Race Recap: Gate River Run

I’m pretty behind in posting my running recaps, so here is one that I did a couple of weeks ago. On Saturday morning, March 10,2012, I ran in the largest 15k race in the country – the Gate River Run (GRR).  The GRR celebrated it’s 35^th year and I was pretty happy to participate.  This is my second year running this race.  I would say that I enjoyed every minute of it, but I would be lying. Check out my recap of the race below.

The Race:

On the morning of the race, I woke up around 6:30am.  I planned to leave my house at 7pm, but that didn’t happen.  For some reason I had a slow start getting ready despite me lying out my clothes and running gear in the evening.  I ate some of my breakfast while getting ready and the rest in the car.  My breakfast consisted of 2 hard-boiled eggs and a slice of peanut butter toast.    My commute to the race location was a little dicey – there was lots of traffic, a major car accident and no parking.  Despite the morning hiccups, I was able to make it to the start line with about 15 minutes to spare.  One reason that I was able to get to the start line pretty quickly is because I qualified for a seeded position.  The race organizers roped off the first 5,000 starting positions for seeded runners.  This group also included the elite runners who were positions in the first 300 slots.  After the elite runners, the remaining 5,000 runners were corralled according to each runner’s times in designated qualifying events.  Behind the seeded runners, the rest of the runners positions from the 8m/m to the 12 m/m paces.  It was pretty cool being up front because I didn’t have to weave in and out through a huge crowd.  The race organizers also staggered the start times for all of the sections.  I heard that some people didn’t cross the start line until 13 minutes after the race started. 

Anyways, the weather was pretty perfect on race day until we got to the “green monster”(aka the Hart Bridge).  The weather was pretty cloudy during the race and it was about 65 degrees.  I love running in cool weather because my body gets so hot when I run.  The course started near the Jacksonville Jaguar stadium and we proceeded towards the heart of downtown Jacksonville.  We pasted the courthouse and turned a couple of blocks before we headed over the Main Street Bridge.  The rest of the route took us through historic San Marco, down Atlantic Blvd and through various residential neighborhoods until we got to the Hart Bridge and then back to the stadium.  I tried to keep a steady pace during the entire race to conserve some of my energy for the last mile and a half.  At the base of the Hart Bridge, I made sure to get some water and I took a deep breath before I tackled monster.  I started to take pictures and then decided that I need to focus on getting to the top of the bridge.  Once I made it to the top, the descent was pretty easy because it was close to the finish line.  I ran as fast as I could to make up for the time I lost going up the bridge.  I was pretty happy the race was over once I made it to the finish line.

Before I tell you my time, I want to highlight all of the wonderful people that make up this race.  Every year, the spectators come out in full force to cheer on their favorite runners.  It’s great to have so much support during this long 9+mile race – thanks so much.  In the residential areas, there are spectators that hand out cold beer, fresh fruit, ice pops and I even saw someone handing out bacon.  I know crazy right?  This year, I ended up grabbing an orange wedge and an ice pop for some extra energy.   The runners are pretty interesting too.  People get all dressed up in various matching outfits and costumes.  There was even a local firefighter running group that ran in full gear.  I don’t know how they did it.  I’m pretty sure I would have passed out after the first 3 miles.  A special thanks goes out to all of the volunteers and the local bands and musicians that play freely throughout the course near water stations/rest areas.  This race is also very well organized and there was a great post race celebration for everyone.  Kudos to the GRR organizers – this was an awesome race.  I’m definitely looking forward to running in this race again next year.

My Stats:

There were 16,357 total race finishers for the 15k and 8,496 female finishers/7861 male finishers.   My official chip time and gun time were the same 1:34:07 (unfortunately, my chip didn’t register at the start of the race) and my splits were: 5k: 30:38 and 10k: 1:02:06.  My time would have been better if my chip would have registered, but oh well – it is what it is.  On another note, I’m really happy that I beat my time from last year.   Do any of you have any races coming up in the near future?  Check out my running page for my upcoming races and race recaps. 

xoxo Natasha