The ING Miami Marathon was my first marathon, and something I've wanted to do my entire life. I have to say that it was a wonderful experience made more memorable by the tremendous amount of support from spectators. I can't wait to RUN MIAMI next year!

I can't think of any other race I would want to run in during the month of January. The race was great, the sunshine awesome, the scenic route incredible, the enthusiasm of American Airlines Arena exciting. Miami's finest officers (thank you), the MC's fun and most of all the racers that participated. I enjoyed myself and look forward to coming back again in the future.

I'd like to say "hi" to my "sisters" @ the Front Porch: Alex, Oliver squared & Jon from your girlfriend: bandana girl.

Well done, and one suggestion: at some of the mile markers (17-22), consider offering sliced oranges and/or quartered bananas. When we're running 4-5 hours, we need extra go-go juice to get us to the finish line (from a runner who doesn't take Gu).

My 20th marathon. I believe Miami is one of the more scenic I've run. Flat and fast, water stops more than adequate and staffed by wonderful people. Organization was about as good as any I've experienced. I ran N.Y. in November, followed by this one, and I have to say that ING does a great job organizing these events. Beautiful city, beautiful race. I'll be back.

I have run all the top marathons like Chicago, New York, etc. but fancied this one for its smaller field. I traveled from the UK for this race and was my first time in Miami. I enjoyed the experiance but would not spend the money again to run this race.

Firstly, it was much tougher than suggested in all the literature, but maybe the windy and humid conditions contributed to that.

The lack of support throughout the course was disappointing and I agree with previous comments that most people in Miami would not have known there was even a marathon happening.

The route was traffic-free, but despite finishing in the top 500, I still felt the glares of spite from motorist and heard there frustration at intersections.

The expo was small but that was expected.

The organization and facilities overall were good for a small event but did not agree with the bag-drop being a half-mile away from the start line.

When you are about to run 26 miles, notching up more miles before is not the best idea! On top of this, my hotel was near the start, but I had to drop my bag at the finish on the other side of the park.

The medals are the best of all the races!

The first 13 miles in the dark were probably the most scenic and it's a shame that the 2nd half doesn't deliver the same because that's when you need inspiration.

Putting names on your bibs was a nice touch.

Overall the race is worth doing, and if I were local, I would probably do it again; however, not worth traveling long distances for a 2nd time.

Overall, an excellent marathon. Well organized, great course, great water and food, excellent port-o-potty placement, awesome finisher's medal. My heartfelt thanks to the spectators/fans that gave out ice, oranges, and tomatoes in the Coconut Grove area of the course. These fans were just great. The weather was very warm, but hard to complain about 70-degree weather in January. My last training run was in the 30's. Only negative comment is that the T-shirt was cheap.

This was my first marathon, and it was pretty much what I expected. The start of the marathon was quite a mess. There were orange cones in the middle of the course that had been trampled and causing some near disasters.

The grates on the bridges were a huge hazard. I believe one of the elites twisted his ankle and had to drop out because of this.

Thank you to the police/officials who tried their hardest to keep VERY IMPATIENT Miami residents from running us over. I had two trucks coming up the street that didn't seem to care that there was a marathon in progress.

I saw one band. ONE. I finished sub-4.... Suggestion: have multiple bands at each stage. The people running over 4 hours are the ones that are really going to enjoy the music.

Great water stops. Very consistent with water first, then Gatorade. That's very helpful!

I probably will do it again.... I'm hooked.

This race had a number of things going for it, including a good, flat course (only "hills" were a few bridges including one at the 26-mile mark). It was also great to run through South Beach as the sun was coming up. The organization was solid with a well-organized start and finish area.

However, there were a few definite areas in need of improvement (and I'm not talking about the temperature, which was WAY too hot but which there's obviously no control over). First, a few mile markers appeared to be misplaced. The most noticeable was mile 10, which had to be incorrect as it ended up taking a good 40 sec. less than 9 and 11 for me and everyone else around me.

Crowd support was also poor, with the exception of a small number of "official" cheering areas and some really great neighbors in Coconut Grove who came out to cheer. Not only were spectators sparse, but residents were downright hostile. Traffic was bad, cars were constantly honking and trying (sometimes successfully) to drive onto the course and drivers were literally flipping runners off.

Obviously you can't expect Chicago or NYC-caliber crowd support at every race. But there's a difference between simply sparse crowds (which I've experienced while running other similarly new-ish marathons before) and overtly hostile ones. There's nothing less inspiring than being honked at repeatedly by traffic while running 26.2 miles. Clearly Miami isn't any less friendly than other cities, which leads me to believe that race organizers must have done a poor job of promoting the event and informing residents about road closures and what it would mean for traffic. Whatever the cause, it needs to be improved in future years.

Finally, ING apparently ran a concurrent "children's race," which seemed like a bad idea to me. At some point shortly after 4:00 hours I was waiting by the chute to cheer on some friends who were behind me. The announcer said in a few minutes they were starting a children's race and that kids would be running a short distance to the finish. Shortly after that a huge number of kids came barrelling down the course toward the finish, competing for space with actual marathoners. In some cases it didn't seem to pose a problem but in others I saw kids darting in front of marathoners and marathoners having to dodge and weave through a crowd of children in the last 0.2 miles. I don't know why on earth anyone would think this was a good idea!

A great half marathon course but a bad full marathon. Despite my promise to run marathon only courses I thought I would run the full marathon for fun but remembered why I made that promise afterward. The first half was scenic and very nice to see the sun come up near the beach. And running through South Beach at 6:30 a.m. and seeing the revelers coming home from the clubs (or them seeing the runners was probably more surprising) was exciting. The cheering zone at mile 11 was like riding through the crowds of Tour De France. The fans spilled into the streets and forced us to run single-file - it was amazing.

Then the second half started, or better yet, the race fell apart. First running through the deserted warehouse section of town was boring. The bands that were there were playing for themselves and the runners that ran by in 30 sec. No crowds anywhere! Then we ran into the Coconut Grove area and through neighborhood streets so small I thought we were running on a driveway towards someones garage. The second cheering zone at mile 21 was all volunteers; which the volunteers were incredible!!! Very plentiful and enthusiastic but still I wanted spectators. Also there were traffic jams everywhere. Cars honking at every major intersection and not for the runners. Very negative energy and I was running an 8:30 pace so it was going to be a long day for some policemen. I know there were a lot of tourist that didn't know about the race but detours signs were not present.

Lastly, I finished well under 4 hours, drank, ate, sat and went to get a massage from one of the "80 tables" 20 minutes later only to see 30 half-marathon medals in line in front of me and a offical saying they are done taking people in line.... My friends and I thought we read somewhere the massage was only for full marathons, which we all did.

ING Miami, do the city and duped runners a favor and just make it a half marathon. Or make it a 2-loop course which couldn't be any worse then the second half.

This was my first - and likely NOT my last - Miami Marathon. The course was great and the scenery was unbelievable. My only criticism is at the end of the race, several runners, including me, had to run through a group of kids who were completing the kids' marathon. Please separate the finish area to avoid this potential hazard. Miami is Miami and we all had a great time.

A running coach would caution Miami about the huge "strides" they continue to make every year in bettering the marathon. With the addition of title sponsor ING, and the prestige and international recognition that the brand brings, Miami reached 10,000 participants in just their 4th year. The course is flat, fast, and more importantly fun. The course was never crowded, yet you were never running alone. The increase in participants only brought increased crowd support and energy. Miami also incorporated an ING run the last mile for children, and an Avis athletes with disablities program that complimented the competitive elite field. As an avid marathoner, Miami being 1 of 5 in 5 weeks, I know the ingredients for a good marathon, and Miami has the secret recipe. They have the best medal, a Thursday night latin flavor party, a Friday night kickoff party on Ocean Drive, a Saturday night pasta party on the water, course/Miami tours, and shirts by reknown artist Romero Britto. Hope to see you in '07.