The bloom is off the rose…At least a little bit.
As best as I can tell, I’ve done this race every year since 2012. They do a first-class job most of the time, but this year there were some “chinks in the armor,” which I’ll discuss as we go alone.
It was really a race "week," as Elaine and Lindsey came down to run. On top of that, Rachel came down as well for moral support (and to escape the frigid conditions in Chicago). It started on Tuesday, which meant one thing…three trips to the airport! Elaine flew in on Friday night, and there were no more vacancies at “The Bone Yard.”
We got to the expo Saturday morning when it first opened at the Miami Beach Convention Center. They moved the location to the north end of the building, which seemed more spacious. The trouble is, the expos have really gone downhill since the pandemic. Except for Hoka and Garmin, none of the national vendors were there; it was like a glorified flea market. If there is a running store close to where you live, there was nothing to purchase at this expo. On top of that, the race shirts (which were very nice looking), were a cotton/polyester blend! If you have read any of my past blogs, you know my feelings on this: A marathon and/or half marathon shirt should ALWAYS be 100% polyester. Therefore, it literally became a sleeping shirt. We ripped through the expo in about an hour and walked over to Gabriel’s for breakfast. The restaurant was located inside the Berkeley Park Hotel, which was just around the corner from the convention center. When we got there, Gabriel’s was closed; I mean closed-closed, and for quite some time. We told the person at the front desk that not only did we make reservations in advance, but Lindsey confirmed the reservations as well (she didn’t seem to care). At that point, we went to our backup plan, Orange Blossom. Lindsey’s friend Robert met us again this year, and the food was very good. After an early supper, I went to sleep around 7:30, poised to get up around 2am on Sunday.
The weather leading up to the race (and after) has been delightful. Lows in the 50s and highs in the 70s. Of course, for one day only, the high would climb into the 80s. We received an email the day before stating that due to higher-than-average temperatures and humidity levels, the race would start under a Yellow/Moderate alert level. Loosely translated, this means less than ideal conditions. Of course, for us South Floridians, it’s just another long-hot run (the day after the race, and all this week, the temperatures barely broke 70°).
15,015 runners lined up for this event, with 2,620 doing the full and 12,395 running the half. These numbers were consistent with last year. It was 72° when the race started, but it took us 52 minutes for our coral to start. The absolute worst thing about this race is how congested it is in the beginning; there must be a better way. For the first time ever, I would be wearing the Hoka Carbon X 3 instead of my usual Brooks Beast. These shoes are hands-down the most comfortable I’ve ever worn. I bought a pair on sale from Runner’s Depot, and Reneé said I should be okay to run the half marathon with them. I ran 6.5 miles the week before to break them in, and everything seemed okay. I also decided to “Raw Dog” it and not listen to my headphones. Elaine and Lindsey would run together for the first part of the race (Elaine was running the full), but they decided to run at a “Party Pace” (Lindsey only finished the race about ten minutes ahead of me). I noticed there were way more photographers on the course than ever before. In fact, I’ve never seen a photographer during the first few miles of the race. It was nice, since they were able to get the cruise ships in the background. In addition, there were two water stations on the bridge (and porta potties) instead of one. Speaking of water stations, can we talk about the Gatorade? I can honestly say that in all my years racing, this was hands-down the most disgusting concoction I’ve every consumed. It even looked nasty. I’m assuming it was supposed to be orange, but it looked brown.
I saw Robert around the four-mile mark, and I gave him a fist bump as I ran by. It was at this point that I noticed a lot of people were walking, compared to past years. The heat didn’t affect me, but a lot of runners were melting into the pavement. I’ve never seen as many fire rescue trucks and paramedics coming to the aid of the participants during a race before. Since we were running under a Yellow/Moderate alert level, I wonder if the race coordinators could have taken some extra precautions on their own. Maybe some towels soaking in ice-cold water or hosing people down as they ran by. At the very least, some extra ice could have helped. The new running shoes were working out well, and my knee never felt better. The course was great as always, and I did not walk the entire time.
Now for the bad part (it was 84° at this point). After crossing the finish line and receiving my medal (outstanding as always), Lindsey and I went over to get our post-race food. Only one problem…ABOSLUTELY NO FOOD! We’re talking nothing…no sandwiches…no wraps…no bananas…no Gatorade. This happened last year, and there were still a lot more runners behind us. When we tried to speak to some of the volunteers, they didn’t seem to know or care. I'm not saying the food is a feast fit for a king or queen, but there was nothing! This was a crappy way to end a great race. Lindsey and I went back to the car to change into dry clothes and walked back to the finish line to wait for Elaine. When she finished, it was like a ghost town, as all of the vendors had cleared out. We just jumped in the car and headed home.
I’m not saying I wouldn’t do this race again (I definitely will), but I do think the folks who put this event on got sloppy and will hopefully correct these missteps for next year. Just in case, I'm going to bring some snacks.
