This year's Louisiana Marathon review: rendezvous number five

I didn't enjoy this year's Louisiana Marathon as much as I have in past years. I'm sure a lot of that had to do with my own poor race leaving a bad taste in my mouth, but there were other things - signs of growth - that made the race less fun than it's been.
There are still some things the race does wonderfully well:
- beautiful course
- lots of course support
- very organized pre-race, and always a lot of bathrooms
- meaningful charity partnerships
Some things were even better this year, like the T-shirt, a soft bamboo technical T that I will be wearing around just because it's cute. I think this is my favorite race shirt ever!

Gender-specific; full and half got different T's

But then, I didn't love some new developments:
- The price. The cost for this race is astronomical: the half was $140 at the expo! That's just completely unwarranted.
- This year, post-race, half the vendor booths were empty. So you get a wrist band for a certain number of food or drink punches (I think it's 6 punches), but besides the Vegan Village of cold, gross quinoa and a salad booth (it was in the 30's, no thanks), there were only a few people serving food. I ended up giving my punches away at the beer tent!
- The way the race handled the DQ of the first female finisher was a little unsettling. Granted, that's a tough call, and again, I know she was warned. But I feel like that move was done more to benefit the race (which would like to bid for the 2020 or 2024 Olympic trials) than the runners (who were expecting a family event, which is the image the race portrays). The lack of consistency in the rules and the level  of professionalism expected is confusing. It doesn't welcome elite runners, and it intimidates the local fast set.

So I'm on the fence about registering again for this one. It's still a great race, but I've run it before, so I might sit it out in the future.