Jacksonville Marathon

Great marathon! 50 state marathoner here, the weather was perfect and the course was flat and wound through lovely suburban neighborhoods with gorgeous homes on shady tree lined streets. Website and online info was practically non-existent, you had to just wing it and hope for the best. No course map online, no directions to the starting line or advice for parking. Boo!

If you want a flat race, this one is for you! Packet pick-up was easy, and the gym was a nice, dry place to wait. I appreciated that the gun went off right on time. The first 5K is an out and back on a main road, followed by a course that's completely on roads through the suburbs. The tree-lined roads are nice, and some of the homes are beautiful, but I was hoping for at least a glimpse of the city and the water. Neither are part of this race. I stayed at the host hotel and used the bus transportion, which was nice. Overall, if you want flat, fast, and low-key, this is a great race. If you want a city race with spectators, this one is not for you.

First timer, so take this with a grain of salt or salt tablet. Whatever you prefer.. :) The start was simultaneous with 5K, half and full runners. I got to run a mile or so with my wife, so that was nice. The course was very flat. Almost to the point I wanted some challenging hills. You got to run through some neighborhoods and see some nice houses. The aid stations were awesome! They had people cheering you on and giving out water, gatorade and at the later aid stations Gu's. One of the aid stations had some folks singing. I mean how can you not smile when folks are cheering you on and singing. One note. Get there early! Parking is a mad house. We ended up getting there fairly early and got a decent parking spot. Traffic is pretty bad, so a word to the wise, get there early. Overall a good race. I'd do it again. Just wish they had beer at the finish line. I improvised and brought a small cooler.