National Marathon and Half 2010

Stories of Inspiration

The whole concept of an aftermath is as strong as what you are yourself.  If  you just sit there, and cry about it, you won't get anywhere. 

 

Reflecting

There are very few things in life that is as physically painful that actually produces so much joy that it's something I LIVE for.

Understanding

Running is the quintessential sport because it brings so many people together and you are given a priceless opportunity to listen to so many precious stories.

Negotiating

Running is also about making decision and many of the people I've met have made some amazing decisions in their lives.

Innovating or Inspiring

These are the inspiring stories of Noel Carter whose house several blocks from where the levee breached was flooded nearly to the roof.  He eventually evacuated to Memphis and considered moving there permanently, but his love for New Orleans was so immense that he decided to come home and rebuild.

 

Here is a house just several feet from the levee that was totally destroyed.

The amazing stories of  Melissa Landry a wheelchair athelete, in her first marathon. The following is an excerpt from the blog: www.gorunla.com:

Running through the French Quarter

Making Friends Along the Mirabeau

Miracle on the Mirabeau

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Push on Survivors!  We will never forget, will always praise, and will one day applaud your revival.

Reflecting

  

I remember vividly that desolate summer morning when Katrina slammed ashore and turned this once vivacious city upside down.

Understanding

    

Since my endearing college days, when I would embark on an yearly pilgrimage to N'awlins for Mardi Gras, this vibrant city of Cajun, Creole and Crawfish pie has stayed mythically close to my heart, soul and palette.

    But for the last ten years until now, I had failed to make my trek even after the levees catastrophically failed and after my heroic hospital ship COMFORT steamed ahead full speed to deliver aid.

Negotiating

    Just like many cataclysmic events of grand enormity, Katrina is rifed with heated controversy. Surely evacuation could have occurred earlier. The Convention Center and Superdome where hundreds of thousands of refugees stayed had no food and water. Where in the matter of mere hours, New Orleans had slipped from a popular tourist hub to third world decadence livid with homeless people, missing children, damaged homes and destroyed lives.

Inspiring

    

   That is why this purposeful run was so inspiring. It wasn't the trot through Bourbon Street or the French Quarter that was so mesmerizing. It was the long 26 mile run that took us through Mirabeau Avenue that gripped my heart and gilded the inner reaches of my soul.

Navigating

    

    So as I pushed on, the realization sinked in that the pain that I was feeling right now, paled in true comparison to the pain that these victims of the most devastating natural disaster in the US felt -- the remorseful pain that seared our collective images as we clicked our remotes -- the storm that Louisianans had always known would come, but forever feared it desolately.

     Putting things in perspective, the last five miles became a dreamy cake walk and I look forward to remembering and revisiting the nice people (Noel, Joelle, Oliver) who so magnanimously invited me to their homes and gave me a slim but sensational taste of the sights, sounds and sorrows that echoed from the deadly eye of the storm.

    Push on Survivors!  We will never forget, will always praise, and will one day applaud your revival.

    The rest of us will always support you.

Collage of Colorful NOLA

Runners pose with a Costume of a Mardi Gras parade queen as we wrap up the final stretch of the Inaugural Rock-N-Roll Marathon.

One of the neat things about running the race a week after Mardi Gras is the plethora of beads and oranaments hanging from the trees and wrapped around power poles.  In many ways, I felt that Mardi Gras just happened.  The air was definitely festive, and people were out and partying.  New Orleans just experienced a three-part venue smash -- the amazing Superbowl championship, the annual Mardi Gras celebration and the Inaugural Rock-N-Roll Marathon.

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Bagpiper in the park.  There was lots of eclectic music in the air ranging from the obligatory Rock-N-Roll, the local jazz and even Scottish Bagpipers in the French Quarter.

Water, Beer of Martini: 

Only in New Orleans, is there beer and martini almost as plenty as water and cytomax.  Here the author had to sample the local watering hole.  Meanwhile the BBQ pits fired up in the background serving up delicious dogs and burgers.  The aroma itself was mouth watering and tempting.

 

 

Cheerleaders cheering "GO RUNINDC" gave me all the inspiration I needed to finish up my last mile.

Great Support Along the Course

Receiving water from Elvis himself.

Team in Training, San Francisco

"USA Fit"

The Local Skanks

Melissa's First Marathon