Shlomo’s
Marathon Experience and/or Race Weekend
·
Pre-Race and Expo
o
Ease
of access to expo and layout – 3 stars
– Located in the Miami Beach Convention Center, large, spacious, and easy to
navigate. There was plenty of street parking within a few minutes’ walk to the
expo, so I didn’t have to pay $15 to park in a lot.
o
Knowledge
of staff, vendors, and volunteers – 4
stars – All staff including volunteers seemed to be on the same page,
extremely friendly, and willing to take the extra step to help with any issues
and/or questions
o
Overall
experience of the expo – 4 stars –
The overall atmosphere was warm and welcoming to all participants. It seemed
liked everyone was enjoying themselves
·
Starting line/Race start
o
Ease
of access to start line, signage, and coral seeding – 5 stars – If you were staying on the main land in downtown Miami getting
to the start of the race was extremely easy. Good signage, lighting, and good
communication between all levels of race management (volunteers, law
enforcement, and locals)
o
Opening
ceremonies – 3 stars – Personally,
I’m not a big fan of lengthy opening ceremonies. 15 minutes is more than
enough.
o
Overall
experience of the race start – 3-4 stars
– Somewhat organized start, non-the-less it’s inevitable that participants are
always anxious to get started.
·
Race course
o
Road
surface conditions, mile markers, aid stations, and law enforcement – 5 stars – Road surface was great. Nice
wide boulevards to ease the congestion in the first few miles. Mile marker and
timer at each mile. 24 aid stations over a course of 26.2 miles, it speaks for
itself. Law enforcement was great. Each corner, aid station, and other random
spots along the course had some type of security.
o
Neighborhoods
and crowd support throughout course – 3
stars – Personally, some may say this should also be a 5 star rating.
Focusing on racing doesn’t always allow you to focus on everything around you.
o
Overall
experience of the race course – 4 stars
– What can I say, the course was very well marked, good aid stations, signage
and support. Thumbs up!
·
Post-race/Finish line festival
o
Finisher’s
medal and awards ceremony – 3 stars
– Cool spinning medal and ribbon. Award ceremony was like any other race. Just
neutral.
o
Ease
of access to post-race refreshments – 2
stars – You had to walk a distance to get to your refreshments. Marathoners
had to wait extra-long behind the half-marathoners. They should have separate
areas of refreshments for full and half marathon participants, like all other
races.
o
Overall
experience of the finish line – 2 stars
– Very crowded area, I felt like it was shoulder to shoulder. They could have
done a better job in spreading it out more along the water front park.
·
In Summary –
The 2015 Miami Marathon and Half Marathon took place on 25 January 2015. I had
a very pleasurable experience overall. Like anything, there were very good
aspects to the event, and other areas that need some improvement. Bottom line,
would I go back? I hope to be back in the next few years.
STAR
RATINGS:
*= Very Dissatisfied
**= Somewhat Dissatisfied
***= Neutral
****= Enjoyed
*****= Amazing
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