Alison and friend prepare for the next day's race.

ING Miami Marathon, an international code meaning: "warm weather," appealing to all sun-worshippers, particularly when it is the end of January, and icicled eyelashes and blizzard breath are reminders that warm is good. It was way too much temptation for an island girl like me. So, after carefully selecting our South Beach outfits, my girlfriend and I headed out.

This year, January 28, 2007, was the fifth running of the Miami Marathon, and the second year that ING, the global financial institution, has been title sponsor. The Miami Marathon is now on the list with seventeen other major marathons that ING sponsors around the world. It is a Boston qualifier, and with its clean, flat, and fast course and beautiful beach-sunrise- palm tree scenery, is also a great winter destination event. The race has now sprung to the fore as a major event on Florida's running scene. Entries closed at 11,566 and were split in favor of the half at 6,509, and marathon 2,521 with wheeler divisions in each.

Bus tours of the course sold out early, and shuttle services between the hotels, expo, and start of the race were available and ran regularly. On Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, South Beach became one giant sports fest arena with the huge Saturn TotalHealth and Fitness Expo, with tons of exhibitors and vendors, where packet pick-up was run like clockwork by amazing volunteers. The BlueCross BlueShield Tropical 5K was held on Saturday of race weekend to benefit the homeless.

On race day, shuttles started running from the South Beach area at 4:00 am. The digital clock in town read 3:57 am and 73 degrees as I walked to the shuttle pick-up. The streets were filled with runners heading to the race, and night clubbers ending their evenings, all coming together in the pre-dawn hours, with a spattering of on/off rain. This carried on in a whiny-child fashion until everyone was out of the tents and in the start pens, then it turned into a mighty five-minute tropical deluge directly before the two-minute countdown- completely drenching everyone and everything at the start. It ended as the race began, leaving huge lake-puddles on the roads (which did not matter as everyone had been marinated in rainwater), and resulted in lowered temperatures, which actually improved running conditions. It gave a really special meaning to the term "bad hair day."

The single-loop marathon and half-marathon courses wind through Miami and its harbor with clean fast roads. Both races started at the same time, 6:10 am. Several cruise ships were in dock and looked beautiful with their nightlights still on as the field ran over the MacArthur Causeway toward South Beach. The only 'hills' were really small bridges- most of the race has no elevation. Crowd support was fantastic, and organized into cheering zones where just about any kind of noise-maker was allowed to boost anyone in danger of slowing down, with music entertainment stations at intervals in between.

My own race went well, though, as usual with a long one, I misjudged the distance. I was entered in the half-marathon. I ran a steady pace to mile 9, took it easy into a mild headwind to mile 10, back over the Venetian Causeway, and then hit the Main Cheering Zone at 10.5 miles. That definitely picked up my pace through the 12-mile mark and around one block, and then my legs said, "OK, we're done." I watched in dismay as the small group I was with kept getting farther and farther away. The finish at Bayfront Park was so close and I could hear all the cheering and loudspeakers at the finish but my body wasn't interested. I went down to a Sunday afternoon jog and shuffled in, and surprisingly managed to snag first place in my age group.

Marathoners split off at the 12.5 mile mark of the half course, and carried on south in a long loop through Coral Gables and Coconut Grove before heading back and finishing at Bayfront Park in downtown Miami.

And after the race there was the ocean, restaurants, shopping, nightclubs, the beach . . . .

ING Miami Marathon & Half Marathon Top Finishers

Marathon
Men
PL NAME	                     TIME	 PACE	 CTZ
1  TESHOME GELANA            2:17:51	 5:15 	 ETH
2  JUAN CARLOS CARDONA       2:18:26	 5:16 	 COL
3  CHARLES KAMINDO           2:23:04	 5:27 	 USA
4  BELAY TEKA KASSA          2:24:41	 5:31 	 ETH
5  TAMRAT ALALEW             2:24:41	 5:31 	 ETH
Women
PL NAME	                     TIME	 PACE	 CTZ
1  RAMILLA BURANGULOVA       2:40:22	 6:06 	 USA
2  RIMA DUBOVIQ              2:42:57	 6:12 	 UKR
3  CAROLINE MCILROY          2:51:09	 6:31 	 CAN
4  SHONA CROMBIE HICKS       2:53:49	 6:37 	 IRL
5  MELANIE PETERS            2:58:01	 6:47 	 USA
Half-Marathon
Men
PL NAME	                     TIME	 PACE	 CTZ
1  JARED NYAMBOKI	     1:07:09	 5:07 	 KEN
2  FRANCISCO GoMEZ	     1:08:53	 5:15 	 CRC
3  BIRHANU WUKAW	     1:09:09	 5:16 	 ETH
4  GREG COSTELLO	     1:09:31	 5:18 	 USA
5  TOM KUTTER	             1:09:47	 5:19 	 USA
Women
PL NAME	                     TIME	 PACE	 CTZ
1  SONJA FRIEND UHL	     1:19:25	 6:03 	 USA
2  MELINDA CARLSON	     1:23:31	 6:22 	 USA
3  JILL SCULLY	             1:24:43	 6:27 	 USA
4  JANINE PEART	             1:28:51	 6:46 	 USA
5  ROSA OLIVA	             1:29:35	 6:50 	 USA

Full race results, photos, and information about the 2008 race, with Early Registration Blitz, are available at: www.ingmiamimarathon.com.