Life Time Miami Marathon and Half returns this weekend for the 22nd year.
The Life Time Miami Marathon and Half returns for its 22nd year this weekend, with tens of thousands of runners anticipated to take part. However, before race day, racers and event organizers go through extensive training.
“Some of these people have been training their entire lives to run that race on that day,” race co-founder Frankie Ruiz said. “Some training programs begin 16 weeks out. Some start a full year in advance. So, these people aren’t just waking up one morning and choosing to run a marathon.”
Marcela Valdivia, a producer at NBC6, is one such individual. She explained that she opted to run her first half marathon as part of the Miami Marathon weekend after seeing racers sprinting across the city during the 2023 festivities.
“I’ve been in Miami for a year, and I think it’s really exciting to be able to run the city that’s given so much to me,” he added.
Despite having previously worked up to 10 miles, Valdivia described preparing to run 13.1 miles as a learning experience.
“A lot of pacing, not running too fast, not running too slow, what you eat, what you do before a run, stretching, how you recover,” she went on to say. “It’s all about training your brain. It’s all about starting gradually and then improving.”
Ruiz reiterated this message, urging anyone interested in running to simply take the first step. The Life Time Miami Marathon and Half also provides training materials for anyone participating in the Tropical 5K or planning to run 13.1 or 26.2 kilometers next year.
“The Miami Marathon is pretty unique because it’s in Miami,” Ruiz noted in an interview. “The fact that it also happens to reflect what Miami is in terms of the participants, where they come from, and the fact that it’s so international.”
Ruiz helped launch the event in the early 2000s, and it has developed tremendously since its beginning. The expo started on Friday, accompanied by the Life Time Diaper Derby and an evening briefing for first-time marathon runners or walkers. Saturday includes further briefings, the Life Time Tropical 5K, and a cleanup effort, followed by the half- and full-marathon events on Sunday.
