The Jacksonville 15K Gate River Run

Why 15K? This distance doesn't seem too common. Perhaps it's a tradition. Last Saturday was the 28th running. Also, it was the 12th year that the Gate River Run has served as the USA 15K Championship. However, the 15K run isn't an Olympic event. So it doesn't seem like a popular distance compared to the 5K, 10K, or marathon (all of which are Olympic events).

But I have to admit, I like the distance of a 15K race. One thing nice about it is that it can serve as a good hour-run goal. What I mean by this is a distance that you can run in under an hour. It's not an easy goal, but it's doable. You would have to run at a pace of about 6:26.

In last Saturday's race (3/12/05), there were 186 runners out of 7776 who ran the race in under 1 hour. The Gate River Run Age Group Records Page lists sub-hour runners as young as 10 for males and 11 for females and as old as 65 for males and 52 for females. The sub-hour 15K is a reasonable goal for just about everyone.

The winning male and female runners last Saturday had times of 43:52 and 49:21. This Runner's Web article has a good summary of the race. For the stats, I'm in the process of crunching the numbers from data provided by Jacksonville.com. Check back soon.