The Marathon begins near the Melrose Plantation and ends at Front Street in Natchitoches.
The regatta is much longer than most head races, but shorter than the 50 kilometres (31 mi) Boston Rowing Marathon.
The majority of crews do not even practice on bodies of water that allow them to row 42.195 kilometres (26.219 mi) without stopping and turning around (usually due to lake size or the presence of a river dam or lock).
The Marathon Rowing Championship did not take place in 2010 or 2011 due to low water during an extreme regional drought.
[1] The record time for this event is 2 hours, 31 minutes, 20 seconds set in 2008.