This was a fun levee run along the Mississippi River on the West Bank of New Orleans. A totally different route than most of the New Orleans area races with a really great view of the city skyline across the river. This was the first year that they changed the course and moved it to along the river. I thought all in all it was a fun race with an interesting route and a nice change of pace. Here's a race summary:

Pros:
- Free coffee before the race. This was sooo nice since it was pretty cold at race start.
- Free parking in a parking garage just a couple blocks from the race start. I really liked not having to fight for race parking before the start. Very stress-free.
- Very nice long sleeved tech shirt in both women's and men's cuts.
- Really great view of the New Orleans city skyline along the Mississippi River levee for the back half of the race.
- Good refreshments after race finish = red beans & rice, coffee, beer, jambalaya, bananas, cookies, Coke products, Gatorade, water and more.
- Very nice race medal. The captain's wheel SPINS on it. It's really super cute.
- Good aid station representation and volunteers stocked with both Gatorade and water.
- Good police presence blocking off side streets.
- Small race field.
- Large number of porta potties so the lines at the beginning moved very quickly.

Cons:
- Crazy head wind for about 5 to 6 miles when you were running along the river. Whew. Wore me out! (But is was nice at the turnaround when it was behind you! :) )
- The first half had one metal grid bridge that was a little difficult to cross. Would be easy to turn an ankle. Just had to really focus on your feet and make your way across. They were very short though.
- It was hard to differentiate what was water and what was Gatorade at a lot of the aid stations. Needed a little more consistency of only Gatorade in Gatorade cups and water in white cups. I know a lot of people don't like to drink Gatorade on course since it can mess with their stomach (I water mine down).
- One aid station was set up on the levee path making it really narrow for runners to navigate. I could see that getting really congested.
- The streets at the beginning were very narrow with cars parked along the side. You really had to weave and got blocked in some that first mile.

Neutral but noteworthy:
- By New Orleans race standards this had several inclines that we locals would call "hills". Ha. Running up and down the levees and over a couple bridges made for a fun challenge and nice change of pace from the usual "flat as a pancake" courses we usually get.

Overall I enjoyed the new course and scenery and found it to be a fun event. I would totally run it again.