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!

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.

The Arc Jacksonville held its 5th annual Running of the Bulls 5K at Intuition Ale Works. This…read moreevent borrows its theme from the famous 'The Running of the Bulls' held each July in Pamplona, Spain. We were chased through the downtown Jacksonville 5K course by the Jacksonville Roller Derby acting as 'Bulls.' Dodge them or get tagged with red paint! It's like getting gored by a bull and bloodied up. Man, dodging them bulls makes the run more exhausting! Beginning and ending at Intuition Ale Works, we were treated to an after party featuring race awards, live music, complimentary food and beer. Hot breakfast with scrambled eggs, BACON!, and biscuits n' gravy. I can't get enough of Maple Street Biscuit Company's yummy cinnamon biscuits. I had to stop at three. My beer of choice - Underdark with coffee. The race was fun especially with my YES! team. Thanks John R. for organizing and creating a team to save us $5 in registration fees. Let's do it again next year!

This is my second year to join Running of the Bulls and the experience was always phenomenal! Great…read moreturnout of people. Volunteers were very helpful and the route was not difficult, although I got tired of dodging the "bulls" Lol! Kudos to them for keeping this event fun and lively! As always we ended up with a beer or mimosa on hand plus a variety of food and a breakfast plate. So much food! Thanks to all of the sponsors! See you again in 2021!

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!

It was early. It was cold. It was raining. We had a great time running in this 5k today. The…read morerunning paths/walkways through the cemetery were packed with runners pretty much throughout the race and everyone was having a great time. The route for this 5k was perfect. Great medals to all finishers. Very organized, especially considering there was a 10k going on at the same time. Can't wait for this one next year!!

Jax Urban Cyclocross is race event that's sponsored and put together by local bike shops. The race…read moreis held at Willow Branch Park where it is taped off into one big biking obstacle course. The event runs through every Thursday each week, on the month of October annually. It caters to all ages and skill level riders. This is one event I love to attend and look forward to every year; the event's proceeds goes towards to benefit certain organizations and local youth teams. And.... it's a fun event. The objective; loop the race course as many times as you can in 45 minutes. You are given a race bib during registration, and there are volunteers that monitors and records each time you pass the completion line. And on the very last week of this race is called "The Halloween Edition", where you have the option to dress up and race in your costume. Now I haven't seen a witch fly on a broom, but I have officially seen witches on bikes now. It's purely a sight to see my pretties.

This Year's annual 5k in San Marco has been postponed til October. So if you're going a little stir…read morecrazy in quarantine, here's an opportunity to stretch your legs & get some fresh air! Stay inside on your treadmill or run around your living room if you'd rather, but Florida's Governor has allowed for exercise outdoors, but remember to utilize Social Distancing guidelines if you do! Start your run (walk, jog, or however you decide) on Saturday April 4th at 5:30. At the end of your 5k, enjoy a nice glass of wine & your favorite chocolates! Make sure to share your pics (before, during and after) on the Yelp Business Page for the Not in San Marco Chocolate and Wine Virtual 5k! I'm hoping each of you is healthy & happy and look forward to seeing you soon! BTW - no participation ribbons or medals :) Pre-Run Warm Up & Post-Run Party on Zoom - message me for info!

Great event! Had lots of fun seeing and catching up with my fav yelper! Too bad I can't check in,…read moresince I'm too far. Anyways love you guys. Thank you for all you do to keep us together