The Key Biscayne Half Marathon Runs Crandon Park This Sunday

Sunday morning the island goes quiet for the runners. The Key Biscayne Half Marathon returns to Crandon Park on April 12, using the park's shaded loop roads and oceanfront stretches to build what might be the most scenic 13.1 miles in South Florida. The course hugs the beach for long sections, cuts through the mangroves, and sends runners back along Crandon Boulevard with Biscayne Bay on one side and the island's signature banyans on the other.

The race has grown every year without ever losing its local feel — a community start line, a finish arch built each year by volunteers, and a post-race food tent with coconut water and pastelitos from a Cuban bakery on the mainland. For the runners, the pull is the course. For the island, it's the weekend where the slower pace of Key Biscayne sets the tone for the entire event.

If you're going to watch: park along the inner loops of Crandon Park and walk to the course, or bike the boulevard and cheer from the bay side. The best spectator spot is the turn-around near the lighthouse, where the field bunches up and the runners catch the trade wind full in the face.

Sources: Key Biscayne Portal events, Miami and Beaches - Key Biscayne