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Florida > Five Points of Life Marathon, Half Marathon
& 5K
Gainesville,
FL
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Date
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Event
Details
Runners get a chance to run through the campus of the University of
Florida and the city streets of Gainesville at the Five Points of Life
Marathon, Half Marathon & 5K, which has drawn nearly 1,000
runners each year to the streets of the city for a race that raises
money and awareness for the local
nonprofit by the same name, and for the need for donations of blood,
apheresis, bone marrow, cord blood, organ and tissue. Run along mostly
flat terrain, the race begins at the university's Center for the
Performing Arts on Hull Avenue and follows a loop course through the
city, finishing near the start on Natural Area Drive.
From the starting line, runners follow a course that takes them in
roughly a clockwise direction through the city, running past the
University of Florida golf course and through the neighborhood of
Suburban Heights in the first few miles of the race. As the course
turns from North 43rd Street onto Northwest 16th Boulevard, the race
becomes hillier, as participants enter the section of the course that
was used by Frank Shorter, who graduated from the University of Florida
and used 16th Street's historic hills as his training ground for the
1972 Olympics, where he won the gold medal in the marathon.
After the long straightaway stretch along 16th, the course starts
taking more frequent turns, onto Northwest 13th Street, Northwest 10th
Avenue and Northeast Boulevard, through downtown Gainesville and past
the Duck Pond on its way back toward the University campus. As the last
few miles of the race wind through the UF campus and take runners past
the shore of Lake Alice, right in the middle of campus, the race winds
down along Museum Road toward the finish line on Natural Area Drive,
where race organizers add that runners might see some real alligators
swimming in the water.
Both runners and walkers are encouraged to participate in either the
full, 26.2-mile marathon or the 13.1-mile half marathon, both of which
start at 7:00 AM on race day. There will also be a 5K race for runners
and a kids marathon, which brought up more than 450 local children in
the first running of the race, spending the weeks and months before the
race logging 25 miles to run the last mile of their "marathon" on the
day of the event.
Race
Weather & Climate
Located in the northern part of the state, about a two-hour drive north
of Orlando, the city of Gainesville typically experiences mild to cool
weather conditions in the late winter, with moderate rainfall. In
February, average monthly temperatures range between 69°F and
46°F, while precipitation amounts average about 3.9 inches for
the month.
Fees
$35 if registered before November 1, 2008
$40 between Nov. 2 - February 15, 2009
$50 after Feb. 15
Registration
To reserve your spot in the winter 2009 running of the Clearwater
Halfathon, register online at Active.com.
Website
www.fivepointsoflife.org
Course Map
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Larger Map
Share
Your Race Story
Ever run in Gainesville's annual Five Points of Life Marathon or Half
Marathon? Share
your impressions and read fellow runners' stories
and tips for the event.
Discuss it in the HalfMarathons.Net
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