I swore I would not run this race again after traveling down from Maryland in 2015 and having the…read morerace cancelled in the middle of it. I found later someone passed during the race. I decided to sign up for this year's race since I now live in Atlanta and my cousin's run it every year. This year's race was much better organized as the stations were plentiful and the course really amazing. The organizers really did an outstanding job all the way around. I am taking one star off because out of all the Rock N Races I have run, the music sucked for this race. Besides that, I have no complaints and am looking forward to running this marathon again next year.

I liked this race a lot. It helped that the weather was beautiful on race day. The course was…read morenice and flat and went through a lot of beautiful areas of town (and some kind of industrial areas). There were a ton of positives about the event...the starting corrals seemed to be well managed, the volunteers were incredible, I loved all the bands and the people along the course were so friendly and supportive. The festival after the race was great. Forsyth Park was a beautiful spot and it was so fun to sit in the sun and listen to the band at the end. I had no problem finding my friends at the Family Reunion area and I got my bag pretty quickly. There were a couple of things that could improve the event. Shorter lines at the beer tent would be one! The other thing was the bib pickup. Having that across the river seemed like a nice idea but those ferry boats were incredibly inefficient. They were running them as fast as they could but with the volume of people on Friday, I had to wait a half hour to get on a boat to go there then even longer to get on a boat to come back. To be honest, when I'm visiting a city I don't want to spend an hour in line waiting for a boat. I'd rather be seeing the sights and spending money in the host city. Also, the exit for the expo was poorly marked inside the convention center. I know they want you to visit the booths but it was in the back corner and it was poorly marked. If you tried to go out another way they wouldn't let you. If they could work the bib pickup kink out, then this would be a five star event for sure.

Who doesn't love wine and chocolates? Over 1,500 runners were in attendance with proceeds…read morebenefitting the ongoing beautification of San Marco. The course ran in and around the beautiful San Marco neighborhood and finished with an awesome wine and chocolate after party in the Square. Instead of a finisher medal, you get a wine glass which we used for two wine pours. I had the red wine and bubbly. They also had white wine, but the line was too long. And lots of chocolate covered strawberries and small packets of chocolate covered popcorn from Peterbrooke Chocolatier. Yummo! It was hot, but Mother Nature cooperated. It started raining well after the race. Thank goodness! The Yelp Jacksonville runners continue to grow so who else want to join us?

It was a hot and humid day but thank goodness it didn't rain during the run! Forecast a few days…read morebefore the race was 50% showers! We were told that there will be limited parking so we arrived less than 2 hours before the race. A significant number of runners were already there but It was a well organized event to raise funds for San Marco. The neighborhood was beautiful and the residents were wonderfully cheering on us while we ran! It was very encouraging and motivated us more. After the run, we were treated with bubbly, red and white wine, Peterbrook's chocolate covered popcorn, vanilla, strawberries and chocolate ice creams. My favorite would be the chocolate covered strawberries! Like John R., I had one too many lol. Thank you to the organizers! Great event for a good cause!

Gate River Run (GRR) is a fun filled, "Bucket List" type event. The event draws thousands upon…read morethousands of people from all over the US and even from other countries. While I've ran many 5K's ... GRR was three times of a 5K distance. I participated for the first time along with a group of first timers in 2018. And together, we conquered the event to the very end. It's definitely no cake walk (is "cake run" a word???). If you are planning on signing up for GRR, my only suggestions would be: ** Try to not do it alone. Sign up with other people that will motivate you along the way. Have at least one buddy that will help you get to the very end. It definitely has helped me. ** Stay hydrated through the course of the week leading to the event. ** AND...stretch, stretch, stretch, stretch....this helps ALOT. Other than that, get ready to run/walk/hop/crawl/ChaChaSlide or whatever it takes to make it to that Finish Line. The first 6.2 Miles (equivalent to 10K) is not so bad. And throughout the course of your run, you will encounter live bands playing, street cheerers, as well as multiple Water Break stations. Each Mile is well marked along with a timer so you will know your current progress. On the 8th Mile, you'll encounter "The Green Monster" aka The Hart Bridge. This is about the same time your legs are about to give in, calves screaming, lungs burning. And you still have to run up The Green Monster. It's not fun, but once you are on the bridge, it definitely feels like you're on top of Mount Kilimanjaro. From there, going down from that bridge gets easier, just let the downhill momentum of that bridge take your body all the way to the Finish Line. I'm still contemplating about signing up for Gate River Run 2020. For me personally, the problem I have is commitment... because The GRR, The Dirty Pecan (A Road & Gravel bike event held in Monticello, FL ) and The Fat Tire Festival (a famous MTB event held annually in Ocala, FL) are all held..ON..THE..SAME..DAY..OF..EVERY..YEAR. Grrrrrrr!!! #DecisionsDecisions

Jacksonville has so much more to offer than meets the eye. Each year we are hosts to a premiere…read moregolf event - The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass, the Worlds Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party at the Florida-Georgia Game, and the National Championship 15k Race known as the Gate River Run! This is an absolutely spectacular event with world class runners competing each year. Our beautiful city is showcased as the course snakes it's way through the Cathedral District downtown, across the St Johns River via the Main Street Bridge, into San Marco with its beautiful river views, through the canopied streets of St Nicholas, over the Big Green Monster (better known as the Hart Bridge) and culminating in the Stadium District at The Bank! What a gorgeous course. But what makes this course even better is the citizens of Jacksonville that lined the streets - cheering us along, offering drinks & treats! Approximately every 3/4 of a mile, there were bands playing. This did so much to lift my spirits & help me push to finish! I'm glad there are 364 days to rest & prepare - but I'm very much looking forward to be a part of this great event again & again!

December 20, 2020 I…read morestarted my day early, woke up at 4:30am and got changed for the race at my hotel at the Ramada Inn. Met my buddy in the hotel lobby next door at the Embassy Suites at 5:45am and follow him in my car to the start of the race at Bowels High School. We got there 10 minutes later, found good parking spots, and had plenty of time warm up. Two mile warm up followed by drills with 10 minutes before the bell. The race, which consisted of both the half marathon and 5k, had 700+ participants, 7 waves. Everyone was wearing masks at the start and in the 1st wave block they had set up soccer cones that were socially distanced to stand near. The waves didn't all begin at once's. Race participants standing by their cones nearest the starting line stared first, and 5 seconds later the next group would go off. The race began at 7am. And there was no mad rush to get around anyone. It was quite orderly, and during the race I slowly picked off some of the people who had started in front of me. The course was mostly flat and fast. In the final two miles I noticed a little bit of drizzle but thankfully it did not rain harder. As I passed the 5k finishing area, I still had toothed a 10 miles to run. Alas, it was worth it. I managed to hang on to a near 6 minute mile pace for my first half marathon under 80 minutes (1:19:24) which was a new personal record. I enjoyed finishing on the Bowles High School track. At the finish, all staff were wearing masks and I was able to get a free mask as well. I didn't hang around, quickly got changed into dry clothes, picking up my award from the awards table, there was no awards ceremony which was fine. I went back to my hotel, showered and made the 5 hour drive back home.

Fast, mostly clean, fun track! I have participated in my track days on my R1, GSXR 600, and RX-7…read more The RRR staff is always professional and on point. The track could probably use some re-paving and some more amenities could be added to bring it up to the levels of other local tracks. But if you come prepared with a tent and tools, you'll have one of the best track days of your life. Well, at least until Hutchison Island opens back up. RRR is a fast and fun track that will test you and put a smile on your face!

Ok, so I just recently stepped foot on Roebling's straight-a-way and I couldn't wait to review it…read more This place is a lot different than most of the other tracks in the SE. The location is just outside of a neighborhood and in a very private suburb of Savannah. The track is narrower than say, a Barber of Road Atlanta, but wide enough. The surface is actually very nice and not too bad on tires, but can get slick on the edges due to the sand in the area. The front straight is super fast and turn 1 takes some serious getting use to before you really learn how fast you can actually tip in. The grounds are very well laid out and well kept. Their's power all over the place so generators aren't really necessary. You have to pit in the sandy grass so be sure to bring a rug and some chairs when you come. I love the track and cannot wait to race on it again.

First of all, I walked lol but it was great…read more Almost 2000 people were signed up for the event and it felt like most of them had shown up at 6 to get a good spot near the starting line. Pulling in that early in the morning AND while it's still dark is spooky to me. 1st Place Sports were signing people up and handing out water and bananas the whole time. There was also a flavored ice truck for the kiddies. The porta-potty lines were extremely long but it seemed like the line furthest from the starting line was shorter and moved faster. Walkers were in the back and there was a lot of us. The rest of my party were going to be running so I was by myself and that was fine. I was out of shape for steady walking and haven't done it since the car accident so if I can do this then there's still hope for me. The cemetery is very old and well kept. Pumpkins were lining the running path for the 5K and 10 mile folks and there's plenty of signage telling you where to go so you don't get lost. Some of the walkers started jogging some to get ahead of the casual walkers. I just played some music with a good walking/striding pace the whole time and was able to finish under an hour. I was so tired afterwards. Now that I know I can do it I might do some more if they seem fun.

Great run! I'm so happy to have gotten into running! These…read moreevents are a great way to get some exercise but also it's a big party! This Run is set in a beautiful cemetery downtown, old trees line the nice pathways, for the run they marked the course with pumpkins all along the 5k or 10 mile run! This was by far the biggest/ most popular run I have done with around 2 thousand people! Surprisingly it wasn't too crowded, after the first 1/2 mile you had space to run freely. Afterward they had bagels and bananas to eat, vendors were there to talk or try their services, everyone who finished got a metal and pint glass, all around a great run and fun morning! Will def look for this run again next year!

They may know a crap ton of stuff about running, but all three times my wife and I walked in, they…read morewere so involved with what ever conversations that were going on the we barely were given a nod. Our visits were done over the July 8, 2024 visit. Ended up purchasing off island.

Needed to grab some running shoes today on track w my workouts while on business travel. Great…read moreselection of shoes and accessories. Super helpful staff. Very highly recommend.

My wife and I run this race yearly. Each runner receives a cool looking technical shirt (teal and…read moreblack this year) and a custom designed fisher medal. This annual Jaguars 5K Stadium Challenge supports the Jacksonville Jaguars Foundation and local youth sports programs. The run includes a unique course both inside and outside TIAA Bank Field. Participants will run around the stadium, up and down the ramps, and finish by crossing the football field. The video boards showed a live feed of runners running across the field! After the race, a drink stub attached to our race babe entitled each runner to a free beer available to participants 21+ only or water or soda. Fun race, but it's so hot in the PM. Run Waves to choose from during registration: 6:30 PM: 5K Walker Wave 6:45 PM: One Mile Fun Run 7:00 PM: 5K Stroller Wave - Just for Fun 7:15 PM: Corporate Team 5K 7:30 PM: Competitive Division 7:45 PM: Just for Fun 5K 8:00 PM: Under the Lights 5K - Just for Fun