2002 Cajun Country Half & Quarter Marathon
Lafayette, LA
By: The WM
December 7, 2002

The first annual Cajun Country Half & Quarter Marathon exceeded all expectations.  And expectations were high to begin with, as a Run-Tri Sports production (Russell Bex, Roy Provost, and Boo Freeman) race is always meticulously organized and planned.  Russell, Roy, (with the help of  wives Darcee and Amy), Boo and a huge group of volunteers and helpers made this race a most enjoyable one.  I will go so far as to say it is now tied for first as my personal favorite road race (any distance) with the Baton Rouge Beach Marathon & Half Marathon, a race I have always felt was the standard by which to judge others.

The race started at 7:30 under near-perfect conditions: 33 degrees, sunshine, not even a whisper of a breeze.  Half marathoners (who would do the 6.55 mile course twice) lined up about 1/4 mile behind the quarter marathoners and both groups took off down Alexander St. at the same time.  The course is actually a bit hilly by south Louisiana standards.  We in New Iberia don't have a single hill, and there were probably 6 or 7 noticeable uphills on the course.  Now, with the course being a loop, that means there had to be the same net elevation decrease as there was increase due to the seven hills.  But I'll be damned if I ever felt like I was running downhill.  Anyway, the on-road portion of the course is great.  There are a few turns, about what you'd expect, and all were controlled by police and/or volunteers.  There was also a volunteer at just about every intersection.  This race features an unusual and challenging twist in addition to the few hills.  The loop features about 1.1 miles through Acadiana Park on the cross country course the high school runners race on.  You had to watch your footing a little, and there were brief but significant inclines and declines to adjust for.  I came out of the woods after my first lap huffing and puffing pretty good.  I generally don't care for a two loop course, but I appreciated it today, as the cross country part of the course was tactical enough that I was glad to know what to expect and plan for as the finish drew nearer.

The men's and overall winner was Kevin Castille with an absolutely smoking time of 1:07.  He had ten minutes on the rest of the field, and it was a pretty high quality field at that.

Perhaps the biggest story of the race was the volunteer effort.  It took about 60 people working hard in a variety of capacities to put this race on for a little over 200 of us.  I salute their efforts.  It took ten people from the Cajun Road Runners Club to man the finish lines and score the races (there were two races, don't forget).  Thanks to Dan, Betty, Boyd, Parker, and the rest for that.  The Lafayette High School Girl's Service Club contributed 25 young women to secure intersections and direct runners through the turns.  Then there were the runners and triathletes who simply chose to work the race.  Some were injured, some were not in racing form, but there were a bunch who could have and perhaps would have liked to run the race.  But they chose instead to work it so that the rest of us could enjoy ourselves.  My hat is off to those of you who stood in the cold, not moving, for 2 1/2 hours, a much tougher job than running 13.1 miles in 90 or 110 or however many minutes.  Of course, there were a few "volunteers" who had one (or ten) too many the night before and never made it to the race site, but that's another story......

We all enjoyed good food and drink afterward.  It was still chilly enough to appreciate getting warmed up by John Deshotel's excellent gumbo and red beans.  One of John's helpers, Carroll Smith, drove up from New Iberia to get to the site well before dawn, then tended to the food while we ran.  Jody from Casa Ole brought a huge pot of delicious tortilla soup.  And of course there were plenty of bagels, bananas, beer, gatorade, even some hot cocoa.  Thanks also to perennially hard-working race volunteer Monte Ebersole, always first to get there and last to leave the site.

The awards were something.  If you placed in the top 3 overall in either race, or were first master or grandmaster, you got one of the most attractive and unique trophies ever.  I will just have to run faster next year - my little ribbon and medal is actually very high quality - but I want one of those 'gators!