I qualified last January in Miami. I needed to be under 3:25 and came in at 3:22:32. Never intended to do that. Everyone said to expect it to be hot and humid and thats what I planned for. Our winter up here in the north east was mild and Miami ended up being 45 - 50 degrees which made for perfect conditions. That said I was concerned it wouldnt be good enough but everything ive read says that all the major BQ feeder races have less than 50% qualifying than years past do to the heat and the cut off time will be lowered.

For me, the lesson learned is to never again sign up for a marathon in the fall if I want to actually race it. You can't get quality training done over the summer if you live in the South.

What do you mean by "the cut-off time will be lowered."?

The logic here is that fewer people BQed at all this year than in the past due to prevailing weather conditions. Therefore people with relatively slower times have more slots available to them.

There are only but so many slots available and the fastest people get those slots. This year there being relatively fewer "faster" people allows for a lower cutoff time.

I guess it makes sense on the surface. We will find out for sure in a few weeks once registration opens.