was mostly difficult due to heat. The run course was a shady loop thru the park but the complete lack of air movement was brutal. Many people commented that they had never seen that many people walking during a 5k triathlon run.

Overall it was a really enjoyable weekend and completely worth my slow start Monday morning. Next year I hope to be participating, because spectating is way too stressful. I have marked my calendar and will be ready to sign up the minute registration opens.

Free Summer Races

Last night was the last Summer Series Race of 2012. Every summer the New Orleans Track Club puts on a series of 2-mile races Wednesday nights. These races are free for NOTC members and $5 for everyone else. The race isn’t chip timed or recorded but there is an official clock at the start/finish line and it is a good place to first experience the race atmosphere. 

These cheap/free races are perfect for showing new runners that races are fun for all skill levels.  They help eliminate one of the typical excuses I hear from people about not racing. “I don't want to pay for a race to race when I might not like it.” 

I had a pretty slow run due to the track workout Tuesday night and biking less than a hour before the race. Even so, I still had lots of fun at the after party. Only in New Orleans can you get hamburgers, chips, salsa, beer and margaritas after a free 2-mile race.