The annual Red Dress Run starting point is moving from Armstrong Park at the edge of the French Quarter to Crescent Park on the Marigny riverfront this year, according to spokesperson Patty Patterson. The new route "will start at Crescent Park, head down Esplanade and into the Quarter briefly, then go back to Crescent Park," Patterson said.
The Red Dress Run takes place on August 12. Counting the pre-run party and the post-run party, the event takes place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., but the run itself starts at 11 a.m. and lasts as long as it takes a few thousand "athletes" to cover the 2-mile distance.
The Red Dress Run is as much a spectacle as a cardiovascular workout. As the name implies, all participants wear red dresses as they jog, trot, stroll, meander through the streets. As you might imagine, some runners look better in a scarlet shift with matching fishnet stockings than others. Hydration is, of course, paramount in the summer heat, so most of the runners make every effort to consume as much beer as possible before, during, and after the trek.
This year, Patterson said, registration is down, having only reached the 3,000 mark so far. But there's still time. Runners can register online until August 7 for $63. Runners can also register in person from 4:30 to 9 p.m. on August 10 and 11 at the Fair Grounds Race Course in Gentilly for $70. For the ultimate red dress-wearing procrastinators, last-minute registration will also be available on the day of the race for $80.
Patterson said that every year there are crashers, who merely slip into a red frock and join the rabble without paying the registration fee.
Shame, shame.
You see, the Red Dress Run is more than an liberally inebriated, modestly athletic, fractured fashion statement. Last year, Patterson said, the roughly 4,000 registered runners raised over $100,000 for charity. In its 10-year history as a public run, the New Orleans Red Dress Run has raised roughly $2 million, Patterson said.
So how, you ask, did this all begin? Apparently, back in 1987, there was a rowdy running group in Long Beach California called the Hash House Harriers. A young woman arrived at the start of a Harriers race without proper running clothes and decided to participate anyway, wearing the red dress she'd arrived in. Thus, a 30-year international tradition was born.
Patterson said that the Red Dress Run had originated at Armstrong Park for three years and at Washington Square Park before that. The reason for the 2017 relocation was a cost-cutting measure, Patterson said, since the expenses at Crescent Park were lower than at Armstrong. Also, she said, "we just wanted to try something new."
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