Miami Get Ready, get set, run! – 2018 Miami Marathon and Half Marathon
Sunday, January 28, 2018 • Miami, FL
From its gleaming condominiums and towers that look over the waves of the Atlantic Ocean along the shoreline, Miami is no doubt one of the nation’s most colorful, cosmopolitan and unique cities, and all its charms are on display along the course at the city’s annual wintertime Miami Marathon & Half Marathon.
The race winds along an almost all-flat course and features many views of the water, the MacArthur Causeway Bridge and Miami Beach.
Both the 13.1-mile half marathon and the 26.2-mile full marathon start at Miami’s American Airlines Arena, the home of the NBA’s Miami Heat basketball team, at 601 Biscayne Boulevard.
From there, runners in both races follow the same course for the first 12.8 miles, after which those running the half will split off from those running the full and head toward the finish line, which lies just a few blocks away from the start at Bayfront Park, at 301 Biscayne Boulevard.
Because the race takes place at about sea level, almost all of the race is run along flat terrain on paved surfaces along Miami’s city streets and highways.
The only real elevation changes occur when runners cross the two bridges in the race, the bridge in the first half of the race over the MacArthur Causeway and the bridge in the second half of the race, along Venetian Way across San Marino Island and Riyo Alto Island, as runners catch ample views of the sailboats and the cruise ships in the water as they run over the bridges.
Runners should note they’ll have 3 1/2 hours to complete the half marathon on the course; if they can’t keep a pace fast enough to finish within 3 1/2 hours, they’ll be asked to move to the sidewalks. The finish line will be open for 4 hours, organizers note.
More than 17,500 runners crossed the finish line at the race’s 2016 running, including more than 14,500 finishers in the half marathon alone. In addition to the full and half marathon on Sunday, there’s also a Tropical 5K race on Saturday.
