New Orleans Marathon: Course, Route Profile & Map

Course & Elevation

The start is at the museum in City Park. The course leaves the park on Wisner Boulevard, follows Bayou St. John north on St. Bernard Avenue and turns onto Lakeshore Drive along Lake Pontchartrain. At the far eastern end near Shelter 4 it turns, passes under the Bayou St. John bridge back into City Park and runs via Magnolia Drive and Zachary Taylor Drive to Roosevelt Mall. Then the same loop starts a second time, with a slightly different turnaround by the lake.

Climbing is irrelevant here: the course sits almost entirely at sea level, and the few metres of ascent come from bridge ramps and underpasses. It is USATF certified and a Boston qualifier.

The character comes from the setting: City Park, the open lakefront with its view across Lake Pontchartrain, and a finish on the Roosevelt Mall promenade in the middle of the park. On Lakeshore Drive you run unsheltered beside open water.

Pacing Strategy

On a course this flat, even pacing is the whole strategy. Set your goal pace and run both loops as evenly as you can; the second lap shows you on the same roads whether the first was too fast.

Lakeshore Drive is the section that matters. You run out and back along open water, so depending on the wind you get it once in your face and once at your back. Run the headwind leg by effort rather than the watch, and tuck into a group.

The classic trap is the end of the first loop: you pass close to the finish, hear the crowd and speed up. That is exactly where lap two starts, with another 21 km to go.

Training plan for New Orleans Marathon: 12-week build

For age-group runners the marathon takes roughly three to six hours depending on level. The effort is steady and aerobic with no climbing, a pure test of pace and endurance.

So training should centre on marathon-pace blocks: long runs with several kilometres at goal race pace in the second half, on flat roads. To practise the evenness of two laps, run some long sessions as a double loop of the same route.

Mental routine for the repetition matters too: the second loop covers exactly the same streets and takes patience. Also practise running into wind, for example with a tempo section on an open, exposed stretch.

Mid-November in New Orleans is usually mild but can still be humid and warm. Plan fuelling around the humidity and test in training how much fluid you need in warm weather.