Adventure! - Celebration Run 5k Race Report

Click the photo to sign up for this year's race!

Today was the Celebration Run 5k in Jacksonville! I had quite an adventure!

My drive was quiet (seeing as though I left the house around 5am!)

I love open roads!

I was able to get a good parking spot, though, right across the street at Stonewood. I've gotten there later and had to park behind the building or even a block away.

I'm getting better at backing in to parking spaces - the backup camera certainly helps!

Packet pickup was easy, and I was able to run it back to my car. Then I hung out in the middle of the road with the rest of the crazy people.

So. Many. People.

I decided not to run with a flag this year; they're heavier than they look, and I wasn't up for it.

I did my part with fun hair accessories and clothing instead (those are curly Christmas bows pinned to my head!)

My shirt says "Land of the Free Because of the Brave"

This race is very patriotic, because this area of Jax is near a lot of military stuff (Camp Blanding is nearby, NAS is nearby, etc). The race is also pretty mellow and low key, so I never worried about being last.

I didn't take a lot of photos though, because it's so mellow.

They line their yard/driveway with small flags and signs

Mile 1

Mile 2

Mile 3

I can see the finish!

My official time was 54:52 (Pace 17:39).  I placed 1678th out of 1743 total finishers (yeah, it's a big race). I was 110th/114 in my age group.

I got my awesome medal and snapped my finish line selfie before I went in search of some breakfast!

No fun manicure this year, just plain white

A better shot of my awesome medal

They had some Frito-Lay variety packs and PowerIce available for everyone, so I grabbed a few. I always grab, but I never eat them until later... perhaps that's why I get stupid headaches after runs!

Yummy snacks! Chips, cheese crackers, water, PowerIce, and some pens

I also scored a pair of 3/4-size SuperFeet insoles from the raffle (he just said, hey, who wants 'em? So I got 'em!) Rounding out my swag was a nice "stainless steel" coffee tumbler, a free facial and some lip balm.

Insoles, tumbler, coupon, lip balm, koozie

Back at the car, I de-geared, headed to Daily's (gas station) to change, then I was on my way to lunch at Safe Harbor Seafood Restaurant in Mayport.  Right as I was leaving (I mean, RIGHT as I was leaving... the photo below is part of the race route), it started to rain.

This would be about Mile .25.

Well, crap... Part of my plan for the day was to have a Beach Day... I wanted to go to Amelia Island after lunch and just relax. The past few months had been hard, what with the car accident and whatnot, so I wanted to chill.

You can't chill if it's raining. Not on a beach, anyway.

It vacillated between rain and sun all the way to Mayport. 

Still cloudy, but beautiful, on the way to Mayport

I ended up there too early (they open at 10:30am on Saturdays), so after getting permission from the lovely guy at the booth, I walked around the pier area.

Hello, Fish Wharf cat!

Birds just chillin', waiting for discarded fish

I wandered for about 20 minutes, taking lots of photos (the guy probably thought I was some "Yankee Tourist", but whatever).

Back at the restaurant, I put in my order for a basket of scallops and waited at my table outside. (It's a much lovelier place to eat when it's not 45º!)

This outdoor space was filled to the brim by the time I was done eating

Yeah, yeah, I know... I'm IN Mayport, why am I not eating Mayport shrimp? I don't know... I just LOVE these tiny scallops so much. I could shovel them in my face with a spoon!

There's probably over 100 bay scallops here!

Once I was stuffed to the gills, it was time to start my adventure!

I'd been watching the weather all during my lunch, and it looked like a good day after all to go out to the island. So I drove over to the St. Johns River Ferry and queued up for the ride. (It cost $6, since today was a weekday; it's free for the driver on weekends).

There was only one other car when I got here

I've actually never been on a car ferry, so I wasn't sure what to expect.

Once the ferry arrived, all the cars that came from the other side of the river disembarked. Then, because I was in Lane 1, I was told to drive in first. When I got to the front of the boat, a staff member gave me the hand signal to park, and put on my parking brake.

My view from the driver's seat, looking North (?) across St. Johns River

I was then free to roam around (but stay behind the lines at the front of the boat).

That's such a dork smile!

This was so cool!

Lots of other cars were crossing, too

Too bad I couldn't get up where the Captain was, though. The view from up there would be awesome.

Looking back at all the vehicles - I wonder where they're headed?

Once we made it all the way across (which, honestly, I think took a whopping 5-10 minutes), we disembarked, and I was faced with a dilemma... The traffic on A1A was insane! I don't know if it's always like that on a beautiful summer day, or if it was extra bad because today was Independence Day, but it was bumper-to-bumper on eastbound A1A.

Executive decision - go the other way!

All of this traffic is headed towards the East Coast of FL... I'm going West

Many times, when I'm doing a race in Jax, I always wonder how long it would take to get to Georgia.

We're gonna go find out!

It started raining again before I even got out of Florida, which signaled that I'd made the correct decision to skip the beach. 

Goodbye, Florida!  I'll be back soon!

Hello Georgia!

But more importantly... if FL ends at one end of the bridge, and GA starts at the other... who owns the middle?

I stopped at the Georgia Welcome Center to use the ladies' room, and to see if the "Welcome to Georgia" sign was still in their bathroom... it wasn't. Their bathrooms had since been remodeled. But I got a selfie by a different one.

I'm in Georgia! For no reason!

I had no PLANS to do anything in Georgia, of course, so I actually just went across the street to a Pilot gas station. I really only wanted to get a soda, but this was a fancy gas station! Not only did it have the typical convenience station stuff (soda, chips, cookies), but it had a Subway, a cafeteria-type joint, and a Cinnabon! Wow.

So I treated myself to a Cinnabon.

It looks better than it tasted... why do people like these again?

Once I'd mellowed for a little bit - and the rain tapered off - I got back on the road to come back to Florida.

Florida State Line... maybe late 50s, early 60s?

Florida Welcome Center now

Maybe I'm biased, but our state Welcome Center is awesome! I got some free OJ (nothing better than fresh-squeezed sunshine), and perused through the vast library of visitor pamphlets, which were nicely organized by region of the state. I took a bunch home - I look forward to exploring my own state!

Unashamedly stole this from the internet

On the way back to the car, I passed the vending machines, and I had to laugh... you can buy a Sunpass - for Toll Roads - via a vending machine! I guess it's super helpful when you hit the state line at 3am on your way to Disney World. (I just bought mine at Publix).

Would you like MMs or Sunpass?

Once I was done with my adventure, I headed home. I was tired. I was actually happy I did this instead of a beach day... sometimes you need some loud tunes and a road ahead of you... this gave me both. I'll go to the beach another day!