Amazing course! Very iconic "Miami" sights on the course. While the second half of marathon wasn't as interesting, the course wasn't treated as an afterthought, as many courses are. Weather was great, albeit a little warm and humid. Crowd support was amazing! While the numbers weren't the greatest, the supporters who were out were amazing! Instructions leading up to the race were somewhat confusing, but everyone was very helpful to compensate. Great race; I'd do it again!

I must say that the start is crowded with the half marathoners, and with people in the wrong corral (I was in C and saw runners with "H" bibs). It was very nice to run in South Beach and across the causeway. I thought the cheer zone was really neat but not exactly what is needed for the marathon at mile 10/11. The second half was nice and quiet, with shade all along except over miles 21-23 (thanks to the Boy Scout water station). All in all, a nice experience and I would do it again. The expo was great except for the fact that to park at the convention parking lot cost $15 (and there was a parking garage two blocks down for $1 hour). Another note: there are numerous parking lots within 6 blocks of the start; save time and money and park downtown.

I was only able to do the half due to the flu, but was very impressed. The finisher medal was very nice and the after-party was superb! The cheer zone area was a great idea, but many thanks to the police officers who moved the fans back so more than one lane of the road could be used. It got a bit tight in there with the number of runners.

I was in the "C" corral, and expected there to be a stagger between the corrals, but that wasn't the case between "B" and "C," which led to some crowding early. One thing that could definitely be improved is getting runners more quickly through the chute after the finish.

Great course; I will definitely be back next year to see the whole course!

This was my 9th marathon and I truly enjoyed this race. Course is flat except for a few bridges. Scenery is great - cruise ships all lit up, Biscayne Bay, South Beach, perfect sunrise, upper 50's to low 60's, no clouds and no wind - need I say more? On-course support was top-notch. Organization and the pre-race information were great. I'd run this marathon again in a heartbeat. The only downer for me was the combined start with the half marathoners. The first half was a bit congested (I finished in the top 250; I can only imagine how bad it was for someone who finished an hour behind me). This made the second half feel really empty. I would have preferred a separate start for the full and the half.

I left NY to come run this race and it exceeded my expectations in every way. I'll be back for sure!!!

I absolutely LOVED this course. It was THE most beautiful course I have ever seen, and has a great time. Flat, fast course, and an awesome excuse to go for a short vacation in the middle of winter.

I wanted to run Miami because I love visiting there and I thought it would be a great excuse. Wow, I was really impressed.

The expo was one of the best I have ever attended. This includes Houston, Boston and Chicago. The corrals were clearly marked but there wasn't anyone to check your bib, so there was the usual problem of walkers in the wrong corral. This was an annoyance but it worked itself out after a short time.

The course was great. The race starts at 6:15 a.m. and it is still somewhat dark as you run across the causeway past the cruise ships. Great view to rev you up for the race. In South Beach there were cockatiels in the trees squawking at the runners. The number of spectators varied along the course but it was never boring because the course was interesting enough in itself. Medals were absolutely awesome! The shirts were a nice fit and made of good fabric. The finish line goodies were numerous. There were so many choices of food and drink, including beer. It was like an all-you-can-eat buffet.

This race totally surpassed my expectations. I BQ'd, which was the icing on the cake.

This was the second time I ran Miami, and I enjoyed the occasion even more than the first. It was a beautiful day and the course was attractive, if not terribly interesting - but it was flat and great for personal bests. Volunteers were excellent, but spectators are sparse for the second half of the race. Nonetheless, 65-degree sunshine after mountains of snow and cold made this a great tonic for the winter blues.

All the positive comments stated here are for the half marathon. After that 13th mile, as the half marathoners turn left and you turn right, you ask yourself, "Am I running solo?" The answer is YES. There is minimal fan support after that. You run through beautiful neighborhoods before reaching Coral Gables; however, it feels as if you are trespassing through people's backyards. I do this run every year and enjoy the City of Miami, but the organizers need to figure out how to bring more spectators after that 13th mile when we marathoners actually need them most.

So it's 5:30 am, 54 degrees and the music in the beginning of the race really pumps you up. They played that "Welcome to Miami" song by Will Smith a couple of times. Course was mostly flat and definitely scenic but lacks a lot of fan support except at mile 11 where there's a cheerleading squad and high school band and tons of posters that read, "You knew this wasn't gonna be easy but here you are." I loved that.

So my brother warned me about reaching mile 13, where we separate "halfers" from full participants. That's when I was disappointed. There were a lot less participants running the FULL. I mean it must have been 15,000 doing the half and maybe 5,000 doing the full, so if you're a slow runner like me you're on your own. However all the water stations were still up. The Gatorade was great and not watered down like in other races, and there was still a person cheering you on at the end! That made a difference. Time limit was 6 hours. I finished a 6:30, and having someone hand me a medal and not mail it to me made a difference.

I'll be back again, but the sun in your eyes and the heat would make anyone think twice, and there's little fan support on the back half. Even the Miami Herald wrote an article this morning about having more high schools and local bands out there next year. Beautiful scenery too and it's a perfect excuse to go to Miami. So great course, great scenery, and good expo and goodie bag. (The bag had Gatorade, a fruit snack pack and the t-shirt - the rest flyers.) Lots of vendors, and if you wanted to do that cruise dinner thing, another 85 bucks. In any case, only my 2nd marathon, so what do I know?? See you out there.

Let me start off by saying that I broke my old PR by 5 minutes on this course. It was fast, flat and fun. That being said, there is definitely room for some improvement. For starters, the organizers kind of defeated the corral system by opening them all up more or less at once and letting us all (full and 1/2) start together. This led to a substantial amount of congestion for the first couple miles, especially since it was a (relatively) narrow course. A lot of energy was burned trying to get through the crowd, many of whom were walking/barely jogging at mile 2 (I'm a 3:15 marathoner). I don't understand how they organized the corrals at all. Then again at around mile 11, the crowd crowded the street so much (no barriers) that we had to run almost single file. I have to wonder, if these things were avoided, would I have run the 2:37 seconds faster I needed to BQ? Really upsetting and frustrating to be that close.

And of the 21,000 runners, only about 3,500 ran the full - we should get separate starts. Also, there were several bridges with metal grates all across them, and as a VFF runner, I was not prepared for that. I know I'm very much in the minority there, and I did choose my own footwear, but a heads up would have been nice. I did enjoy it overall, and hope they reconsider the corrals and starts for future runners. This could be a great BQ for people: perfect temp., flat course, and where there were crowds (here and there) they were supportive. Great volunteers and aid stations as well.