Be a couch potato Super Bowl Sunday, because the Miami Marathon is one week later
Go ahead. Feast on those elaborate edibles. Be a couch potato Sunday for the Super Bowl — in your own backyard, no less.
But forget the excuses a week later on Sunday morning, Feb. 9. That’s when more than 20,000 athletes of all ages, nationalities and skill levels will line up in front of AmericanAirlines Arena for the 18th annual Life Time Miami Marathon and Half Marathon.
With South Florida the host of Super Bowl 54 at Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Marathon organizers moved the 2020 race date two weeks later than it normally would have been run to prevent logistical problems with one of the biggest sports events on earth.
“The excitement that has been generated by the Super Bowl has spilled over and will jump-start the marathon events the following weekend,’’ said Life Time’s chief running officer Frankie Ruiz, 41, who has directed the Marathon since its inception. “The eyes of the world are on the Super Bowl, and we’ll just continue that.
“I hope there are people who came here for the Super Bowl and stick around for the marathon. I’d love to meet those people.’’
This year’s marathon and half marathon field take off together at 6 a.m., with close to 100 athletes with disability taking off at 5:50.
The marathon traverses through Miami, Miami Beach and Coconut Grove and winds its way back to the finish on Biscayne Boulevard adjacent to Bayfront Park.
After last year’s course change was met with overwhelming approval by participants, Ruiz said, race organizers decided to keep everything the same for this year.
“We got a lot of good feedback,’’ Ruiz said, explaining that basically, runners in the full marathon (26.2 miles) will traverse the same roads on the course as they did previous to 2019, just in the reverse direction. Ruiz said last year that in an effort to make it a bit easier to tolerate one of the least shady portions of the course, organizers switched the portion that previously took runners into the Rickenbacker Causeway stretch that heads below the William Powell Bridge between, roughly, Miles 22 and 24, and put it earlier in the race from Miles 15 to 17. “The second half of the race is flipped,’’ Ruiz said.
The race once again will draw a substantial international field. Ruiz said this week that Colombia already had close to 1,500 runners participating, “and that doesn’t include the 2000-plus runners that identify as Colombians who live in the States. ‘’
Other countries with plenty of entrants: Mexico, Canada, Ecuador and Costa Rica.
“This is pretty neat to hear,’’ Ruiz said. “There are groups getting together on Saturdays to have shake-out runs with their countries.’’
More than 10,000 runners from Florida have registered, with New York the state with the next most participants.
The marathon expo and packet pickup will again be at Mana Wynwood, 318 NW 23rd St., Miami, from 12 to 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 7; and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Feb. 8.
Registration for the race will close when the expo closes Feb. 8. Registration through Saturday, Feb. 1, is $150 for the marathon and $135 for the half marathon. Prices rise Super Bowl Sunday to $170 and $155.
The Life Time Tropical 5K, also part of the marathon weekend, is at 7:30 a.m Feb. 8 at the Miami Children’s Museum on the MacArthur Causeway.
Visit theMiamiMarathon.com for more details on the weekend.
This story was originally published January 31, 2020 at 3:57 PM.
