MAGNIFICENT MIAMI

Near the American Airlines Arena, where LeBron James performs his aerial acrobatics, the tropical stillness was interrupted by an occasional breeze, which offered life to a massive American flag hanging at the starting line. Giant white spotlights pierced the predawn air, and loud music blared, while a procession of men and women, scantily clad in their brightly colored shorts and singlets, marched, like Texas cattle, to the corrals.

Shoulder to shoulder, sweat, analgesic balm, and bad cologne combined to form a pungent odor, as local politicians wished the runners well, in the moments before the start.. Voices uttered languages reflecting the 79 countries represented at the event, as the cannon sounded for the start of the 11th annual ING Miami Marathon.

The 9-degree reading on my thermometer was painful to my dogs as we sent them outside before we departed to Baltimore for our flight to Fort Lauderdale on Friday morning. After a two and a half hour flight, we were cruising in our rental car to our destination in Miami.

Filled with a delicious meal from a local Cuban restaurant, and after a brisk 4-mile run in 76-degree heat, to Bar Harbour and back, my wife and I made our way to the expo, at the Miami Beach Convention Center.

We met up with John Switzer, our host for the Run and Sea cruise, www.runandsea.com, on which I am one of the seminar speakers in December.

Miami is an international city, and at Friday's expo, signed copies of my book, "Running Shorts," www.runningshortsbook.com, went to runners from Jamaica, the Bahamas, and Trinidad. We met runners from all over the world during our three days in Magic City.

On Saturday, my wife joined 1,500 other runners who competed in the point-to-point Tropical 5K.

Saturday's expo was jammed with thousands of runners. My seminar, "Advice for running into your 60s," was well-attended, and the participants asked some great questions. I hope they all ran successful races on Sunday.

The Miami Marathon began at 6:15 a.m., and during the early stages, it was very dark. The one and one half mile stretch across the MacArthur Causeway was spectacular; the massive cruise ships lined the way as we ran by. As we looped through Miami Beach, I glanced at a time/temperature clock atop a tall building. It read: 7:00 a.m./73 degrees. A little warm for a Yankee from the north. I passed runners with 'Argentina,' Costa Rica,' and 'Venezuela' across their colorful singlets, as we wound our way through the streets.

When we re-entered Miami, around the 11-mile mark, the crowd cheered wildly. I was buoyed by shouts of, "Joe," "Joe," "Joe." After I crossed the finish line of the half marathon, two miles later, I found out that the cheers were led by my wife!

I crossed the finish line in 1:33:33, good enough for 2nd in the age division, and 219th in a field of 14,700. It was my second half marathon is as many weeks, having run the Louisiana Half Marathon in 1:28:00 the week before. All in all, I was pleasantly pleased.

Hats off to Race Director, Dave Scott, who put together a magnificent marathon in Miami. Check out the finishing medals. They are the most unique I've seen in my 36 years of road racing.

Put this one on your bucket list. The Miami Marathon is a first-class, world-class event.