The Miami Marathon has definitely become Melanie and my ‘race to do’ every year since we did it last year. We signed up for this year’s race just 2 days after doing it last year and it didn’t disappoint this year again. I expect when we get the 50% off sale tomorrow we’ll sign up for 2017’s race. There were some changes to the race that actually took it down a notch in some ways for us. I think the expo was disappointing compared to last year not in size or quality but just in location. Due to Miami Beach Convention Center renovations, the expo was moved to Wynwood which is a really strange area of Miami (and really in the middle of some really bad areas). At the MBCC, we could walk from there to Lincoln Road and check out all the high end shops. I expect it will be back to that next year. They also changed the course slightly so they could shut down only one causeway vs two. And for the second year in a row, we lucked out with a major cold front coming through Miami bringing temperatures that allowed for great race performances. Last year was the 2nd coldest at the time and this year was the absolute coldest. So in our two years of racing, we’ve done the 1st and 3rd coldest races. Our luck on that is going to run out eventually but we’ll enjoy it while it lasts!
I won’t give a blow by blow but the temperature at the start of the race was in the 40s and never climbed above the low 60s even at the end. In the shade, the temperatures were still down in the 50s. Also, there was a fairly heavy breeze the whole day which kept things quite chilly! It definitely scared away the crowds since there were noticeably less people out on the course cheering. There were still a fair number, especially in Miami Beach, but the weather really wasn’t good spectator weather. Overall, the atmosphere was still the same and Miami really puts on a great race
For the 2nd year in a row, I also got a PR for the marathon here. I’ve actually hit a PR every time I’ve run a marathon, ever, which one day will end but so far I just keep getting faster. The current record stands now at 4:13:47 which beats out last year by almost 4 minutes. Last year I did have a slight more even pace overall. I was averaging a 9:22 at the half-way mark this year and finished with a 9:41. Last year I was averaging a 9:44 at the half-way mark and finished with a 9:50. I think, though, if anything I’ll just keep working on bringing that overall pace down. I didn’t even remotely hit a wall in the race so I had enough gas in the tank. Just need keep working on weekly mileage during training since I did cramp up when I was almost at the end of the race.
But I’m excited for next year to do this race again! Melanie left me in the dust since she was doing the half marathon and was on her way to a PR (and household PR) in the half of 1:56:56 but if the temperatures are more normal, we’ll probably run the first half together again next year. 8)