A City Is Up And Running

New Orleans Turns to Annual Marathon to Help Lift Spirits

Normally, the Mardi Gras Marathon finishes inside the Superdome, which was damaged. "That won't be happening this year," one official said. (By David J. Phillip -- Associated Press)

The New Orleans Saints left the day before Hurricane Katrina hit and played their final home game of the season in San Antonio on Dec. 24 without ever having returned. The basketball Hornets were displaced 725 miles away to Oklahoma City. Local colleges, decimated by the floodwaters, juggled their athletic schedules.

It has fallen to the marathon, a sport of decidedly more narrow appeal, to provide New Orleanians something to collectively cheer about. On Feb. 5, the 41st Mardi Gras Marathon will become the first major athletic event in the city since the storm.

The race promises to be an eye-opener for out-of-town runners, particularly when they pass through abandoned neighborhoods. Much of the 26-mile 385-yard course was under water in the storm's aftermath, and devastation previously witnessed only on television will form a mile-by-mile backdrop for the expected field of 2,000 runners. The field will be smaller than the 3,500 runners who participated in the marathon, half marathon and 5K races last year.

"They're going to see some sights," race director Bill Burke said. "Everything between Mile 3 and through 12 1/2 was under between four feet and 10 feet of water. They'll see X's on houses marked for demolition, and a zero, one or two for houses in which they found dead bodies. This will be a virtual running tour of the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina."

Before holding the race was even considered possible, Burke insisted that the marathon adhere to the old route in order to preserve its character as closely as possible. To that end, he has been successful: Runners will visit the mostly non-flooded areas in the French Quarter before heading north along oak-lined Esplanade Avenue and toward City Park, areas where floodwaters rose to seven feet, before returning through the city center and the Garden District along Prytania Street.

"There's still plenty of debris piles, even though the Army Corps of Engineers has been doing a good job of picking things up several times a week," said Sgt. Joe Valiente, who coordinates events for the New Orleans Police Department. "And there will still be a few abandoned boats along the course. But it's getting better every day."

In the past, the race finished inside the Louisiana Superdome, which remains a symbol of the chaos wrought by the storm and the ineptitude of ensuing relief efforts. "But of course that won't be happening this year," Valiente said. The Superdome, which housed evacuees immediately after the hurricane, has been closed and faces significant repairs.

Burke's Jefferson Parish home, one mile from the breached 17th Street canal, suffered extensive damage. Burke, who relocated to Houston but has since returned, felt fortunate last week to have his roof replaced. But personal problems are the least of Burke's concerns in organizing this special edition of one of the country's oldest marathons.

While runners will pay up to $100 each to register, sponsors remain the lifeblood of major marathons and pay tens of thousands of dollars in exchange for advertising and goodwill. Last year's title sponsor, Nokia, left with the Sugar Bowl when it relocated from the Superdome. The game will be played in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta tomorrow.

Burke was left with a hole in his $400,000 budget.

"I don't blame them. They're tied to their event and that event left," Burke said. "But there are still lots of companies -- Shell, Lowes, Home Depot -- who are making money down here, who could step in and help us out. This race comes right before Mardi Gras and the Jazz Festival. This race is important to the city."

With five weeks to go, the event is still looking for a major sponsor. Burke said the marathon is paying bills out of its reserves with net proceeds earmarked for Mayor Ray Nagin's Bring Back New Orleans relief fund; the marathon was among the first contributors, making a $10,000 donation.

But just as the mayor discovered while trying to woo back dislocated residents, Burke has found it difficult to bring runners to New Orleans for a weekend of fitness and celebration. Along with nearly everything else in the city, the base of club runners in the very active running city has been seriously eroded.

The venerable New Orleans Track Club, which hosts the 99th Jackson Day Run on Jan. 15, had 2,200 members last summer. Since the hurricane, 35 percent to 40 percent have relocated, according to Chuck George, the club's executive director.

"We've had two major local road races since the storm," George said. "I was astounded at the resolve from our members that drove in from as far away as Houston. . . . Participation gets runners back to some sense of normalcy."

Notwithstanding, participation in local races has been off 25 to 30 percent, a decline similar to that projected for the marathon. George, who describes himself as a full-time event director, said that "market-wise, that's something I've got to plan for and try to make ends meet with additional sponsorship, cutting expenses, etc., to stay in business. Bottom line, I'll hang on until summer and then review and see what direction to take."

George was stung recently when the AIDS Marathon team, with hundreds of charity runners, pulled out of the marathon when the group's host hotel canceled its room reservations in September. "We could have helped them find other equal hotels to accommodate them," George said. "But they just found another marathon in Miami. That's not a good feeling, with what we're trying to do down here."

Despite the depopulation of more than two-thirds of the city's residents, signs of life are evident. The marathon is hosting a two-day expo at the InterContinental Hotel -- last year's expo was at the Superdome -- and the city's Convention Center is scheduled to reopen Feb. 1. But for the time being, New Orleans remains a suspect destination for runners as well as more traditional visitors.

"This city runs on tourists, and this marathon could set a tone," Burke said. "People ask me if it's safe down here for running -- of course, it's safe. I don't need a dome to run this race. I just need some roads."