From Joe:
Each year in January I run the Manhattan half marathon in Central Park. Last year it was all of 14 degrees at the start and it took me quite a few miles to warm up. So when I had the opportunity to escape winter and run a race in tropical Miami I couldn’t resist. We have friends in Miami that were doing the half marathon to raise money for their nephew with cancer, and they invited me to participate.
The full marathon and half marathon are run together and it’s a popular race, with 16,000 runners in the half marathon alone and lots of charity groups. The course makes a big loop, starting in downtown Miami, traveling east across the bay to Miami Beach, heading north along the beachfront and then traveling west over a series of bridges back to Miami.
I felt pretty well prepared for the race because I’ve been building up my distance and have done a number of long runs of 15-17 miles and have felt good doing them. I also felt like I was in shape from recent track workouts and races. So I figured my goal would be 1:21 – slower than my PR of 1:20 but under my best half last year of 1:23, which was under less than ideal conditions. My goal pace then would be 6:10.
The early start was at 6:15 am, downtown, adjacent to the American Airlines arena near the waterfront. Access from roads and public transit seemed good. We drove in from outside of the city and parked easily at a nearby parking garage. Unlike the NYC marathon you don’t have to wait in a penned up area away from everything, so if we wanted to hang out in the car or walk to a coffee shop or something we could. My wife Vicki was with us and we hung out with her until it was about 30 minutes to the start and then headed to the corrals. The corrals, instead of being strung out in one direction, were in a big U-shape. This was pretty smart because it meant that none of the corrals were far from the start and everyone could see and hear better what was going on at the start. The start setup was quite dramatic with an enormous American flag held over the start, loud club music, introductions of past and future Olympians (Ryan Hall), remarks by dignitaries, singing of the star spangled banner, and then confetti cannons!
The Race:
Once we left the illuminated start area it was so dark and quiet!
We went up a ramp and onto the causeway heading over the dark water to Miami Beach. Part of this was a pretty good-sized bridge and I paced myself going up. We went over the top and I tried to take advantage of the downhill and make up for the slow start. But my left leg started to feel weird and tingly and I thought for sure I was having some blockage in my artery or something. I tried to relax a little and after another mile or two it felt more normal. Meanwhile, I couldn’t always tell what pace I was running. It was so dark that I couldn’t read my watch most of the time. After four miles at what turned out to be 6:04 pace I was feeling it and started to ease off a little. At that pace there were some semi-elite women marathoners around me that were on pace to do a 2:40 marathon and it was neat to run with such good runners.
Going up through Miami Beach, predawn, there were a surprising number of spectators, including enthusiastic people (perhaps drunk) yelling from their hotel balconies. There were stretches where the road surface was uneven and because I couldn’t see well, it
threw off my balance. While I slowed down some, I went through 8 miles at my goal 6:10 average pace. After going north through South Beach and past the convention center we got into a quieter area and I really started feeling hot and very tired. I dumped water over my head at the rest stops. I slowed to 6:30 pace and was still breathing really hard. I had to go into survival mode and just focus on what I needed to do to make it to the finish.
The Venetian Causeway that took us over a series of islands and waterways to Miami proper seemed to go on forever! Once we got over the last bridge and into Miami again there were a lot of enthusiastic spectators on both sides of the course and this gave me a boost and I maintained a 6:30’s pace for the last miles. Vicki was cheering for me along the last mile. The course made a couple of turns splitting off from the marathoners and then the finish was in sight. It was pretty impressive with a long chute, lots of flags, banners, bleachers, etc. I finished in 1:23, two minutes off my goal, and I learned once again that I should pace myself better and respect the heat. I guess I could say it was a “tactical” race since I did well against my peers and got second in my age group.
Since the Miami marathon and Half Marathon are a combined race with the same start and finish lines, they can pool resources and there are probably more spectators than each would get individually. But it does feel weird to get the same heroic treatment at the start and finish as the runners who have accomplished twice as much. Running this race was just like running a big marathon but only going half the distance! That felt a little weird.
My only complaints about the race are two things that they probably can’t improve. First, even on a day with average temperatures it was too hot there to run a fast race. Second, starting so early and running half the race before dawn really puts a damper on things! I’m sure they do this to avoid hotter weather in the late morning, so I guess it all makes sense.
Overall, it was a very well organized race and the course is nice and flat and was more scenic than I expected. It’s a lot easier and cheaper to get into than NYC, so I’d recommend it for anyone who wants to do a winter marathon or half marathon.
Joe’s Theme