Marathon, Florida

Marathon is a city in the middle of the Florida Keys, in Monroe County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 9,689,

The Keys historian Dan Gallager in his book Florida's Great Ocean Railway credits New York playwright Witter Bynner for naming Marathon. According to Gallager, J.R. Parrott, then Florida East Coast Railway's president and General Manager, invited Brynner to the Keys to "plot stations for the railroad". When asked to generate a name for the station at Key Vaca, Brynner proposed "Marathon", inspired by the following passage from Byron: "The mountains look on Marathon—and Marathon looks on the sea."

Hurricane Irma

Marathon experienced significant damage from the September 10, 2017, U.S. landfall of Hurricane Irma. One of the earliest casualties of the storm was a man who died in a school shelter. Marathon was one of the earliest spots in the Keys to receive transport of needed supplies to deal with the aftermath of Irma. The Air National Guard landed two C-130 transport planes every two hours beginning on the morning of September 11.

Geography

Marathon occupies a series of keys (islands) near the middle of the Florida Keys. Via U.S. Route 1, it is northeast of Key West and southwest of Key Largo. To the south or southeast lies Hawk Channel, a popular passage for vessels traveling along the Keys.

The city boundaries extend from the east end of the Seven Mile Bridge (Mile Marker 47) to the west end of Tom's Harbor Bridge (Mile Marker 61), excluding that portion of the area within the city limits of Key Colony Beach. Among the islands within the city limits are Boot Key, Knight's Key, Hog Key, Vaca Key, Stirrup Key, Crawl Key, Little Crawl Key, East and West Sister's Island, Deer Key, Fat Deer Key (excluding the portion in Key Colony Beach), Long Point Key, and Grassy Key. The Marathon Publix and the United States Post Office for Marathon (zipcode 33050) are near the stop light on the Overseas Highway (US 1) for Sombrero Beach Road at Mile Marker (MM) 50 which is the major business district for Marathon and is about halfway between Key Largo and Key West.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which are land and , or 8.97%, are water.

Boot Key Harbor is a natural body of water between Boot Key and Key Vaca, entirely within the Marathon city limits.

Climate

Marathon has a tropical savanna climate (Aw in the Köppen and Trewartha climate classifications). There is no record of snow/frost/freeze in Marathon. Like much of Florida and the Florida Keys, Marathon has two seasons; a hot and wet season from May through October, and a warm and dry season from November through April.

Demographics

Racial and ethnic composition

{| class="wikitable"

|+Marathon racial composition<br> (Hispanics excluded from racial categories)<br> (NH = Non-Hispanic)<br>

!Race

!Pop 2010

!Pop 2020

!% 2010

!% 2020

|White (NH)

|5,508

|6,058

|66.39%

|62.52%

|Black or African American (NH)

|357

|365

|4.30%

|3.77%

|Native American or Alaska Native (NH)

|25

|16

|0.30%

|0.17%

|Asian (NH)

|90

|84

|1.08%

|0.87%

|Pacific Islander or Native Hawaiian (NH)

|0.02%

|0.06%

|Some other race (NH)

|26

|0.02%

|0.27%

|Two or more races/Multiracial (NH)

|89

|230

|1.07%

|2.37%

|Hispanic or Latino (any race)

|2,224

|2,904

|26.80%

|29.97%

|Total

|8,297

|9,689

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, Marathon had a population of 9,689. The median age was 49.8 years. 15.3% of residents were under the age of 18 and 23.3% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females, there were 105.1 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 103.8 males age 18 and over.

91.8% of residents lived in urban areas, while 8.2% lived in rural areas.

There were 4,285 households in Marathon, of which 22.4% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 44.3% were married-couple households, 22.8% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 22.5% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 28.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. There were 6,427 housing units, of which 33.3% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 3.9% and the rental vacancy rate was 12.1%.

2010 census

As of the 2010 United States census, there were 8,297 people, 3,755 households, and 2,247 families residing in the city.

2000 census

As of the census

Religion

Churches

Calvary Baptist Church
Church of Christ
First Baptist Church
Jehovah's Witnesses Kingdom Hall
Kirk of the Keys (Covenant Order Evangelical Presbyterian-ECO)
Marathon Baptist Church
Marathon Church of God
Marathon Community United Methodist Church
Marathon Seventh Day Adventist
Martin Luther Chapel
New Life Assembly of God
Saint Paul A.M.E Church
San Pablo Catholic Church
St Columba Episcopal Church
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Economy

thumb|upright|Faro Blanco Lighthouse

Marathon is a major sport fishing destination, with several charter fishing boats departing from local marinas every morning to both the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. Bountiful reefs around Marathon make it a popular diving, snorkeling, spearfishing, and lobster tickling area. One of the last untouched tropical hardwood hammocks in the Keys is found at Crane Point Museum, just a few miles west of Florida Keys Marathon Airport. The vicinity of the airport is one of the most reliable sites in the United States to see the hard-to-find Antillean nighthawk. As in the rest of the Keys in summer, gray kingbirds are often seen on telephone wires along US 1 and black-whiskered vireos incessantly sing in the hammocks. Marathon also hosts burrowing owls.

The Fisherman's Hospital is in the west end of the city. It is one of just three hospitals in the Florida Keys. Marathon is home to another "hospital", The Turtle Hospital, one of a handful of facilities in the United States that rescue, rehabilitate, and release injured sea turtles.

Marathon derives much of its livelihood from the ocean and seafood is a staple at most restaurants.

Marathon has the tallest building in the Keys, Bonefish Tower at on Coco Plum, as well as Sombrero Country Club, the Keys' only country club. It was damaged by several recent hurricanes.

Arts and culture

Library

A branch of the Monroe County Public Library System is located in Marathon. The current library was completed in 2021 and has several state of the art features relative to the previous library on the island.

Education

Residents are zoned to schools in the Monroe County School District.

Schools

Stanley Switlik Elementary (K–5 center)
Marathon Middle/High School
Martin Luther Children's Day School
Kreative Kids Christian Academy

Transportation

Highways

Marathon is served by U.S. Highway 1, known locally as the Overseas Highway. The Overseas Highway extends westward, connecting Marathon with Key West. To the northeast, the Overseas Highway connects Marathon to Homestead and Miami.

Airport

Marathon is served by the Florida Keys Marathon Airport .

Mass transit

Metrobus Route 301 (Dade-Monroe Express) carries riders back-and-forth from Marathon with a stop near MM 50 and the Publix store to a stop near Walmart in Florida City, with additional stops at Islamorada, Tavernier, and Key Largo.

Key West Transit connects Marathon with Key West.

Greyhound Lines buses run east and west from Marathon twice a day, stopping at the Marathon Airport.

Notable people

Tony Bryant, former NFL player
Gary Burghoff, Radar from the TV series M*A*S*H
Nick Carter, Backstreet Boys member
Clarence Clemons, E Street Band saxophonist
Stanley Switlik, parachuting pioneer
Max Yasgur, Woodstock's farmer legend