Chris Knox's Staging Area

This race was so well-produced! Communication leading up to the race was incredible, including a virtual race guide. Despite offering 3 race options and a large number of participants, packet pickup was highly efficient. Adding to the experience, the expo was held in a fully decorated city park.
Hilly courses are rare in Florida, adding a bit of difficulty, especially the uphill start. It then brings runners through a neighborhood, culminating with a downhill finish.
In addition to a soft tshirt and finisher medal, complimentary photos of the start, finish, and on course were made available within hours of the event!

First year for this race, which an extension of the Wine Run series. Beautiful cross country course on the grounds of the farm, with a couple wooden bridge crossings and view of horses and ponds. Hard cider (in souvenir glass) and apple cider donuts at the finish line were delicious!
My only suggestion is to have a separate award for the top 3 overall finishers. I finished second overall and just received a small pin for my age group. Otherwise, well done, and I will likely return.

Decided to run this one for fun (but still ended up placing) and I’m glad I did! Everything was well organized and the race director was great about communication leading up to the event. Even with their highest participation so far, the food tents worked smoothly, without backups. The food was delicious! This year’s selection included arepas and perico, blackened chicken pasta, deep dish pizza, and quesitos. Nice tech shirt and a fun medal!

Jacksonville loves this race! Crowd support is amazing, with people cheering from their driveways and offering all sorts of snacks and drinks.
Picked up my packet the night before the race at the well organized expo to save time in the morning, which I was thankful for, as parking the morning of the race was a nightmare. Parking is free, but the traffic to get in (even an hour prior to the start) was crazy, and made worse by road closures and detours.
Once you’re in, corrals are well organized. Course can get clogged with runners in some corrals, but I qualified for one of the front ones and had plenty of space throughout the race. Crowd support helps, as there is not much to look at along the course. Bridges add some difficulty.
Post-race party could be fun, if it was better organized. The line for a free beer was a mile long, and food was sparse, so we passed on it. Grabbed a bottle of chocolate milk and went to breakfast elsewhere.

I have run this race all three years and it never disappoints! First off, the race director makes sure everyone feels welcome and has fun by circulating the crowd, chatting with participants prior to the race and injecting humor into the pre-race briefing.
The course starts off flat for the first couple miles, then gets really hilly! Well, at least as hilly as things get in Florida 🙂 Beautiful scenery throughout the course to distract runners from the difficulty. Mostly single track, with a few wider sections.
Real food at the finish line! This year, it was freshly prepared (onsite) bacon and egg burritos. Fun wooden finisher medals and trophies featuring “Momma”, who gets more fit each year..

Fun race with options for how to compete. Runners can participate in the standard 5K or complete the Donut Challenge, requiring them to eat 12 donut holes at the halfway point. Afterparty was one of the best I have experienced, with pizza, more donuts, drinks, and the opportunity to try Fowling (bowling with a football). Fun donut-themed medal for all finishers.