New route includes Baldwin Trail; Saturday Finish at Duval County Courthouse; Virtual Run Option
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Freed to Run 4.0 , Nov. 16-21, will still feature six marathons in six days from Tallahassee to Jacksonville, but for the first time the sixth and final marathon will be on a Saturday, and the route will include a 14-mile stretch on the Baldwin Trail.
Participants in Jacksonville Area Legal Aid’s largest annual fundraiser can also complete their marathon leg anywhere, including in their own neighborhoods or even on a treadmill at home.
“We are making these changes in order to allow for the greatest possible participation,” said Freed to Run founder and Gunster Shareholder Mike Freed. “Having the sixth marathon and the 5k on a Saturday will make it easier for folks who work Monday through Friday to participate. And due to the pandemic, we wanted to make sure everyone could participate in the way that felt safest to them. So, teams can even run a virtual marathon, making the handoff at the end of each leg via Zoom or however they choose.”
Freed will still run all six marathons, beginning the first at the Florida Supreme Court and ending the last at the Duval County Courthouse. So far 14 teams are registered, most of whom will be participating for the third year in a row. Teams from the offices of the Fourth Circuit State Attorney and Public Defender’s offices are among those returning. Returning law firms include: Abel Bean; Akerman LLP; Fisher, Tousey Leas & Ball; and Harrell & Harrell, while the Jacksonville Bar Association is again fielding a Solo & Small Firm team. The Women’s Giving Alliance, the accounting firm of Smoak, Davis & Nixon, and Richard Fannin of the Fannin-Johnson Group of Wells Fargo Advisors will each field a team, as will Edward Rowan (Team Bowser) and Eric Krall, who will run a full marathon.
Donations in support of these teams can be made at www.jaxlegalaid.org/freedtorun/. All donations help fund the endowment for the Northeast Florida Medical Legal Partnership, which addresses the civil legal needs of the region’s pediatric patients and their families, and are matched at 125% by Baptist Health.
About Jacksonville Area Legal Aid
The mission of Jacksonville Area Legal Aid, Inc. is to obtain and provide high-quality legal assistance to low-income and other special-need groups and to stimulate and empower groups of poor people to accomplish energetic and affirmative advocacy, all to alleviate the circumstances, incidence and causes of poverty.
About the Northeast Florida Medical Legal Partnership
The Northeast Florida Medical Legal Partnership is part of a nationwide network of projects in which professionals from the medical and legal communities combine resources to produce outcomes for low-income and vulnerable patients (children and adults) that positively impact their health and ability to thrive. Through the partnership, Jacksonville Area Legal Aid serves about 200 children a year, including patients of Wolfson Children’s Hospital, Nemours Children’s Specialty Care, Jacksonville, UF Health Specialty Pediatric Clinics, and Community PedsCare®, a pediatric program of Community Hospice & Palliative Care.
