FYI -- The flatest marathon course is Jacksonville in December, and a great
course, no bridges, no hills, completely flat. If you are trying to qualify for
Boston you will do it there.

I don't think the Miami Tropical Marathon is the same course as the Miami
Metro-Dade marathon that Matt ran. I have run Miami 1/2 marathon 3 times and
driven the full course (I work in Miami and am very familiar with the area). If
you train on the bridges in Melbourne (on 192 and Eau Gallie), you will be more
than prepared for Miami. One mile into the Miami Marathon you are crossing the
McArthur Causeway and there are actually two bridges in this portion, which are
big, but definitely not bigger than the bridges up here, plus you are just
starting the race so you are fresh. The rest of the bridges in the first half
are small in comparison. There are two bridges in the second half of Miami, but
also not anywhere close to the bridges up here.

I'm new to Indialantic and am happy there are big bridges in Melbourne where I
can train for the 2006 Boston Marathon.

Don't worry about the bridges in Miami if you train on these causeways, you will
do awesome. Good luck, you can do it!

On the run,

Debi

________________________________

From: spacecoastrunners@yahoogroups.com on behalf of Matt Mahoney
Sent: Sat 10/1/2005 1:19 PM
To: spacecoastrunners@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [spacecoastrunners] Anyone run Miami before?



--- Meisje Connor <meisje@...> wrote:

> They tell you to pick a flat course for your first marathon, don't they?
> Idiot that I am, I'm going to try to run the Miami marathon, with its
> six bridges, at the end of January.
>
> If anyone out there has run Miami, please give me your opinion on how
> brutal the bridges are. ("Not very" would be a good answer.) I'm
> wondering how much work I need to do on the causeways beforehand.
>
> MJ
>

I ran the Miami Metro-Dade marathon many years ago (I think 1990) and I recall
it was completely flat (and warm and humid). I don't remember any big
bridges. Maybe it's a different course now but the bridges in Miami aren't
any steeper than the causeways around here in Melbourne.

Anyway it's not hard to find a flat course in Florida. Space Coast, Disney
and the Orlando Xtreme marathon (in spite of its name) are flat. Ocala is a
little hilly, but I find that small ups and downs are actually easier on the
legs. If you need to take walking breaks, you can take them on the climbs
without losing as much time.


-- Matt Mahoney, matmahoney@...



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