Miami Half Marathon

Miami, Florida

Sunday, January 29, 2017

My event started off on Friday, January 27, 2017 when I attended the VIP Party for the 78 people who have done all 14 previous Miami events and have entered this year.  Both my wife, Gerda, and I were eligible and attended the event.  Gerda has done 14 half marathons and I have done 7 marathons and 7 half marathons.  The event was held at the Clevelander sections of the Marlin’s Baseball Stadium (Orange Bowl).  At the party the honorees were presented with a very nice acrylic trophy and a high tech, quality embroidered Nike sweat shirt.  The exposition was also held at the Marlins Stadium in the level 2 and 3 hallways.

I race walked the Miami Half Marathon in Miami, Florida on Sunday, January 29, 2017.  The approximately 25000 participants from all 50 states and 80 countries were separated into 13 groups that started 5 minutes apart to help alleviate the crowdedness that sometimes occurred.  The temperature stayed near 60 degrees with light rain and drizzle most of the way and wind being a light breeze to 15 mph gusts.  The course started by American Airlines Arena, went over the MacArthur Causeway to South Beach, returned to the mainland by a different bridge to downtown Miami, and finished south of the Arena.  The roads were completely closed tom traffic with numerous police controlling the intersections and accesses to the roadways.  Water/Gatorade stations were located approximately every 2 miles apart and were manned by plenty of volunteers.  I really appreciate the police and volunteers that remained at their assigned areas despite the rainy conditions.  When I finished this half marathon, my totals reached 200 Half Marathons and 135 Full Marathons.  The 15^th version of this event was extremely well organized as always have been the case and even with the less than perfect weather, I enjoyed myself.  Gerda and I have now been “Miami Famous” for 15 years and are looking forward to next year’s event.

The Exposition for the Miami Half Marathon

The VIP Party

Before the race

The start of the race

After the race