Best Damn Race New Orleans 2018 Race Report

This was my year. 2018 I had declared that I was getting back into endurance racing, and to do that, I had to start racing. Best Damn Race New Orleans was the race of choice for a couple reasons.

1) It was only 3 hours away from home, so not a lot of time and money spent driving to a race location. 2) My daughter was old enough, 14 at the time, to run the half marathon, and it would be her first. 3) It was very affordable, as opposed to the other races we were initially looking at racing. Due to the affordability, my entire family signed up to run. Mackenzie and I ran the half marathon, and Connie and Gigi ran the 5k.

The packet pickup was easily navigated, mainly because it was in a small hotel conference room. It was quick and to the point, and the swag wasn't bad. The expo was small as well, but it still got me to pick up a nice t-shirt on the spot. We hung around the hotel mainly, but we managed to get a nice and high-carb dinner. Then it was just relaxing and making sure everything was ready to go for race morning.

We got to the race site, just outside the French Quarter of New Orleans. We were a few minutes behind when we wanted to be there due to finding street parking. We ended up parking a few blocks away, so there was a short walk to the start line. Of course, the nerves hit, mainly for Mackenzie, so the porta-pottie lines were the slowest part. I think we were "doing our thing" during the National Anthem. We got out just in time to cross the start line near the very back. Connie and Gigi were to start about 30 minutes later. The first couple miles of the run were nice. Wide streets, and plenty of shade. We were running right towards the Superdome at one point, which was a nice backdrop. Keep in mind, this was Mackenzies race, I was running WITH her to make sure she made it through the race. I did not run this race for me. With that said, there was quite a bit of walking on this course. I want to say we started walking within the first 2 miles. Mackenzie had a goal of sub-3hrs, so it was my job to try and keep her on pace. But when you have an undertrained 14 year old who thinks they can do it, that's tough. It wasnt long after mile 3 or so that we ended up passing Connie and GiGI as they were coming around to their finish. It was an awesome moment seeing them, and I think Kenzie got a bit of a rush.... But it didn't last long. We saw the pace groups for 2:30 pull ahead, then 2:40 pull ahead. And even 2:50 pull ahead. I didn't think she'd make the finish. Miles 4 - 8 were pretty scenic. It was shaded roads and nice buildings to keep our minds occupied during the run/walk. Then mile 8 hit, and I saw the pain on Mackenzie's face as she saw the overpass that she had to run up and down TWICE. IT wasn't pleasant. She made it up the first time with no problems. Hit the turn around shortly after, and then had to stop and stretch. Her legs were getting so tight and tired. It was painful for me to watch my baby girl nearly break down. But she kept pushing, and eventually made it onto the home stretch. Only had 4 miles to go and it was OVER.

I stayed with her until about mile 12, when I told her that I would pull ahead to get her crossing the line. She seemed to take that as a personal challenge because I crossed the line and barely turned around before she crossed.

We got our finishing times, and holy shit. She made her goal. 2:56:00. Ironically enough, she even placed 2nd in her age group after her first half marathon (there were 3 people, so she actually beat someone). It was a good race. The finish line food was great (jumbalaya was on point), and the medals were pretty awesome too. I will definitely run this race again.