Out of the 23 marathons I have run, my 3 favorites were Miami (05), Miami (04), and Miami (03). The course is flat, fast, fun, and scenic. The marathon takes place either the last Sunday of January, or the first Sunday of February when the weather is always nice and cool in South Florida, especially if you live in a cold climate. As a head coach for Team in Training, and an avid marathoner, running a dozen marathons in the last 24 months, I travel regularly to marathon destinations. The Miami Marathon and Half Marathon has something for every particpant and family or guest. Whether you are an elite marathoner or walking your first half marathon, you cannot ask for a better course and organization. For your guest or family there is a celebrity 5K on Saturday and Miami is a fantastic vacation destination. Ways the Miami Marathon differentiates itself from other marathons are:

1. A 2-piece heavy medal that spins
2. A marathon course bus tour and tour of Miami
3. A Thursday night event at Bongos Restaurant on the water in the American Airlines Arena, offering visitors some Latin Flavor
4. A Friday night even at the Clevelander on Ocean Drive on South Beach
5. Renown artist Romero Brito did the artwork for the marathon and is featured on the shirts and posters

In addition, the expo, pasta party, and post-race celebration are all great events.

Hope to see you next year.

After running in the first two Miami Marathons with my wife, I was on my own this year due to her being pregnant, so I decided to have some fun,not train, enjoy the sights, and do the half with a couple of friends. I succeeded in running my PW (personal worst), saw sights I never saw the first 2 times around, and realized what a marvelous job the organizers did this year.

Tons of water and Gatorade, another medal to add to the collection, and no matter what they say, I enjoyed the rice and beans and low-calorie beer at the end... only in Miami. I'll be back at the full next year trying to beat my 2003 Miami PR, which I couldn't beat last year in Buffalo, the year before in New York, or before that in Chicago... fast and flat we are.

Come on folks, the scenery is nice yes, but the organization is not good. I have ran several marathons before... I won't be running this one again.

CONS:
Had to pick up the packet; they would not mail it. (6,000 or so runners converging on one place over 2 1/2 days... eeesh!)

No finisher T-Shirt. (what's up with that?)

Poor directions to packet pick up and start of race.

No military or group discount.

PROS:
Nice scenery for most of course (some is in Miami's red light district though).

Excellent water stations every mile.

Nice use of electronic chip to get accurate time (more courses are using these now).

Nice finisher medal, but a T-shirt would be better.

The course was spectacular and there were far more fans than last year. The music was great, though there could have been some in the Grove. The only organizational problem was a lack of bagels and more water at the finish. I love black beans and rice, but after running in the sun a hot meal was not on my list of preferred foods. Great job.

Superb marathon, timed well to get the winter chill out of one's bones. Early start (6 AM) avoids excessive heat, but means support is a bit thin in places. Sun rising as you run next to Miami Beach is amazing. Superbly organized, perhaps bottles in place of cups may help in future, plus sponge stations. Expo the best I`ve ever seen (had lectures which was very interesting). Medal also the best one I`ve had. Do the marathon soon as I can see it getting more popular with a large field very quickly.

My girlfriend and I traveled from Philadelphia to participate in this marathon... and simply put, it was the greatest running experience I have encountered. I have participated in marathons at 10 different locations, including all the Rock 'n Rolls, New York, Chicago, Lake Tahoe, and Marine Corps. Everything about your marathon was exceptional. The course was diverse in scenery and atmosphere with no real topographical issues. Starting in the dark was great. The water/Gatorade stations and facilities were the most dependable and well-stocked I can recall... and most of all the volunteers were excellent - all the way down to the policemen who had to battle with the traffic all morning. They did it with a great attitude, and still managed to shout encouragement along the way. This may be my first 'repeat' marathon experience, and most definitely will get my highest recommendations. Thanks so much.

No loops. The full course was an ADDITION to the half. Spectacular views of the Miami River, cruise ships, Miami beach, suburbs, yes, and even the bad parts of the city. We runners saw Miami as no one else could.

Though the fans were sparse in the last half, the ones that were there made up for it with their enthusiasm and good humor. Porto-lets well spaced.
The constantly changing course views helped keep my mind off the pain (what pain?).

I'll be back again next year!

This was my third marathon and was easily the best one. Sorry Disney and Marine Corp. The course was fantastic. You can't beat running along South Beach as the sun rises. Nor can you beat running through the quaint 'heavily shaded' neighborhood of Coconut Grove during the second half of the race. There was Gatorade nearly every mile and porto-johns nearly every mile. What more can you ask for?

The only negative would be that there was no Gatorade in the finishing area. Fix that and you have a perfect race!!!

The Miami Marathon was my fourth marathon in five months. I debated about running this race in the months before, but I'm very glad that I did run it.

Living in Toronto and training in freezing temperatures was not helpful for the heat and humidity that I was expecting in Miami. I wasn't sure if I had recovered from the other races and having a slight cold two weeks before the marathon probably didn't help either. However, I still chose to run the race because of the good things I heard about this event and the great experiences that runners have had. And they were right.

I don't want to repeat all the positive comments others have already mentioned, but I do want to share a bit of my personal experience from this race. Yes, South Beach, the causeways and Coconut Grove were all spectacular and a feast for the eye. But even long before the race started I sensed that this marathon would be special. Due to other commitments, I could only take a late flight into Miami the night before the race and would miss the expo. So months ahead I phoned Frankie Ruiz, Course Information at RRRacing, who personally took care of this matter and made sure that my race packet was ready for me when I arrived and my chip was activated. He responded with courtesy and great professionalism and didn't make me feel like I was just a number (I remember race directors and organizers from other races who never bother to return my emails, even after I thanked them for a great race). I felt he was sincere and truly concerned about my situation and he even sent me a message after the race to ask if everything went OK. Well Frankie, everything went very well - thanks to you and the other organizers.

Miami should be very proud of this event. This is a great marathon, not only because of the scenery, flat course, warm temperatures, enthusiastic volunteers but also the great and friendly people behind the race and supporting it. The last six miles were very tough for me, but I thoroughly enjoyed the entire experience (lying on South Beach after the race was very cool!) and look forward to running it again in the future.

This was my first destination marathon and it was a very good experience.

Pros: Scenic course (lit-up cruise ships, Coconut Grove, causeways, art deco district). Adequate staffing, particularly for such an early morning race at 6:00am. Good post-race festivities. Liked the free metro mover elevated trains that get you around town. The temps and direct sunlight were not nearly as bad as I thought.

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Cons (albeit minor): I felt like I was joining the army while going through the seemingly complicated and involved sign-up routine at packet pick-up (I'm still not sure what was on the fine print of the paper you had to sign). Gatorade cups were too big and too full during the H2O stops. Was unsettling to run on the ground-up pavement in the construction areas. Sparse crowds for much of the race and a lack of music along the way. Runners couldn't re-enter the finisher's zone to get a drink after wandering out of it. I needed a drink and had no money! Wish they took more than 1 photo during the race.

It was fun to do this once. May do it again or try to find another fun one out there.