Jacksonville’s River Run

My brother and I ran the River Run one time.  That was back in the day when I had sandy blonde hair without grey strands.There is no forgetting that the most difficult place in the run for me was the Hart Bridge.  Yes, the one with a 140-foot vertical climb over the St. Johns River.   It was on that bridge that Pat literally pushed me up the bridge towards a successful finish. The 2026 announcer at the starting gate reminded the thousands of runners at the Shipyards area about this difficult lasts leg of the run.

The Gate River Run, which it is now officially called, is a 15-kilometer run first held in 1978.  At this writing, there are more than 20,000 runners who participate in this huge event. In 2026, the day before the run, Race Roster posted these words: “River Run events are SOLD OUT . Thank you”. 

Being wildly popular, the annual River Run is  one that attracts competitive and fun-runners.  Since 2007, it has been the largest 15-k run in the country.  That is something to be proud of for Jacksonville, the 10th most populous city at this time in the United States. 

The Jacksonville Track Club (now JTC Running)  is credited to having established the River Run 15,000,  with the first sponsor as the Florida Publishing Company.  At that time, the FPC published The Florida Times-Union and the Jacksonville Journal. Early records show the organizers met first at theYMCA and before long this run was a literal go.

Over the years, the run has gained momentum and today it stands as a premier running event for many world athelets and fun-runners alike. The early expectations for the first 1978 run was over a thousand participants but it ended up with at least 2, 800 entries.  In 2013 there were over 17,000 runners. The day before the race in 2026, it took some participants over an hour to get down San Jose Blvd to the place set up to sign in and get their bib numbers. in Mandarin where the River Run Expo was set people from all over traveled to up to sign in and pick up their bib numbers, get some freebies from vendors and even shop a little at the in-house store set up just for this event.  More runners had signed up than ever before in the race.

At this writing, the top men finish the race in about 45 minutes while women follow with some 51- 55 minutes. The rewards are many: personal satisfaction, a t-shirt, ribbon, medal and top runners get cash awards.  

In my younger years, I was so happy to participate in runs and have many bibs to prove it.  This year, I walked through the River Run expo rewarding myself with pens, pencils, key chains and other freebies from the event sponsors.  It was a great walk through the expo. I was also happy to watch others run on race day.  

See you tomorrow,

Nan