This was my first Rock and Roll race and my 14th half marathon. New Orleans was a great city to visit - so much to do and see, all kinds of amazing food & drink! I was surprised by how small the expo was -- it was probably 50% RnR gear and 50% other vendors (and it seemed like there were maybe only 20 other vendors). Just one of the smallest expos I've seen, especially for such a large race. The race shirt design was nice in that it had the design of the medal on it..but the shirt was pea green. Not sure who picked that color but definitely a disappointment!
The race itself was well organized, easy to get to via Lyft, easy to find corrals, easy start. The first 6 miles or so was an out and back on St. Charles Avenue and I'll agree with previous reviewers that the road here was in really poor shape. I saw at least three other runners trip and fall during this portion of the race. However, a nice unexpected surprise was that we could run on the trolley lines in the median, which was packed dirt. This area was in much better shape than the roads and easier on the joints! Once we got off St. Charles the roads did improve. I enjoyed seeing different parts of the city; running through the Quarter and Cafe du Monde was a highlight! And the finish line in City Park was beautiful, lined with all those live oaks and spanish moss.
I was running the half with two friends, and then we had two more friends who were running the full, so those of us who had finished the half got our water and banana and made our way to the finish line party to wait for our friends. We got our free beers and then walked over to the food tent where we were informed that the food was ONLY FOR FULL MARATHONERS. Honestly, I felt "less than" at that point. I am told by others who have done other RnR races that this has not occurred at those races so I'm not sure what happened here. But it was very disappointing to be treated in this way (the lady at the food tent was as nice as she could possibly be about it...but being told you "only" ran 13.1 miles so don't deserve food was hurtful). I went back to double check the race website and found nothing on the race website indicating the food was only available to full marathoners. Had I known in advance there would be no food for half marathoners I would have been totally fine with this and could have easily packed snacks in my gear bag. Instead we waited around for our friends, hungry and disappointed.
Overall I enjoyed the race. It was fun and I had a great time with my friends. Just disappointed with our treatment at the post race party.