JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 Thousands of runners are preparing for Jacksonville\u2019s Gate River Run, and many used Saturday\u2019s Hart Bridge practice to sharpen their legs and strategy.<\/p>\n
PRS Running Club hosted its annual Hart Bridge practice run to help athletes get race-ready and to raise money for local causes.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve done this since 2020. We like to support local charities, two local charities. So this year we\u2019re supporting Runners4Recovery and Sombrero Outreach Foundation,\u201d said Paul McRae, founder of PRS Running Club.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis town is really incredible when it comes to running,\u201d said Paul Davis, one of the participants, as runners laced up early Saturday.<\/p>\n
Known by many as the \u201cgreen monster,\u201d the Hart Bridge presents a steep, late-course climb that can change a runner\u2019s race plan.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody always talks about the green monster. You never know what to expect when you get there,\u201d said Crown Mohoro, who practiced the whole route before the big race next week.<\/p>\n
\u201cLast year, I did 57 minutes, so this year I\u2019m going for 55 minutes so trying to get better every time,\u201d Mohoro said.<\/p>\n
As runners reached the bridge they focused on small, immediate goals to make the climb feel manageable.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs we\u2019ve been training, like don\u2019t look at the top of the hill. Look only ten feet in front of you and it\u2019s less intimidating,\u201d said Dan Hofacker and Joe Ruppert, who were running together.<\/p>\n
Many participants said they were finishing key training runs now so they could enjoy race day.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m trying to get the training done now so I can enjoy the run next week,\u201d said Rachel Douglas and Susanna Callender.<\/p>\n
Runners also celebrated the fun, community aspects of the Gate River Run course \u2014 the signs, the quirky aid stations and the crowd energy that make the day festive.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople throwing the little Dunkin\u2019 Donut balls at you in San Marco,\u201d said Hofacker and Ruppert.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy favorite is the pickle shot. It helps with cramping,\u201d said Douglas and Callender.<\/p>\n
At the practice finish, runners traded high-fives, optimism and a few laughs about meeting their goals for race day.<\/p>\n
\u201cGood,\u201d one runner said when asked how they were feeling. \u201cProbably, hopefully,\u201d another added.<\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 Thousands of runners are preparing for Jacksonville\u2019s Gate River Run, and many used Saturday\u2019s Hart…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":173651,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[82384,60402,116,118,117],"class_list":{"0":"post-173650","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jacksonville","8":"tag-gate-river-run","9":"tag-hart-bridge","10":"tag-jacksonville","11":"tag-jacksonville-headlines","12":"tag-jacksonville-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173650","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=173650"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173650\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/173651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173650"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=173650"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173650"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}