10Mar07 (Miami Beach!)
18:30
9th place overall (out of 859)
1st in age (out of 84)

Ok, I REALLY like running in Florida in the spring. One, because is a heck of a lot warmer than Michigan this time of year, and two, the people in Florida run slow. It was my spring break and I was in Fort Lauderdale visiting a friend so I decided to do another race in Florida whilst it was winter in Michigan.

The start was at 8:30 am and the temperature was already up to 80 degrees. Clear sky, little wind. Just a nice day for a gentle run. I was shooting to break 18 flat, but the heat and a sickness I am have been staving off slowed me down a little bit. I wanted to avoid that whole dehydration problem again like I had in the A1A marathon, so I had plenty to drink beforehand.

The course was a simple out an back along the world famous Ocean Drive in Miami beach. It was completely surreal. beautiful people with dogs and big bug eyed brown sunglasses. According to my friend, the models are bred a certain way down there. They truly all look alike. This was a fundraiser for a local cancer research center and there were models every half mile or so cheering us on. I swear there was only one model and she kept getting in a car and moving farther along teh course to see me again. Turns out they all just look the same.

After the awards ceremony (at which I got a quick hug and kiss from a nice looking model) there was a set of door prizes given away. Now in Jackson Michigan, door prizes at running races usually are things like gift certificates to restaurants or housecleaning work. Not so in Miami Beach, oh no. The ‘big ticket’ door prizes were a $500 gift certifucate to a consmetic surgeon and the other was coupon for a full body CT scan.  You could not believe the ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs’ that erupted from the crowd when they anounced the prizes. I could not stop laughing at the situation. Completely weird. There was also a gift certificate for dinner at a local restaurant. The dollar value? $250. Apparently, that is two people’s dinner and maybe one drink each. No joke.

Yikes. It is completely different culture down there. Fun, exciting, but very different.