The Gate River Run is Jacksonville's most popular race. This was my first year running it, and I had an awesome time and would recommend it to anyone looking for a race to run.

The race starts outside of EverBank Field, so there is plenty of parking available at the start. The layout at the start was pretty clear for corrals, although I did get lost looking for the very tiny bag check area.

I would suggest registering very early for this race. I was in the "Gray Zone" which is just behind the seeded corrals. Even though the corrals go off in different waves, there was a lot of bottlenecking for most of the course. I wasn't looking for a PR though, so it didn't really bother me.

The course is a good challenge, especially if you're like me and you never do hill training. You go over two bridges - the Main Street Bridge after the first mile, and then you end with the Hart Bridge. The course goes through different neighborhoods, and there is a lot of great crowd support. This year I saw people grilling and giving out sausages, kids giving out ice pops, and women with hoses to cool off the runners.

Swag is good. For your registration fee, you get a really nice tshirt, medal, and a beer glass courtesy of Gate with the race logo on it. It's a must if you live in Jacksonville!