Jacksonville Bank Marathon
Sunday, December 17, 2006
Jacksonville, Florida

I race walked the Jacksonville Bank Marathon on Sunday, December 17, 2006. The weather was nice--mostly sunny, little wind, and between 50 and 75 degrees. It was a little warm near the end of the marathon. The course was about as flat as any course could be, mostly through shaded tree-lined streets. There were plenty of volunteers and water stations with Gatorade about every two miles. The only negative thing about the race was that there was supposed to be a 6 hour time limit; however, the police began closing the course at a five hour pace. Thus, I had to do the last five miles on the sidewalks and lookout for traffic and pedestrians as the police no longer controlled the traffic. I still managed to finish in 5:07:49 which is more than 52 minutes under the stated time limit. I emailed the race director about this and have not received a reply.
Saturday, December 16, 2006, the day before the race, I toured St. Augustine which is approximately 25 miles south of the race site. Photographs from there will be displayed in later postings.