Mardi Gras Mambo 10k: Race Recap

I was so pleased with the Mardi Gras Mambo race! It was VERY organized and the trail was very clear for us to follow. I would suggest this race for anyone!

Pre-Race

Mom & I left North Carolina Thursday night and ended up having to stop about 2:30 in the morning for a hotel because we couldn’t drive much farther. Friday we drove the rest of the way and successfully made it to our hotel in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Because we arrived so late we didn’t have much time to walk the city but we did browse the hotel for awhile and found a jazz band playing on the main floor at the entertainment stage. No one I had ever heard of before but it was neat to watch live jazz right there in our hotel! There was also a casino in our hotel that we ventured to for a few minutes just to look around. We didn’t do any gambling that night but it was cool to walk around since the casino was actually on a boat that connected to our hotel!

Race

Saturday morning we woke up early to make sure we got to the start of the race in time to pick up our pack-its since we couldn’t get them the prior day due to arriving so late. Turns out the pack-it pick up and the start and finish munchies were right there IN OUR HOTEL! It all actually took place where the live jazz music was playing the night before so it wasn’t a big commute for us at all! We hopped in line and received our long sleeve shirts (yay for long sleeves!) and a bag too! That was a surprise!

   They also had some fruit and water inside near the t-shirt pick up tables but we decided to return to our hotel room for a few minutes to drops off our bags and shirts. I was going to wear mine since it was so cold outside but I am SO glad that I decided against it… I was rolling up my sleeves within mile one!

   Within minutes of the race starting we made our way outside with everyone else and waited for the blow horn to go off indicating the start of the run.

Mom & I at the start line waiting to begin our morning run!

Right at nine o’clock we heard the horn and we were off! My goal for this race was one hour fifteen minutes… this was my first 10k so I was just guesstimating based on my previous 5k times. I started mile one really well! Jogged the whole way and didn’t have to slow down until a little into mile two when I starting getting ankle pain. From than on it was a slow than fast than slow than fast jog until the finish line.

   Like I said before, the course was really simple to follow and such a nice run. I could not have asked for better weather! Though it was a little chilly to start out with, it was perfect running weather!

   In mile two we starting running through the LSU campus which was gorgeous! We even got to run past their stadium which was neat!

The trail we ran on around mile 4 and 5. Straight ahead we could see the tall buildings of the city which was a great view for the end of our run!   Right

When we got to the end of this trail and into the city of Baton Rouge again we turned just one corner there there was the finish line not even half a block in front of us. Once I saw the finish line I sprinted to cross it and made a finish time of 1:23:48 (according to my garmin).

Mom was right behind and I got to watch her finish with a time of 1:29:00 we think. She did so good on this race! All she could say after she finished was, “I ROCKED! I ROCKED! I ROCKED!” and called Dad right away telling him her time and how great the run was!

Mom speeding into a sprint as she approached the finish line!

Post Race

We walked inside the hotel and found heaps of food and drinks that were being offered to all the finishers. Luckily I was able to find vegetarian food which was a great plus for me! Before we got too far with the after race munchies we were able to snag a photo with our (clay) medals!

   I was very pleased with the snacks after the race. First of all it was all INSIDE! They had tables set up with different food companies that were giving away samples of their food. I was lucky enough to find pasta with no meat and my mom found Gatorade for us. Unfortunetly we couldn’t find the bottled water at the finish line… I have no idea if they ran out by the time we finished (which I find hard to believe) or if the table was just impossible to find. On top of the gatorade though they were serving cups of soda pop so I grabbed a cup of sprite for both me and my mom.

   They also had a table that had HEAPS of cake balls… ohhh, they were SO good and delicious! In the middle was king cake than the outside was covered in frosting. Delicious!

King cake filling!

This was a great race experience that I would highly suggest to anyone looking for a simple and fun 10k run! Being my first 10k race I think it was a good distance for me… may be my favorite distance race come to think of it.

   Oh, and who can go to Louisiana and NOT try beignets? After the race mom and I went to a cafe down the road and got an order or regular beignets and a plate of beignet fingers (much like funnel cake). They were so good! My mom told me two rules before we went into the cafe, “1. don’t wear a black shirt and 2. don’t breathe in right before you take a bite.” Well mom wore black pants and I took a nice big deep breath in right before I took a bite. Way to follow the rules, right? What can I say, we aren’t from Louisiana. 😛 They were delicious though and it was totally worth the mess we made!