1/31/2026 And 2/1/2026
The Donna National Marathon, Half Marathon, and 5K To Finish Breast Cancer
Jacksonville, Florida
Marathon
George McFall
Finish Time: 3:23:59
Overall Place: 82nd Place / 859
Division Place: 3rd Place / 23
Half Marathon
Christine Churpek
Finish Time: 1:52:08
Overall Place: 545th Place / 3867
Division Place: 24th Place / 212
5K
George McFall
Finish Time: 25:12
Overall Place: 181st Place / 2251
Division Place: 8th Place / 53
Christine Churpek
Finish Time: 26:12
Overall Place: 193rd Place / 2251
Division Place: 11th Place / 163
Peter Heroux
Finish Time: 26:12
Overall Place: 194th Place / 2251
Division Place: 10th Place / 63
Race Review By George McFall:
Shakeout run with Believe In The Run at the Donna 5K. Pancake flat course. It was hard to not go all out but needed to because I am doing the marathon on Sunday morning.
Great event and volunteers. Athletes Village had a bunch of vendors. I placed 8th in my age group.
Record breaking temps in Jacksonville Beach for the DONNA marathon!
Not typical weather for Florida but being from Ohio, we are used to running in cold weather. It was 23 degrees with a feels like temp of 8 degrees with wind chill. The wind was brutal and it was in our faces most of the race. The few breaks we got were welcomed.
Flat George was dressed in half tights and several upper layers the night before the race but opted for shorts on race morning and only 2 extra layers. I doubled up on gloves and socks. I discarded the first layer (a sweatshirt) just before the start of the race and left the long sleeve on until mile 23. I finished with arms sleeves, singlet and one pair of gloves because the sun was out and it actually felt warmer.
The 26.2 with Donna The National Marathon to Finish Breast Cancer course started and finished at the Seawalk Pavilion. We ran through several neighborhoods. Plenty of aid stations with water and Gatorade and some offered Huma energy gels. Crowd support was great with some neighborhoods going all out with pink decorations and music. The course was well marked for the turns.
The Athletes Village offered a variety of things like food, drinks, gear check, music, and the post race awards ceremony. There were plenty of porta-potties.
I am not a fan of a two loop course — seeing mile markers for miles I hadn’t hit yet plays with my mind. I started to look away as I approached them to help stay focused on the mile I was in. It all worked out.
I ran the 5k on Saturday morning as a shakeout run and finished with a time of 25:52 and got 8th in age group.
For the marathon on Sunday, I ran strong and placed 3rd in my age group with a time of 3:23:59. I have never been on the podium at a marathon before so this was such a nice surprise. I got another BQ but my BQ time from the Columbus marathon in October has a bigger bufffer (9 1/2 minutes) but still happy to be running consistent times the last 3 marathon — Buffalo – 3:19, Columbus – 3:20 and this one – 3:23.
Sorry for not having any Team ER gear on in any of the pics. I failed to pack anything.
