There was a cloud looming over our heads this entire race weekend…and I mean that literally.
If you are a loyal follower of this blog, you know that the Miami Marathon and Half Marathon is kind of a big deal. It’s a big race, with a big race feel. I sign up way in advance, and friends travel near and far to stay with me. In recent years, Elaine has become a regular. Now participating in her third straight year (and four in total), she would be making the trip from her home in North Carolina. Lindsey signed up before she moved to New York, but she was coming down as well. Who wouldn’t want to leave sub-arctic weather to run the streets of Miami? Even if the temperatures should “drop” into the fifties, it’s still a win-win situation. With a long-time proven track record for success, what could go wrong? How about nonstop rain the entire weekend.
Lindsey noticed over a week out that it was going to rain the entire weekend. As the race got closer, the forecast wasn’t budging. There was some genuine concern, but we all know how it goes in South Florida. It could be raining on one side of the street, and dry as a bone on the other. That having been said, the forecast looked pretty bleak when Elaine and Lindsey landed in the 954 on Friday.
It was off to the expo on Saturday morning. Renee from Runner’s Depot once again provided bus transportation. I love the fact that they offer this service to their customers, and we were on the road at noon. This also gave us an opportunity to sleep in a little, since we would be getting up so early on Sunday. The weather was nasty, but it wasn’t raining when we got to Mana Wynwood. This was the third consecutive year the expo was held in this convention center, and I think it is time to go back to the Miami Beach Convention Center. The venue is too small, and it’s hard to move around. I was able to find a jacket in the official merchandise section, but checking out the vendors was more like a cattle call. After about an hour of fighting the crowd, we took a trip over to the Wynwood Walls, and then grabbed some lunch at BND Burger. We went back to the expo, since we still had some time to kill before the bus arrived at 4:30pm. The crowd had thinned out a bit, but it was still packed like sardines. That being said, the absolute highlight of the day was the 120 pills of Florastor we scored. This is our probiotic of choice, and the pills cost about one dollar each (they were one of the sponsors of the race). Elaine also grabbed several samples of dog food. An octopus would have been proud of us. It rained the entire way home, so we ordered in supper. I was pretty tired, and went to bed around 8pm.
I set my alarm for 2am, but of course I woke up early. It was raining, but not very hard. We were out the door at 3pm, and hit rain the entire drive down to Miami. Not a monsoon, but nonstop nonetheless. As we pulled into the parking garage inside the American Airlines Arena, it was sprinkling lightly. The temperature was around 67 degrees, and we decided to stay undercover as long as we could. We met a couple who had traveled from Trinidad to participate in their first marathon. I hooked them up with ponchos, and they were forever grateful (they took a selfie with us. I can’t imagine where that photo may turn up).
We moseyed our way over to our corral around 5:30am, and the rain had completely stopped. I have run in pouring rain many times before, but never to start a race. Once you get going, it’s all good; the prospect of standing in a downpour for over 30 minutes or more before the race actually begins seems like a nightmare. It’s has never happened on over 22 years of racing, but all streaks are made to be broken. The streets seemed rather empty, as I’m sure many of the runners were waiting until the last minute to jump into their corrals. I personally would never drop out of a race because of the hostile weather conditions, but I know a lot of folks who do (Mary and some of the Turtles were running the Celebration Marathon and Half Marathon the same time as us, and she said it poured the entire race). Elaine was in the same corral as Lindsey and me, and we met a few students who were going to school at FIU. They were running their first marathon, so I had to instruct them on “the ways.”
It was now time to start the race, and still no rain. If it would just hold out until we started going, I would be thankful. For some reason, the race started about ten minutes late. 16,907 runners (2,850 for the full; 14,057 for the half) waited patiently as the gun finally sounded. It took us close to 30 minutes for us to get to the starting line, but still no rain. Lindsey decided to run without me in an effort to try and PR the race. Elaine was running the full, so I didn’t want to hold her back.
As we ran over the bridge, it was very windy. Not coming right at you windy, but enough to make you struggle a little bit. The streets were not as wet as I thought they would be, and the temperature was now in the low seventies. There had been construction on the course the past few years, but not this time. I don’t like it when you have to run south for a few miles as a temporary detour. It almost seems as if it’s an out-and-back when you see the other runners ahead of you running in the opposite direction. This year, I got to experience all of the scenery this course has to offer. I felt really good, but my pace did not reflect that. I was moving very slowly, but the lack of rain (and sunshine) made it a complete joy. The sun did make a couple of guest appearances, but just for a few minutes at a time.
The course ran a bit long (according to my Garmin), as I crossed the finish line at 13.41 miles. It was very congested, so it took a few minutes until I was able to get my medal. Lindsey was waiting for me, and she did in fact PR the race. The post-race party was very good, with a nice selection of food and drinks. After stuffing our faces, we walked back to the car to change into dry clothes. Still no rain, so we went back to the finish line to cheer on Elaine. Not much rain on the drive home, but who cared at that point?
It’s hard to imagine that the biggest takeaway from an exciting race weekend like this would be the rain (or lack of), but it was definitely the talk of the town.
KEEP TRACK OF MY RUNNING ON
