JACKSONVILLE - With four area running races scheduled in February, the March 2 Gate River Run 15k will give local runners a chance to sharpen up their feet for the annual 9.3-mile trek through the outskirts of Jacksonville.

On Saturday, the longest of the remaining races before the Gate River Run 15K, the Ortega River Run Five Miler, had just over 1,000 runners testing out the smaller of two bridges on the southside of Jacksonville; the Ortega River Bridge (flat) and the Highway 17 bridge just a half mile south of the Ortega River Bridge.
Top times came from Matthew Taddeo, 28, who won in 26 minutes, and three seconds for the males with Peyton Cerasi, 13, winning the females' race in 30:02 just a second ahead of Kristen Dixon, 43, and 25 seconds ahead of third-place finisher Amelia Bjornson, 31, in at 30:27.
Taddeo, former Nova Southeastern University track standout from Pennsylvania, won by 42 seconds over Daniel Erlandson, 30 and by more than a minute over Charlie Beard, 52.
Cerasi, from Palm Coast, was a middle school state cross-country runner-up in October.
The four races before the March 2 Gate River Run 15K are the San Pablo Elementary 5K for Play on Feb. 17, the Rachel Quinone Memorial 5K at Bishop Snyder on Feb. 17, the 5K/8K Superhero Run in Orange Park on Feb. 24 and the Jaguars/Novo Nordisk 5k Stadium Challenge at Jaguars Stadium.