Race’s founders, early runners carry fond memories of the early days

Mike Wachholz’s starting line for the 1979 Ortega River Run was a little different than the rest of the field. “I was in the restroom when the cannon went off to start the race,” said Wachholz, an elite local runner competing for the first time in the event. “They said I had some time, but it didn’t work out that way.” [Read Full Article]

2013 Cross-Country End-of-Year

In keeping with tradition the 6th Annual Lee Cross-Country Virtual Meet will be held Wednesday, December 11 (Girls) and Thursday, December 12 (Boys) at 9am on each respective day. This year's team features some standout running.

On the girls side, Seana Edwards will lead the girls posting a time of 23:58 this season at District Championships. Also looking to make an impact is Brenee Cummings, who bested her 2011 time with a 26:18 at District Championships.

The boys will be looking to make high marks with the returning duo of Dominic Williams and Rayford James from last year's #1 team. Can their improvements and new team additions be enough to account for the loss of scorers Dwayne Edwards, Marcus Salley, and Keith Madison?

Also to come is the Annual Cross-Country Awards presented by Coach Ison. Awards will be released Friday, December 13, 2013 at 2:00pm. Nominees for each award will be announced Tuesday, December 10 at 9:00am.

Runners Discover 110% Cross Country at UNF (from flrunners.com)

By Ralph Epifanio

It is comforting to know that stretches of wooded trails still exist in a state that is generally regarded as a “Shopper’s Heaven,” where air conditioned malls seem to have replaced most of what we originally came here to find. Of course, “find” is the term that best described my initial visit to the UNF campus.

I will be the first to admit that my internal compass is not the least bit reliable before the sun rises to a point that makes the landscape recognizable. So there I was, circling the campus--like more than a few other disoriented drivers--attempting to discern the connection between Lots 14 and 16 and a cross country meet. All that began to clear up when I took a wrong turn on a narrow dirt road that went off into the pre-dawn darkness. [Read Full Article]