Cycling & running events in Slidell, 2026

Slidell-Mandeville-Covington Training Notes

Running: Locals put the Tammany Trace at the center of most running weeks. The Tammany Trace runs 31 miles from Covington to Slidell, so it works for Z2 base miles, intervals, and a first solo 50k distance day. Covington, Abita Springs, Mandeville, Lacombe, and Slidell keep you close to exits without making the trail feel busy. Most runners use the 1M and Northshore Half Marathon as anchor races. Running clubs are not named in the brief, so the Trace itself is the meetup language.

Cycling: Riders treat the Trace like the spine of the Northshore. Brooks' Bicycle Co-op in Mandeville rents bikes to visiting cyclists before they head toward Lacombe, Abita Springs, Covington, or Slidell. The Tammany Trace stays generally flat and comfortable to ride, so locals stack base miles, recovery spins, and steady gran fondo prep there. Riders hit a 2 miles of gravel from Blue Marlin Dr to Louand Dr when they want a little cyclocross flavor. The climbs are not really the point here, because the sourced terrain is flat.

Season: Cooler days are the best training window in this brief, because summer changes the whole plan. Summer temperatures can reach the mid-90s with 50-75% humidity, and the feels-like temperature can end up around 104 degrees Fahrenheit. Locals start early, carry more hydration, and treat shade like gear on long runs or rides. The Tammany Trace helps because it is shaded by the trees that line it on both sides. Winter has no sourced weather pattern in the brief, so runners and cyclists still plan around the same flat paved trail and the same gravel that gets wet and muddy in spring.