We just returned from a weekend in Miami that included Sunny's first successful marathon and my second successful run at the half-distance, both at the ING Miami Marathon Sunday morning. Woot!
A field of thousands of runners helped the organizers commandeer much of the downtown area. The starting line stood right in front of the American Airlines Arena, where the Miami Heat play basketball. (They just endured a 15-game losing streak, but it's for the love of the game, right?)
Speaking as a companion runner more than a serious runner, the outlandish elements of big events stick out to me. Wake up at 4am to catch the shuttle! Wait in a 10-deep line to use port-a-potties! Dawdle in stockyard "grouped time" pens and wait ten minutes after the gun to cross the starting line! Such are the eccentricities of running folk.
On the plus side, you get to run the bridge from Miami to South Beach, watch the sun come up over the beach, and see a variety of town areas. Finishing the 13.1 miles took right around 2:16, slightly more than the first time (but I also wasn't sick then). Sunny, benefiting from an actual training plan, finished the whole nine yards in 4:45, just what she'd targeted at race sign-up months earlier.
It was great to see the spectator turnout distributed across the city. Anytime I passed musicians, the music blew away thoughts of slowing down or quitting, easy temptations in the normal fugue of lactic acid and brain drain. Some spots had high school drum corps and others were proper guitar, bass, and drum combos. One stage featured three guys playing Rock Band on a Playstation 3. (They were blasting through Blue Oyster Cult's "Don't Fear the Reaper"--unfortunately, it lacked cowbell.)
Sunny will follow with her own report, a more satisfying blow-by-blow for fans of the racing forum. We were happy to make it through, start to finish! Now back to winter, cold and icy, Boston-style.
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