March 1, 2025 8:10AM
Jacksonville, FL
After doing 5 consecutive week of training without races, Gate River Run would be the first major test, and longer race of the Boston block. In January, there was plenty of time for excuses - I was still in the early stages of training, but now being nearly halfway to Boston, there would definitely be cause for concern if I couldn't run the pace I wanted. After weeks of fretting about potentially terrible race weather ruining a good opportunity, race weekend rolled around and the weather was looking about as good as it gets for Jacksonville: low 50s and minimal wind. A very different story than suffering here in mid-70s in 2023.
This race falls at a nice time and fit well into my Boston block two weeks ahead of the New York City half and 7 weeks prior to Boston. After 30 (?) consecutive years as serving as the USATF 15K championship, it was not a US champs this year as the Atlanta Half Marathon would be the US Half champs the following day. I figured the race would be slightly less competitive than usual but the prestige of the event, combined with a high prize purse would still draw strong fields.
I hadn't put much thought into what I wanted to run here as I was mostly focused on the NYC Half and Boston Marathon. I didn't even really know what a good 15K time would be. My result from 2 years ago - 53:18 would not give me much guidance as both weather and fitness would be significantly better this time around. It would be a horrible day if I could not beat that. I decided sub-49 would be a good target - this would average out to 16:20 per 5K, or 5:15/mile. I wasn't sure if this was too aggressive: I had run a 10K PR of 32:40 in January, and this would require I hold that pace for an additional 5K. But given I had 7 weeks of extra training past that, that course was a little harder, and I raced consistently very well in all my races this year I had some confidence that I could go for it. If not for such a strong last two months, I may have been shooting for 50 flat here, a more reasonable 5:21 which is about my half marathon PR pace.
The weather wasn't the only thing different from my experience here 2 years ago. First, my travel day went much easier. Two years ago plane delays caused me to barely make the expo, then the dinner delivery took an hour later than anticipated when I just wanted to go to bed. Things were pretty smooth this time around. The other change was that the start and finish were slightly different than last time, there seem to be small changes for that each year but the majority of the course remains the same. Race morning didn't start out great as I had some bad stomach issues and was on the toilet for a quite bit, but like other races where this has happened it was pretty much resolved an hour out from the race. Did the usual multi-part warm-up, running a mile or two from the hotel, then the remaining distance to the start. It's kind of awkward carrying a bag/shoes while running.
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| Course Map for 2025 |
Unlike some other races, Gate River is extremely well organized and there are few things to worry about. Zero bag check line and short bathroom lines made the experience stress free. Andrew and I jogged around the parking to find a place to do some strides, before heading back to the start. The corrals had bathrooms next to them that only the athletes in those corrals could use. They delayed the start 10 minutes due to a car crash on the course so I just sat on the curb until 10 minutes to go, did a few light dynamic stretches, and walked into the corral maybe 7 or 8 minutes before. This race not only has an elite field, but also has a separate corral for the top 250 bibs, so it's really easy to line up near the front. Saw Andy Wacker and some other pros lined up in front.
I didn't have much of a plan other than to run 5:15s. The race went out pretty hard as there were so many fast runners here and it's pretty flat other than the final hill. I just matched the people around me as I went out quite aggressively. Settled in somewhat by half a mile, with a split just under 2:30. I didn't worry about it and figured the pace would slow down by the mile. I felt really good early in this race - fresh legs and 5 minute pace was feeling pretty good. Went through the mile in 5:03, around a bunch of guys but not really in a pack either. The pace was a little faster than I'd like but I've gone out around that in half marathons and generally slowed down to race pace the second mile, so I wasn't worried. Mile 2 started with a few downtown turns and then onto the main street bridge ramp. I passed one guy on the slight incline and he got me back on the downhill. There are metal grates on this bridge which is a little annoying but it's pretty short. Crossed into the Southbank neighborhood of Jacksonville, passed my hotel and Mile 2 right around 10:10 with a 5:07 split. Now I started to question what I was doing - I had never gone out anywhere close to this fast for 2 miles. I felt good, but sub-5:10 was no longer easy. I largely did the same thing Mile 3 and stayed around the same people, which put me through 5K in 15:55 with a 5:03 mile 3. At 1 mile and even 2 miles, I could pretend my pacing was good but now I had to acknowledge that I really had gone for it and there was no turning back. And it wasn't long before I started to feel the difference between going out in 15:55 vs 16:15.
The race goes on a mix of busier/major roads and quiet neighborhoods. Mile 4 is a nice stretch through a nice neighborhood going right along the river and by some nice houses and shaded roads. There were more turns in this section which felt a little sharp/tight to me. The guys near me at 5K were starting to pull away and things were starting to feel quite hard which was alarming 3.5 miles into a 15K race. I realized I had made a massive mistake and might be crawling to the finish. It felt like I had let up significantly, yet Mile 4 was still a 5:11 and I went through 4 miles in the 20:30s which was kind of crazy to me (not only was my 4 mile PR over 21, I had never gone through 4 miles under 21 minutes in a race before).
I quickly switched from racing hard to survival mode as after 4, everything felt very hard and like I was on the verge on blowing up. With over half the race to go, I almost resigned to packing it in but then I'd check my watch and see my pace was still pretty solid despite feeling like I was done. That combined with having banked so much time gave me some optimism. I tried to think of the race in segments and wanted to get myself through 10K at a solid mark before even thinking about the last 5K.
Got myself through 10K in 32:19 - a 21 second outright PR and very well in the hunt for that sub-49. 5:17 and 5:20 for miles 5 and 6. Of course, the problem was that I faded to that time and the last 5K would be the hardest with the bridge hill. I wasn't even thinking about that, or even thinking about holding the pace but rather just continuing to run and hoping I don't slow down too much. Started to pass some of the elite women here, who started 5 minutes ahead. Mile 7 was still pretty good at 5:19.
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| The Hart Bridge/"Green Monster" |
Mile 8 began a slight incline on a major road and the sun came out which felt a little warm. After managing to keep the pace around 5:20 or faster the last few miles, this really hurt and I was starting to see the pace tick up. Although I still ran 5:22 for Mile 8. Mile 9 was here and the bridge. I remembered thinking I'd shoot for no slower than 5:25 on this mile and hopefully keep the uphill pace in the 5:40-5:50 range or faster. This was about a 120' hill over half a mile. The first part felt hard but I was around 5:45 pace and it seemed sustainable. I passed one woman and then it got unbearably hard and broke me, my watch was now displaying over 6:00 pace. The top of the hill wasn't too far away but I struggled even more, getting up to about 6:50s. I felt someone come up behind me and pass, I assumed it was that woman, but it was another guy. I think he was the only person to pass me after Mile 4. I figured my mile split here would be over 6 minutes and any time aspirations I had were gone. Like 2023, this was a really nice view of the river and downtown.
It took 100-150 meters or so to get the pace going again after being sapped by the hill, but I forgot how much the downhill would help. Soon enough I was running about 4:40 pace. I realized I didn't have much to go and most of the remainder would be downhill aided. I didn't have anything left, but I didn't need it as gravity was doing the work here. I kept the gap with the runner about even and was pleasantly surprised that there were only about 200m left after the downhill ended. One of those long sprints to the finish line, and I crossed just after the clock hit 49. Mile 9 was my slowest at 5:42.
49:04 and 43rd place officially. Despite running over 4 minutes faster than 2023, I only improved 3 places. I think the race was really competitive this year, and the heat took some souls in 2023. I was a little disappointed that I had to take a lime green hat as the women got the blue hats. Additionally, there were zero post race food and the shirts were not tech shirts this year. A few downgrades from 2 years ago as the hats, shirts and food were worse. But I'd definitely take this year's weather over any of that.
Jogged back to the hotel feeling pretty awful, couldn't manage much faster than 9 minute pace. I was super weak when I got back and spent $30 in the hotel store as there were zero convenience stores within walking distance. We went to the Jacksonville Arboretum and Little Talbot Island, which was nice to see but a pain to get to having to hail long, expensive Uber rides.
My performance was a 4:14 PR which is pretty big, but doesn't mean that much given I had only previously run one 15K and it was in the heat. Overall - pretty good. I set a goal that was lofty/ambitious enough that I questioned it and I came really close to getting it. Maybe a slight disappointment compared to my January racing as I hit my goals in every single race but that isn't the norm and this was definitely a strong performance overall - 5:15 pace for 9.3 miles which is the fastest pace I've run for over 10K. Worth 800 points on World Athletics, so one of my better performances. I also did pretty much hold that January 10K pace for an additional 50% of racing.
The major downside was my pacing and tactics for this one. After judging my races very well in January and running even races, I went out way too fast here and the result was a tough race where I was just hanging on the entire time. 15:55-16:24-16:45 5K splits. Which isn't terrible, but needs to be better. Clearly that first one was just way too fast. The ideal race for me here would probably be 16:15-16:15-16:25 which would net a 48:55. Being 20 seconds slow on the final 5K isn't crazy, but being 30 seconds slower for the second 5K is definitely a pacing error. There was certainly the possibility to run 48:40 based on the way I did it. Regardless, this was a confirmation of good fitness and a good place to be ahead of NYC Half and Boston. Just not a smart or fun way to race it.
Compared to my 2023 performance, I was so far ahead of that. My fastest 5K in 2023 was a 17:04, and my slowest 5K was almost 20 seconds ahead of that today. Of course, that was a super hot day so it's not the best comparison but it's always nice to be ahead of your previous self regardless.
While this race is extremely well organized and a very easy pre-race, I'm not sure I'd do it again. While 75 was an anomaly and record high, I think more likely than not the weather will be worse than this year. Given I ran somewhat well this year, I'm not going to be pleased if I come back and it's 15 degrees warmer and/or very windy, and struggle because of the conditions rather than my fitness/tactics. I think it's a decent possibility that the conditions will be somewhat challenging, either due to heat or wind, and the race is long enough that the performances would probably suffer. Which is a shame, because the race is really well organized and competitive. Not necessarily writing it off, but it's probably out for next year at least as it's a gamble and if I'm going to fly out for a race I'd like to perform as well and as a New Englander, it's pretty hard to be acclimated to heat in March.
Overall a nice performance and definitely a step up. Being able to hold on so well after things felt very hard 4 is really encouraging, but also reinforces how important pacing is and that's definitely something I need to work on. Onto NYC.
