Chester Kalb, Gerda Kalb, and Harry Hoffman at the ING Miami Marathon-Half Marathon

Myself and Dane Rauschenberg at the ING Miami Half Marathon Exposition

Dane Rauschenberg at the ING Miami Half Marathon Exposition

ING Miami Half Marathon
Miami, Florida
Sunday, January 27, 2013

I race walked the ING Miami Half Marathon in Miami, Florida on Sunday, January 27, 2013. There were 25000 participants entered in the half marathon and full marathon. The temperature was 70 degrees at the 6:15 AM start and climbed to about 76 degrees by the time I reached the finish line. It was somewhat hot during much of the race as the skies were mostly sunny once the sun came up and the 10 to 15 mph winds were only felt on about 25% on the course. Except for the two bridges on Mac Arthur Parkway near mile markers 1 and 3, the course was mainly flat and crowded due to the large number of entries. I hope the event, which I have completed all 11 years, does not get any larger. The first water/Gatorade station was located near mile 3 and additional stations were located every mile, thereafter, being manned by plenty of enthusiastic volunteers. There were a very large number of police and firemen who ensued that the course was completely closed to traffic. The exposition features two of my friends as speakers, Bart Yasso of Runner’s World and Dane Rauschenberg. As always has been the case in the past, the event was extremely well organized and enjoyable to do.

Key West Southernmost Point

Key West Light House statue by Seward Johnson

Key West Light House statue by Seward Johnson

Key West Light House statue by Seward Johnson

Key West Light House statue by Seward Johnson

Key West Light House

Key West Light House

Key West Light House

Key West Light House

Jimmy Buffet's Margaretaville, Key West

Sloppy Joe's Bar, Key West

Captain Tony's Saloon, Key West

Tropic Cinema with Marilyn Monroe Statue by Seward Johnson, Key West

Southernmost House, Key West

Hemmingway House, Key West

Little White House, Key West

Casa Marina Hotel, Key West

La Concha Hotel, Key West

Mel Fisher Museum in Key West

Custom House in Key West

Henry Flagler statue in Key West

A gift shop in Key West

Half Shell Raw Bar. Key West, the race sponsor

Peggy and Frank Kirwin at the Key West Half Marathon

Helen Kwait, Chester "Southernmost Walker" Kalb, Natalie Stone at the Key West Half Marathon

Gerda, Chester, Anne at the Key West Half Marathon

Running author, Hal Higdon

Key West Half Marathon
Key West, Florida
Sunday, January 20, 2013

I race walked the Key West Half Marathon held in my hometown Key West, Florida on January 20, 2013. The temperature ranged from 69 to 75 degrees with mostly cloudy skies and a gentle breeze. Water stations were located about every mile and were manned by plenty of enthusiastic volunteers. Because of the major construction in Key West, the normal loop course was replaced by a mainly out and back course which I found to be a much nicer course with better scenery, nicer Key West sights and no crossings of major roads; thus, very little traffic congestion occurred as a result of the event. The course used about 4 miles of roadway which was locate in old town and only had sparse amount of traffic and the rest was bike paths and walkways. Every intersection had at least 2 enthusiastic volunteers to control the little amount of traffic and keep the participants safe. There were also friendly police officers stationed at key intersections. The event has really grown in size as there were over 1100 finishers in the Half Marathon. Hal Higdon, a well known author of running books and articles who won the Boston Marathon many years ago was a celebrity for the event. The race was extremely well organized and fun to do and had a very nice finisher’s medal. I do hope next year’s event can find a larger place for packet pick-up as there were too many people for the space allocated. That was to only negative aspect of the event. The rest was extremely positive.