My marathons

New Orleans Marathon

07:307:30 AM New Orleans
A frame from the New Orleans Marathon course film Watch the course 0:58

Imagery: Google Earth and its imagery providers

The course

Pick a place, or drag along the profile

Flat from start to finish: 2 m between the lowest and the highest point.

StartFinish

© OpenStreetMap contributors

  2. Photo: bropho, CC BY 2.0

km 13.9mile 8.6

Bayou St. John

Leaving the park, runners pass Bayou St. John on the way to the lakefront, and turn onto St. Bernard Avenue beside the Bayou St. John bridge.

Photo: bropho, CC BY 2.0

Height drawn many times taller than life. Heights: GEDTM30.

Course elevation profile, 8× vertical exaggeration Elevation along the course from km 0 to km 42. The trace runs between 1 and 4 metres, a range of 2 metres, drawn at 8 times vertical exaggeration so the shape is legible. Smoothed over 1 km before this profile was derived. An unsmoothed urban surface carries the buildings and would assert a climb that is not there. The dashed stretches are bridge decks: Wisner Boulevard, km 1.2 to 1.7; Wisner Boulevard, km 21.9 to 22.5. A bare-earth model reads the ground or the water beneath a bridge, not the deck the runner is on, so those runs are interpolated between the ground either side rather than measured, and they under-report the real climb across a span.
0 10 20 30 40 km
0 10 20 26.2 mi

Dashed: bridge

  • flat all the way

Your 5 gels, at the orange marksFor a 4:00 finish, one every 40 minutes

  1. km 7mile 4.4
  2. km 14.1mile 8.7
  3. km 21.1mile 13.1
  4. km 28.1mile 17.5
  5. km 35.2mile 21.8

Get them on AmazonAmazon partner link

The course in short 3 lines
  • Two laps of the same loop, from City Park to the lakefront and backOne 21 km lap, run twice, with a U-turn on Lakeshore Drive and a different turn point on lap two.
  • Flat by the lake, 2.4 m from lowest to highestA 2.4 m spread from the lowest point to the highest, about 15 m of climbing in all.
  • A 7:30 start, a 7 hour limit and a finish on Roosevelt MallFinish on Roosevelt Mall, then the party in Tad Gormley Stadium and an after party in the French Quarter.
Course notes 3 short reads on the course
km 0 to 42.2GeometryTwo laps of the same loop, from City Park to the lakefront and backOne 21 km lap, run twice, with a U-turn on Lakeshore Drive and a different turn point on lap two.

The 2026 course starts at the New Orleans Museum of Art in City Park and runs two laps of one loop. Each lap goes right onto Lakeshore Drive, makes a U-turn to the left on the far eastern edge of the drive near Shelter 4, then turns right onto St. Bernard Avenue just beside the Bayou St. John bridge, passes under that bridge heading south and turns left onto Henry Thomas Drive. The second lap repeats it with a slightly different U-turn on Lakeshore Drive, and the race finishes after a U-turn to the right at the southern edge of Roosevelt Mall.

The course is USATF certified, number LA26003DJR. The lakefront stretch runs east and then west, past homes and the waterfront of Lake Pontchartrain.

Sourced

km 0 to 42.2GradientFlat by the lake, 2.4 m from lowest to highestA 2.4 m spread from the lowest point to the highest, about 15 m of climbing in all.

The marathon never leaves a band 2.4 m high: its lowest point is 1.2 m and its highest 3.6 m above sea level. The climbing adds up to about 15 m over the whole 42.2 km, spread across two laps by Lake Pontchartrain.

Measured

km 40 to 42.2FinishA 7:30 start, a 7 hour limit and a finish on Roosevelt MallFinish on Roosevelt Mall, then the party in Tad Gormley Stadium and an after party in the French Quarter.

For Saturday 14 November 2026 the organiser set one 7:30 a.m. start for the marathon, half marathon and relay, a 7 hour limit for the marathon, and a cut-off at Henry Thomas Drive at 11:45 a.m. for runners beginning the second lap.

The 2026 finish is on Roosevelt Mall, “Mardi Gras Mall” for the day. The post-race party is on the floor of Tad Gormley Stadium, and the after party moves to the French Quarter.

Sourced

Race fuel

Energy gel
An energy gel sachet
Illustration · drag to turn

5 gels for New Orleans, plus 1 spare

Finish

One every 40 minutes, the orange marks on the profile. New Orleans stays within 2 m7 ft of height, so they go by the clock:

  1. km 7mile 4.4
  2. km 14.1mile 8.7
  3. km 21.1mile 13.1
  4. km 28.1mile 17.5
  5. km 35.2mile 21.8

Our pick: SiS BETA Fuel gel, box of 6, strawberry and lime. 40 g of carbohydrate a gel, about twice a usual gel, from two kinds of sugar your body takes up side by side.

Easy to forget on race morning: pack them with your bib the night before.

Order now to test one on your last long run.

Get it on Amazon

We earn a small fee if you buy through these links. The price is the same.

In Canada the button opens GU Energy Gel, Salted Caramel, 24-pack, the best seller there.

Outside the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Austria and Switzerland, the UK and Ireland, Spain and Portugal, Italy, the rest of the EU and Canada the button opens GU Energy Gel, Chocolate Outrage, 24-pack on Amazon.com, the best seller there.

Anti-chafe
Compeed Anti-blister stick
Photo: Compeed

Compeed

Compeed anti-blister stick, 8 ml

Best selling on Amazon amazon.nl, read 2 Nov

An invisible layer before the start keeps seams, straps and shoes from rubbing skin raw.

Put it on before you leave for the start: heels and toes, inner thighs, under a bra or heart-rate strap.

Try it on a long run first, like everything you use on race day.

Get it on Amazon

We earn a small fee if you buy through these links. The price is the same.

Number belt
A race number belt
Illustration · drag to turn

Compressport Race Belt

Holds your bib without safety pins through your top, with loops for up to 8 gels.

Clip the bib on the night before, so it goes on with your shorts in the morning.

Keep the number on the front, where officials and photographers can see it.

Get it on Amazon

We earn a small fee if you buy through these links. The price is the same.

Electrolytes
A tube of electrolyte tablets
Illustration · drag to turn

SiS Hydro electrolyte tablets, tube of 20

One tablet in a bottle puts back some of the salt you sweat out.

One tablet in 500 ml of water in the hour before the start.

Only if you have used them in training: nothing new on race day.

Get it on Amazon

We earn a small fee if you buy through these links. The price is the same.

Blister plasters
Compeed Blister plasters, medium, 6
Photo: Compeed

Compeed

Compeed blister plasters, medium, 6

Best selling on Amazon amazon.nl, read 2 Nov

One in a pocket cushions a blister if one starts.

Put it on clean, dry skin and leave it until it comes off by itself.

Give a couple to whoever comes to cheer, so they are there at the km you need them.

Get it on Amazon

We earn a small fee if you buy through these links. The price is the same.
distance
42.2 km26.2 mi
climb
15 m49 ft
cut-off
7:00 h

A two-lap course from the New Orleans Museum of Art in City Park to the Lake Pontchartrain lakefront and back, finishing at Roosevelt Mall, with a post-race party in Tad Gormley Stadium and an after party in the French Quarter.

The New Orleans Marathon is a flat multi-lap course of 42.2 km (26.2 miles) with 15 m (49 ft) of climbing. Its lowest point is 1 m (3 ft) and its highest 4 m (13 ft) above sea level. Next race: Saturday 14 November 2026, starting at 7:30 AM.

Race week

Timetable

Saturday 14 November Race day

  1. 07:307:30 AM–14:302:30 PM

    Marathon
Other races and side events (6)

  1. 06:306:30 AM–08:008:00 AM

    5K

  2. 06:306:30 AM

    5K start New Orleans Museum of Art

  3. 07:307:30 AM–11:3011:30 AM

    Half Marathon

  4. 07:307:30 AM–14:302:30 PM

    Marathon Relay

  5. 07:307:30 AM

    Virtual races

  6. 07:307:30 AM

    Marathon, Half Marathon & Marathon Relay start New Orleans Museum of Art

Times as published by Premier Event Management, in New Orleans time, checked .

Add to calendar .ics file, times in New Orleans time

Trip

Getting a place

Entry through the organiser

Entry details on the organiser’s site →

Premier Event Management, a third party. We take no entries and have no part in the race.

Make your postcard

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Questions about the New Orleans Marathon

Is the New Orleans Marathon course flat?

Yes. It has 15 m (49 ft) of climbing over 42.2 km (26.2 miles). The highest point is 2 m (7 ft) above the lowest.

When is the New Orleans Marathon 2026?

Saturday 14 November 2026. The start is at 7:30 AM.

How do I enter the New Orleans Marathon?

Entry is through the organiser. Entry fee: US$150 (for the 2026 race). Entry details on the organiser’s site

2 more questions
What is the time limit at the New Orleans Marathon?

Runners have 7 hours to finish.

Is there a video of the New Orleans Marathon course?

Yes. A 3D flyover film of the whole course, start to finish (0:58), plays at the top of this page.

In the news

All race news →

Sources and licence

Last checked.

Course line matched onto OpenStreetMap road geometry: (c) OpenStreetMap contributors, Open Database License 1.0 (ODbL). Elevation sampled from GEDTM30, Global Ensemble Digital Terrain Model at 30 m (v1.2): Elevation: GEDTM30 (Ho & Hengl, OpenGeoHub), CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).

Elevation gain computed by us from that line, smoothed over 1 kmsmoothed over 0.6 mi.

The line is drawn on the roads and measures 0.03% shorter than the certified distance.

Date and entry information from Premier Event Management.

Film built from Google Earth imagery, credited on screen.

Rendered from GEDTM30, Global Ensemble Digital Terrain Model at 30 m (v1.2) (Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)), OpenStreetMap (Open Database License 1.0 (ODbL)).

Every source and licence behind them →

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