The heat risk was realized. On Saturday night, it was confirmed on the evening news that race day Sunday would be the warmest February 19 in Fort Lauderdale history, with a high of 87 F (31 C) expected. Believe it or not, the Race Director had sent out a ridiculous e-mail earlier Saturday promising unseasonably cold morning temperatures.
My plan was to give ‘er and do the best I could. It was a near certainty the wheels would be coming off at some point as my marathon results reflect declining performance at any temperature above 10 C. My PB pace is 5:11/K (3:38:51) and I planned to run at that pace while it was dark and cool(er) and then see what my remains looked like.
A check of the weather leaving the hotel for the start line at 5:20 A.M. indicated that it was 23 C with 88% humidity. At a slow walk from hotel to the start, it felt OK. But it was a shockingly tough first mile. I wasn’t sure if I could get in even a mile or two at the planned pace but knew I had to give it a shot as the weather would only get more adverse beyond that.
Fortunately I got into a groove within 5K and running in the humidity felt better than at the start. As well as taking multiple cups to drink at each aid stations, I was dumping a cup of water over my head at every station and running through any garden sprinklers spotted on course to keep cool on a preemptive basis.
GPS Splits, 1K to 5K - 5:10, 5:14, 5:10, 5:11, 5:07
Official 5K Split – 25:57 (3:39:00 Pace, 5:11/K) – 135th place of 648
The first 8K took us to sunrise. A wonderfully scenic course could now be seen. Beautiful beaches, trees and a Grateful Dead cover band and tie-dyed aid station at 10K. I tried to stay in a groove, knowing it would only get hotter.
GPS Splits, 6K to 10K - 5:06, 5:01, 5:06, 5:09, 5:07
Official 6.55M Split – 54:19 (3:37:25 Pace, 5:09/K) – 128th place of 648
The Marathon and Half courses split shortly thereafter. This was a confidence boost as I was able to fairly steadily at this point spot slower runners ahead of me and reel them in over the following K. The wheels were not yet off for me through 15K:
GPS Splits, 11K to 15K - 5:04, 5:01, 5:02, 5:00, 5:00
The rest of the opening half was still tolerable. I was on a PB pace (sure to produce nothing) and thanks to a timing mat placed in front of the 13 Mile mark rather than after, I had my fastest measured opening half to a marathon:
GPS Splits, 16K to 21K - 5:07, 5:04, 5:07, 5:09, 5:13, 5:06
Official 13.11M Split – 1:46:41 (3:33:22 Pace, 5:09/K) – 112th place of 648
Estimated Actual (approx. 12.95M) – 1:46:41 (3:36:00 Pace, 5:07/K) – 112th place of 648
GPS Splits, 22K to 25K - 5:08, 5:09, 5:13, 5:13
Beyond 25K, the sun was very bright, the day was now a sauna and the wheels slowly edged off but seemingly at a slower pace than those around me. Beyond 28K I was no longer passing folks as frequently as I had been. The 29th and 30th Ks were slow as stomach upset was coming on quickly, I was just not acclimatized to three hours in the sun. K 32 included a pit stop.
GPS Splits, 26K to 32K - 5:15, 5:17, 5:17, 5:27, 5:26, 5:26, 6:47
Official 19.66M Split – 2:46:16 (3:41:44 Pace, 5:15/K) – 106th place of 648
After the pit stop in the 32nd K, I did not run quick again. My last sub-6 minute K was the 37th, where the Parrot Bar had a Beer Station. They loved that I downed two cups on the run. I could have had more if the station were longer but I was overdone and could not risk breaking stride.
GPS Splits, 33K to 37K - 5:46, 5:44, 5:56, 5:47, 5:58
The last 5K were really tough. This was along the main part of the A1A beach. I ran through any showers left on by beachgoers for a bit of relief:
GPS Splits, 38K to 42.2K - 6:05, 6:13, 6:29, 6:27, 6:07, 2:33 for 0.195K+
Official Result - 3:49:55 (5:27 Pace) – 99th place of 648
This will undoubtedly be the worst conditions I will ever run a marathon in. A proud experience and a great vacation followed. One day the chafing damage will be just a memory.
And here are the medals that we signed up for:
Sounds a bit like the latter half of Chicago 10-10-10 .. 
