Miami Beach Freaky 4-Miler Race Experience
Race #2 of the weekend was the Miami Beach Freaky 4-Miler. In previous years I’ve done the Halloween half marathon, but I made the choice to run the 4-miler instead based on a busy day working the Vacation Races expo and running the Everglades 5K the evening before this race. Just because I can run a half marathon doesn’t mean I should, right? I’ll come right out and say that I made the best decision for myself by choosing the 4-miler over the half marathon; I think running a half marathon, even with beautiful weather, would have made me a grumpy runner. Keep on reading for my experience with the 2022 edition of the Freaky 4-Miler.
Accommodations
Another local race for me as the race took place on Miami Beach. I love being able to go through my normal routine from the comfort of my home.
Expo
I didn’t make it to the packet pickup for this race as none of the locations were convenient for me and my schedule the week of the race. The race did offer pickup locations throughout Miami and Fort Lauderdale though. While my friend picked up my bib and t-shirt for me prior to the race, there was packet pickup the morning of the race.
Pre-Race
Beautiful weather in Miami meant that pre-race was spent enjoying being outside and near the water. I didn’t get a warmup (beyond the usual activation moves I do) in because I wanted to watch the half marathon runners take off for their race. There were plenty of bathrooms near the start area, but they were dark as they were placed in a part of the parking lot that had no outside lighting.
Tip: arrive at the race early so that you can get street parking. Street parking is free between the hours of 3am and 9am. I arrived around 5:30am and was able to get street parking three blocks from the start line (a 5-minute walk).
Post-Race
This is probably the most interesting post-race set up I’ve ever seen: there was the usual fare of fruits; there were also sweets, like cookies and Rice Krispy treats; and, finally, there were hotdogs. I couldn’t stop laughing when I smelled hotdog and realized that they were handing hot dogs out to desiring runners. As a vegetarian this didn’t appeal to me, but I definitely appreciated the variety in post-race food for the runners.
On the Course
The 4-mile course was a beautiful one with water views, beach views, sunrise views, and a stretch of race down Ocean Drive. My biggest issue with this race was that there was work being done on the path in the first half mile of the race that left big gaps (maybe 8-12 inches?) in the sidewalk at about 15-20-feet intervals. I noticed quickly but there were a few runners that didn’t see the gaps in the path and tripped or got their feet caught in the gaps. I’m not sure if the race director/staff knew about this beforehand, but I feel like some kind of announcement should have been made so that runners knew about hazards in the path.
Aside from that, there were three different water stops along the course that were well supported. I didn’t notice too many spectators on the course itself, but it was nice to see runners cheering other runners on near the finish line and along the finisher’s chute.
Race Experience
We were spoiled with incredible weather during this race. It was 60s with a cool breeze and humidity was in the 70s percentile. I love these local races because I get to see so many familiar faces and I was lucky enough to get to run the race with two of those faces. My goal was to enjoy the miles and I did just that by following the intervals (9:1) my friend was doing. Between the weather and the pace, I felt like I was cruising in runner heaven.
As I said earlier, the course itself is beautiful and a wonderful representation of South Beach. For me, however, the course was short: my Garmin tracked 3.9 miles. As I expressed in my recap of the Vacation Races Everglades 5K, the “off-ness” of the distance didn’t bother me as I wasn’t racing this specific distance for time.
Overall Impression
This was a fun race made fun because the weather was delightful, the company was wonderful, the costumes were entertaining, and the course was beautiful. I’ve never done the Freaky 4-Miler before, so I would definitely recommend this race for those who like shorter distances or those who are not interested in running the half marathon.
Pros
Local race for me.
Multiple pickup locations, including race day pickup.
6:30am start for half marathoners and 6:45am start for 4-milers with races starting right on time.
I personally love seeing the half marathoners start before the 4-milers.
Beautiful and well-supported course for the 4-mile race.
Start and finish in the same spot.
Plenty of runners with great costumes; you never feel like you are running alone.
Plenty of bathrooms with little to no wait.
Fun Halloween themed finisher’s medal.
When weather is great, this race is great. On warmer days, this course would be more of a challenge because there is little shade coverage.
Race photographers were plentiful in the start/finish area.
Getting cheered on by fellow runners is always a pro.
If you get there early enough, close and convenient parking
Parking is free before 9am.
Cons
The gaps in the path in that first half mile of the race. I know the race directors cannot control when work gets done on the path, but some kind of announcement should have been made about conditions on the course.
Course was short for me.
I didn’t notice many spectators along the course.
You do share parts of the course with runners and walkers not participating in the race.
For those of you who like the numbers, my official time for a 4-miler was was 44:38 (my watch logged 3.90 miles). Between the overage with the Everglades 5K and this race’s shortage, I’m pretty close to having run exact distances for both!
Next up for me is the MIA Runway 5K on Saturday, October 29th. Aside from that, more miles and more smiles ahead.
