Rock 'n' Roll New Orleans 10k recap

When Rock 'n' Roll Marathon announced they were going to be adding a 10k to the Rock n Roll New Orleans weekend, I was super excited. Not because I couldn't run the half or survive the full, but because it was something new to experience and write about for you guys. If you follow my blog at all, you know I ran the RnRNola half in 2012, the Full in 2013, and the Relay in 2014, so why not run the 10k!

 

So lets get started with this epicness!

The night before Melanie and I had planned a prerace dinner with Jennifer, Jake, Jacqueline, Rob, and my friend Susan who was in town with her crew for the marathon at the Louisiana Pizza Kitchen. However in true NOLA style they had booked a ton of reservations and they need us out by a certain time which wasn't happening. So every one went solo and Melanie and I stayed and ate with Jacqueline and Rob. We couldn't break tradition of our roasted black bean chicken pizza...

 

The next morning Jake drove us to Jacqueline's hotel close to the start. I had an earlier start time than Mel and Jenn, who were running the half, so we parted ways and I headed towards the 10k start. I wasn't sure how many people were running the now SOLD OUT 10k but I knew it would be packed and hard to find anyone. However it wasn't too bad and I shortly found my girls Mandy and Kelly...

 

It was early and it was cold, but we were ready to have some fun. Before the start I also spotted my IRONMAN Augusta friend and fellow CCC10k blogger Megan. She is such a great cheerleader for the running community. If you will be at CCC10k you will have to meet Megan, shes amazing...

 

The race start was around the same place as the half and full start. So it was nice to be in the same area. it was a mass start which was kind of cool not having to wait in a corral. You just lined up wherever you felt comfortable.



At 7am the race started and we headed towards the French Quarter...

 

If you have ever ran the Rock n Roll Nola half or full, the 10k is basically the same route minus the out and back on St.Charles. I def wasn't complaining because I really don't like that out and back part of the half. The best part of the whole race is when you enter the French Quarter and then hit Esplanade. I am not sure what happen to the church at Jackson Square in this picture. I'm guessing the heavens were beaming down on us really bright. Who knows?

 

One of the great things about a Rock n Roll race is all of the bands along the course. Here are a few of the different type bands rocking the race...

 
 
 
 


 

In no time we were at Mile 3 and half way done. RnR has water stations every 2 miles which is great so you don't have to take hydration. I was super excited to see the New Orleans hashers at mile 3 water station...

 

The hashers put on a Red Dress Run in New Orleans that is a blast. Check it out! Anyways we turned down Esplanade and it was a straight shot to the finish line in City Park...

   

Before we knew it we were in City Park and almost done...

   

They had the 10k runners finish on the full marathon line. Coming through the finish and still feeling like I could keep going was fun. Also being done by 8:30am was strange too. That's the beauty of running the 10k. they treated the 10k the same as the half and full finish. You were able to get your finishers picture...



After the race was over we headed over to the finish line festival and spotted #NAKEDKYLE. Not that it was too hard to see him. LOL! He has ran all of the RnR races as a swimmer. WHY? WHY NOT? Either way if you are an RnR event look for #NAKEDKYLE and hashtag your pics!

 

By running the 10k I was able to see all of my friends finish the half and also watch the winners of the full marathon finish. They are both from my town, John Brigham won in 2:28 for the men and Sam Yeager won in 3:02 for the women. Sam is a local running friend of mine, so watching her win the marathon was so exciting. Her dedication to her training is top notch. This was her first marathon win...

 

So my final thoughts about the Inaugural 10k Rock 'n' Roll New Orleans is DO IT!

It was great to not have to stress about mileage. It was also nice to talk to some of the people waiting for the race to start who said they always wanted to run this race but couldn't run a full 13.1 miles and now with the 10k option they could. If you have friends running the half or full you can still participate and than see everyone finish. Its a great way to check out the RnRNola. The 10k distance is always a fun distance. And last but not least if you want a fun race to run with friends and have a great time the entire race, the 10k is for you!

I am not sure what distance I will run at next years Rock 'n' Roll New Orleans, maybe the FULL again. I think its about time to do another one. Who knows? Maybe my girl Mindy will do it with me? hint hint!

   

Now its time to focus on CCC10k, which I am going to actually race for time. And who knows what Ill be running between now and then, so stay tuned...

What distance do you want to run next year?

Would you run the 10k?
Whats your favorite distance?

#RnRNola teams up with Feed The Children. Here is where your money went...

I hope you had a chance to check out my post about the Nola #RnRTweetUp that happened in the Big Easy this past Saturday, if not you can check it out HERE...

Today I wanted to tell you guys about what we did after the #rnrtweetup.

Have you ever wondered exactly where your money goes when you sign up for a race? 
Have you ever questioned whether or not your money goes to the charity?
Do you even think about the charity that the race is supporting?

I have always in the back of my head wondered about how the race money supports the charity. Well being a Rock n Blogger, we got the chance to go see exactly where some of the money you guys paid to run the Rock n Roll New Orleans Marathon went. This year they partnered up with the Feed the Children organization.

What is Feed the Children?

Feed the Children exists to end childhood hunger. It’s the cause upon which we were founded 35 years ago and the one that we continue to fight for each and every day.
We know it takes the power of many to end childhood hunger for good. We connect donors, experts, partners, leaders and communities to attack the problem from all angles.
We are taking a stand and we will not rest until every child has enough to eat.   Source

We were lucky enough to be invited to volunteer for the Feed The Children charity function going on in New Orleans on Saturday, so after the super fun #rnrtweetup, we loaded up in cars and headed over to The Apex Youth Center with the awesome @runrocknroll crew...

 

We were not exactly sure what we would be doing while we were there so it was fun when we pulled up to see a line of families waiting to be helped by Feed The Children. I knew right then we would be able to interact with families we were all helping.
(George and Bobby thought I was taking their photo naturally, but I was actually taking it of the line behind them. shhhhhhhh! Don't tell them :)

 

When we walked into The Apex Youth Center we were greeted by the organizer and sent outside to help with the food/toiletry give away. We were able to walk through and see all of the wonderful things they were offering these families. There were free health screenings, local health information, hotdogs, drinks, playtime for the kids, and even a barber shop set up for haircuts.

 

 

Once we were outside they had a volunteer meeting and kind of told us what we would be doing. They had preregistered over 400 families for pick up that day.




They would be signing in and then coming out to get their boxes of goodies. One of the boxes had toiletry items, one had food items, and one had health essentials. Also they would be given 2 bags of fruit from Whole Foods and a pint of milk from us...

Gina, myself, Heather, Melanie, and George

 

As we were getting ready to start serving families, we noticed a familiar face getting ready to hand out boxes...

 

Yep, that's Thomas Morstead, punter for the New Orleans Saints football team. Loved seeing him out there helping out Feed The Children and these families.



My new BFF's, blog readers Charlotte and Leah came with us from the #rnrtweetup to change lives. LOVE THESE LADIES!!!

 

My BFF Melanie came and helped pass out milk with Gina, Bobby (Heathers husband), and myself. She is such an amazing person and I know that she was super excited about helping out Feed The Children.

 

So I hope this gave you some insite to where your money went when you signed up for the Rock n Roll New Orleans Marathon, half, or 10k. It was nice to actually see the hard work and money put in to this event. And most of all the smiling faces of the families it helped. (I didn't post any pictures of the families to respect their privacy, however I promise their were some very appreciative families).



If you would like to help out the Feed The Children organization, you can go to their website at www.feedthechildren.org. You can make a donation to help feed these families, sponsor a child, or even find out more info on how you could help by volunteering at an even near you.
You can also find Feed The Children on the following social media outlets...
FACEBOOK
TWITTER
PINTEREST
INSTAGRAM

 

I am so excited about tomorrows post, I'm going to tell you all about the very first inaugural Rock n Roll New Orleans 10k. Trust me your gonna love it, stay tuned...

 

Until then...

Have you ever helped a charity you ran for?

Does it make you feel better actually seeing what your money goes to? 

#RnRTweetUp went down in NOLA...

Yesterday I was telling you guys about the fun we had at the Game-Rock-Give fundraiser. Today I was going to give you guys a little taste of the #RocknBlog #tweetup that went down in NOLA!



I was super excited to meet up with the other #RnRNola bloggers for a fun little tweet session at Cafe Du Monde.

 


If you followed the hashtag #rnrtweetup on twitter I am sure that you guys saw the loads of fun we had at the meet up. Here are some more pics from the group...

 

 

Super excited that Leah and Charlotte came out to see me. Loved meeting them and getting to hang out with them.
  

Cheers!


Here is the whole group together...
 

After we finished socializing at Cafe du Monde we headed over to the Feed The Children charity event...
 

I cannot wait to tell you tomorrow all about this great charity and the great things they are doing for a community near you. Until then...

First Racecation of 2015, #RnRNola weekend, #ImagineNoHunger fundraiser...

I had a blast this past weekend on my first racecation of the year. Melanie, Jennifer, Jake, and I headed down to the Big Easy for the 2015 Rock n Roll New Orleans Marathon, Half, and 10k. This is the 4th year I have ran this race and it is hands down one of my favorite races.

I will be recapping the weekend all week mainly because we did so many cool things including attending an #ImagineNoHunger fundraiser, helping the Feed the Children charity feed over 400 New Orleans families, hosting a #RnRTweetUp, then finally running an amazing race down the streets of New Orleans.


But first, being part of the Rock n Roll Marathon Rock-n-Blog team allowed me to attend some really cool events in New Orleans this past weekend. One of them being a fundraiser on Friday night at the Hard Rock Cafe hosted by fellow rock n blogger George Melichar.


George was raising money for the WhyHunger Game-Rock-Give #ImagineNoHunger movement by hosting a fun game night. We played BINGO...


And a little Pictionary...
 

It was soooo much fun and thank you so much to George for inviting us to such a fun night raising money for such a great cause. If you want to check out George's Fundraising for WhyHunger, Go HERE.

I am so excited to show you guys all of the other things we did in New Orleans leading up to the big race on Sunday, so stay tuned...