By NewsLine Staff
mail@floridanewsline.com
JTC Running, the founder and host club of the Gate River Run, has announced an $85,000 donation to the Jacksonville chapter of the Southern Off-Road Bicycle Association (SORBA Jax) for the construction of a 3.1-mile (5K) running trail at Aterro Park at 4520 Sunbeam Road, the site of a former landfill that operated from 1972 – 1986.
Now, nearly four decades later, the Sunbeam Road Landfill is getting a new life as a multi-use recreation destination. SORBA Jax has signed a lease with property owners Jeremy Hill and John Thornton for approximately 100 acres that will be converted into biking and running trails with elevations rising to 65 feet. One three-mile mountain bike trail is complete, and another is planned. Aterro Park plans other recreational amenities at the site including a dog park, market, pickleball courts, and Airsoft facility.
The JTC Running Trail will be six feet wide and made from compacted crushed lime rock. The trail will include both open and shaded areas as well as three bridges. Trail planning has begun, and clearing is expected to take approximately six months to complete.
JTC Running created the Jacksonville River Run in 1978, since 1993 named the Gate River Run; all proceeds stay locally to fund running programs and community initiatives including the 30-mile Emerald Trail, and Marathon High, a program that challenges at-risk teens to run a 13.1-mile half-marathon. Visit jtcrunning.com for more information.
SORBA Jax is a 501c3 nonprofit organization, one of 47 chapters of the Southern Off-Road Bicycle Association, and the local partner to the International Mountain Bicycling Association. Visit sorbajax.org for more information.
Photo courtesy JTC Running
Councilman Michael Boylan; Doug Alred, board member JTC Running; Doug Tillett, president JTC Running; Todd Addicott, president SORBA Jax; Councilman Joe Carlucci
