Jacksonville: Thousands participate in Gate River Run

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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — About 20,000 people took part in the 43rd Gate River Run in downtown Jacksonville on Saturday morning.

Marielle Hall, of Portland, OR, took home the fastest time amongst women, while Ridouane Harroufi, of Fort Collins, CO, had the fastest men’s time.

“We are very excited; we’ve been training a lot,” said Christy.

Temperatures were in the high 40’s according to the Action News Jax First Alert Weather team.

Grandmother and granddaughter duo, Susie and Christy Anderson, told us they’d been training for race day.

“And she’s crazy! It’s freezing, she has no jacket!” said Susie.

“It’s just a fun race! A lot of people! A lot of camaraderie, very social,” said runner Elizabeth Harvey.

The 15K runners took off from the starting point on Duval Street near the fairgrounds around 8 am and finished at TIAA Bank Field.

Finishing meant crossing the Hart Bridge, or as runners call it, the ‘green monster.’

“You better have your hamstrings in gear,” said Harvey.

Runner Adam Trusdale spoke to Action News Jax about his ‘green monster,’ experience.

“Probably one of the worst uphills I’ve ever run in my life,” said Trusdale. “… Everybody’s gotta do it! You know? Everybody’s going through the same thing, so there’s that unifying thing of, it’s all rough for all of us.”

The race also featured a 5k for local charities.