Megan Vickery's Staging Area

Wow, what an amazing race for my 75th half marathon! I admittedly did not train properly for the heat and humidity of this race, so the 83 degree temps and 62% humidity definitely impacted my performance. That being said, the course was so beautiful! The race started in South Beach along Ocean Drive with a stunning sunrise over the ocean. We ran through downtown South Beach and across the Julia Tuttle Cswy bridge into downtown Miami. Thankfully I was given a heads up on the climb up the bridges, so I was prepared to tackle them. The backdrop of downtown Miami definitely helped to distract from the climb as the sun starting to beat down on me. Downtown Miami provided a brief reprieve from the sun as the buildings shaded us for a couple miles. We then turned back to head towards South Beach again, crossing over another the MacArthur Cswy bridge and alongside the massive cruise ships. As we were back in direct sunlight, with some occasional shade from the palm trees, I focused on the cruise ships and scenery to push through. After crossing the bridge, we weaved along a gorgeous beachside paved trail that was lined with palm trees and other foliage for the last few miles before finishing in Lummus Park. Although this was a decent sized race, I never experienced any bottlenecking or had extensive weaving through other runners, which was a welcomed change.

There were plenty of aid stations, some of which had a hose and volunteers offering to cool runners down if they wanted. I rarely use aid stations anymore during half marathons, however I took advantage of 4 of the aid stations on this race for a sip of water and then dumped the rest on my head to cool me down. The humidity prevented the water from absorbing though, so I was pretty soaked by the time I finished the race. All of the volunteers were friendly and energetic, the spectators along the course did a great job of keeping us motivated as well.

Upon crossing the finish line, we were presented with a stunning medal that highlighted some of the main areas and notable aspects of Miami. We also received water, Gatorade, Dole fruit cups and there was a rice dish offered but I declined as I can’t eat directly after a race. The finisher festival in Lummus Park had a super fun and upbeat vibe as a DJ was keeping the energy going. The beer garden had a few options for runners over 21, however I am not a beer fan so it would have been great to have a seltzer or cider option.

Rewinding back to the expo, they had a variety of options on different days/times to accommodate runner’s schedules. I opted for the Saturday packet pickup that was held at Nike as it was the closest to my hotel. The packet pick-up was busy, however it was very well organized so the line went fast. We received our bib, finisher shirt, and a 20% discount at Nike (since they were hosting this expo day) that I took advantage of. Speaking of the finisher shirt, this finisher tank is perhaps one of my all-time favorite finisher shirts I’ve received from a race. Not only does it fit great (many finisher shirts are baggy and not flattering) but it has a vibrant 305 design on the front and down the back. This is a shirt I will definitely be rocking often on runs and just around town.

Overall, Run Miami did a phenomenal job on the 305 Half Marathon, it was so well organized from start to finish. If you are looking for a race in Florida, I cannot recommend this one enough!