A1A Marathon
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Sunday, February 22, 2009

I race walked the A1A Marathon on Sunday, February 22, 2009 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The temperature varied from 66 to near 80 degrees while I was on the course. Even though mostly cloudy skies with a wind of 10 to 20 mph were predicted, the skies were partly cloudy and there was only a gentile breeze which caused the race to be hot. The course started in downtown Fort Lauderdale and proceeded east to the beach. There was a wonderful view of the ocean as well as the high-rise condos and beautifully landscaped mansions with their expensive yachts. Despite the major amount of people living out on the beach area, the course was closed to traffic and controlled by plenty of friendly police. Surprisingly the traffic did not seem to be backed-up very much. I was very grateful that the water/Powerade stations were located every mile and manned by plenty of enthusiastic volunteers. I began getting two glasses of liquid at every station beginning at mile 7. Thus, I only became a little dehydrated. There were spectators all along the course cheering for all the participants. There were nearly 3000 finishers, 447 in the marathon and 2515 in the half marathon. Most participants avoided the heat. The event was well organized and I enjoyed myself as usual.