Miami Half Marathon
Miami, Florida
Sunday, February 2, 2014

On Sunday, February 2, 2014 I race walked the Miami Half Marathon in Miami, Florida. The weather was somewhat hot (73 to 79 degrees), sunny, and a slight breeze except there was an unexpected light shower that lasted about 15 minutes for me from mile 12.5 to the first few minutes in the finish area. I did this event all 12 years of its existence. The first year had about 4000 participants in the marathon and half marathon and this year had a sellout level of 25000 in the two races. The course for the half marathon has remained almost the same for all 12 years. It starts at AA Arena, crosses to Miami Beach on Macarthur Causeway, goes along South Beach, returns to Miami on the Venetian Causeway, and makes its way to finish a few blocks south of AA Arena on US 1. Except for the two bridges on Macarthur Causeway the course is almost flat roadways that have dedicated lanes for the runners. Police, other city employees, and volunteers kept the vehicles and the participants separated. There were several intersections with extreme vehicle congestion; however, surprisingly the traffic did not honk their horns in irritation as is often the case in Miami. Water/Gatorade stations were located at approximately one mile intervals starting at mile 2.8 and were manned by plenty of enthusiastic volunteers. The stations were very congested because of the very large number of participants and the tables being next to each other. If the tables would have been separated by about 50 feet between tables with the location of the water and Gatorade being consistent at each station, some of the congestion could have been eliminated. There were less spectators along the route than had occurred in the past few years; however, their enthusiasm, encouragement, and cheering was greatly appreciated. I am glad that the event has finally capped the number of participants as the size has restricted the free movement of the participants throughout the course. The event as always was very well organized and fun to do.